5.90 Index class is dream come true for organizers and racers
Several drivers
score back to back wins
By
Wendy Curling
Danny
Curling and Willie Corl must have been hearing voices
similar to the ones Kevin Costner heard in Field of Dreams when they decided to
organize a 5.90 Index class at Northeast Dragway. But
the voice they heard said,
“If you plan it, they
will come.”
Their
vision came to fruition as 35 cars turned out for the inaugural running of the
newly formed class that also offers a membership program with a championship
points series. With more than 40 drivers already signed on as members, the
class as well as car counts at future races are certain to grow.
While
drivers came from near and far to test their skills against the four-tenths pro
tree, two of the best finishers were track operator, Tony Trueblood
and track photographer, Wendy Curling who each took a break from track duties
to race the event. Trueblood
and Curling each had not entered a race in more than two years, but quickly
settled in and got down to business.
Trueblood,
driving Ed Lane’s 1967 Chevy Camaro, finished third
and earned a bye run for posting the best reaction time during early rounds.
Curling
earned back to back bye runs in the fourth and fifth rounds for best reaction
time in her 1973 Dodge Dart powered by a 528 cubic inch motor built by race
sponsor, Kurt Bosh of Magnum Machines.
Curling faced Louis Eure
of Suffolk in the final round where she ran closer to the 5.90 dial with a 5.91
but Eure had the best reaction time of .427 and took
the win light with an elapsed time of 5.92 by a margin of .010. Eure earned a bye in the third round of competition for the
best reaction time in his 1969 Chevy Nova.
Skip
Moore of Chesapeake dominated the 4.90 Index class in his Pontiac Grand Prix.
Moore earned a bye to the finals where he faced Alton Jones, Jr., who fouled
with a red light start.
Troy
Anderson earned his first win of the year in the Top Eliminator class in Ski Williams’Chevy Cavalier. Anderson took the win light from
the starting line when his competitor, Donnie Edwards, fouled with a .498 red
light start.
“One-eyed
Dave” Reilly of Blind Faith Racing scored his second Modified class win in as
many weeks. Reilly posted a .519 reaction time and ran 6.23 on his 6.22 dial to
take the win over Bob Miller.
It
was deja vu in the Street class as Troy Styron of
Virginia Beach and Charles Fambrough of Elizabeth
City finished first and second, respectively, for the second straight week.
Luke
Boykin captured his first win of the year in the Pro Bike class with his final
round victory over Willie Warren of Portsmouth. Warren was best off the line,
but Boykin ran closest to his dial for a margin of victory of just .007.
Megan
Poyner of Barco earned her
second straight win in the Junior Dragster class as she faced the “Daddy’s
Girl” dragster usually driven by Erin Arledge. In
Erin’s absence, Carey Curling stepped in, put his macho aside, and agreed to
drive the fast, but feminine dragster. Curling earned a bye to the finals where
he fouled with a red light start. Poyner went on to
run 7.93 on her 7.92 dial for the win.
Points
race number three is scheduled for Saturday with gates opening at 11:00 a.m.
Time runs will start at 1:00 p.m. and will be followed by eliminations at
three. Friday night Test and Tune will be held from seven to 10:00 p.m.
Log onto www.northeastdragway.net
for more details and upcoming events.
.