The 2023 Summit Bracket Finals, Northern Division Event Was A Hit At U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
The fiercely contested 2023 Summit Racing Northern Bracket Finals, presented by Laris Motorsports, took place at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. Competition between the WDRA tracks reached a level that only the timing system could readily identify each round winner.
FRIDAY GAMBLER RACES
A sample of the tight racing quickly reared up in the first of the gambler’s events for the weekend. In the Box-Gambler category, the final round paired Bob Payton and Keith Shafer. Payton cut the superior reaction time with a .005 second light, and at the finish line, Shafer ran an impressive .009 above his dial, but Payton was even tighter and struck the finish line first, running .003 to take the win.
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Kevin Knight – WDRA 2023 Box Eliminator Champion
Jeremy Johnston – WDRA 2023 No Box Eliminator Champion
In No Box–Gambler final round, Joe Brown and Dustin Loynes left the starting line with the advantage going to Brown. At the finish line, Brown ran a mere .001 above his 6.26 dial-in to turn on the win light over Loynes, who broke out.
Ken Hansen took on Jeff Klimp in the last round of Gambler–Sportsman. Handen carried a good starting line reaction time as Klimp raced a closer 7.52 on his 7.50 dial, but Hansen got to the finish line first with an 8.39 on his 8.36 dial-in.
Junior Dragster–Gamblers final pairing was Nick Kassin with Ryden Selleck. Kassin was off first with a .041 reaction time and covered Selleck at the finish line with a 7.849 ET on his 7.84 dial for the win as Selleck broke out.
Jeff Talbot – WDRA 2023 Sportsman Champion
Ethan Russell – WDRA 2023 Junior Dragster Champion
WDRA RACE OF CHAMPIONS
The Race of Champions placed the “best of the best” from each qualifying team. The champion entrants competing at the 2023 Northern finals represent these WDRA member tracks: Grand Bend Motorplex, Lapeer International Dragway, Shannonville Drags, St. Thomas Dragway, Mid-Michigan Motorplex, Ubly Dragway, and host track, US 131 Motorsports Park. As you would expect, these champions and their winning ways put on quite a show for bracket fans with intense reaction time and dial-in stats.
Paul Wolf and friends stood in the WDRA Race of Champions–Box winner’s circle. The final round was a double break-out race against Warren Smith. Smith stopped the track timers too quickly by .010 seconds under his 6.23 dial-in. Wolf ran only .010 seconds above his 4.96 dial-in to get the Race of Champions win.
In the Race of Champions–No Box, Michael Gramlich took the championship honors over Jay Talbot. Talbot ran a deadly 6.257 on his 6.25 dial but gave up too much with his reaction time to allow Gramlich to get to the finish line first.
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Paul Wolf – WDRA Race of Champions–Box
Michael Gramlich – WDRA Race of Champions–No Box
The final pairing in the Race of Champions–Sportsman featured Kyle Wanamaker taking on Ed Carlile. Carlile gave up his chances with a -.031 red-light, giving the win to Wanamaker, who went ahead and ran his car “out the back door” with an 8.99 ET to his 9.02 dial-in.
To say that both WDRA Race of Champions–Junior Dragster entrants were anxious for the win is an understatement in a double red-light final. Evan Muchler defeated Owen Buchner with Buchner cutting a -.007 light paired to Muchler’s -.004 reaction time.
Evan Muchler – WDRA – Race of Champions–Junior Dragster
Kyle Wanamaker – WDRA 2023 – Race of Champions–Sportsman
The eyes of the team members changed their focus to watch the Team Captain–Eliminator Class and to cheer their representative on.
Hometown track favorite Samuel Peterson made it to the final round for US 131 Motorsports Park against Lisa Gramlich representing Mid-Michigan Motorplex.
Gramlich ran .021 seconds under her dial-in compared to Peterson’s 6.04 on his 6.02 dial, handing the Team Captain bragging rights to US 131 Motorsports Park.
Jason Peterson of US 131 Motorsports Park said, “On top of the fun of the track operators’ race, we talked between us quite a bit about the finals with a teamwork mentality. We derived that things went great and accepted the theory that if it isn’t broke, there is no need to fix anything.”
THE WDRA MAIN EVENT
It was now time for the eliminator portion of the bracket finals that the WDRA member competitions came to win. Kevin Knight came out as the winner of the WDRA–Box Eliminator Championship, as the final round paired him against Dean Schwemler.
The final was probably too tight to “eyeball” at the finish line as Schwemler ran under his dial-in by .015 seconds while Knight stayed on the positive side of his dial-in with a 4.636 on his 4.63 dial.
Knight competes with his 598 cubic Inch big block Chevy powered 2016 Diamond chassis dragster for Grand Bend Motorplex. “The whole weekend didn’t get off to a very good start. We couldn’t seem to win a round. We were always on the wrong side of the win light,” Knight said. “Then, things started to roll my way. My car was very consistent the whole day. I pretty much dialed a 4.63 all day long. In the final, I dragged the brakes a little bit to be sure we didn’t run under, and it worked out in our favor.”
