Sunny skies mean plenty of weekend racing action Aug. 14, 2007 By MATT TUNSETH/Frontiersman WASILLA - While racing at local tracks was severely limited two weekends ago by constant showers, the past weekend saw nothing but sunshine at the Valley's three major tracks. With just a few weeks left in the racing season, drivers need as much more sunshine as they can get heading into the home stretch. A full schedule of racing action is on the slate for this coming weekend, with things getting kicked off Wednesday with a Sportsman Class event at Alaska Raceway Park in the Butte. Capitol Speedway Cook dominates weekend truck races Brad Cook narrowed Michael Gallagher's season points lead in the Pick-Up class to 180 points after winning seven of eight heats of racing over the weekend at Capitol Speedway in Willow. Six drivers won at least four weekend heats Saturday and Sunday, including Clifford Barney in the 360 sprints, Jeff Wallace in the 300 sprints, Steven Vial in the Hobby Stocks, Ralph Gobert in the Stocks, and Dave Burke in the Mini Stocks. Stock and sprint car racing at the track, which is located at Mile 75.5 of the Parks Highway, will continue this weekend with races scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Call 495-6420 or visit www.capitolspeedway.org for more information. North Star Speedway Wittner, Pruhs earn clean sweeps Saturday Eric Wittner and Dannner Pruhs each swept all three heats in their respective classes Saturday during GCI Saturday Night Thunder at North Star Speedway in Wasilla. Pruhs earned a perfect 160 points for winning each of the Bandolero class races, while Wittner did the same in the SST class. Other top performers on the day included two-time winners John Klayum in the Baby Grands, Rob Tirpack in the Late Models, Alex Schwochert in the Mini Stocks and Rich Schwab in the Thunder Stocks. Also picking up single heat wins were Dana Pruhs in the Baby Grands, Damian LaMountain in the Late Models, Tim Mills in the Legends, Mike Schwochert in the Mini Stocks and Artie Niemi in the Thunder Stocks. Racing this weekend at North Star is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., with gates opening at 2 p.m. This weekend's event will feature a sportsman-super truck grudge match. For more information, call the track at 746-6825 or visit www.northstarspeedway.com Alaska Raceway Park Roloff wins first Super ET title in two years Wasilla's Randy Roloff came back from being eliminated in the Top ET class to win his first Super ET title in two years Saturday at Alaska Raceway Park in the Butte. Races were slightly delayed by wet track conditions early in the day, but the track was able to host a full slate of drag racing action after the sun came out. Anchorage's Rich Kirk won the Top Eliminator with a time of 229 miles per hour, defeating Toni Prockish of Anchorage. Other winners included Palmer's Nathan Thornsley in the Top ET, Palmer's Phil Hubbard in the Mod ET, Anchorage's Bucky Warenda in the Open Air class, Anchorage's Johnny Vest in the Junior Dragster and Adrian Nigrila, of Elmendorf AFB, in the Trophy class. Racing at the track, which is located at Mile 10.4 of the Old Glenn Highway, will continue Wednesday with Street Performance Series races. For more information, call 746-7223 or visit akracewaypark.com Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@ frontiersman.com Alaska Raceway Park Drag Racing Saturday, Aug. 12 Butte Top Eliminator Winner: Rich Kirk, Anchorage, 6.00, 5.7119, .0920, 229 mph Runner-Up: Toni Prockish, Anchorage, 7.00, 7.1121, -.0261, 191 mph Top ET Winner: Nathan Thornsley, Palmer, 10.67, 10.66, .0490, 122 mph Runner-Up: David Arbuckle, Anchorage, 8.71, 8.76, -.0032, 150 mph Mod ET Winner: Phil