There are so many things to cover from the Aeroquip Performance Parts Heads Up Series at Milan Dragway this month, that it’s hard to know where to start. It was a mixture of highs and lows and I hope to fit them all into this quick recap.
Until this year, Brad Tyson had been racing in the Drag Radial Class. I could write an entertaining book on the different setups he’s tried along the way, but in an effort to keep this somewhat short I’ll get the point. Brad made some much needed chassis upgrades over the winter and had spent the summer trying to get it dialed in. He is running a 315 radial in the Outlaw 10.5 class now. In his third qualifier, his car got a little loose on the big end and ended up against the wall after a 4.29 at 179mph pass. It was one of those crashes that take your breath away until you hear the words from the announcer that the driver is out of the car. Fortunately, the car wasn’t as bad as it should have been. Brad was in good spirits and already talking about how soon he would have the car back out! Everyone here at Race660.com wants to send out positive vibes for Brad and his crew as they work to get their car back to the track!
Also in the Outlaw 10.5 class was Tim Slavens. If you aren’t familiar with Tim, just google his name and learn about one of the most impressive cars ever on a radial. Tim ended up winning the class over Bob Ross in the finals but was only able to get his car into the 4.30’s during the event. The next day, Tim stuck around and made some test hits which included what I believe is the record for Milan Dragway on radial with a 3.89.
Now on to the actual Drag Radial class!
It wasn’t the day the weather forecast had been predicting. It rained in the morning and was overcast to start the qualifying rounds. The track had announced that it needed to make some changes in an effort to keep the event from running so late. Instead of 3 qualifiers, they only guaranteed 2 but would work hard to make the day run more efficiently in hopes to provide 3. Racers had to be a little more strategic with their qualifying passes to make certain they qualified well. In the end, the track crew did an awesome job of speeding up the program and were able to get 3 rounds of qualifying in even with an hour rain delay.
After 3 rounds, there were 15 cars qualified and EVERY car was in the 4’s. I’m hoping next month, we have a full all 4 second field with a bump. The top of that list in the number 1 spot was none other than Jim Monson. He decided to show up out of the blue and break the drag radial class record with his 4.25. Robert Cox qualified 2nd and Dave Harmer qualified 3rd.
These guys push their cars to the limit every month for a chance to take home some money. This year has been more rough on some race teams than others but across the board, its just been a rough year. This September we had a record number of cars break and it turned into a race of who could last the longest!
Round 1 of Eliminations:
Jim Monson had a bye, Matt Reese broke giving Mike Barran a bye, Robert Cox broke giving Mike West a bye, Dave Harmer broke giving Jim Parrott a bye, Karri Anne Beebe broke giving Wes Blankenship a bye, Ray Litz won over Aaron Johnson (spun at the line), Dale Arbogast won over Don Turner, and Kevin Hecht won over Rick Reynolds (spun at the line).
Round 2 of Eliminations:
Barran broke giving Monson a bye, Litz broke giving Arbogast a bye, Hecht won over West, and Blankenship won over Parrott.
Round 3 of Eliminations:
Monson broke giving Arbogast a bye, and Hecht won over Blankenship (spun at the line).
Finals:
Arbogast won over Hecht in one of the only side by side passes of the night in this class.
Great job from the Primer Nova team and Dale Arbogast to sneak into first place when the opportunity made itself available! Their car was consistently fast and went round after round. Will Arbogast’s 13 point lead be enough to hold off Robert Cox? We hope everyone is able to get their cars back together before October race. With 1 event left in the series, here are the points standings after September!
I think one of the best parts of the day for me was hearing track announcer Monte Kev, repeating over and over “That’s a new personal best” throughout all of the classes. Great job to all the racers and crews, the track personnel and Total Venue Concepts. We will see everyone on October 4th!
