SUNDAY

Verigood, Stilwell, Lawson, and McGee score event wins

The final day of the 30th annual Mopar Nationals brought with with overcast skies that brightened up as the day progressed.  After a threat of rain that had been prominent throughout the weekend, the event was completed with little to no downtime from the racers and Mother Nature alike.  Stan Verigood was able to repeat as the Quick 16 champion for 2010 as he defeated Larry Smith in a rematch of the final round race from last season.  Also picking up wins today were Nathanael Stilwell (Mopar Super Pro), John Lawson (Mancini Pro), Terry McGee (South Oak Dodge Street), George Lawrence (Indy Cylinder Heads Nostalgia Shootout), David Hellard (South Oak Dodge Hemi), and Scott Morris (Mopar Muscle Young Guns).

Verigood, from Hamilton, Ohio, came from the #3 qualifying spot on the Open side of the field to win Quick 16 in his 2002 Undercover dragster.  In the final round of racing, Verigood matched up with Smith's 1968 Dart that qualified in the #5 spot on the Door side of the field.  Verigood made it back to back event wins when he had a great .005 reaction time in the final round race and paced Smith across the finish line stripe.  An 8.090 on a 8.04 dial for Verigood won the race over the 8.685 on a 8.62 for Smith.

Stilwell drove his 2001 Hunt dragster to the Super Pro win here today.  In the final, the Baltimore, Ohio resident got past the 1968 Barracuda of Chaz Augenstein and the Bob George Racing team.  Both drivers had been excellent on the tree, but for Augenstein in the final, Stilwell was just a little bit better.  Like Verigood, Stilwell cut a .005 reaction time and forced Augenstein to break out at the stripe.  Stilwell won with a 8.780 on a 8.75 to Augenstein's breakout 9.254 on a 9.28.

Lawson continued the family's winning ways at the Mopar Nationals with a win in the Pro eliminator final round.  His 1970 Duster from Pataskala, Ohio got the better of the 1971 Demon of Duane Gray in the finals.  Like in almost all of the final round races, the reaction time played a great role in the final outcome as Lawson bettered all of the Box entries with a fantastic .004 reaction time in the finals.  Lawson stopped the clocks with a 10.434 on a 10.37 dial in to win over the 12.646 on a 12.59 for Gray.

McGee and fellow finalists in Sportsman Dustin Goodin made the previous lights in the above classes seem slow in the finals.  Both Newark, Ohio residents showed the fans that it didn't matter how fast your car runs, if you are good at the Christmas Tree you can win anything.  McGee was able to get the win when Goodin red lighted with a -.003 reaction time, but a perfect .000 reaction time and a 14.432 on a 14.42 for McGee and a 16.436 on a 16.42 for Goodin showed that both are excellent racers each and every time that they hit the track.

For Lawrence, a rough start to the day ended with the Fredericktown, Pennsylvania resident in the winner circle in the Nostalgia Shootout.  His 1964 Savoy won over the 1967 Belvedere of Russ Berens in the finals.  After having to defeat his teammate Bill Krause on the laddered round one matchup, Lawrence got the edge off the line in the finals and forced Berens to break out at the finish line.  Berens ran a 10.982 on his 11.00 index to fall to the 11.518 on his 11.50 index for Lawrence.  The win by Lawrence ended Berens's quest for back to back wins at the Mopar Nationals.

Hellard and the Versailles, Kentucky based 2009 Challenger that he brought to the Mopar Nationals were the winners in the Hemi class.  Hellard was able to defeat the 2006 Charger of Pazz Neglia in the finals.  Both drivers were close in dial ins, but Neglia was too anxious at the starting line and fouled out in the finals.  Hellard got the win with a 14.188 on his 14.35 dial in to complete his championship run.

Morris completed the winners for Sunday as he won the Young Guns category over Brett Miles in the finals.  Both drivers drove well throughout eliminatons, but Morris got the edge off the starting line and chased down Miles at the stripe.  Morris ran a 10.729 on a 10.70 to win the Young Guns title over the 13.008 on a 12.97 for Miles.

That put a wrap on the 30th anniversary of the Mopar Nationals here at NTR for the 2010 season.  Mark your calendars for the 31st annual Mopar Nationals coming to National Trail Raceway on August 12 - 14, 2011.

SATURDAY

Cherry, Anderson, Rauske score first wins at 30th annual Mopar Nationals

Following the time trial action that took place on Friday, the 30th annual Mopar Nationals roared down the track in eliminator action today in several classes.  While some prepared for the racing on the track, a host of great vehicles battled it out in the Judged Car Show area, while others were looking for the great deals in the Swap Area and the Car Corral areas of the show.  A large crowd gathered to watch all of the action here at National Trail Raceway.  The hotly contested Trophy class was one of the main highlighted classes on this day and Brownsburg, Indiana's Bill Cherry came out on top for the 2010 season.  Also winning here today were David Rauske in the Viper V-10 Nationals event and Tyler Anderson in the Passon Performance Stick Shift class.  The Indy Nostalgia Shootout racers also held class eliminations today to cap off the great day.

Cherry fought through the tough field of competitors in Trophy to get the win in his 2009 Dodge Challenger over the 1984 Dodge Truck on Hamilton, Ohio's Tim Wisecup.  Both drivers had given their all throughout the event, but Wisecup was too anxious at the starting line and fouled his chances away in the final round.  Cherry picked up the win with a 14.001 on his 13.90 dial in.  Wisecup, seeing the red light, coasted out at the finish line to settle for runner up. 

Rauske placed his 1994 Viper in the winner circle at the 30th annual Mopar Nationals when the Rocky River, Ohio resident got past the 2006 Viper of Wakeman, Ohio's F. Allen Stieg.  With Stieg giving a half second head start on the index in the final round, Rauske expanded the edge with the better reaction time.  He used that, and a closer to the index run to get the win.  A 12.662 on his 12.50 index won over the 12.298 on his 12.00 index for Stieg.

Anderson, from Uniontown, Ohio, may have had the slowest car in the Stick Shift class, but it didn't stop him from winning in his 1991 Daytona.  In the final round, Anderson matched up against the quickest car in the class.  The 1964 Dodge 330 of Cedar Lake, Indiana's Scott Bourrell.  Bourrell got the edge off the line, but Anderson had the car dialed in and got the win based on his closer to the dial in run.  A 16.752 on a 16.73 for Anderson got the Stick Shift event win over the 9.588 on a 9.38 for Bourrell. 

In the Indy Nostalgia Shootout Class Eliminations, six racers were able to win their classes in the runoff.  The winners included Joe Davis and his 1965 Coronet from Vienna, Ohio in the C/FX class, Mike DeChicco's 1965 Coronet in the A/NSS division from Ostrander, Ohio, Wally Krueger and his Appleton, Wisconsin based 1964 Belvedere in B/NSS, Jim Guy's 1964 Savoy from Hilliard, Ohio in C/NSS, Gary Fenice's 1963 Savoy based in Moose Lake, Minnesota in D/NSS, and Kara Bowman's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania residing 1967 Coronet in E/NSS.

Racing action will continue Sunday with Final eliminations.  Racing with begin at 9:00 AM with the final time trial before eliminations begin.  The Car Show awards parade will go off at 12:00 and the Exhibition cars will run at 1:00 PM.