Taylor Takes Third TOPMA Win

by Celeste Smith

Mother nature was crying all around the Houston area but the sun was actually shining down on HMP and 7 teams braved the weather to try and sit in the winner's circle. After 2 rounds of qualifying, here's what went down:

#1 Frankie Taylor - 3.799 at 192 mph **Top MPH**
#2 Gaylen Smith - 3.974 at 160 mph
#3 Chris Smith - 4.060 at 169 mph
#4 Wes Johnston - 4.267 at 123 mph
#5 Eric Stubbs - 4.342 at 167 mph **New member...Welcome**
#6 Eric Clark - 4.510 at 146 mph **Best reaction time points (.046)**
#7 Doug Riesterer - 4.700 at 105 mph

First Round:

Frankie Taylor (W) 3.759 at 179 mph (.190 RT) Bye Run

I think I heard the announcer say that Frankie's 3.79 was a track record and if not, I'm pretty sure the 3.75 is.

Wes Johnston (W) 4.084 at 139 mph (.100 RT)
Eric Stubbs (RU) 4.378 at 169 mph (.049 RT)

Wes' car sounded like it didn't shift but it was good enough for the win.

Chris Smith (W) 4.012 at 173 mph (.109 RT)
Eric Clark (RU) 4.467 at 155 mph (.050 RT)

I heard the announcer say that this was the personal best ET for Chris Smith. I'm not sure if it was or not, but it was a great run. Eric wasn't on a bad run either.

Gaylen Smith (W) 3.885 at 184 mph (.130 RT)
Doug Riesterer (RU) 11.232 at 40 mph (.091 RT)

As soon as Doug let the clutch out, he just ripped the tires off and there was no sense in trying to get it hooked up with Gaylen on a decent run in the other lane.

Semi-Finals:

Frankie Taylor (W) 3.787 at 187 mph (.153 RT) Competition bye

Wes did hurt the transmission and could not get it repaired in time for the semi's so Frankie got a competition bye run.

Gaylen Smith (W) 3.905 at 169 mph (.125 RT)
Chris Smith (RU) 7.875 at 54 mph (.069 RT)

Chris got the hole shot advantage but he lost traction shortly after take off and Gaylen was on another great run taking the win.

Finals:

Frankie Taylor (W) 3.717 at 188 mph (.154 RT) **Low ET and Track Record**
Gaylen Smith (RU) 3.858 at 170 mph (.087 RT) **Personal Best with the Cuda**

If Frankie's 3.79 and 3.75 weren't track records then I believe this 3.71 was for sure. This was a great race, Gaylen had the starting line advantage and then both cars drifted over to the center line a little but it was Frankie to the stripe first.

Congratulations to Team Taylor/Hanning for their victory and also a big congrats to Team TBH for their runner-up finish as well. The Cuda had some of the best incrementals to date for this car.