A day at the races

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CLERMONT, Ind. - Several local drivers competed in the NHRA 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. National drag racing competition at O'Reilly Raceway Park Aug. 29 through Sep. 3.

Bert Dawson, of East Liverpool, qualified his 2005 Chevy Cavalier powered by a 313-cubic inch Chevy engine after changing the engine between rounds of the competition. The engine change was accomplished with the help of several friends who assisted in removing the old engine and installing the new one in the pit area. Among those assisting were Terry Allison, Aaron Allison, Ron Traupman and Deb Dawson.

Bert was able to qualify his F/AA Cavalier with an elapsed time of 8.247 seconds at 161.94 mph, placing him in the No. 61 slot out of 80 cars.

Rick Brown, formerly of East Palestine, drove the Don Rettich B/TA 2000 S-10 truck powered by a Chevy 316-cubic inch engine.

Brown qualified No. 3 in competition eliminator with an elapsed time of 8.266 seconds at 160.52 mph, placing him 0.664 seconds faster than the national index of 8.93 seconds.

Brown won two rounds of competition eliminator, losing in the third round with an elapsed time of 8.279 at 160 mph. His reaction time was 0.019 seconds to his competitors' 0.008 seconds which was the margin of victory.

Doug Engels went on to win the competition eliminator with an elapsed time of 7.394 seconds in his D/Econo Dragster with a near perfect reaction time of 0.001 seconds.

David Dailey Sr., of East Liverpool, drove his 1948 Anglia powered by a Chevy 468-cubic inch engine. His best time was 9.81 seconds at 141 mph. Dailey was assisted by his son, Dan Dailey.

NHRA changed the rules this year for determining which cars would be permitted to compete for the final eliminator. They later expanded the field to include low qualifiers along with the class winner.

This year they announced that class winners would no longer be allowed to compete in the final eliminator unless they were one of the fastest 128 cares out of a field of 180 entries.

This rule created a lot of turmoil among the old school racers, and many did not show up at the event this year.

The bump spot to qualify for the super stock eliminator was .0891 faster than the national index. This left many good drivers out of the field.

Richard Feldman won the super stock O class with his 1966 Chevy 283 engine, qualifying in the 95th slot with an elapsed time of 11.546 seconds on a 12.5 index. He lost in the first round with a red light start of negative 0.025 seconds, running an elapsed time of 11.5 on an 11.49 dial in.

Top fuel was won by Tony Schumacher with the U.S. Army dragster, running 3.916 seconds for the 1000-foot track at 309.13 mph against Doug Kalitta's 4.036 seconds elapsed time at 299.86 mph.

Funny car was won by Robert Hight with an elapsed time of 4.312 seconds at a speed of 283.85 mph.

Pro stock winner was Dave Connoly with an elapsed time of 6.743 seconds at a speed of 206.04 mph against Larry Morgan, of Newark, Ohio, with an elapsed time of 6.797 at 204.7 mph.