Drag Racing Online - Race Results

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"Believe it or not, I would have preferred Steve to make the race and then won it (the championship) on the track, but this series is so competitive now and everyone out here is so good, I’m happy to take it any way it comes," Turner said.

Veteran rider Jim McClure raised the performance standard for Top Fuel Harley racing with an IHRA record-setting 6.429 in qualifying, backed up by a 6.491 win in the first round over Bill Furr. McClure also lost in the semis, though, to first-time finalist Mike Romine.

CANNISTER CAPTURES PRO OUTLAW CROWN

After qualifying her Nicoderm/Nicorette dragster in fourth place for the Pro Outlaw race at Rockingham, 38-year-old Laurie Cannister needed only to win her first-round match against Mike Decker to clinch the 2000 championship. It almost didn’t happen.

"I was so nervous before it," Cannister admitted. "I was just praying and saying, ‘Okay God, you’re driving this one’."

Both drivers encountered severe tire shake almost immediately off the start and began pedaling to regain traction. Cannister recovered, lost traction again, then gathered it up enough to scoot through at an off-the-pace 7.206 at 208.46 mph. Fortunately for her, Decker’s problems were bad enough for him to shut down before reaching half track.

"It was ugly, but we got the job done," Cannister said later. "It shook so hard that I couldn’t even see where I was going. I had to lift and got back in it and then the engine went to the moon, so I had to lift again and then I got it shifted and got it straightened out to where I could see again. I kept waiting for him to come around me."

Number-one qualifier Michael Barclay narrowly edged Cannister for the win in the semi finals, but he lost to rookie Mick Snyder in the final round.

As of next year, IHRA has discontinued Pro Outlaw and Cannister said she is unsure of her plans. She also recently learned her primary sponsor would not be returning, so the entire team’s future is uncertain.

"First, we’re looking for a sponsor, and then we’re looking at any of the IHRA pro categories," Cannister said. "Top Fuel would be our first choice, but that’s so expensive, then Funny Car, then Pro Mod. Our big stipulation is that we want to stay as a team. We’re not looking for something just for me as a driver; we really want to work as a team or at least stay together within another team."

MILLS WINS TOP SPORTSMAN SHOOTOUT

Doug Mills made the tow to Rockingham from his home in Alachua, Florida worthwhile by winning the Omega Top Sportsman Shootout with his 1993 Thunderbird.

The special race-within-a-race was intended to finish during Saturday’s "Night of Fire," but only a couple of first-round passes were made before rain forced its postponement to Sunday morning. Mills, the number-seven qualifier in an eight-car field, disposed of Kenny Rucker’s ’63 Corvette and Matt Grillo’s ’53 ’Vette before reaching Johnny Foltz in the final round. Foltz scored a huge .124-second advantage on the start, but Mills ran him down with a 6.778 pass at 209.10 mph, compared to Foltz’s 6.930/204.23 combo

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