Summit Series #5&6

The Summit series struck again over last weekend at Barona 1/8th Mile dragstrip, with the speed demons of San Diego gathering under a cool night on Saturday, and the clear, blazing sky on Sunday, to see who can get a leg up in the Summit series championships.
But before going into the Summit, lets check up on the Gambler. The finals came down to two long time racers, Paul Wagner in his 71 Duster up against Rick Reynold's 71 Pinto. Paul Wagner would get the head start, his 6.79 dial around a half second slower then Rick's 5.38 dial, but the race would be over before Rick got the green light, as Paul left less then one tenth of a second early, fouling out and giving Rick the Gambler win.

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Rick Reynolds, launching off the line on Saturday, on his way to winning the Gambler.
With the Gambler, the SoCal Super Street association was here running their own bracket, between a set of El Caminos two decades apart. John Sapone had his 64 El Camino lined up against Valarie Hourmard's 84, and this race was going to be heads up, with both dialing in 6.90 dials. They were very close off the line, with John having a slight edge in reaction time, but only by 8 thousandths of a second. Valarie kept pace, pushing John to run his car as fast as he could, and not give an inch. John finished going 101.95 MPH, less then one MPH faster then Valarie's 101.52, but that would be a fraction too fast, as he finished with an E/T of 6.896, 4 thousandths of a second under his 6.90 dial, and only a hair quicker then Valarie's 6.910 E/T. John was not given much room for error, but due to Valarie's pressure, he had to run hard until the finish, breaking out by a minute fraction of a second. But it was still a breakout, and the pursuing Valarie was given the win. Valarie would be the first female winner of the SoCal Super Street bracket with that run.

Valerie Houmard, ready to go in the SoCal Super Street bracket.
And with those two events wrapped up, it's time for the Summit. In the Super Pro bracket, Todd Ferguson's 64 Falcon and Trey Sommer's 56 Chevy met to duel over the bracket win. Todd had the faster car, getting a tiny head start, but Trey was quicker off the line, and his 6.626 E/T on a 6.62 dial was too close for Todd to cut in on.

Trey Sommer's 56 Chevy, getting a launch off the line. He'd win the Summit Super Pro bracket on Saturday.
The Summit Pro bracket came down to "Woody" Wood up against George Chatterton III, with George's 37 Fiat going second with his sub-6 second dial in. But after Woody launched off the line, George could not remain patient, launching off nearly a tenth of a second early, giving Woody the Summit Pro win.

Jim "Woody" Wood (near), burning out before a run in the Summit Pro bracket on Saturday. He'd win it on his way to a very productive weekend.
Summit Sportsman had a number of fast cars, but it came down to two in the end: Gary Harfield's Corvette up against Larry Brewer's 63 Chevy. Gary ran a very tight race, a .107 reaction time to go with a 8.123 E/T on a 8.11 dial left .118 seconds of wiggle room for Larry to beat him with. A .146 time off the tree made it impossible, and a run that went too fast chasing that nonexistent extra time broke him out, giving Gary the Summit Sportsman win.

Gary Harfield's Corvette, lining up to launch on his way to the Summit Sportsman win.
The fun wasn't just for four wheelers, as the Summit Motorcyles had some fun too, as Gary Moore challenged Joe Silva for the bracket win. Joe would be faster off the tree with a .040 dial and he'd stay faster, as Gary struggled to keep his speed, finishing with a 10.649 on a 6.15 dial leaving plenty of room for Joe's 7.422 to fit in perfectly. and get the Motorcycle win.

Joe Silva, ready to launch on the way to Saturday's Summit Motorcycle win.
And that was just Saturday.
Sunday started off earlier, the afternoon sun making the track almost as hot as the cars on it.
Sunday's Super Pro had Trey Sommer's 56 Chevy getting a second shot at victory, this time going up against Rob Hoffman's 79 Camaro. Rob would get the headstart with the faster reaction time, leaving Trey in pursuit. But with Rob running a 6.609 E/T on a 6.59 dial, Trey had no room, and broke out by 5 thousandths of a second, giving Rob the Sunday Super Pro win.

Rob Hoffman's 79 Camaro, launching on off the line. He'd go on to win Sunday's Summit Super Pro bracket.
In the Summit Pro, Jimmy Morosan's 71 Cuda was the only thing stopping "Woody" Wood from sweeping the Summit Pro this weekend. He got off to a good start, his .023 reaction time faster then Woody's .057, but Jimmy could not make his dial, running a 6.354 on a 6.28 dial, leaving more then enough room for Woody to sneak in with a 6.494 on a 6.47, giving him the win and the weekend Summit Pro sweep.

​Jimmy Moroson (Left) in the  Sunday Summit Pro final against  Jim "Woody" Wood (Right). Both take their green lights, but Woody would take the win light, sweeping the Summit Pro for the weekend.
The Summit Sportsman came down to a pair of vintage cars, Paul Wagner's 70 Dart up against David Puetz's 68 Firebird. David got off the line quick, his .068 reaction time combined with his 7.633 E/T on a 7.62 dial to give him a pretty hard to beat run. But Paul gambled with his tree and won, launching off the line one thousandth of a second after the green light lit up. With that much of a lead, he had enough room to win with a 7.726 E/T on a 7.66 dial, giving him the Summit Sportsman win.

​Paul Wagner in his 70 Dart, before winning the Summit Sportsman on Sunday.
The wild weekend finished off with one last running of the Summit Motorcycles, as both Russ Collins Jr. and Corey Wilcox brought their Suzuki bikes to the track, with Corey set to go first with his 6.30 dial compared to the 5.63, 120-plus MPH monster Russ was driving. Corey would not get far off the starting line, though, as he left a fifth of a second too early, fouling out and giving Russ the Motorcycle win.

Russ Collins Jr, burning out before his run. He'd end up winning the Summit Motorcycle bracket on Sunday.
The Summit will return, but next week, the Crower Cup finishes off with Crower Cup Race #3, where the champion will be decided! And with last round's winners being newcomers, it's still a wide open series for so many drivers! Who'll win it all? We'll find out August 6th, starting at 4:00 PM!  See you there!
Also, special thanks to Pete Liebig, for all the photos in this article. If you ever want to order a print, or a poster of one of our many racers or runs, you can visit PeteLiebigPhotography to get them. He has been working hard at the track for a very long time, and he does amazing work.