National Sand Drag News - Atoka Fall Fest Oct '13 Race Recap

Atoka Motorsports Park in Atoka, OK hosted their Annual Fall Fest event in Mid-October. This race was the final point series race for Atoka Motorsports Park’s track championships as well as the Season Finale for the Mid-America Sand Drag Series. This led to some intense racing action across the board with racers from across the region and beyond converging on the Southeastern Oklahoma race track.

Top Alcohol

Rod Trower locked up the 2013 MASD championship at this event with the Thunder/Trower Racing/B&J Transmissions Top Alcohol Dragster. Rod and Marc Luce had a great battle going all season until Marc suffered a crash at Thunder Valley Sand Drags in September. Thankfully Marc walked away and is planning to rebuild for 2014. On this weekend at Atoka, Rod ran a best of 2.77/136MPH in qualifying. But Rod would save his best for last as he ran Low ET of the Weekend on Saturday evening with a 2.73/134MPH blast. Congrats to Rod on the event win and MASD class championship.

Rod Trower

Top Eliminator

The Top Eliminator (2.95 Index) class has a strong following in the MASD series and this race was no different with seven entries making an attempt in Qualifying. The top two qualifiers would swap the top spot several times throughout the last two qualifying sessions. When the dust settled, 2013 MASD class champ Missouri’s Terry Glasscock came out on top with a 2.962 blast in his Turbo Pinto-powered Dragster with Texas racer Courtney Stidham second running a 2.998 in his Blown Small Block Chevy Dragster.

The round one ladder saw several single runs and a bye; however there was one big first round battle. Stidham would face off with #7 qualifier Dee Trower. Dee’s potent Small Block Chevy in her Fast Forward Dragster suffered damage during the first day of Qualifying that would park that car for the weekend. Fortunately for Dee, the Trower Racing team brought out her new Fast Fours Pauter-powered Dragster to make test passes. This would allow her to continue on in TE competition. After finding a small problem on her two qualifying attempts, Dee would run a stellar 3.06/103MPH in her first full pass on the new car, but that would not be enough to match Stidham’s strong 2.99/107MPH blast.

Class champion Glasscock would kick off the semi-final round against 2012 MASD TE Champion Jeff Sieg. This one was all Pinto power as Terry took the win in a 2.98 to 3.12 decision. Meeting Glasscock in the final round would be the winner of Stidham’s Dragster versus Michigan’s Frank Martuscelli in his Pauter-powered Nitro-Burning Buggy. Frank had a great weekend running a personal best 3.04 ET with the Buggy, but this would be his last pass of the weekend as he broke the rear end about 60’ out while Stidham went straight down the track to a 2.99/105MPH victory.

This would set up a great final round by two of the toughest TE competitors in the Mid-America region. When the tree dropped, it was all Stidham as he took a tenth of a second starting line lead with a .029 RT and backed that up with another 2.99 for the event win in his first MASD event of the year.

Glasscock took the series title on the strength of two event wins and one runner-up finish. Terry had a staggering forty point edge over second place finisher Dee Trower. Congrats on the Glasscock Racing team on a great MASD championship season.

Courtney Stidham - Top Eliminator Winner

Terry Glasscock - 2013 Top Eliminator MASD Series Champion

Pro 1 Cars

The biggest action on Saturday night at Atoka was in the Pro 1 Cars category. The MASD point leaders heading into Atoka were on a crash course all night long with both landing in the final round to decide the championship. Not only was the MASD title on the line, but Oklahoma racer Tim Feuerhelm could also lock up the Atoka track championship with a final round win. Standing in his way would be defending 2012 MASD Pro 1 Cars Champ John Acker from Texas. This would be a fierce battle, but when the dust settled Tim’s Motorcycle-powered Dragster turned on the win light to clinch both series titles. Congrats to Tim Feuerhelm on his multiple championship season.

Tim Feuerhelm - Pro 1 Cars Winner and 2013 MASD Pro 1 Cars Champion

Pro 1 Quads

The Pro 1 Quads class also had its share of drama with the title on the line. Incoming point’s leader Danny Travis lost a close round one battle opening up the door in the championship battle. With that opening, Oklahoma racer Randy Kimbley took full advantage as he won his round one match up with a 4.307 on a 4.30 dial. This would earn Randy the second round bye run, and clinch not only the 2013 MASD Pro 1 Quads championship but also the track’s Pro 1 Quads class point’s title. Eliminations wore on to see the newly crowned champ Kimbley face off against Larry Holt in the final round. Kimbley would take a .027 to .042 RT edge, but at the stripe Holt would run closer to his dial with a 4.216 (4.15) for the win. Congrats to Randy Kimbley on his championships during the 2013 season.

Larry Holt - Pro 1 Quads Winner

Randy Kimbley - 2013 MASD Pro 1 Quads Champion

Other Classes

PTN presented the 3.5 Index class for the first time at Atoka Motorsports Park during the Fall Fest event. Stephanie Kimbley took home the first Oklahoma 3.5 Index hardware as she ran a 3.53 over Tom Coovert’s breaking out 3.46. Michigan racer & PTN Head Honcho Buddy Hammett drove his MWC-sponsored S-10 to the Pro 2 Cars victory over Jake Darling. The always tough Rick Lovelace took a big final round win in Pro 2 Quads over Danny Travis. Other winners on the weekend included Les Steelmon (Quick 16 Cars), Dustin Labrada (Quick 16 Quads), John Pate (Pro 3 Quads), Gus Griffith (Pro 4 Quads - Money & Trophy), Danny Mathews (Pro 1 Cars - Trophy), Nick Allen (Pro 1 Quads - Trophy), David Collins (Pro 2 Cars - Trophy), and Anthony Moss (Pro 2 Quads - Trophy).

Stephanie Kimbley - PTN 3.5 Index Winner

Buddy Hammett - Pro 2 Cars Winner

Rick Lovelace - Pro 2 Quads Winner

Photos Courtesy
Lonestar Graphics
NSDN

Event Photo Gallery - Courtesy of Lonestar Graphics

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