BURTON LONE CHAMPION IN RAIN DELAYED NORTHWEST NATIONALS
KENT, Wash. – Brad Burton was the lone champion for the Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series as rain washed out all remaining final rounds this past weekend at Pacific Raceways.
After multiple rain delays, NHRA officials announced that the final rounds of competition for Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car will be completed at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, Oct. 13-16, at Texas Motorplex, and all other Lucas Oil Series final rounds will be contested at the upcoming NHRA Lucas Oil Regional event at Pacific Raceways, August 19-21.
Burton, Snohomish, Wash., drove his familiar red ’72 Firebird to his seventh NHRA national event victory in taking out Ryan Warter, Ollala, Wash. Burton was better at the start by about hundredth of a second and ran it out for the win.
The final round in Top Alcohol Dragster will see two familiar faces as the reigning national champion Joey Severance will face off with the 2014 national champion Chris Demke. Severance, Woodburn, Ore., had a bye into the final after beating Ashley Sanford and Casey Grisel in rounds one and two. Demke, out of Tujunga, Calif., beat Johnny Ahten and Shawn Cowie in rounds one and two, then advanced past James Stevens when Stevens left early with a red light foul start.
In Top Alcohol Funny Car it was Shane Westerfield, Anaheim, Calif., and Nick Januik, Las Vegas, advancing to the final round. Both had great reaction times in their semifinal rounds as Westerfield won easily over Doug Gordon and Januik held off the hard charging Annie Whiteley. Westerfield went 5.484 at 268.17 for the win as Gordon’s car slowed early in the run. Januik won on a holeshot and a pass of 5.456, 267.85 to the quicker Whiteley at 5.451, 268.71.
The following is the final round results for Stock Eliminator and the final round pairings for the Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways:
Final Round
STOCK ELIMINATOR
Brad Burton, Snohomish, Wash., 10.816, 111.86 def. Ryan Warter, Ollala, Wash., 11.800, 106.77
Final Round Pairing
TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
Joey Severance, Woodburn, Ore. vs. Chris Demke, Tujunga, Calif.
TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
Shane Westerfield, Anaheim, Calif., vs. Nick Januik, Las Vegas
COMP ELIMINATOR
Jeff Lane, North Bend, Wash. vs. Ralph Van Paepeghem, Garden Valley, Idaho
SUPER STOCK
Cody Lane, North Bend, Wash. vs Darrell Stobbe, Abbotsford, B.C., CAN
SUPER COMP
Tory Lea, Enumclaw, Wash. vs. Don Knoblauch, Sumner, Wash.
SUPER GAS
Rick Cates, Canyon, Texas vs. Steve Laskowske, Tigard, Ore.
SUPER STREET
Doug Jones, Lakewood, Wash. vs. Jerry Denton, Tempe, Ariz.
TOP SPORTSMAN PRESENTED BY RACING RV’S.COM
Brian Phillips, Prosser, Wash. vs. Mike Williams, Tilley, A.B., CAN
TOP DRAGSTER PRESENTED BY RACING RV’S.COM
Chuck Glanz, Myrtle Creek, Ore. vs. Quentin Chambers, Bellingham, Wash.