WDRA No Box–Championship came down to Michael Gramlich and Jeremy Johnston. It was Gramlich’s second final round so far for the weekend, but he gave up this final round with a -,004 red-light. Johnston cut a .052 reaction time and slowed to complete the race when his win light glowed.
“The whole race was exciting, and my car was amazing,” Johnston told us. “The Malibu was just printing time slips and stayed glued to the track all day.” His mentioned Chevy Malibu is a 1978 model that has been in and out of his greater family ownership for many years, powered by a 496-inch Chevy/Powerglide combination.
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Benny Smith – WDRA Best Appearing –Open Body
Elizabeth Quesnelle – WDRA Best Engineered – Bodied
“In eliminations, I definitely got lucky on two passes for sure,” Johnson described. “The first two rounds went OK, and I missed it on the third and fourth rounds. Luckily, those guys turned it red for me. Then, I turned on a .005 in the next round to win. In the next round, someone broke, so I got a bye. It was definitely my day. I had a golden horseshoe for sure.”
Johnston finished, “It was a smooth run operation. It was a great team atmosphere. I’ve been racing at 131 since I was a kid. It’s a great facility, and the WDRA was fantastic as well; I had a blast with it.”
THE WDRA/US 131 NORTHERN BRACKET FINALS SPECIAL AWARDS
The Northern Bracket finals special awards were awarded to those special entries who stood out among their peers. These awards included:
Best Appearing Open: Benny Smith (Grand Bend)
Best Appearing Motorcycle: Vic Tesluk (Lapeer)
Best Appearing Bodied: Rodney Gomes (Grand Bend)
Best Appearing Junior Dragster: Emerson Green (Ubly)
Best Engineered Open: Keith Shafer (US 131)
Best Engineered Motorcycle: Dan Kaatz (Lapeer)
Best Engineered Bodied: Elizabeth Quesnelle (Grand Bend)
Best Engineered Junior Dragster: Molly Parish (US 131)
The WDRA Sportsman–Championship finals saw Jeff Talbot taking on Jennifer Orr. With a big starting line reaction time advantage, Talbot turned on his win light when he edged out Orr with an 8.084 on his 8.02 dial-in compared to Orr’s 7.579 ET to her 7.57 dial.
Talbot remembers, “There were a couple of gifts I was handed in the early rounds, and then we were really dialed-in in the late rounds.” Talbot competes with a Camaro that is powered by a crate 350 Chevy with a Turbo-350 trans. The Camaro still used the original 10-bolt rear end, where Talbot provided an interesting story.
“In the final round, I grabbed the brakes when I was there first,” comments Talbot. “On the return road, the rear end was making some noise. We nursed it to the winner’s circle and back in the trailer. At home, we found two broken teeth on the ring gear. We are now installing a 9-inch Ford rear, which greatly disappoints me that I won’t be able to go the Summit World Championship race.”
The final round of the WDRA–Championship Junior Dragster Class competition paired Ethan Russell and Parker Novak. Russell cut the better .0068 reaction time and hit the finish line first with an 11.98 on his 11.96 dial compared to Novak’s 8.81 on an 8.80 dial-in.
“I was excited the whole weekend,” claims Russell. “The race day for the championship was really good. My dad and I knew I would need to step up my game with my lights and dial it tighter. I got motivated, and it worked. I cut a .006 reaction time in the finals, a .013 in the semi-finals, and a .013 in the quarter-finals. The teamwork with my dad really worked.”
Russell adds, “I had to race friends in both the semis and the final round; that was fun. The track and the WDRA made a cool race.”
Samuel Peterson – WDRA 2023 – Team Captain Race Winner
SUNDAY GAMBLER’S RACES
The Sunday Gamblers racing continued the event with Trevis Pitsch hitting the track beside Jeff Burdess in the Gambler–Box final round. Burdess had the starting line advantage with a .005 reaction time, but at the top end, the win went to Pitsch, who got to the finish first with a 4.470 on his 4.45 dial-in.
When the Gambler–No Box final paired to compete, Kevin Groeneveld dialed in a 5,64 compared to finalist Stan Jones Jr., who had a 6.00 dial-in. Both racers experienced a double break-out, running under their dial-ins, with Groeneveld breaking out by the least.
The final of Gambler–Sportman, Jeff Klimp took on Ken Hansen. Despite Hansen’s better reaction time, the race went to Klimp, who got there first with a 7.525 on his 7.50 dial-in.
Finishing the finals of the Gambler–Junior Dragster portion of the event, it was Megan Kassin’s day as she ran a 7.9227 on her 7.90 dial, but Henry Jenkins turned on the red light with a razor’s edge -.001 reaction time.
“We are looking forward to the 2024 season for sure,” said Jason Peterson of US 131 Motorsports Park. “The effort between WDRA, US 131, and all member tracks couldn’t have worked better. We personally were happy to welcome all of the Canadian members back to the track. I think our effort looking forward to next year is to spread the positive vibes of the WDRA.”
