3rd Annual Summer Showdown Shines Through the Showers

WOODBURN, OR – Presented again by Dave Barcelon’s Truck Town, the highly anticipated Summer Showdown returned to Woodburn Dragstrip for its 3^rd Annual running this past weekend. Thanks to new partners like Tabor Machine, S&J Automotive and the NWDRA, the weekend featured a record cash payout of over $55,000 with another $1,500 in MVP bonus cash courtesy of Cascade Truck Body & Trailer Sales. The Showdown crew also passed on 10 of the signature “Torch” trophies with an expanded program that included Jr. Thunder and Jr. Lightning.

Despite an unfavorable weather forecast, racers showed up from all over the Pacific Northwest, California, Idaho, Canada and from as far away as Tennessee. While it may not have felt like Summer, the racing was as hot as it’s ever been and Drag Champ Pro was on board the whole weekend.

Friday

The event kicked off on Friday afternoon with $2K to win Gamblers for Pro and Super Pro. It was go-fast weather all afternoon with cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid 60’s. On the bottom bulb side, it was Albert Molinari from Emmett, Idaho getting the win in his beautiful Chevy Nova. Molinari faced off against West Coast Super Street standout Dustin Ward and turned a 7-thou starting line advantage into a win light at the big end.

On the top bulb side, it was Jiovanni Collecchi facing off against Chase Leerkamp. Collecchi left first on a .005 light and Leerkamp clicked it .005 red behind him to light the lamp for Jiovanni and it wouldn’t be the last time that either driver saw the late rounds. After the first two Torches had been passed, racers and crew enjoyed the 100% payout practice tree race presented by Rose City Garage Door where Dylan Guy and Troy Abercrombie took the wins in top and bottom, respectively.

Saturday

Saturday morning started with cloudy skies that eventually gave way to numerous rain showers but the Woodburn track team worked extremely hard to keep the delays as short as possible. Once underway, the racing ran smooth and to completion with $10,000 on the line for Super Pro and $5,000 for Pro.

Juniors were added to the program for the first time in 2026 and they kicked off the first final rounds of the day. In Junior Thunder it was Cole Schroeder taking the win over Hudson McGhee for $500 and the Torch. The Junior Lightning final saw Joey “The Outlaw” Scheradella take on Kenley Pracht. Kenley was .007 up front but broke it out .004 and the win light was on for Scheradella who also collected $500 and a Torch trophy.

The Burton family brought the class cars down to Woodburn for the weekend and Brad went straight to work on the Pro side in his Super Stock Firebird. Despite some rounds that were not in his favor after the tree fired, Brad drove the finish line masterfully to get out of a couple jams and work his way through the field. In the final round, Burton faced off against another Northwest hitter, and good friend, Matt Kielman. Burton doubled up Kielman on the starting line and carried the advantage all the way to the stripe to turn on the $5,000 win light. Jesse DeBartolo and Cooper Chun were the semi-finalists.

On the Super Pro side, the dragsters dominated the day and heavy hitters from out of state made their presence known. The final round featured the up and coming local Logan Scrivner against Marko Perivolaris. Marko made the trip up from Petaluma and looked to be unstoppable as he worked his way to the final while Scrivner had been lights out all day on the other side of the ladder. Logan left first on green and Marko turned it 7-thou red to send Scrivner to the winner’s circle. This was Scrivner’s first Showdown victory, breaking through after losing both entries on the ladder the year prior. Brian Hough and Jimmy Lewis were the semi-finalists.

The energy that evening was electric after racers, crew and track staff had successfully navigated a challenging day of operations and Rose City Garage Door decided to run it back one more time with another 100% payout practice tree race. Parker Theobald swept the field on both sides of the tree to grab the cash.

Sunday

More new entries rolled in the gate on Sunday morning and the weather was just right for some really fast racing. Racers received a single time run and the action got underway. The juniors kicked off the festivities once again and Hudson McGhee was in his second consecutive Junior Thunder final round. This time he faced off against Natalie Holleman and was able to turn on the last win light. The Junior Lightning final round had Hayden Colten and Peyton DeWhitt facing off and Hayden parked it on the dance floor after DeWhitt turned it red. 

The bottom bulb side had a notable new entry from Henry Roberson who made a marathon trip on the final day in an attempt to cash in for the third consecutive year in Pro. He nearly got the job done but eventually ran into the buzz-saw that was Jed Biscay in the semis.

Dialed in the 8.50s, Jed was on an absolute mission and faced off against local hitter Dean Tabert and his 5.70 Nova known as the Honey Badger. After letting go .003 in the semis, Tabert was late to leave in the final round and Biscay carried his advantage all the way to the winner circle for $5,000 and the first big check of his promising young career. Alan Snyder and Roberson were the semi-finalists.

As the afternoon turned to evening, there was only one Torch left to light and the Super Pro final delivered an epic ending to the weekend. Dustin Martin was looking to chalk one up for the door cars and had been driving fantastic in his 67 Chevelle all day long. After taking out Marko Perivolaris at 3 cars, Jiovanni Collecchi was waiting for him in the lanes for $10,000. They left within .001 of each other but Collecchi put it dead-on-zero to be .017 total and lock out Martin who was .018 and dead-six. Jiovanni became the first racer to ever double up at a single Showdown event. Perivolaris was the lone semi-finalist.

Jed Biscay was crowned the Cascade Pro MVP and collected $500 bonus cash after a deep run on Saturday’s ladder and the Sunday victory. Marko Perivolaris was the Cascade Super Pro MVP and grabbed $1,000 bonus cash after making it to the Saturday final and the semis on Sunday,

While the total cash and prize payout of over $60,000 firmly established the race as one of the richest events on the West Coast, the story of the weekend was in the hard work of the track staff and the patience and commitment of the racers who continued to support the event, even when the weatherman tried to talk them out of it. One race at a time, the Pacific Northwest is building a culture of big money racing in a region where its presence has been inconsistent, at best, and the Summer Showdown sits at the center of the effort.

As has been the case each year, the Showdown crew immediately began planning the 4^th Annual and the 2027 event will feature an expanded format with 3 full days of racing and no entry cap on the Friday events!