- Results
- Top Sportsman
- Brandon Bernstein
NHRA Top Sportsman at Atlanta After 28 cars made qualifying attempts for the 2nd annual NHRA Top Sportsman Dart Dash presented by Country Motors Trailer Sales at Atlanta Dragway May 5-6, it was Earl Folse from the appropriately named Raceland, LA, who finished on top of the list with a 6.687-seconds pass at 204.66 mph in his 1968 Camaro. The winning car, originally built by Tommy Mauney as a Pro Mod entry for Steve Vick, carries a Fulton nitrous-equipped 706 c.i. Pontiac-based engine built by Folse and crewmember Steve Williams, who couldn’t make the trip to Atlanta, “but was still on the phone every step of the way making calls.” Read more... |
Brandon Bernstein’s “Hairy Run” Cory Mac’s wild Top Fuel crash at Bristol was still a hot topic of discussion a week later at Atlanta Dragway during the Summit Racing Southern Nationals, and its somber and tense repercussions were in the background here all weekend. They will be felt and influencing the Top Fuel ranks for weeks to come. In the deep background of Mac’s crash was the memory of Darrell Russell’s death a couple of years ago in a similar Top Fuel accident involving a broken frame. Atlanta is not usually noted for setting massive times because the spring climate is usually so much like a sauna there, and the air is too heavy and the track gets too greasy to lay down big numbers – and correspondingly stress Top Fuel chassis. Read more... |
Photos by Ian Tocher
5/8/06
Doug Kalitta raced to his second straight Top Fuel victory Sunday by beating season-long series leader Melanie Troxel in the final-round of the 26th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac at Atlanta Dragway.
Former Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, Pro Stock rising star Dave Connolly, and Pro Stock Motorcycle veteran Antron Brown also scored victories.
Kalitta posted a 4.469-second pass at 327.57 mph in his Mac Tools dragster to defeat Troxel, whose Skull Shine/Torco Race Fuels dragster lost traction 100 feet into the race. It was Kalitta's 26th career victory and a carbon-copy of last year's sweep of races in Bristol, Tenn. and Atlanta.
"This is still hard to believe, but I'm pretty happy right now," said Kalitta, who defeated David Baca, Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon in earlier rounds. "Two in a row is great and it gives us some good momentum. Melanie's got a strong team over there and we're all trying to catch up to her. They've had a really good start to the year and she's out there quite a bit on all of us."
Troxel's lead in the POWERade standings is now 132 points. She has raced to six of seven finals this year. With his win, Kalitta moved around his teammate Dave Grubnic and into second place in the standings.