Hubbard, Palmer, 9.95, 10.01, .0370, 130 mph Runner-Up: Dwayne Lile, Anchorage, 10.80, 10.85, .0718, 114 mph Super ET Winner: Randy Roloff, Wasilla, 12.38, 12.37, .0188, 102 mph Runner-Up: Mike Mihalka, Anchorage, 12.56, 12.50, .2380, 106 mph Open Air Winner: Bucky Warenda, Anchorage, 10.96, 10.96, .1028, 113 mph Runner-Up: Jim Trueblood, Anchorage, 9.95, 12.29, .5010, 148 mph Junior Dragster Winner: Johnny Vest, Anchorage, 9.74, 9.78, .0670, 66 mph Runner-Up: Cody Kirk, Anchorage, 9.55, 9.52, .1850, 68 mph Trophy Winner: Adrian Nigrila, Elmendorf AFB, 13.85, 13.85, .1030, 99 mph Runner-Up: David Dargis, Wasilla, 12.20, 22.99, RED, 110 mph Capitol Speedway Willow Stocks and Sprints Overall season points standings Pick-Ups 1. Michael Gallagher, 1290; 2. Brad Cook, 1110; 3. James Ross, 1109; 4. Robby Arlt, 593; 5. Millie Wade, 577; 6. Dradin Hyatt, 412; 7. John Butcher, 376; 8. Dozer, 185; 9. Raquel Thurman, 136 300 Sprints 1. Jeff Wallace, 627; 2. Charles Goodenough, 523; 3. Robert Kirkhill, 195; 4. Robert Watkins, 162; 5. Royal Cutway, 103; 6. Ron Cartwright, 115; 7. Brad Cutway, 26; 8. Jerry Mitchell, 21 360 Sprints 1. Cliffort Barney, 600; 2. John McDonald, 396; 3. Doug Fisher, 381; 4. Terry Bundtrock, 297; 5. Bob Erdman, 238; 6. Pete Ishii, 230; 7. Ernie Segar, 163; 8. Robert Dall, 88; 9. Bob Gardiffe, 75; 10. Tyler McDonald, 34 Modified Lite 1. George Park, 99; 2. Jeff Evans, 72; 3. B.R. Smith, 55 Sportsman 1. Robert Kirkhill, 59; 2. Terry Bundtrock, 44; 3. Chip Defendorf, 29 Stocks 1. Ralph Gobert, 1475; 2. Tommy Potter, 1248; 3. Linden Fyfe, 1190; 4. Robert Potter, 1050; 5. Dean Nelson, 572; 6. Howie Fox, 543; 7. Tom Theiner, 472; 8. Andy Gallagher, 328; 9. Mike Kriger, 128; 10. (tie) Guy Hamilton and John Clemons, 75; 12. Raymond Shade, 71; 13. Michael Kriger, 70; 14. (tie) Wayne Oliver and Brian Vukasin, 61; 16. Charlie Potter, 38; 17. David Rutheford, 34; 18. Tom Wrench, 19 Mini Stocks 1. Dale Brummer, 1141; 2. Dave Burke, 699; 3. Fred Lloyd, 606; 4. Gary Rice, 329; 5. Greg Markee, 286; 6. Pat Weiser, 231; 7. Seth Siver, 221; 8. Milly Miller, 140; 9. Anna Burke, 44; 10. Steve Courier, 41 Hobby Stocks 1. Michael Kriger, 1453; 2. Steven Vial, 1362; 3. James White, 1240; 4. Rick Potter, 1144; 5. Tandi Fox, 996; 6. Collin Gardner, 950; 7. David Keene, 871; 8. Charles Goodenough, 284; 9. Brian Madsen, 144; 10. Brian Davis, 48; 11. Wes McClure, 17 North Star Speedway Wasilla Saturday, Aug. 12 Baby Grands Drive Heat 1 Heat 2 Feature Points John Klayum 4 1 1 157 Paul Houston 2 4 4 153 Dana Pruhs 1 6 5 151 Paul Landes 6 3 3 151 Eddie Landes 3 7 2 151 Larry Theobald 7 2 DNF 145 David Houston 5 5 8 145 Chad Sandstede 8 9 6 140 Cody Landes 9 10 7 137 Mike Bergt 10 8 DNF 135 Bandoleros Danner Pruhs 1 1 1 160 Annita Braun 3 3 2 155 Demi McDonald 2 2 6 153 Carly Meacham 4 5 4 150 Andy Schwochert DNF 4 3 148 Hannah Lewis 5 6 5 147 Steven Young 6 7 7 143 Cyrus Powers-Kyle DNF DNS DNS 24 Late Models Rob Tirpack 1 2 1 159 Tim Mutch 2 3 2 156 Eric Wittner 3 5 3 152 Al Ulman 5 4 4 150 Jom Simmelink 4 6 6 147 Jimbo Nelson 6 7 5 145 Damian LaMountainDNS 1 7 124 Legends Jeff Landrum 2 2 1 158 Tim Mills 6 1 4 152 Tom Lake 3 5 3 152 Al Palma 1 8 5 149 Amanda Palma 5 4 7 147 Chelsea McDonald 4 6 6 147 Brenda Hecht 7 3 10 143 Rodney Pucak 8 7 8 140 Kelly Sawyer DNF 9 9 135 Erika Bills 9 10 11 133 Michelle Black DNS DNS 2 99 Mini Stocks Alex Schwochert 1 3 1 158 Mike Schwochert 3 1 2 157 Andy Schwochert 2 4 3 154 Ray Butler 4 2 4 153 Mike Mobley 5 6 7 145 Bryan Barber 7 7 6 143 Lance Coleman 6 3 8 141 Jim Menard DNS 5 5 122 SST Eric Wittner 1 1 1 160 Al Ulman 2 3 3 155 Cam McGahan 4 2 2 155 Dean Thompson 3 DNF 4 152 Thunder Stocks Rich Schwab 1 1 2 159 Artie Niemi 3 2 1 157 Keith Jones 2 3 3 155 |