B&M's Wild, Wild West Bracket Championships goes to Vegas

Story and photo by Dale Wilson

Racers from several western states got a taste of what the eastern and southern guys and gals have grown to like, a three-day B&M Racer Appreciation Series go that paid big bucks for a tiny, tiny entry fee. Race promoters George Howard and John Spar rolled the Wild, Wild West Bracket Championships into The Strip at Las Vegas May 17-19 for big-money --- as in $10,000 to winners in Pro and $1,000 for winners in Footbrake --- for a $150 entry fee for the Pro/electronics-equipped crowd and a $40 pit pass for the Footbrakers. More than 300 responded, and six winners in both classes were crowned by Sunday evening.

Racing at The Strip, one of NHRA's premier drag racing tracks, located in the middle of a huge racing complex owned by entrepreneur Bruton Smith and sitting just 15 minutes from the glitz and glamour that is Las Vegas, Nevada, was like icing on a cake for bracket bashers from California, Nevada, Arizona and points beyond, and the weather, aside from some strong winds, was perfect. The Strip's director of drag strip operations, Chris Blair, welcomed them and made sure the track was traction-perfect.

"Having a B&M race here just adds to the prestige of the facility," Blair said. "You automatically associate big-time bracket racing with George Howard, John Spar and B&M, and I want to see it grow and continue here." He added that since taking over management of the facility after serving a four-year stint as an NHRA northwest division director, his primary focus is building up The Strip's weekly programs. "Everybody expects it to be a perfect track," he said. To most, it was.

Jack Beckman, right, won Saturday's Pro class. Thomas Bayer was runner-up.

It addition to receiving the big bucks for their wins and runners-up, the six Vegas final contestants got the prestigious B&M trophies that were practically hand-hewn by John Spar, and one racer who won said the money was almost secondary to the trophy. "Just wait until (his boss) Frank Hawley (of The Drag Racing School) sees this. It's great," said Saturday's Pro winner, "Professor" Jack Beckman of North Hills, California, who won against fellow Drag Racing School teacher and employee Thomas Bayer of Alta Loma, California. Both men were racing dragsters, Bayer in a 2000 Worthy and Beckman in a canopy-equipped 1998 CCE digger.

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Footbrakers had their day in the Nevada sun as well, as Sunday's Footbrake winner, Tom Peters of Glendale, Arizona, mirrored Sunday's Pro winner, Noel Zweigler of Tucson, who was driving a Vega of similar vintage to Peters'. Other winners included two classic drag cars, an NHRA-legal Super Stocker and an everyday driver Silverado driven by a young driver, Shawn Langdon, who a few years ago was racing Jr. Dragsters.

Here are the winners and runners-up of the B&M Wild, Wild West Bracket Championships held at The Strip on May 17-19:

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