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WESLEY WASHINGTON JR
The
IHRA World Finals took place this
past weekend, October 12-14 at
Memphis International Raceway in
Millington, TN. Racers from as far
away as Texas, Arizona, California,
Canada, New York, Florida, and even
Alaska, made the trip to Memphis for
their shot at a world championship.
Four regular racers from Maryland
Int’l Raceway made the 15 hour trek
to Memphis to take their shot at
bringing home a world championship.
Wesley Washington Jr. qualified for
the Tournament of Champions (TOC)
runoff in Top Dragster by virtue of
his top 3 finish in IHRA Division 1
points. Jeff Gardiner qualified for
the TOC in Stock by finishing 3rd in
Division 1 points. Jake Milstead won
the Summit Sportsman Spectacular
held at his home track of MIR in
July, qualifying him for the TOC in
the 8.90 index class of Quick Rod.
Tommy Cable was not yet in the TOC,
but had a good shot at making it.
Cable had made it to the finals of
Top Dragster at the Sportsman
Spectacular at MIR in July but was
rained out before they could run the
final. The final round run against
perennial heavy hitter, Steve Furr,
was rescheduled to be run at the
Budds Creek Pro-Am, but weather once
again spoiled the race, forcing the
final to be run at Memphis during
the World Finals.
JAKE
MILSTEAD
Finally, decent weather prevailed in
Memphis, so Furr and Cable could
finally finish the race they started
nearly 3 months earlier. The win
would give Cable a much coveted spot
in the TOC. After 3 months of
waiting, the race was over before it
really began, when Furr turned it
red, handing the automatic win and
IHRA Ironman to Waldorf native,
Tommy Cable. With the win, MIR had 4
regular points racers in the very
prestigious TOC.
Before the TOC got started, the IHRA
had scheduled one last Sportsman
Spectacular to be held at Memphis to
give drivers from all over the
country one last shot at qualifying
for the TOC. The Sportsman
Spectacular has great purses and was
open to all in attendance, so even
though the 4 MIR racers were already
qualified, they all entered the race
to try to win some extra cash. Jeff
Gardiner made a nice run in
Sportsman Spectacular before losing
the very tough North Carolina
runner, Brandon Peterson in round 3
of Stock. Wesley Washington’s
Sportsman Spectacular ended earlier
than he hoped as he was knocked out
in round 1 re-entry by Michael
Pennington who hails from Texas.
TOMMY
CABLE
Tommy Cable, who was driving cars
out of Anthony Bertozzi’s fleet, was
trying to make it into a second TOC
field. If he could win Quick Rod at
the Sportsman Spectacular, he would
find himself in two TOC fields after
his Sportsman Spectacular win over
Steve Furr. Tommy was also racing in
Top Dragster, trying to block
another racer from making the small
field. Tommy beat Chad Traylor, a
Virginia racer, and a regular at MIR
big money races in the second round
of Top Dragster. Tommy eventually
fell in the quarterfinals to PA
racer, Mia Tedesco. But in Quick
Rod, Tommy was making his way
through the rounds, trying to earn
that last spot in the TOC for Quick
Rod. Also running in Quick Rod was
Jake Milstead. Milstead turned it
red first round to very tough
Tennessee racer, Jason Lynch. But he
was able to make it through re-entry
to keep his Ironman hopes alive.
Both Cable and Milstead won second
round.
Cable got the bye in round 3 on the
strength of his .004 light in round
2. However for Milstead, round 3
wasn’t so easy. As he tried to start
the car to go to the staging lanes,
the starter broke. With only a
couple minutes to make the call for
the round, Milstead and crew were
just barely able to get a new
starter on the car in time to meet
his round 3 opponent. His opponent,
Rick Stroud, from Canada, was about
to roll into the waterbox when
Milstead pulled up beside him. Even
with the mad dash to make it to the
line, Milstead was ready, and was
.001 on the tree to Stroud’s .003.
Both drivers were on breakout runs,
and Milstead was able to survive the
double breakout race by just .002.
In round 4, Milstead knocked off
Arizona racer, Chuck Hawk, and Tommy
Cable beat Texas racer Dale Scates.
The way the ladder shook out, Cable
and Milstead would matchup in the
semifinals. In the hometown clash,
Cable was set up tight as he had a
lot more than money riding on the
round. With the win, he would be one
round away from a second TOC berth.
