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The
2012 edition of The Dash got started
this past Saturday at Maryland Int’l
Raceway. The playoff system, which
is in its third year for the Speed
Unlimited ET Series at MIR, is once
again living up to its billing as
being a more exciting way to finish
a points season. With the season
long points standings being reset,
bunching the top points earners more
closely together, provided ample
opportunity for racers down in the
standing to make moves towards the
lead in just one race. In fact, only
one points leader entering The Dash
left day one with their points lead
still intact. Top ET racer and
defending points champion Robert
Jones, started Saturday in a 3 way
tie for the points lead with Jaycee
Largent and Willy Hess Sr. None of
the three won first round, and only
Jones was able to make it out of
first round re-entry, winning a
tough double breakout race over
fellow Dash contender, Jake
Milstead. Jones lost second round by
just .005 to Gordon Herman, leaving
the door open for racers to gain on
the points leader. In round 5, Bert
Lewis and Candi Derry, who were
moving up the points list, faced
off. Lewis got the easy win when
Candi had a malfunction and left
before the third amber bulb. With
the round win, Bert jumped over
Candi on the points list into 5th
place. Jeff Groat then faced off
with Donna Nelson. Neither of these
two qualified for the Dash this
season. Groat got a relatively easy
win after Donna missed the tree
terribly. In the final pair, Dale
Smith, the 2010 Dash points champ,
faced off with Marc Williams. Both
racers have been hot as of late,
with Williams winning a $5K race at
the Superchargers Showdown and Smith
winning the gamblers race at the
IHRA Team Bracket Finals a week ago.
Smith, who started the day tied for
6th in points, had made a big jump,
moving into a tie for 2nd. Smith was
perfect on the tree, but killed too
much at the stripe, giving the
finish line back to Williams by .010
after killing over 10mph. In the
semi’s, Bert Lewis was the last Dash
contender standing. He faced off
with Jeff Groat. Groat, who arrived
at the track while first round of
Top ET was running and therefore had
no time runs, moved to the final
when Lewis turned it -.002 red. That
was Groat’s lucky run of the night
as he was .077 on the tree. In the
finals, he would face off with Marc
Williams, who had the semifinal bye
run. Groat found the tree again in
the final, posting a perfect .000
light to Williams’ .012. Groat did a
good job at the stripe taking .013,
but both drivers were breaking out,
and to take .013, Groat broke out
.001 more than Williams handing Marc
his second win in a month. Heading
into the final two races this
weekend, Robert Jones stands alone
atop the points standings. Willy
Hess Sr., Dale Smith, and Jaycee
Largent all sit tied for 2nd, two
rounds back. Bert Lewis jumped from
13th to 5th in points on the
strength of his semifinal run.
In Mod
ET, it was even a little more
shuffled at the end of the night.
Brian McLaughlin and Ed Talbert
entered the weekend tied for the
points lead. Brian had a rough
night, turning it red first round,
then having Dash contender Bart
Spicer post a .002 light in first
round re-entry ending McLaughlin’s
night early. Ed Talbert didn’t fare
much better going out in second
round to Janet Baden who was not
driving her regular ’70 Nova, but
rather a late model Cadillac CTS.
Baden had the better light and was
able to hold on for the win. With
both points leaders out early, the
door was again opened for some
points shuffling. In the
quarterfinals, Dash contenders Frank
Thompson Jr. and Joe Goldey faced
off, a rematch of first round where
Thompson went red. This was a very
tight race, with Thompson getting
the advantage with a .004 light to
Goldey’s .020. Thompson was able to
squeeze the stripe up very nicely,
taking just .002 to take down the
defending points champ’s dead-on
run. Fellow Dash contender Steve
Cross Sr. then took down Jeffrey
Gardiner with a holeshot win. Then,
Dash contenders Jason Kirby and
Bradley Tippett faced off. Kirby got
the narrowest of holeshots with his
.040 to Tippett’s .041. At the
stripe Kirby ran dead-on with a 1 to
take down Tippett, who entered the
event tied for second in points with
Goldey. Dash contender Nicole
Talbert moved to the semifinals with
the bye leaving only Dash racers
remaining. In the semi’s, Cross and
Thompson faced off. Thompson got the
advantage on the tree, .019 to a
.025, but was unable to run the
number handing Cross the relatively
easy win. Nicole then strapped a
.015 package on Jason Kirby to move
to the final, and into a tie for the
points lead. In the final, Cross got
a little anxious at the starting
line and turned it red, handing
Nicole the automatic race win and
the points lead all alone. The bonus
point for winning the race puts her
two rounds in front her father, Ed
Talbert, as well as Joe Goldey and
Bradley Tippett, who all sit tied
for second. Steve Cross Sr. jumped
to 5th in points followed by Brian
McLaughlin in 6th. Jason Kirby and
Frank Thompson Jr. jumped from the
rear of the pack to 7th and 8th
respectively with their semifinal
appearances.
