Winners Crowned at delayed Summit Racing Nationals

The rain delayed Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals sportsman eliminations were completed on Friday September 6th.

NORWALK – After a two-month delay, the Lucas Oil sportsman classes finally hit the track in search of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA nationals titles. The return trip to Summit Motorsports Park included time trials and qualifying on Thursday with eliminations on Friday.

Summit Racing Equipment Nationals champions included John DiBartolomeo (SS), Check Beach (STK), Phil Smida (SC), Jeremy Mason (SG), Chris Osborn (TS), and Danny Nelson (TD).

2019 Summit Racing Equipment Nationals Sportsman Champions

Super Stock

John DiBartolomeo won for the seventh time in his career taking the win over fellow class veteran Keith Lynch in the final round. The win was his second in a row at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals after also winning the event in 2018.

After qualifying 30th with a 9.265, DiBartolomeo posted four straight 9.33’s to open eliminations. This included a dead zero pass in the first round.

To reach the final, DiBartolomeo stopped red-hot Ricky Decker in the quarterfinals to earn a bye to the finals. In the final round, John paired against Keith Lynch.

Both drivers posted .05 lights in the final but Lynch took too much stripe at the top end to lose on a breakout. Lynch was -.018 under his 9.63 dial-in while John posted a safe .015 over 9.385 for the win.

Stock Eliminator

Chuck Beach picked up his second national event win on Friday when Jeffery Myers red-lighted in the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals final round. Beach, driving his F/SA ’68 Barracuda, qualified #13 with a -.911 under 10.939.

The Delaware, Ohio based runner opened eliminations by winning the first two rounds when both opponents ran under their dial-ins. A third round red-light by Julie Biermann sent Beach into a round four showdown with Mike Cotten.

In the heads-up F/SA duel, Beach powered past Cotten 10.692 to a 10.816. The win earned Beach a bye run to the final round. There he met up with the FS/A ’15 Camaro.

Myers had problems at the tree in the final as he posted a -.499 reaction to hand the win to Beach. Beach was .098 at the tree and cruised to a .163 over 11.063 for the easy win.

Super Comp

Phil Smida won his fifth NHRA national event after defeating Adam Gerber in the final round. Smida, a DragChamp pick to win the U.S. Nationals, came through a week later with the big win at Summit Motorsports Park.

In four of his six rounds, Smida posted dead-on 8.90 laps to earn his latest Wally. In the final round, Smida was .028 take .005 to win a close race against Gerber. Gerber was .033 at the tree and both racers posted matching 8.908 elapsed times.

Smida took out hitters Rock Haas and Ray Connolly earlier in the day.

Super Gas

Jeremy Mason earned his second national event win at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals on Friday. He defeated class veteran Tim Gillespie in the final round.

Mason was terrific at the tree through the first five rounds never letting go worst than .012. His best package of the event came in the semifinals against Mike Jirousek. Jeremy was .012 at the tree and dead-on one to advance to the final round.

In the final, Gillespie was .017 take .017 to go -.008 under the 9.90 index. Mason’s .021 dead five sealed win number two for the talented racer.

Top Sportsman

Chris Osborn outlasted the 18-car Top Sportsman field to capture his first NHRA national event win. Osborn defeated class veteran Sandy Wilkins in the final round at Summit Motorsports Park.

Outside of a miscue in round four, Osborn’s lights varied between a perfect .000 and a .016 in the first four rounds. In round four, Osborn posted an .894 reaction but survived the round when his opponent, David Paone, left .027-second too early.

In the final, Wilkins trailed slightly off the line, .032 to .027, but got to the finish line first by .018 to run under by -.005. Chris trailed him through the lights with an .018 over 6.718 to claim his first win in his first national event final round appearance.

Top Dragster

Danny Nelson earned his third NHRA national event victory on Friday after defeating Tyson Fabish in the Top Dragster final. Nelson has been impressive lately after winning the Bowling Green divisional and making a semifinal appearance at the U.S. Nationals prior to winning in Norwalk.

The Arkansas chassis builder had a relatively easy road to the final on Friday. His first round opponent ran well off the dial, he received a scheduled bye in round two, and his third round opponent broke.

In the final, Nelson controlled the race from the start with a .007 to .040 reaction time advantage. As they moved down track, Nelson ripped the throttle several times to take .008 stripe and the win. His .034 over 6.194 covered Fabish’s dead-on 6.249.

For more NHRA Lucas Oil sportsman drag race results, click here.