Races 5 & 6 Double Header @ MIR Oct 14-16
The Warriors Outlaw Drag Race Team season came to an end last weekend and it was incredible! I have no words to describe the support we received from our racers. Let’s start with Saturday’s race:
We had 37 teams show up for Race 5 of the weekend so we had 4 classes ABC&D and the racing in each class was spectacular.
Matt Reinhard, new driver for Bill Cole’s 2002 BBC Procharged Firebird led the qualifying with a nice 4.16@176mph followed by Mike Gerber’s 2000 BBC Nitrous S-10 with a 4.24@169mph. Newcomer Jake Schroeder and his BBC Nitrous 2002 Camaro was the bump @ 4.39. This was the quickest 8-car field in the 12 year history of the Warriors.
Round 1
Matt Reinhard 4.16 Jake Schroeder 4.31
Ron Rhodes 4.36 Jake Naumann 5.11
Mike Gerber 4.24 Paul Satterfield 4.31
Keith Rhea 4.26 Eric Hendricks 5.23
Round 2
Ron Rhodes 4.24 Matt Reinhard redlight 4.09
Mike Gerber 4.24 holeshot Keith Rhea 4.22
Final
Mike Gerber 4.25 Ron Rhodes 4.57
Mike Gerber with his win is only 14 points behind leader Keith Rhea going into Sunday’s Race 6.
B Field Round 1
Ralph Hardesty 4.30 Scott Vants 4.54
Harry Troxler 4.40 Steve Willingham 4.48
Craig Walls 4.32 Tink Liptrap 4.48
Warren Vandish 4.44 Scott Kline 5.13
Round 2
Craig Walls 4.24 Ralph Hardesty 4.36
Warren Vandish 4.42 holeshot Harry Troxler 4.26
Final
Warren Vandish 4.37 Craig Walls 4.67
C Field Round 1
Chris Evans 4.62 Jorge Fretts 4.38 *
Scott Wayne 4.62 Chris Crusse 4.67
Erik Vandrew 4.47 Robert Nowak 4.80
James Houston 4.66 hole shot Butch Merson 4.57
* Jorge was DQ’ed for running faster than 4.42 for C field
Round 2
Chris Evans 4.61 James Houston 5.62
Erik Vandrew 4.42 Scott Wayne 4.63
Final
Erik Vandrew 4.46 Chris Evans 5.21
D Field Round 1
James Willet 5.54 Bud Buck 4.32 *
Andrew Dwarshuis 5.60 Johnny Haislip 7.74
Wes Mclain 4.97 William Myers 5.21
David Gates 9.37 Chris Dufresne no show
* Bud Buck was DQ’ed for running faster than 4.97 for D field
Round 2
David Gates 5.16 James Willet 5.52
Wes Mclain 5.07 Andrew Dwarshuis 5.83
Final
David Gates 5.13 holeshot Wes Mclain 5.11
That wraps up Day 1 of great racing!
Race 6 Final Race of 2022
We had 25 cars for Sunday’s race and it was amazing. I can say that in 12 years of competition, this was one of the best.
Jake Naumann and his beautiful 1970 BBC Nitrous Powered Nova led qualifying with a 4.13@169mph followed closely by Matt Reinhard’s 4.16@176mph.
A Field Round 1
Jorge Fretts 4.66 Jake Naumann 4.93
Keith Rhea 4.23 Bud Buck 4.28
Matt Reinhard 4.23 Craig Walls 4.33
Mike Gerber 4.25 Paul Satterfield 4.38
Round 2
Mike Gerber 4.233 Matt Reinhard 5.60
Keith Rhea 4.234 Jorge Fretts no show
Final Round
Mike Gerber has lane choice over Keith Rhea by .0001!! This is it for the 2022 Last Warrior Standing Championship — whoever turns on the win light takes the championship. Ford vs. Chevrolet!
Keith Rhea .070rt 4.204 Mike Gerber .072rt 4.218
It was a GREAT final!!!!!
Congratulations Keith Rhea on your Championship!
Wait…..there’s more racing!
B Field Round 1
Scott Vants 4.42 Warren Vandish 6.33
Ralph Hardesty 4.39 Harry Troxler 5.94
Scott Kline 4.49 Erik Vandrew 4.86
Tink Liptrap 4.46 Steve Willingham n/t broke beams
Round 2
Scott Vants 4.43 Tink Liptrap 4.50
Scott Kline 4.42 Ralph Hardesty 7.99
Final Round
Scott Vants 4.43 Scott Kline 4.41 red light
C Field Round 1
Brad Harris 6.53 holeshot Robert Nowak 6.37
James Houston 4.62 Jason Unch 6.62
Chris Crusse 4.67 Johnny Haislip 5.87
Jimmy Posey 5.60 Butch Merson 6.01
Round 2
James Houston 4.65 Chris Crusse 4.91
James Posey 4.69 Brad Harris 4.91
Final Round
James Houston 4.64 James Posey 4.68
It is only fitting that James Houston’s win ends our Season 12 2022 season. In 12 years of our races, James Houston has NEVER missed a race. Is that support or what!!
So, Season 12 is in the books. I have people that need to be recognized for this double header race.
1st off, my wife Diana who keeps me grounded. My daughter Kristen and her husband Bruce and granddaughters Rylee and Kylee for keeping us entertained between rounds.
Tom Brown Sr and Tom Brown for all your help this year with teching cars and pairing cars each round. Laura Washington for the great job you did this year weighing cars and helping out whenever we need you (selling 50-50 tickets).
My friend Ralph Eaton on your support this year. And how can I forget Steve Reese @ Edge of Speed for your support and Don Staib @ Rising Sun Photographs for your videos.
Royce Miller, Gene Herbert, Chris Higgins, Fabian Brown, AJ Pinder, and the ladies in the tower: thank you for providing us with one of the best tracks in the country!!
Now I get ready to come down to MIR for World Cup and Jason Miller’s great race to support the Warriors that will be battling the import cars. Then to prepare for the 2022 Awards Banquet that I hope doesn’t have a snow/ice storm.
In closing, I want to thank the 66 teams that supported us this year. You guys and ladies are the greatest!!