If the tens of thousands of fans who attended the American Drag Racing League's (ADRL) Summit Ohio Drags, at Summit Motorsports Park, had been paying for their tickets, they would have gotten a hell of a deal: Two races for the price of one -- the conclusion of the rained-out Dragstock VII and the regularly scheduled running of the Ohio Drags IV.
Of course, as you probably know by now, admission to ADRL races is free (although peanuts, parking, and beer aren't), so no one actually saved any money. But they did see some terrific racing.
Extreme Pro Stock driver Richard Penland makes a qualifying pass, 24 September 2010. (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2010. Click directly on any of the images to see larger versions.)
At first, it looked like the weather wasn't going to cooperate. A few sprinkles on Friday briefly shut down the track. Fortunately, heavy rains stayed away.
Extreme Pro Stock runner-up Cale Aronson, doing a burnout just before a pass that served as both a Dragstock elimination round and a qualifying round for the Ohio Drags, 24 September 2010.
One of the big stories coming out of the Ohio Drags was who didn't make the show. Bubba Stanton (near lane) failed to qualify, in Pro Extreme, and Jason Scruggs, far lane, qualified a surprisingly low 13th.
Tommy D'Aprile (above) ran a stout 3.794/199.73, in qualifying, but that was only good for the 15th spot in Pro Extreme. (By the way, if you're not familiar with drag racing, you'd have a hard time believing how fast and hard cars like D'Aprile's run. Imagine a very fast street car, far faster than most of use will ever own -- say, a $250,000 Ferrari. It would accelerate to 60 miles per hour in the time that D'Aprile's car reaches 200 miles per hour.)
Friday was good to Spiro Pappas, however. He won the rain-delay Dragstock race in the Extreme 10.5 class.
Cary Goforth, seen above performing a burnout, also enjoyed his Friday evening. He was the Dragstock winner in Extreme Pro Stock.
If you had bet on Doug Riesterer taking home the Dragstock gold in Pro Nitrous, you would have gotten some pretty attractive odds. A surprise winner, that's him above, spitting flames.
No surprises here. That's Todd Tutterow winning the Pro Extreme class, in the rain-delayed Dragstock race, on Friday night, at Summit Motorsports Park.
The weather on Saturday was just about perfect for fans and racers alike -- sunny and cool for the elimination rounds of the Summit Ohio Drags IV. John Montecalvo, seen above performing a burnout in front of a standing-room-only crowd, took advantage of the conditions and made it all the way to the final round of Extreme Pro Stock.
Another surprise winner. This time it's Jim Laurita, seen here during an early round of eliminations. He took first place in the Pro Nitrous class of the Ohio Drags.
Alex Hossler was the number one qualifier and runner-up at the Ohio Drags, in the Pro Extreme class. He's seen here performing a burnout, just before making a pass during eliminations.
Chuck Ulsch's Camaro is as fast as it looks. He won the Ohio Drags, in the Extreme 10.5 class, when his opponent, Dan Millen, went red.
Toward the end of the day, the light at Summit Motorsports Park, turned absolutely golden. Here it is, lighting up Isaias Rojas Pro Nitrous Cobalt (and the Puerto Rican flag).
Terry Housley, the Ohio Drags runner-up in the Pro Nitrous class, performs a burnout during eliminations.
There's always down-time, as eliminations near their end. Crews are working on the cars, preparing them for the next round of eliminations. The ADRL filled some of the time by staging foot races involving spectators. Here are two of the nearly 50 who took part.
Two more ways to keep the fans happy during down-time: a pretty young woman and give-aways.
It was well after dark, by the time the race concluded. Here's Ohio Drags Pro Extreme winner Mick Snyder performing a burnout, just before his victory in the final round.
Nobody enjoyed the weekend more than Cary Goforth. He doubled up, winning both Dragstock and the Ohio Drags in Extreme Pro Stock. That him above, defeating runner-up John Montecalvo, in the final round.
You can see more of my photos from Dragstock VII, here and here, and more Ohio Drags photos, here. They'll also appear in East Coast Drag News.