Summit Series #7 & #8

What happens when the NHRA Summit, Top Fuel Dragsters, and an old fashioned Nitro shootout all get together in the same place? You get Saturday, July 21st at Barona 1/8th Mile Dragstrip in Lakeside California, where the Summit Series #7, SoCal Doorslammers, and the Prolight Series all shared the stage with the Fuel Altered Top Fuel Dragsters for a night full of intense racing action.


First, we'll go over the SoCal Doorslammers, and their 6.50, 5.90, 5.50, and Run What You Brung brackets, all heads up races with dials set to the same amount leading up to the Run What You Brung, which is a straight up fastest-to-the-line drag race.


In the 6.50 class, Noel Cuevas and his 71 Camaro was up against Steve Beck Sr and his 39 Chevy. Noel got off the line quicker, and that was enough for Steve to decide he had enough. Noel finished with a 6.506 on that 6.50 limit, while Steve didn't finish at all, giving Noel the 6.50 win.


Things got a little faster in the 5.90 bracket, as Rich Wood and Rick Reynolds dueled it out. Rich's .070 reaction time gave him a head start over Rick's .109, and it was enough of a head start to give Rich the win, making up for his slightly slower 6.020 E/T compared to Rick's 5.985.


Another gear faster: In the 5.50 bracket, Lary Middlebrook's 87 Corvette matched up against Tommy Azzarella's 64 Nova. In what was the closest race of the night, Lary had a 5 thousandth's of a second advantage off the line with a .024 compared to Tommy's .029, but Tommy's E/T was 5 thousandths of a second faster, with a 5.553 beating Lary's 5.558. The winner? By a matter of tens of thousandths of seconds, Lary's 125 MPH run would take the 5.50 win.


And finally, it was left to the Fastest of the Doorslammers: The Run What You Brung bracket. No limits, just a straight up drag race, with RJ Simrock's 70 Nova going up against Travers Scott's 85 Mustang. And while with no limits, it should come out to the fastest car wins, the true race was once again at the starting line. RJ's .08 second head start off of it beat out his .01 E/T lead, stacking together to give RJ and his 156 MPH machine the Run What You Brung win.


With the Doorslammers taken care of, it's a race for NHRA Gold that's next. The 7th race of the NHRA Summit series, with the Summit Motorcycles, Summit Sportsman, Summit Pro, and Summit Super Pro all up for grabs. The series goes back to traditional bracket racing, with both racers entering in a dial, and whoever is closest to their without their E/T going under taking the win.


In the Summit Motorcycle bracket, Joe Silva was up against Russ Collins Jr. Joe would be given a 2 second head start, having the slower bike. Both bikes were on their game as they got off the starting line, with Russ barely beating Joe out with a .006 reaction time compared to Joe's .009. In the end, it was Russ' 8.838 E/T on a 8.79 dial that'd get him the Summit Motorcycles win.


In the Summit Sportsman bracket Gary Harfield dueled David Puetz. Both were nearly perfectly even off the starting line, but Gary's 7.893 on a 7.89 dial beat out David's 7.673 on a 7.65 dial, giving him the Summit Sportsman win.


Next, to Summit Pro, where Rick Reynolds and his 66 Fairlane was matched up in the finals against Jeff Martin and his 74 Datsun. Rick's .035 reaction time gave him quite a head start over Jeff's .111, forcing Jeff to push his car as hard as he could. He finished with a 6.611 on a 6.63 dial, breaking out and giving Rick the Summit Pro win.


And finally, in the Summit Super Pro bracket, RJ Simrock and Noel Cuevas would meet up. Throughout the day, racers were getting absolutely insane reaction times within the hundredth of the second, but Noel broke that streak by a lone thousandth of a second. With a -.001 reaction time, Noel fouls out and gives RJ Simrock the Summit Super Pro win.


With Saturday's crazy runs over, everyone went home and waited for Sunday morning, where the NHRA Summit series would take a second shot. Sunday's sunny day served as a grand backdrop for the NHRA Summit Series #8.

In Sunday's Summit Motorcycle, Joe Silva had a second shot at the win, but Corey Wilcox's 06 Suzuki and his 6.008 E/T on a 6.00 dial would be too much for him, as Corey takes Sunday's Summit Motorcycle win.

The Summit Sportsman was a rematch of Saturday, as Gary Harfield met up with David Peutz once again. David would give it his all, but Gary's better reaction time and 8.044 E/T on a 7.99 dial was not getting beat today, giving Gary the Summit Sportsman Weekend Sweep.

Summit Pro came down to Noel Cuevos went up against Barry Brown. Barry's 66 Chevelle got a small head start with a .044 reaction time, but Noel's .050 reaction was still quick enough to secure the win while running a 6.672 E/T on his 6.67 dial, giving Noel Sunday's Summit Pro win.
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And to wrap up a wild racing weekend, the Summit Super Pro brought back track favorite “Woody” Wood, as RJ Simrock came to try and give Woody an upset. RJ was faster off the line, but Woody's 6.614 E/T on a 6.50 would be enough to take the Summit Super Pro win, and wrap up this wild weekend of racing!

With this wild weekend done, our next event would be Friday, August 16th, when the track is open for all drivers to come and give their cars a test run, as starting at 2 PM, the track is open for test and tune. Then, on Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th, the NHRA Junior Dragsters are bringing the kids to the strip, starting at 10AM! See you there!