Sportsman Winners AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals

Lucas Oil Sportsman champions and final round results from the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

ENNIS, TX – John Leibham, Kamron Wright, and Chris Holbrook all captured their first NHRA national event wins on Sunday at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Joining the first-time winners were repeat winners Brandon Bakies (STK), Vic Penrod (SS), Don Nichols (SC), Casey Plaizier (SG), and Joey Tanksley (Comp). Bakies and Plaizier captured their second consecutive Fall Nationals titles after Bakies won Super Stock last season and Plaizier successfully defended his 2018 title.

In our Fall Nationals event preview, we successfully picked Leibham and Wright’s victories. In addition, Wes Neely, our Stock pick, reached the semifinals before falling to Dale Hulquist.

2019 AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals Lucas Oil Final Round Results

Competition Eliminator

Joey Tanksley captured his fourth national event win after final round opponent Brian Browell fell off pace down track. Browell grabbed a huge .013 to .096 advantage at the tree before his car slowed considerably.

Super Stock

Vic Penrod threw down a championship performance at the famed Texas racing facility. Penrod came into the event needing a late round finish to pass current national points leader Kyle Rizzoli and he did that and more. The win, his second of the season and third national event final round of the year, moved him into first place in the national standings.

For his latest victory, Penrod defeated a red-lighting Aaron Stanfield in the final round. The win is his third in national event competition and came 13 years after his first which was also at the Texas Motorplex. Vic’s other national event win came in Chicago earlier this year.

Stock Eliminator

A year after winning his first national event at the 2018 Fall Nationals in Super Stock, Brandon Bakies repeated the feat with a win in Stock. In the final round, Bakies ran closer to his dial-in to turn back Dale Hulquist for the win.

Hulquist took a slim .035 to .040 lead off the line but ran a .070 over 10.930 to fall behind Bakies’ .047 over 11.387. The final was Dale’s third career final round while Bakies was competing in his third final round all coming within the last 12 months.

Super Comp

Last season’s #2 ranked driver Don Nichols proved his talents once again after capturing his second national event win at the Fall Nationals. Appearing in his third final round, Nichols locked into a tough battle with red-hot Christopher Dodd.

After an extended staging battle, both drivers let go .00 and posted .03 over laps. Nichols claimed the win by .0016 (about 5 inches) when his .007, 8.932 was a “thou” better than Dodd’s .006, 8.934.

Dodd has been stellar this season earning the JEGS Allstars win and the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals win a couple of weeks ago.

Super Gas

Casey Plaizier drove to his first NHRA national event victory at the 2018 Fall Nationals and repeated that performance on Sunday. The Canadian-based racer made the long haul worth it by collecting his second national event victory.

Plaizier won a super-close race over Tim Nicholson in the final round. Both drivers posted .02 reactions but Plaizier grabbed the .007 victory when his 9.913 edged out Nicholson’s slower 9.922. The closing rate at the finish line was 54 mph after Plaizier lifted to go 160 against Nicholson’s all-out 106 mph.

Plaizier opened eliminations with a 4-pack (.004, 9.900)!

Super Street

Young John Leibham collected his first NHRA national event win on Sunday after Jim Burrell let go -.001 too early in the final. Both Leibham and Burrell were competing in their first national event final round.

Leibham made our DragChamp pre-race predictions look smart after we picked him to win the event. For more on our pre-race picks, click here. He also stopped a potential father-son winners circle when he defeated Eddie Plaizier, father of Super Gas winner Casey Plaizier, in the semifinals.

Top Sportsman

Kamron Wright, another first-time winner took home the Top Sportsman Wally. Wright, like Leibham, was our pre-race pick to win the event. Both Wright and final round opponent Bengt Blomberg were competing in their first national event final round.

Kamron let go .010 but trailed Blomberg’s .006 reaction. As they moved down track, Blomberg’s Pontiac slowed to a .054 over 6.834 which allowed Wright to cruise to an eight foot win after he posted a .026 over 6.626 lap.

Factory Stock Showdown

Chris Holbrook captured his first Factory Stock class win in his first national event final. The number three qualifier drove past Ryan Priddy, David Hamp, and Mark Pawuk to reach the final where he squared off against 2018 class champ Leah Prichett.

Prichett, the number two qualifier, fell behind off the line .052 to .037 in the final and couldn’t make up the difference at the finish line. Holbrook extended his lead posting a winning 7.977 to Leah’s slower 8.017.

For more NHRA Lucas Oil Series drag race results and sportsman racing news, click here.