2020 Arizona Nationals Sportsman Final Round Results
NHRA Arizona Nationals Lucas Oil sportsman final round results. Val Torres wins again, Justin Lamb and Doug Lambeck make second straight final rounds, and more.
PHOENIX – After battling weather throughout the weekend, the NHRA Arizona Nationals raced to completion under beautiful skies Sunday afternoon. For the second consecutive event, veteran racers dominated the winners circle including the likes of Brad Burton (STK), Kyle Rizzoli (SS), and Val Torres (SC).
They were joined in the winners circle by Dean Carter (Comp), Ed Olpin Jr. (SG), Paul Mitsos (TS), and Art Hoover (TD).
Val Torres followed his Winternationals Super Gas victory with a Super Comp win on Sunday. Justin Lamb (SS) and Doug Lambeck (Comp) just missed winning for the second time this season after both came up short in their final rounds.
2020 NHRA Arizona Nationals Sportsman Final Round Results
Competition Eliminator – Dean Carter
Dean Carter defeated red-hot Doug Lambeck to capture his 16th NHRA national event Wally. After both drivers posted solid reactions, Carter drove by Lambeck at the top end posting a -.646 under 6.904 to easily handle Lambeck’s -.575 under 8.335.
Lambeck was appearing in his third straight NHRA national event final after winning the 2019 Auto Club Finals and the 2020 Winternationals.
Super Stock – Kyle Rizzoli
In a battle of top-ranked drivers, Kyle Rizzoli laid down a ten-pack in the Super Stock final round to stop Justin Lamb. Rizzoli’s .001 light and dead-on 9.479 in his ’69 Camaro stopped Lamb from opening the season with back-to-back victories. Justin posted his worst light of eliminations, a .042, in the final which left his dead-on with a two lap (8.872) about .030 short at the finish line.
The win was the ninth of Kyle’s career!
Stock Eliminator – Brad Burton
Brad Burton drove his Firebird to the Stock win after defeating the Mopar of Jon Irving in the final round. Irving grabbed the lead at the tree, .023 to .055, but broke-out at the finish when Burton turned him loose. Burton posted a .019 above 10.759 for the win after Irving ran -.023 under his 11.44 dial.
The win was Burton’s ninth in 13 final round appearances. Burton was the DragChamp pick to win the race although we got the class wrong. In our Arizona Nationals preview, we picked Burton to win the Super Stock class. He came close to winning there too as he turned in a semifinal finish.
Super Comp – Val Torres
Val Torres earned his second Wally of the young season after Cal Belden let go -.005 too early in the Super Comp final round. Torres was deadly in the final posting a perfect .000 light before taking a parade lap to the winners circle.
Val took out Trevor Larson and Chad Webber, two of our pre-race picks to win, before collecting his eighth NHRA national event Wally.
Super Gas – Ed Olpin Jr.
Ed Olpin Jr. used a huge .001 to .052 reaction time advantage in the Super Gas final to defeat Matthew Larson. In the battle of early-model Corvette roadsters, Olpin’s black version claimed the win after he eased to a 9.943 to Larson’s quicker but losing 9.932.
The win is Olpin’s second overall with both coming at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. His previous victory came here 18 years prior.
Top Sportsman – Paul Mitsos
After struggling at the tree most of the weekend, Paul Mitsos came up big in the final round posting a near-perfect .003 against Ed Olpin. Mitsos combined his great light with a .028 over 6.688 to prevent Olpin a father-son winners circle. Olpin trailed at both ends of the track posting a .023 light and a .035 over 6.935 in the loss.
The win gives Mitsos two victories in three national event finals. One final note, Mitsos was also our pre-race pick to win the class!
Top Dragster – Art Hoover
Art Hoover was .012 dead three in the Top Dragster final to stop Phil Unruh and collect national event win number two! Unruh, the DragChamp pre-race pick to win the class, came up short after posting a .059 light in the final round.
Hoover posted a 6.603 to stop Unruh’s 6.346 on his 6.35 dial-in. The win is the second of Art’s career.
For the third consecutive race, dating back to the 2019 Auto Club Finals, we successfully picked a winner! This week it was Paul Mitsos taking the win. Phil Unruh was another pick that came up just short in the Top Dragster final. And last, Brad Burton won but not in the class we picked him in. Either way, it was another great race with some well deserving champions.
Follow DragChamp for more on the 2020 NHRA Arizona Nationals. We’ll have full class-by-class results later this week.
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