The 19th Annual 2017 Heartland Nationals at Atoka Motorsports Park in Atoka, Oklahoma once again was a huge success with racers from as far away as California and Tennessee competing on the 300’ in Southeast Oklahoma. Our friends at Lonestar Graphics were in attendance and captured some incredible photos throughout the weekend. They have a full line of merchandise available that any photo can be placed on. Be sure to check out www.LoneStarGraphics.com for all that they have to offer. Read on to view a short recap of the action we put together with some great photos from Gary & Michelle at Lonestar Graphics.
Randy Kimbley Qualified #3 with a 3.04 in the ultra competitive 13-entry strong Top Eliminator field. Randy then went on to defeat Jack Monroe, Damon Hall, Marc Luce and Russ Bailey to take the 2.95 Index TE class win at the 2017 Heartland Nationals.
Russ Bailey slid into the Top Eliminator field in the #10 position, but you never count this Missouri-based racer as he strung together wins over Jeremy Click, Dennis Burrows and Russ Payne to reach the final round. Russ finished out the event with a Runner-Up finish after coming up just short against Randy Kimbley in the final.
John Pate was the #1 Qualifier in Top Eliminator with a strong 2.96 ET on the 2.95 Class Index. Unfortunately John had parts breakage in qualifying and was unable to participate in Eliminations.
New Mexico's Mike Dzek had a tremendous weekend in Atoka as he scored both the Pro 1 Cars win on Sunday as well as the Saturday night 3.5 Index victory with his freshly painted "Suddenly Broke" Dragster.
Oklahoma's own Nick Allen scored a big win for the home team as he took the Pro 1 Quads class victory by defeating Tennessee's Tommy Springer in the final round.
Les Steelmon got the job done in the Pro 2 Cars category on Sunday.
Arizona's Brock Racing was in attendance with Mike Brock taking the Saturday night Heads-Up ATV class win.
Randy Kimbley not only scored the TE class win, but he also ended up taking top honors in the Pro 3 Quads category at the Heartland Nationals.
Local racer Amanda Mathews continued her strong 2017 season by taking the 4.0 Index win edging out Vern Huffnagle in the final round.
Tim Feuerhelm is one tough customer in his Motorcycle-powered Dragster and he proved that once again on Friday night as he scored the Quick 16 Cars class victory.
John Moreland had his Hemi-powered Top Alcohol Dragster in attendance and did some testing with a Best ET of 2.82.
Damon Hall made the trip to New Mexico with his Krank-E Blown Alcohol Fiat to compete in the Top Eliminator class. Damon scored his first TE round victory getting by Tim Hatfield in Round 1 before falling to eventual winner Randy Kimbley in the second round.
Dennis Burrows Missouri-based Dragster has made great gains over the past couple years and at this race he made it to Round 2 of Top Eliminator before falling to his traveling partner Russ Bailey. Dennis also scored a nice Runner-Up finish with his Buggy in the Friday night Quick 16 Cars class.
California's Caleb Mings continued his strong 2017 season by recording a Runner-Up in Saturday's Pro 2 Quads class.
Keith Ahart is a Heartland Nationals regular making the trek annually from Phoenix, AZ to Southeastern Oklahoma to compete in the Pro 1 Cars class with his "Second Urge" Dragster.
Jeremy Click did a great job piloting John Moreland's TE car at the Heartland Nationals. Jeremy put down a nice 3.10 for the #5 qualifiying position before falling to eventual Runner-Up Russ Bailey in Round One.
Vickie Hall represented New Mexico at the Heartland Nationals with her great looking "Farmer's Daughter" Dragster.
Photos Courtesy Lonestar Graphics