Perivolaris Doubles at Sonoma Opener

Marko Perivolaris dominates the Pro class at the Sonoma Raceway Drags 2019 season opener with back-to-back victories.

SONOMA, Calif. – The 2019 Sonoma Raceway Drags bracket racing season kicked off with a double-header race weekend January 26 and 27. With Track Manager Kyle Seipel at the helm, racers are treated to a professionally managed bracket program.

In addition to a solid purse, class winners are awarded big checks (Happy Gilmore style), winner’s circle photos, and event winner stickers. The track even features a live feed so friends can watch online. Big checks and decals are courtesy of National Shop Fab.

Over 200 racers entered Race 1 on Saturday while Race 2 on Sunday included 175 cars.

NHRA Super Class star Marko Perivolaris was the big winner over the weekend taking the Pro class honors both days. Marko wasn’t the only racer to make a splash over the weekend.

Udo Richter (Sportsman), Doug Love (Motorcycle), and Don Caesar (Motorcycle) also made the finals on both days with each racer collecting a win and a runner-up. In addition, Jake Guadagnolo made two final rounds in Race 2 finishing runner-up in both finals.

See below for complete race results.

Sonoma Raceway Race 1 – 1/26/19

Super Pro Race 1

Jamie Harrison (Tracy, CA) drove her small block powered ’70 Nova to the win over Matt Hartzell (Modesto, CA) and his ’02 Undercover dragster. Harrison used a .007 reaction and a .026 over 11.506 to take the win over Hartzell’s .029 initiated, .021 over 7.181. Semifinalist included Joe Brown and Joe Greco.

Pro Race 1

Marko Perivolaris (Petaluma, CA) drove his ’63 Nova to a dead-on 9.532 to take the close win over Jeff LaSalle (Cloverdale, CA) and his ’67 Coronet. After both drivers left with .023 reactions Marko collected the victory when LaSalle posted a .013 over 10.193. Leo Kirby was the lone semifinalist.

Sportsman Race 1

Nick Bublitz (Cotati, CA) took the Sportsman championship in his ’01 Corvette driving past the ’02 Mustang of Udo Richter (Oakley, CA). Jake Guadagnolo was the lone semifinalist.

Motorcycle Race 1

Don Caesar (Citrus Heights, CA) rode his ’07 GSXR 1000 to victory lane after defeating Doug Love (Novato, CA) and his ’01 Bonneville Triumph.

Trophy Race 1

Steve Ball (Napa, CA) drove his ’01 Mustang to the win over Jeremy Vellenoweth (Napa, CA) and his ’18 Charger. James Castleman was the lone semifinalist.

Sonoma Raceway Race 2 – 1/27/19

Super Pro Race 2

Byron McCulloch (Petaluma, CA) took his ’67 Camaro to victory lane after Justin Strom (Novato, CA) broke out by -.001. Byron was .014 at the tree and dead-on 1 (10.761) for a stellar .015-package. Justin was right there with a .017 tree but came up on the losing end with a 7.969 on a 7.97 dial-in.

Bob Nance and Joe Greco were semifinalist. Greco was a semifinalist in Race 1 as well.

Pro Race 2

Marko Perivolaris collected his second victory of the weekend in his ’63 Nova after taking a close win over Jake Guadagnolo (Linden, CA) in his ’72 Nova. Marko paired a .023 tree with dead-on 9.520 to take down Jake’s .009 initiated 11.837 on his 11.82 dial-in. Henry Roberson and Stephanie Paz were semifinalist.

Sportsman Race 2

Udo Richter improved on his runner-up finish on Day 1 when he won the Race 2 final round over Pro runner-up Jake Guadagnolo. Jake was -.009 red in the final to hand the win to Ricther. John Terry was the lone semifinalist.

Motorcycle Race 2

Doug Love improved on his runner-up finish by winning Race 2. In a rematch of the Race 1 final, Love had a slightly better light and ran closer to his dial to collect the big win. Ed Bradwell was the lone semifinalist.

Trophy Race 2

Glenn Terry, driving his ’72 Ford, reached the winners circle after defeating the ’16 Challenger of Jose Salvador in the Trophy class final round. Kathy Caesar and Gary Vellenoweth were semifinalist.

Follow DragChamp throughout the season for more bracket racing results.