Combs & Costabile Lead Winners at Staging Light Working Man’s $10 Grands

Smith, P. Combs, Blevins, Z. Combs, Costabile, and Novak claimed wins at the Staging Light 7th Annual Lawrence Motorsports Working Man’s $10 Grands.

Photos by Chris Mohring/BME Photography

Recap written by Staging Light

XENIA, OH- Staging Light kicked off their race season with the 7th Annual Lawrence Motorsports Auto & Trailer Sales Working Man’s 10 Grands presented by McCarty Auto Parts, Inc. which took place from April 25-27, 2025 at Kil-Kare Raceway in Xenia, OH. Unfortunately Mother B. Nature won Summit Racing Equipment Friday with a consistent package of misty rain that no one could get inside of. However, Hot Shot’s Secret Saturday and Abruzzi Racing Transmissions & Converters ran according to schedule with $10,000-to-win Top E.T, $2,500-to-win No-Box, and $600-to-win Junior Dragster.

See full event recap below.

Hot Shot’s Secret Saturday

No-Box

Hot Shot’s Secret Saturday brought cool conditions with a dry forecast, but that 0% chance of rain and nothing on the radar still resulted in a intermittent light mist that set us behind. But once we were finally able to get into full swing, the day got progressively better and the on track action was hot. The $2,500 to win No-Box side saw Anthony Smith put on a clinic. He finished his beautiful new 1st gen Camaro just four days earlier, and despite fighting numerous new car gremlins, he defeated not only those gremlins but also every challenger to remain double entered into the semifinals. There, Smith held the bye on one entry and faced off against Jason Ford with the other. With comparable .023 vs .021 reaction times, the action moved to the top end, where Ford took .015 to be .002 under his 6.59 dial-in.

With a semifinal round win and the semifinal bye, Anthony Smith’s legendary performance secured him both the win and the runner-up in No-Box!

Top E.T

For the $10,000 to win Top E.T side, the semifinals consisted of four cars. Phil Combs faced off against Garrett Griffith. Garrett had a huge starting line advantage. .008 to an .034. You can never count out Philbilly to pull out some shenanigans at the finish line. Combs explained after the run he held the shifter back to overshift his car to make up for his late R/T.. and waited as long as he could to drop. The strategy worked, as Combs found himself dead on with a 6, while Garrett had the misfortune of being .0009 under his dial. In the other semifinal pair, veteran Wayne Adams took the win over Gwayne Honeycutt. Adams was .002 take .010 to be 15 total, essentially shutting the door on Gwayne’s .015 reaction time.

In the final, Combs saw himself once again behind on the starting line. Adams was .013 to Comb’s .026, but Phil trusted his Wild Stallion and was just praying to be dead on. His prayer was answered when the mustang landed dead on .0001 to be in front .005 at the finish line. Phil Combs was crowned Saturday 10K Champion. When asked about his motivations, he looked at his two sons in the winner circle and said them boys have been keeping him honest, and wanted to show them that pops still had it in him.

Junior Dragster

On the Junior Dragster side, Gage Blevins met up with his girlfriend Riley Sherbondy in the final. Blevins used his .007 R/T to secure a heavy advantage and he found himself in the winner circle for $600.

Abruzzi Sunday

No-Box

Abruzzi Racing Transmissions and Converters Sunday continued the exciting drags in Jr. Dragsters, No-Box and Top E.T. In the No-Box department, the semi finals saw Kyle Hall take on Walt Shade Jr. Shade kicked boots to a .000 reaction time, but grabbed too much stripe to break out .022 to lose the double breakout. Kyle Hall’s .021 and .006 under secured his spot in the final. Zach Combs had the bye to the final. Zach, after a heartbreak run in the re-entry round found himself on the losing side of a tough race.. Zach decided to buy a whole new entry, and re-entry and try to not go out on a losing note, and it worked out. On his semifinal bye run Combs dialed up several tenths, was .001 up front and expertly executed a 330′ drop to stick his Oldsmobile .016 above to be .017 total.

The final of No-Box was over after both cars launched. Kyle Hall was red and Zach Combs found himself in the winner circle, once again keeping his dad honest and proud! The Combs family had a great weekend at the drags.

Top E.T

In the $10K Top E.T. Main Event semis, former Working Man’s champ Kevin Long staged up his formidable Dart against Jim Kennedy in his dragster. Long, who was a quarter finalist the night before, was looking to secure a trip to the final. He had the starting line advantage over Kennedy, .005 to .019, but gave it back .006. Kennedy tallied up .025 total to punch his ticket to the finals where he would face Matt Costabile, who had the semifinal bye.

In final final of the weekend, the victory and the money went to Canada! Matt was .012 to Jim’s .014, with Costabile winning the double breakout race. Matt was .011 under to Jim’s .019 under.

Junior Dragster

The Junior Dragster final saw Parker Novak take the win over Liam Carpenter. Parker was .038 dead 2 to secure his victory. Liam was mathematically ineligible from the hit, and Parker took home the Sunday win in Jr. Dragster.

Thank you from Staging Light

We sincerely appreciate each and everyone who kicked off the Staging Light race season with us at Kil-Kare Raceway! We can call the Lawrence Motorsports Working Man’s 10 Grands presented by McCarty Auto Parts a success, and we look forward to doing it all again at Edgewater Sports Park for the AUGtoberFast 10 Grands, in August 8-10!

Congratulations to all winners and finalists at the Staging Light 7th Annual Lawrence Motorsports.com Working Man’s $10 Grands at Kil-Kare Raceway.

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