July 2021 Racer of the Month – Austin Williams

Austin Williams is the DragChamp June Racer of the Month! A-dub made 6 finals in 3 weeks in 5 different race cars to capture the title.

DragChamp is proud to bring you the July Racer of the Month. As the racing season rolls along, we continue to hand out hardware on a monthly basis thanks to companies such as Laris Motorsports Insurance, Travis Theobald at Theobald Motorsports, and Wild Willy Fuel Fragrance.

After an in-depth review of the Laris Motorsports Insurance Top 10 Lists from July, we selected the top performers for the month. At stake is bragging rights, a custom trophy from Theobald Motorsports and a sample package from Wild Willy Fuel Fragrance.

Find the full July recap and Racer of the Month below.

Highlights

Before we get into the finalist and the actual Racer of the Month winner, let’s look back at some standout performances from July.

For the second consecutive month Wesley Lockhart made his presence known in and around the Kentucky area. Lockhart made finals on a weekly basis and at times made multiple finals on the same day or weekend. Steve Collier and Ernie Humes did much the same as both won on a consistent basis at multiple tracks. Collier added a big win at the World Footbrake Challenge and while Humes made the WFC main event final round.

A number of racers pulled off multiple wins or came up big during the month including Slate Cummings who ran himself in the $30K Summer Heat Nationals final round at I-30 Dragway. Lane Cavar dominated in the Northwest winning two of his three $5K finals during the month. Jesse Bobo won $30K on back-to-back nights in Bowling Green to earn his shout out.

One of the best performances on the West Coast came from veteran racer Dennis Paz. Paz drove his Super Stock El Camino to a runner-up finish at the Sonoma Nationals. The following week he went off at the T&A Race Club bracket race winning almost everything in sight. Paz raced to a runner-up in the Friday shootout, a win in the Saturday Gamblers race, and ran himself in the $7K final on Sunday. Even more impressive was he won both the Box and No-Box classes on Sunday (leaving off the bottom in Box) to put both entries into the final round.

On the NHRA tour, several racers made noise during the month. Pete D’Agnolo doubled up at the JEGS Speedweek in Columbus sweeping the Comp Eliminator class in both races. D’Agnolo also added a $15K runner-up at the Keystone 660 Nationals a week ago to showcase his versatility behind the wheel. Jody Lang and Cody Lane both doubled up at the Woodburn double divisional race. Lang swept the Super Stock class over the weekend while Lane did the same in Comp Eliminator.

Some other near doubles on the NHRA tour included Kyle Rizzoli who won Stock and was runner-up in Super Stock at the rescheduled Winternationals. Paul Nero made the Top Dragster finals at Sonoma and Pomona on back-to-back weekends. After a runner-up in Sonoma, the former World Champ grabbed the Wally at the Winternationals. Danny Nelson nearly pulled off the double in Top Dragster at the doubleheader in Topeka. He came up one win light short of sweeping the weekend.

Top Contenders

Nasty Nick Hastings makes yet another appearance in our Racer of the Month title chase. Nick lead the Laris Motorsports Insurance Top 10 List on back-to-back weeks after sweeping the No-Box class at Quaker City and then doubling up at Norwalk the following week. The double at Norwalk was the first time someone had won twice on the same day in two different cars at the famed facility.

Doug Foley Jr. pulled off one of the biggest paydays of the season to put himself in contention for the Racer of the Month title. Racing at the rescheduled Loose Rocker St. Patrick’s 300, Foley pulled off the $300K victory in a rent-a-ride blown dragster. He was also doubled at seven cars in his dragster. A week earlier Two-seater pulled off a $30K victory at the VMP Triple Threat Bracket Series.

Jeff Serra also enjoyed tremendous success on the racetrack during the month of July. Serra won $75,000 at the VMP Triple Threat series and a few days later raced to two $40,000 final round finishes in Galot at the St. Patrick’s 300.

July Racer of the Month

Austin Williams is your DragChamp July Racer of the Month! A-dub has a July to remember after making six final rounds in five cars in three weeks. Williams drove to final rounds in the Hefler Bros. Ford Bronco, shorty dragster, and Chevy II. He also made two finals, Super Comp and Stock, at the Division 5 double divisional at Topeka.

Williams drove the Bronco II to the Pro class win at Xtreme Raceway and to a Doorcar Shootout win at the Redemption Rogue race in Ennis. He also added a Shootout runner-up at the Rogue event and was still in at six cars in the Index race when the rain came.

At the Summer Heat Nationals at I-30, Williams made 40 laps over the weekend going deep off the bottom and top both days. Along the way he also raced to a win and a runner-up in Ardmore in the shorty dragster. In Topeka Williams won Super Comp on Friday night at Topeka and followed with a runner-up on Sunday in Stock to cap off an incredible month of racing.

A-dub got bonus points for sporting his Dale Earnhardt tribute firesuit along side Uncle Sam in the Topeka winners circle!

Congratulations to Austin on a great month of racing and for winning the DragChamp Racer of the Month award presented by Theobald Motorsports! He will receive a custom trophy for his efforts courtesy of Travis Theobald at Theobald Motorsports. In addition, he will receive a Wild Willy Fuel Fragrance sample package. Wild Willy offers over 60 different fragrances that work with any engine combination, fuel, and induction system.

How the winner is determined: The DragChamp Racer of the Month award is presented to the racer that makes the biggest impact on the Top 10 List during the month.  To be considered for the Racer of the Month title, a racer must make at least one Top 10 appearance during the month.  At the end of the month, we review the weekly Top 10 lists and select the racer that made the most significant impact on the list. The winner receives a custom Racer of the Month trophy courtesy of Travis Theobald at Theobald Motorsports and a sample package of fuel fragrances from Wild Willy Fuel Fragrance.