Racers Looking to Double Up at NHRA 4-Wide Nats

Charlotte – Lucas Oil Sportsman racers continued final eliminations on Saturday at the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. After running round one of eliminations on Friday, racers made their way through two rounds of competition on Saturday. Several racers are still alive in two classes as they look to double up on Sunday.

NHRA NGK Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals Sportsman Preview

Former Pro Stock racer Drew Skillman is still in contention in Factory Stock and Stock Eliminator. Drew is also looking to make it two straight Factory Stock victories for a perfect record in the class.

Monty Bogan is chasing the Super Stock and Stock trophies while Ray Miller III remains in Super Comp and Super Gas. John Taylor also has his name in the mix for a double on Sunday as he’s still alive in Top Sportsman and Super Gas.

Going into the Big Show on Sunday, the DragChamp picks to win the race are faring well. We’ll have a number of racers to cheer on in Sunday’s final eliminations. Follow along below to see which of our picks still have a shot.

Competition Eliminator

The story of the event has to revolve around number one qualifier Art Hodges. In his round one match up, opponent Todd Logan was -.016 red. Hodges must not have seen the foul and proceeded to post a -.700 lap that wiped out any advantage he had over the field.

While Art made it through second round with a scheduled bye run, he’ll have a tough time on Sunday after losing two-tenths of index.

DragChamp pick Randy Daniels is running strong and heads into Sunday only down .05-second in CIC penalties.

Super Stock

After three rounds, only seven Super Stockers remain. The final seven includes familiar names such as Childs, Tysinger, Santangelo, Bertozzi, Worner, and more.

Team DragChamp is alive and well in Super Stock as both Joe Santangelo and Anthony Bertozzi are still alive. Bertozzi made it to round four on the strength of two dead-on-the-dial laps in the first two rounds. Santangelo used a .025-package to eliminate Jimmy Daniels in round three.

Round four will see Joe Tysinger with the bye, Nick Childs vs. Santangelo, Bertozzi vs. Bogan, and Byron Worner vs. Greg Porter.

Stock Eliminator

Drew Skillman personally wrecked our Stock picks taking out Shane Oakes in round two and Dan Fletcher in the third round. After lights of .014 and .003, Fletcher turned it red against Skillman by -.004.

With only one pre-race pick still in the game, we’ll be cheering on Mike McMahan on Sunday. McMahan will face Victor Cagnazzi in round four. Other match ups include Jeff Longhany vs. Monty Bogan and Clay Bullard vs. Skillman while Gary Richard receives the bye run.

NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Friday Lucas Oil Sportsman Update

Super Comp

A couple of interesting stories are brewing in Super Comp. First, Ray Miller III continues to rack up points. He’s already won three Lucas Oil series races this season and is also making a run at the 4-Wide title. A win tomorrow would move Miller into the forefront of the championship battle.

Second, Chris Garretson continues to impress with his top-end throttle-stopped dragster. At just 130 MPH, Garretson continues to pressure racers into making mistakes.

Team DragChamp looks great going into Sunday with Jonathan Anderson and Ray Miller III still in. Anderson defeated our third pick John Labbous in round three.

Miller will meet Shannon Roberts in round four while Dan Foley gets the bye. Shawn Fricke will race Anderson and Garretson will meet Larry Bernshausen.

Another interesting note, Dan Fletcher was .015 take .002 in round three and didn’t find a win light. Shawn Fricke was .013 and .002 behind to win the double-breakout encounter.

Super Gas

Division 4 racers Shannon Brinkley and Joe Harper look to steal the Wally tomorrow for the Good Guys. Both are still alive with only six Super Gasser’s remaining.

Ray Miller III is still alive in Super Gas and Super Comp as he looks for the double on Sunday. Team DragChamp fell hard in round two as Michelle Furr, Steve Furr, and Sherman Adcock bowed out.

Miller will race Brinkley in round four, Harper will race Carl Watt, and John Taylor will race defending event champ Ken Griffiths.

Top Sportsman

Only seven drivers remain in Top Sportsman as we race towards the Wally. Team DragChamp is down to just David Tatum after Sandy Wilkins was -.008 red in round two.

Round three will see Vince Fourcade vs. Jerry Albert, Taylor vs. Harris, and Tim Molnar vs. Tatum, while world champ Ronnie Proctor takes the bye.

Factory Stock Showdown

In all, 30 cars attempted to qualify for the 16 car Factory Showdown field. Bill Skillman secured the pole with a 7.823 blast in his Ford Cobra Jet. Mustang’s held on to the top four spots in a show of strength. David Janac insured the second straight all seven-second field with his 16th best 7.973 effort.

Final Factory Stock Qualifying Order

Factory Stock Showdown Ladder

Round one winners included: Drew and Bill Skillman, Bo Butner, Scott Libersher, Kevin Skinner, Ryan Priddy, David Barton, and Chris Holbrook.

Although three DragPak’s qualified for the quick field, none made it out of the first round. Although, Leah Prichett put up a hell of a fight against Bill Skillman only to fall a hundredth short.

DragChamp has all your NHRA Lucas Oil sportsman national event coverage. Look for daily updates throughout the race weekend.