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National Trail Raceway News: BPG Nationals Results

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Sunday's final eliminations of the Buick Performance Group BPG Nationals have come to a conclusion and another nice showcase of Buick power has been put through it paces. The big winner for the day was the 1988 Buick Skyhawk of Stan Zerucha who was able to outlast the field of Quick 16 to get the special eliminator win. Also coming through with wins today at this 7th annual event were Don Cruz (TSO), Jason White (TSM), David Day (THS), Jeff Hart (Bracket 1), and Craig Bensink (Bracket 2).

After the final two rounds of qualifying were concluded in the Quick 16 class, Saturday's leader Rod Hendrickson and his 1991 Regal still lead the field with a 7.265 at 170.10 miles per hour. Joining Hendrickson in the 7 second zone was #2 qualifier Jim Rock with a nice 7.981 in today's morning session. However, both drivers were out of competition by the second round of racing. Zerucha, who qualified 4th in the Quick 16 field with a 8.592, advanced past Jeff Hart, Doug Hecker, and Jim Dotson to reach the final round. On the other side of the ladder, #15 qualifier Randy Kolasinski and his 1968 Skylark used a consistent stream of 10.30's to get past Rob Chilenski, Geof Ketchum, and Rick Brouwer to reach the money round. In the final round, Kolansinski got the advantage off the start, but broke out at the finish line by two thousandths of a second. Zerucha won the race with a 8.643 on his 8.63 dial in over the 10.368 on a 10.37 for Kolansinski.

Cruz and his 1987 Grand National from Valrico, Florida ran the table in the TSO division. After his 8.176 at 173.44 qualifying pass held up for the #1 spot, he powered his way through the field to get to the final round. Cruz defeated Bobby Don, and had the semi final bye run. Waiting for Cruz in the finals was Ted Achatz, the #2 qualifier with a 8.241. Achatz drove his 1984 Regal from Rochester, Michigan past Lee Howie and John Schmidt to reach the final run. In the matchup, Achatz tried to make a small performance gain to get past Cruz, but was done in when it didn't hold at the starting line. Cruz ran a 9.011 at 168.19 to get the win.

The TSM class was wide open after the opening round, and White got the win in his 1987 Regal from Florence, Mississippi. Top qualifier Scott Claridge (9.285 @ 145.81) got an opening round bye run for the low qualifier spot, but a freeze plug coming out at midtrack, forced Claridge into some fantastic driving to save the car and not hit anything. The wild action, however, put Claridge out of competition with breakage. White got past Tim LeMay in round one and had the bye run to the final round where he matched up with Phil McGloin from Millersport, Ohio. McGloin did not make the call for the final and White took the tree for the win.

Day matched Cruz's performance in TSO by going wire to win in the THS division here today. The 1987 Grand National of Day took the top spot in qualifying with a strong 10.222 at 133.15 miles per hour. Day then drove past Deren McKitrick and Clay Willmott to make the final round. His opponent in the final was another 1987 Grand National driven by Robert Hansen. Hansen qualified in the #3 spot and got past Kevin Bolger and Jack DiLorenzo to go up against Day. In the final, Day gave up the advantage at the Christmas Tree to Hansen, but had the more powerful Grand National for the win. Day's low ET of the event 10.198 took the win back to Wilsonville, Illinois over the game 10.845 for Hansen.

Hart, who lost to Quick 16 champ Zerucha in the opening round of that division, used the entry rule for Quick 16 round one runner ups to enter Bracket 1 to his advantage as he drove his 1970 GS to the win over the 1986 Grand National of Barry Waso. Hart, from Williamstown, Michigan, caught a break in the round before when he had problems but got a break out from his opponent. He used his second life to win the Bracket 1 final round when Waso left the line too soon and red lighted. Hart ran a 10.159 on a 10.10 for the win.

The 1979 Skylark of Erie, Pennsylvania's Bensink was the winner of the Bracket 2 class when he got around the 1971 Centurion of Adam Martin. Martin, who was in his second final round of the weekend, tried his hardest to better his Friday finish by one round, but it was not to be. Bensink got the edge at the start and carried it through to a double breakout win. A 12.28 on a 12.35 for Bensink won over the 13.753 on a 13.85 dial in for Martin.

National Trail Raceway congratulates all of this weekend's winners and hope to see you all return for the 2011 Buick Performance Group BPG Nationals.

Saturday of the Buick Performance Group BPG Nationals is in the books and the excitement level of everyone is growing for final eliminations on Sunday. Three classes of competition took place today, while qualifying in several other classes took to the track as well. Leading the way in the winner circle in the always competitive Buick Comp Open was Bill Wills who was able to drive his 1979 Skylark to the win. Other winners today were Tom Wagner in the Big Boat Challenge and Paul Pirnat in the Charity Race. Friday also had a Gambler's Race that was won by Doug Paine.

Wills, who qualified for BCO in the #7 spot with a 11.42, was the big winner in his Skylark over the 1970 GS of Drew Edwards who came from the #6 qualifying position. Wills, from Youngstown, Ohio, got a .093 to .118 advantage off the line on the .500 Pro Tree and was able to get closer to his index for the win. Wills ran a 11.502 on his 11.42 index to win over Edwards and his 11.397 on a 11.29.

Montoursville, Pennsylvania's Wagner won the Big Boat Challenge in his 1969 Wildcat. He was able to defeat Yardley and his 1969 Rivera in the finals. The final round was a moot point as Yardley left the starting line too soon and fouled out to Wagner. Wagner recorded a 13.506 on his 13.55 dial in for the win.

Pirnat, from Eastlake, Ohio, won the Charity Race with his 1985 S-10 powered by a Buick engine. Pirnat got the win over Ton Xenofanes from Toms River, New Jersey. Pirnat gave up a bit at the starting line, but was able to get closer to the dial in for the win. His 10.810 on a 10.77 dial in won over Xenofanes's breakout 13.728 on a 13.75.

Paine's win in Friday's Gambler's race came in his 1969 GS from LeRoy, Ohio. In the final round race, Paine went up against the 1971 Centurion of Adam Martin. Paine welded the tree in the final round race and easily got past Martin to win the race on the holeshot. Paine ran a 10.718 on a 10.66 to win over Martin's 13.868 on a 13.84.

Qualifying was also run in the Quick 16, TSO, TSM, and THS classes in preparation for Sunday's eliminations. Leading the Quick 16 field is Rod Hendrickson and his 1991 Regal with a blistering 7.265 elapsed time. David Shaker and his 1969 GS is on the bump with a 10.936. TSO is lead by Ted Achatz and his 1984 Regal with a 8.241 elapsed time. Scott Claridge is the top man in TSM right now with a 9.285 from his 1987 T-Type entry. While David Day tops THS with a 10.222 in his 1987 Grand National. There will be two qualifying runs tomorrow before the opening round of eliminations.

Racing action will begin at 10 AM tomorrow with the first of two qualifying runs for the above fields.
 
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