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Steve Wiley Wins First at Denton TOPMA Race
Text by Celeste Smith ~ Photo by Gena White
Round Two of the TOPMA doubleheader
found all the teams heading north to Northstar Dragway in Denton, Texas,
for the first and only time this season. Twelve teams braved the very
hot July evening in Texas.
Here's what went down:
#1 Steve Wiley - 4.082 at 161 mph
#2 Frankie Taylor - 4.171 at 148 mph
#3 Jim Brinkerhoff - 4.428 at 163 mph
#4 Eric Clark - 4.510 at 167 mph **Best Reaction Time .005 & Top MPH**
#5 Doug Riesterer - 4.592 at 117 mph
#6 Chuck Poindexter - 4.598 at 153 mph
#7 Chuck Nuytten - 4.628 at 128 mph
#8 Charles Letteer - 4.811 at 152 mph
#9 Ken Thomas - 5.371 at 92 mph **OUCH; Blew Up Motor**
#10 Brandon McKinney - NT Hit guardrail on first attempt - Glad you're okay Brandon.
#11 Gaylen Smith - NT
#12 Joseph Butler - NT
First Round:
Eric Clark (W) 4.480 at 165 mph (.014 RT)
Doug Riesterer (RU) 6.051 at 77 mph (.092 RT)
Doug hurt his motor Friday night and stayed up all night working on it and just couldn't get the power to the track without shaking. Eric on another consistent run and takes the win.
Jim Brinkerhoff (W) 4.430 at 159 mph (.059 RT)
Chuck Poindexter (RU) 4.584 at 154 mph (.116 RT)
Fresh off his final round appearance Friday night which was turned into an official win 2nd round qualifying Saturday when Gaylen broke the belt at the starting line, Jim continues his winning streak. Chuck laid down several good runs but came up a little short.
Steve Wiley (W) 4.222 at 138 mph (.073 RT)
Charles Letteer (RU) 9.813 at 64 mph (.006 RT)
Charles almost got the bonus points for best reaction time but Eric was one one thousanths quicker during qualifying. Leaving first helps if you can stay planted all the way down track but Wiley takes the win with a peddle job.
Frankie Taylor (W) 3.855 at 161 mph (.086 RT)
Chuck Nuytten (RU) NT
Frankie got a competition bye because Chuck was unable to start his car in the lanes. After fighting ignition problems for 2 nights, Frankie shuts it off early trying not to damage the brand new car anymore than it already was from the previous pass and makes a good clean run down the 1/8 mile.
Semi-Finals:
Steve Wiley (W) 4.324 at 161 mph (.102 RT)
Eric Clark (RU) 4.492 at 167 mph (.023 RT)
Wiley was lucky on this one after giving up quite a bit at the starting line, he just barely peddled his way to the win on this one. This probably looked like a dead even race at the stripe.
Frankie Taylor (W) 4.105 at 142 mph (.067 RT)
Jim Brinkerhoff (RU) 4.578 at 133 mph (.069 RT)
After leaving almost at identical times, both cars had to peddle their way to the finish line and it was Frankie coming away with the win.
Finals:
Steve Wiley (W) 4.528 at 144 mph (.334 RT)
Frankie Taylor (RU) 7.367 at 60 mph (.066 RT)
You are a lucky man Steve Wiley!!!! You don't give up this much on the starting line especially against Frankie. Frankie got out of shape early in the run and aborted and I guess Wiley watched him and then took off and peddled his way to the winner's circle. Congratulations on the first victory for the Hector/Wiley Motorsports team. I know granny is proud!
Congratulations also to Frankie and Taylor Racing for your runner-up finish. Not a bad comeback after all your issues with the new car. The 3.85 was a new ET track record.
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