DragChamp Top 10 List 7/10/19 Edition
Welcome to the DragChamp Sportsman Drag Racing Top 10 List presented by In Motion Solutions.
7/10/19 – Just a week removed from the historic SFG 500, racers hit racetracks across America on the long July 4th weekend. Sportsman drag racing is alive and well based on the car counts over the last two weeks.
Sportsman Racing is Alive and Well
Over 700 cars entered the SFG 500 which was followed by record car counts at the World Footbrake Challenge in Bristol. The WFC hosted over 470 cars at the most prestigious footbrake race in drag racing.
In addition, there were over 700 NHRA sportsman racers in Indy for the Division 3 Lucas Oil divisional event.
If you think drag racing is dead, you must not be paying attention. In the last 10 days, there were races paying $525,000, $100,000, $50,000, and $30,000 to win along with a host of 10-15 grander’s. And that’s just on the bracket racing side.
With all of these big races going on, there were plenty of great performances to recognize. And that my friends is why DragChamp exists, to showcase the best of the best and to bring attention to our sport.
And with that, let’s get into this week’s Top 10 List!
DragChamp Top 10 List presented by In Motion Solutions
1 – Johnny “Bracket Racer” Ezell aka JBR
Just days removed for the biggest final round in bracket racing history, Ezell went off in Dallas at the 4th of July Under the Lights race. Ezell followed up his runner up at the SFG 500 with a $50,000 win in the 64 car shootout on Thursday.
As if that wasn’t enough, JBR went back-to-back winning the Friday $15K at the Texas Motorplex. He almost made it a clean sweep before falling in the quarterfinals of the Saturday $15K.
Each week, this guy continues to prove he’s one of the best bracket racers in the country. And for that, he earns the top spot this week.
2 – Jeremy Bousman
I always say if you win $50,000 or more, you’re on the list. Well No Box racer, Jeremy Bousman did that plus some at Byron Dragway’s Firecracker Nationals. Bousman met up with bracket racing great Gary Williams in the final of the $100,000 to win main event.
In the final round Bousman was .005 and .022 above to earn the massive payday. Williams was .038 and .019 in the loss. And yes, Bousman was leaving off the bottom! A huge win for the Iowa racer.
If I’m not mistaken, this was only the second time Williams has lost a $50K or larger final round.
3 – G-Dub
As I just mentioned, Gary Williams was your $100K runner up on Saturday but he wasn’t done. G-Dub rolled right back to the final round in Sunday’s $30K race. Although he lost in the final for the second straight day, two runner ups at an event of this magnitude was worthy of the three spot.
4 – Two-Seater Doug Foley Jr.
Two-seater is another racer that followed up a big weekend at the SFG 500 with a big July 4th win. Foley was the Sunday $50K runner up at the SFG 500 a week ago. He followed that up with a $30K win on Friday night at the Firecracker Nationals.
After breaking his ride in Michigan, he has driven Joe’s pipe rack to two straight final rounds! Looks like he may need to stick with this ride for a little while.
5 – Ryan Gleghorn
No, Ryan Gleghorn did not make a final round. But he does grab a top five spot this week based on his epic performance at the World Footbrake Challenge. The talented announcer from Texas spent most of his weekend in the tower announcing the WFC with Jake Hodge and others.
But the run everyone is talking about happened during the first round on Sunday. Gleghorn called his own lap from the driver’s seat of his S-dime! Jake Hodge turned the mic over to Ryan just as he was preparing to stage.
Ryan was commentating while he and his opponent were staging and he admitted to being setup “really hot”. He missed the tree big time and called it out on the PA. As they moved down track, Ryan knew he was in trouble so he threw out the anchor and dropped hard as he approached the finish line.
After missing the tree and dropping hard and early, Gleghorn pulled out the W after running dead on his 7.08 dial. .057 dead 9 was good for the win and a spot on the list! Thanks for the epic run Ryan, it’s an instant classic.
Here’s a video of the run.
6 – Ken Moses
Competing in Super Comp and Top Dragster at the New England Nationals, Ken Moses went undefeated on the weekend earning wins in both classes. In doing so, Ken became the 26th person to double-up at an NHRA National event.
Ken was on the right side of numerous close races at at the end of the day, was holding two Wally’s. He has now won four nationals in six final rounds.
7 – Kamryn Mason
So I mentioned G-Dub was the Saturday and Sunday runner up at the Firecracker Nationals. What I didn’t mention is he lost both finals to No Box racers.
In Sunday’s $30K final, No Box racer Kamryn Mason grabbed the big check after handing Gary Williams his second runner up in two days.
Super impressive win for the Illinois racer and worthy of the six spot this week.
8 – Jimmy Reeves
With almost 500 entries at the World Footbrake Challenge, the chances of someone winning two of the four events seemed improbable. Well, Jimmy Reeves didn’t think so.
Reeves kicked off the event with a win in Thursday’s $3K Gamblers Race. He followed that up with a second win on Sunday morning. Racing in the delayed Saturday $10K final, Reeves drove his cool Ford Fairlane to his second win of the weekend.
Two wins at the prestigious WFC is definitely worthy of a spot on the list.
8 – Brian Sawyer
Talk about someone on a heater, Sawyer is on fire in his Sudden Impact Super Street Camaro. Competing in his third straight national event final round at New England, Sawyer grabbed his second event win in three years.
As a matter of fact, Sawyer has attended a total of three NHRA national events and has made the final round in all three. I’m not sure anyone has ever done that.
In addition to his national event success, Brian has been red-hot on the Lucas Oil divisional series too. He’s on a 16-0 run right now in Super Street competition.
He won the Numidia LODRS, he’s still in with the bye at 5 cars at the rain-delayed Lebanon Valley LODRS, and he turned on 6 win lights at New England. Very impressive stats!
9 – Justin Cervantes
Texas No Box racer Justin Cervantes collected another big win at the 4th of July Under the Lights race at the Texas Motorplex. In the No Box Shootout on Thursday, Justin earned the $5K win. He followed that up with a quarterfinal finish in Sunday’s $7,500 race.
Just a few weeks earlier at the Texas Motorplex, Cervantes once again showed out. After earning the Lucas Oil Exclusive 32 car No Box runoff, Cervantes joined the Top Bulb group and raced to a runner up finish in the $10K Lone Star Summer Shootout.
On top of all of his recent accomplishments, he’s has stopped the unstoppable Jake Howard three times in recent weeks. If you’re in a No Box race in Texas, chances are you’re going to have to get past Jake to win. And that’s what Justin has done three times recently which secures the nine spot this week.
10 – Jeff LaSalle
Rounding out the Top 10 this week is Jeff LaSalle. After making three final rounds and winning a $10K 64 car shootout at the West Coast Classic, LaSalle doubled up at Sonoma Raceway. LaSalle won both the Super Pro and Pro classes over the July 4th weekend.
Shout Outs
Bryan D. Walker drove his S-10 to the No Box win at Ozark Raceway Park. In addition, Bryan jumped in his friends Beretta and won Super Pro on the same night.
Andy Tabor doubled up in Super Pro at Portland Raceway’s July 4th double-header race.
John Ratulowski won Super Pro at Gateway last weekend and was runner up in Pro. He achieved this by leaving off the bottom bulb too.
Tell us what you think, did we get it right? Who did we miss? We want to hear from you. Check us out on Facebook, share it with your friends. Let’s celebrate the success of this group of racers.
And remember, you can contribute to this list by commenting on our Facebook post every Monday evening. Thanks to all of those that commented this week.
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