But it turned out Cable was set up a
just barely too tight on the tree
and turned it -.001 red, sending
Milstead to the money round where he
would face off with Texas racer
Shannon Brinkley. Brinkley had
already earned himself a spot in the
TOC in Super Rod, but would earn a
Quick Rod spot as well, if he could
get the win over Milstead. For
Milstead, there was a lot pride and
money on the line. Brinkley got the
advantage on the tree with his .008
light, but Milstead dropped hard at
the stripe killing 8 mph and feeding
the finish line to Brinkley who
broke out taking the stripe by .045.
With Brinkley’s breakout, Milstead
got his second win in as many races
in Quick Rod this year. The
Sportsman Spectacular Ironman and
$5,000 payday were a nice start to
the weekend, but all the local MIR
racers were looking to make a bigger
splash in the TOC World Championship
Runoff.
The Tournament of Champions was
scheduled to be run on Sunday, but
with severe weather forecast for
Sunday, IHRA officials decided the
TOC would run in its entirety on
Saturday. The TOC was literally a
meeting of the best IHRA sportsman
racers from all over the country.
The depth of talent in the pits was
astounding. There were well over 30
former champions in the pits, and
nearly every other car that staged
up had a single digit competition
number, indicating a top 10 finish
in the world in 2011. With world
championships on the line in each
class, and no safety blanket of
re-entry available, it was time for
everyone to step up or step out.
As for the MIR racers, Tommy Cable
had a rough TOC showing. Paired up
with former world champ Gary Bingham
of North Carolina in round 1 of Top
Dragster, Tommy missed the tree with
a .044 light, and that was all
Bingham needed to take the round win
and end Cable’s TOC adventure.
Wesley Washington picked up a round
1 victory over Claude DeBonis from
Florida in a tight race that saw
both drivers “double oh” on the
tree. Jeff Gardiner picked up a win
over a red-lighting Missy Phillips
from North Carolina. Jake Milstead
also made it through first round
when he beat John Biermann from
Florida. Jake had the better light
and ran an 8.901 on the 8.90 index
to move to round 2.
JEFF
GARDINER
In round 2 of the TOC, two more MIR
racers went down with tough losses.
Jeff Gardiner got the holeshot on
his opponent Jacob Pitt, from Texas.
Pitt, who won the Sportsman
Spectacular in Stock, earlier in the
day, got a huge break when Gardiner
broke a rocker arm in the motor just
as he went into high gear. With the
motor hurt, Gardiner had no choice
but to lift, giving Pitt the easy
round win. In Quick Rod, Jake
Milstead found himself paired up
against Division 1 points champ Ed
McCleaft from PA. Jake got the
slight jump at the tree with a .010
light to McCleaft’s .015. Jake then
dropped to go dead on at the stripe,
but the car had slowed down in the
more humid air, giving McCleaft
enough room to get back in front and
take the win running an 8.904 on the
8.90 index, to Milstead’s slowing
8.914. Even with their losses, both
Gardiner and Milstead can boast top
10 finishes in the world in their
respective classes, with both
drivers finishing 7th. With all the
other MIR drivers out of
competition, it fell on Wesley
Washington to keep the MIR hopes of
a World Champ alive. In round two,
Wesley posted another “double oh”
light to defeat Jeremy West of
Florida who broke out big time
taking way too much stripe.
In the quarterfinals, Wesley found
himself paired up against former
world champ Brett Nesbitt of North
Carolina. Wesley was once again on
top of the tree, this time posting a
.003 light to get the jump on the
starting line. The advantage on the
tree was enough to hold off
Nesbitt’s dead-on run, and Wesley
moved to the semifinals. In the
semi’s, he faced off with Canadian
Jamie Tupper. In a very tight race,
Wesley got the jump at the tree
again, and was able to hold on for
the win by just .0016 at the stripe.
With the win, Wesley moved to the
finals where he would face off with
one of the toughest racers in the
country, Greg Slack from North
Carolina. Slack knocked off Virginia
racer Chad Traylor in the
semifinals. The pressure couldn’t be
higher. A world championship was on
the line with one run to win it. For
Wesley it couldn’t have been better.
Slack, the slower car, left the
starting line first with a big red
light bulb lit, handing Wesley the
automatic win, and his first World
Championship. The two time track
champ at MIR had just taken down
some of the toughest racers in the
country on his way to biggest
Ironman of them all, an IHRA World
Championship Ironman.
Congratulations to Wesley on his Top
Dragster World Championship and to
Jake Milstead for his second
Sportsman Spectacular Ironman of the
year and a top 10 finish in Quick
Rod. Also congratulations to Tommy
Cable for picking up an Ironman in
Top Dragster. Congratulations to
Jeff Gardiner for his very admirable
showing in Stock and his top 10
finish. Congratulations to all four
racers for proving once again, how
tough the competition is here at
home, at Maryland Int’l Raceway.
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