2018 NHRA Mile-High Nationals Top Sportsman Results

Morrison, CO – Greg Lair, of Canyon, Texas won his third NHRA National Event championship trophy at the recently completed Mile-High Nationals held at Bandimere Speedway.  Lair’s win came over a Top Sportsman field of just fifteen competitors, one of the smaller field’s this year.  Lair paired solid reaction times with a consistent racecar to work his way through four rounds of competition ultimately defeating Monte Green of Haxtun, Colorado in the final.

The Winner

With the win, Lair claimed his 3rd win in his 4th national event final, that’s an impressive record.  Making his accomplishment even tougher is the fact that Greg’s 2015 Camaro has a clutch, and yes he manually shifts the gears.

Lair’s run to the final started with a tight .004 win over low qualifier Sammy Gonzales.  While Gonzales qualified with a 6.83, he dialed 8.30 for his first round encounter with Lair.  While Gonzales took the lead at the start (.020 to .033 RT), his car could not run the number as he posted a .031 over 8.331 ET giving the stripe to Lair by .004.  Lair posted an all-out 6.994 ET on his 6.98 dial.

In the second round, Lair paired against Wade Kiefer.  Lair took a huge .038 starting line advantage and needed all of it as he couldn’t run near his dial-in.  Lair posted a .044 over 7.024 ET which was just enough to push Kiefer under his dial by -.011.  Kiefer took .017 at the stripe and needed to take .006 or less to capture the win.

Lair’s semi-final round opponent was world championship contender Bud Pruess.  Both driver’s turned it “red” but Pruess’s -.009 foul start sealed the win for Lair.  This would have been an interesting race as both driver’s missed their dial-ins at the finish line after both made all-out passes.

The Runner-Up

Monte Green reached his fifth national event final at Denver and was looking to score his second trophy.  Green averaged a superb .009 reaction time during the first three rounds of eliminations.

After a first round bye run, Green won a close race over Bob Cornine by just .005.  Green’s second straight double “0” reaction, .005 this time, gave him just enough room to take the stripe by about 18 inches.  Green posted a .013 over 6.983 to take the win over Cornine’s .021 initiated, 7.062 ET on his 7.06 dial.

Green’s semi-final opponent, Neal Schaffer, turned it red by just .002 giving Green an easy run to the final.

The Final Round

Lair took a huge starting line advantage in the final, .016 to .083, turning it into a win at the top end with a dead-on 7.028 ET against his 7.02 dial.  In running dead-on, Lair killed over 11 MPH to do so, looks like he found just enough brake pedal to seal the deal.  In the loss, Green posted an all-out 7.008 ET on his 6.99 dial.

Greg Lair proved once again that being unconventional can still turn on win lights.  Congratulations to Greg and his team on their win and for doing it their way!