We were back to Milan Dragway on July 5th for the Aeroquip Heads Up Series. The weather conditions forced a miserably great time. It was hot and the air was thick but it was a day where the nitrous guys had an opportunity to shine! I cruised the pits taking a quick inventory on racers and discovered that Matt Bell was missing (Drag Radial points leader after June), as well as Ray Litz and JR Gibson. Mike Smith, Don “Mr. Z” Turner, Jim Parrot and Moe Alfaqih all made a fairly long drive to race the event (they also brought Barry “Showtime” Boone who raced in OL632) and helped to fill the Drag Radial field. I talked with Don Turner for a little bit in the lanes and he reminded me that a good program like the Heads Up Series at Milan Dragway shouldn’t be taken for granted. We talked about the history of the Series, other similar Series, and the failures that have come with those that have tried to duplicate it. Milan’s Heads Up Series has great sponsors and they offer payouts that are large enough to validate a longer drive, plus you know the track surface will be good at its worst and great at its best. It’s organized and runs efficiently even when there are multiple oil downs or mishaps. It was my first time talking with Don and he seems like a great guy! I hope to see him and his beautiful 3rd gen Camaro back next month!
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Round 1 Qualifying
The mid 90’s temperature combined with the upper 135+ degree track temperature made the first round of qualifying the slowest we’ve seen all year. If there was a bright side to the round, it was seeing the struggling 3 time Milan Drag Radial Champion back in the #1 spot again (5.01) just ahead of Aaron Johnson (5.21) with his Sunday Ice Cream Street Cruiser.
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Round 2 Qualifying
Although, there was a brief mist of rain just before the second round of qualifying for Drag Radial, the conditions stayed essentially the same as round 1. The delay was less than 5 minutes. After a quick double check of the track, Tom and Kurt had us back to racing. Still number 1 qualifier, Barran improved to a 4.64, but Matt Reese (4.67) and Rick Reynolds (4.68) were right behind him rounding out the top 3. At this point, 8 of the 14 cars in the field were in the 4.xx’s after round 2 of qualifying.
Round 3 Qualifying
A big dark cloud brought in a 45 minute downpour that created a rain delay that lasted a couple hours. The track crew along side of Kurt Johnson busted their butt to get the track dry and prepped again. I was a little surprised they decided to finish out the 3rd round of qualifying because it had started to get late, but they were able to complete the round for all of the classes including Drag Radial. Alfaqih stole the number 1 qualifying spot from Barran with a 4.52, Rick Reynolds ran a personal best of 4.61 to take the number 2 spot, and Dale Arbogast right behind him with a 4.62. Barran wasn’t in the lanes for the third round to defend the number 1 spot.
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Round 1 Eliminations
The bracket pairings were a bit confusing to me with 14 cars in a 16 car bracket. Normally the #1 and #2 qualifier would get byes in this situation, but they paired up the field of 14 cars with each other and then created a bye vs a bye as a pair to make up the 16 car bracket. By doing it this way, it changes the matchups which could have cost/won a racer a round win in points and the money. Matching up the #1 qualifier with the lowest qualifier in round 1 and then giving him a bye in round 2 if he wins doesn’t seem right to me. Although I found it odd, I didn’t hear any of the racers mention it when I was in the lanes after the pairings were posted. Round 1 of eliminations was underway! I took video from a different location, I haven’t decided which I like better. Let me know what your opinion is! Here is the first round of Eliminations.
The cars were in the lanes for round 2 when rain moved in and the event was ended early. The money and points were split among the winners of round 1.
I’ve been fairly vocal about how impressed I’ve been with Milan Dragway this year, especially with the Heads Up Series. The best decision was to bring Total Venue Concepts back again this year and lock them in for the 3 day weekend that includes every Heads Up Series event. I want to double down on that this month but also add to it. When I go through my photos and videos from the event, one thing stands out to me that I’ve failed to mention specifically before. Every picture and video regardless of the time of day or the temperature, Tom (the Commander and Chief of the starting line) is on top of every situation. He looks under every car, he watches every pass, he mops, scrubs, drags, sweeps, etc. Contracting Kurt Johnson and his crew was brilliant, but it in no way discredits Tom and his crew. Tom might be the hardest working and most alert track employee in the state and he’s been with Milan Dragway for as long as I can remember.
I’ll see everyone again August 2nd! When the points are updated, I’ll add them to the Facebook Page!