In
Juniors, Robert Estevez entered the
Dash with the points lead, but with
a second round loss to fellow Dash
contender Maria Estevez ended his
day early, nearly guaranteeing a mad
scramble in Junior Dragster points
as well. Brad Keyton, who won the
IHRA Bracket Finals event a week
ago, entered the day, second in
points, and was able to close the
gap ever so slightly with a 3rd
round loss. TJ Estevez, who entered
the Dash in 3rd, had his day ended
in first round re-entry by Maria
Estevez as well. This gave 4th place
runner, Christopher Mattera a wide
open door to move up to the points
lead; and he took full advantage. In
the semifinals, only Dash contenders
remained. Blair Buckler faced off
with Cory Maloney. Blair got the
jump on the tree with a .018 to
Cory’s .050, and was able pick up
the round win in the double breakout
race. Christopher Mattera moved into
a tie for the points lead with
Robert Estevez with his semifinal
bye run. In the finals, both drivers
were on the tree. Mattera got the
jump with his .009 light, but Blair
was right there with his second .018
in a row. Unfortunately, Blair’s car
had a big stumble just off the line,
slowing him way down, and giving
Mattera all the room he needed at
the stripe to pick up the easy win,
and points lead. As was the case
with Nicole Talbert in Mod, the
bonus point put Christopher Mattera
essentially two rounds in front of
Robert Estevez in second. Brad
Keyton sits third with Cory Maloney
and Blair Buckler jumping over TJ
Estevez into 4th and 5th
respectively.
As was
the case with Mod and Juniors, the
Motorcycle racer who entered with
the points lead, did not leave with
the points lead. Jimmie Miller
entered the Dash with a two round
lead over Jeff Sweeney and a 3 round
lead over Devin McLain. Miller lost
first round when he had troubles
down track and slowed, and then
found one of the toughest opponents
in re-entry when he faced off with
Shayne Proctor. Miller turned it
red, and so as it was in every
class, the points lead was up for
grabs early. In the semi’s, Devin
McLain moved on to the finals with
an easy win over the red-lighting
Jermaine Proctor. In the other
semifinal matchup, the 2009 and
defending 2011 points champs Shayne
Proctor faced off with Kenny
Colbert. Colbert stepped up his game
on the line, posting a perfect .000
light, but was unable to run the
number, allowing Shayne to overcome
his starting line disadvantage and
move on to the finals. McLain had
moved into a tie for the points lead
with his semifinal win, and was
looking to take sole command with a
race win. In the final, McLain got
the jump with his .026 light to
Shayne’s .056. McLain then drove
around Proctor in the lights lifting
and killing plenty to make sure he
didn’t break out, picking up the
race win and extending his points
lead to just over 1 round. Jimmie
Miller didn’t fall too far, as he
still sits second, with a three way
tie behind him for third. Jeff
Sweeney, Kenny Colbert and Shayne
Proctor all sit tied for 3rd, 31
points back.
The
final weekend of bracket racing
comes this weekend, October 13-14,
with the completion of the Speed
Unlimited ET Series, the Dash, and
the Autofab Raider ET Series, at the
final Raider event of the year. With
the potential for very high car
counts, there may be a couple of
7,8, or even 9 round races available
for racers to make big gains (or
losses) in the points in both the
Dash and Raider points. The weekend
will be action packed with bracket
racers from all over the region not
only trying to win points
championships, but a couple of big
money bracket races as well.
Congratulations to all the winners
from round one of the Dash.
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