NHRA Virginia Nationals Saturday Sportsman Results

Lucas Oil Sportsman Saturday race results from the NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

RICHMOND – Lucas Oil series competitors raced through several rounds of final eliminations on Saturday. Those who were fortunate enough to survive will compete on the big stage in Sunday’s final eliminations.

Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, and Super Gas competitors endured three rounds of racing on Saturday. While the Top Dragster class had two rounds of competition and the Factory Stock Showdown racers having one round.

See our Virginia Nationals pre-race Picks to Win the race here.

After successfully picking at least one winner at the last five nationals events, we still have a shot to make it six in a row. While several of our pre-race picks fell in round two and three, we’re still alive with several others.

Allison Doll and Joe Santangelo are still alive in Stock Eliminator heading into round four. Tom Stalba is carrying the DragChamp flag Super Gas. We’ll follow closely today to see if one of them can pull out the big win.

NHRA Virginia Nationals Saturday Sportsman Recap

Super Stock

Joe Santangelo will chase the double on Sunday as he’s still in competition in Super Stock and Stock. Santangelo has been good at the tree and close to the dial to earn his way into the Big Show on Sunday.

Waiting for Santangelo on Sunday will be Hemi Shootout star Jimmy Daniels. Daniels has been equally impressive on the tree which should make for a great race between two talented drivers.

Fourth round pairings include Emily Volkman vs. Carrol Morris, Kent Hanley vs. Bryan Worner, and Steve Comella will have the bye.

Stock Eliminator

As mentioned earlier, Joe Santangelo will have two chances to win on Sunday. The talented driver took out driving instructor Roy Hill in round three. He will pair against Ken Robinson in round four.

Team DragChamp pick Allison Doll captured a round three win over a red-lighting Jimmy Daniels. Doll has been solid throughout the first three rounds including a 10-pack against Todd Hoven in round two. Doll will race Ken Miele in round four.

Recent Division 1 National Open winner Lenny Williams continues his recent hot-streak as he moves into round four. Williams will meet up with 2018 Super Stock runner up Joe Lisa on Sunday.

Wallace Dent used a .009 light to defeat Jeff Longhany in round three. The win earned Dent a bye in the next round.

Super Comp

Two of our three pre-race picks made it to the second round only to fall short. Christina DiBartolomeo took too much stripe to go 8.891 in the breakout loss to Daniel Bisbano. 2018 championship contender Mike Robilotto got .0065 behind in his loss to Chase Fahnestock.

Top-end throttle stop racer Chris Garretson drove his 130-mph dragster into the fourth round after taking down Frank Altilio. Altilio had a killer .004 light but gave back the stripe by .0046-second in the loss.

Garretson will face Bisbano in round four. Other round four pairings include Jacob Otto vs. Fahnestock and Sherman Adcock vs. Colby Fuller.

Super Gas

Tom Stalba is carrying the DragChamp flag into Sunday after using a 9.901 to take out defending champ Charlie Kenopic. Although Stalba has been average on the tree, his top-end driving skills carried him on Saturday.

Michelle Furr was dialed in during the first three rounds. Her lights were .012, .010, and .007 while she posted ET’s of 9.913 and 9.907 before easing to a 9.949 in round three. Michelle will face Craig Porter on Sunday.

Tom Goldman was also dead-on on Saturday. Much like Furr, he was .009, .008, and .011 at the tree and posted similar 9.905, 9.913, and 9.941 ET’s. Goldman will meet Stalba in the fourth round.

Not to be outdone, Bernard Weaver posted back-to-back 9.90’s in rounds one and two. In round one Weaver was .012 and 9.900 which he followed with a .009, 9.904 in the second round. Weaver pairs against Tommy Corbett Jr. in round four.

Top Dragster

I felt good about our pre-race picks, Lauren Freer and Dan Fletcher but by the second round both were out of competition. Fletcher kicked it -.003 red in his second round match with Chad Traylor.

Number 1 qualifier Anthony Bertozzi had a second round bye to move into round three on Sunday. Bertozzi has been on a tear since the Gatornationals with multiple national event wins this season. He’ll look to add to his total on Sunday. Too bad I picked him for Super Stock instead of T/D.

Bertozzi will face John Taylor Jr. in round four. Other pairings include Traylor vs. Carson Brown, Junior Houston vs. David Batchelor, and William Brown will receive the bye.

Factory Stock Showdown

A combination of high temps, a tricky racing surface, and some parity adjustments made for an interesting day for the FSS racers. While the COPO’s led qualifying on Friday, Bo Butner jumped to the top spot Saturday with a 7.943. While the Mopar’s continued to struggle, the Ford’s and Chevy’s were the class of the field.

With qualifying complete, competitors moved into final eliminations Saturday afternoon. The high temps and tricky racing surface allowed for a few upsets.

David Barton used a 8.05 to take out Charlotte winner Bill Skillman. Chris Holbrook defeated a slowing Randy Taylor and Geoff Turk won a pedal-fest over David Janac.

Based on the winning elapsed times in round one, anyone could win on Sunday. The field is grouped tightly together which will definitely make this a driver’s race.

Stay tuned to DragChamp for more Lucas Oil Sportsman coverage from the NHRA Virginia Nationals.