Whitaker wins Super Pro class at Drag Strip

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Cecil Whitaker, left, is congratulated by Jared Smith.

SIKESTON -- After four consecutive weeks, we have a new winner in the Junior Dragster class. For the first time in four weeks, Brett Castro was not featured in the final round of the young racer class.

Taylor Bowman raced to the final in his first race of the season after pushing their work beyond their limits to get their car put back together before the race started.

His opponent was none other than Lil Possum, Ricky Skelton, Jr., who was in the final for the second straight week. Both drivers were racing confident all night and were ready to take the win light.

Lil Possum left first and had four seconds of spot over Taylor. However, once the lights came down for Taylor, he nailed the tree with a perfect reaction and raced to catch Lil Possum.

At the far end it seemed as if Taylor's perfect light would not help, but Lil Possum went too quick, giving Taylor his first win in the Junior Dragster Class this season.

Congratulations to Taylor Bowman on his Junior Dragster Class victory.

1st Place - Taylor Bowman Cape Girardeau DI - 7.62 ET - 7.670 MPH - 80.48 RT - .500

2nd Place - Ricky Skelton Jr Sikeston DI - 11.95 ET - 11.905 MPH - 50.39 RT - .664

Our Trophy Class final featured one of the more consistent Trophy drivers, Kyle Allardin. For the second straight week, he was racing for yet another trophy at the Sikeston Drag Strip.

Standing in his way was Justin Paris in his Dart, ready to dethrone Kyle and take home a shiny new dust collector. Kyle got to leave first and had around a second-and-a-half worth of spot. On top of that, he cut a nearly perfect .509 light!

With the advantage like that, catching Kyle was going ot be hard for Justin. As Justin left, it looked like he would have to do all he could to get to the other end before Kyle.

At the stripe, Kyle runs just .001 off his dial, only .010 off a perfect run, to take the win in the Trophy Class. Congratulations to Kyle Allardin on his Trophy Class Victory.

1st Place - Kyle Allardin LaCenter, KY DI - 9.99 ET - 9.991 MPH - 63.56 RT - .509

2nd Place - Justin Paris Smithland, KY DI - 7.44 ET - 7.482 MPH - 90.52 RT - .581

As we move along to the ET final, we find Howard Harper pitted against Ken Evans. Howard has been in the ET final several times over the past few years and has done very well behind the wheel.

Going against Howard was Ken Evans in his daily driver, who came down from St. Louis to race because "it felt like a good day to race," according to Ken.

As they lined up, Ken got almost a second worth of spot and took advantage of it, cutting a solid light. However, before this race could get going, Howard goes red in his newly sponsored Sears left lane, giving the win to Ken. Congratulations to Ken Evans on his ET Class Victory.

1st Place - Ken Evans St. Louis, MO DI - 7.88 ET - 7.952 MPH - 88.23 RT - .557

2nd Place - Howard Harper Sikeston, MO DI - 6.97 ET - 7.023 MPH - 96.17 RT - .464

The Pro Class final featured two of the most dangerous drivers at the Sikeston Drag Strip. Anytime that someone is paired up against either of their drivers, they know they must have their driving shoes laced up tight.

David Leonard and Tony Jacques are always a threat in the points in the Pro Class. David Leonard is also a former track ET Champion, while Tony has finished in the top half of the Pro Points for the past few years. This just shows you how tough these guys are!

Tony gave up a bit over a half a second worth of spot to David, who used that to his advantage and cut a great light. Tony's tree came down, but he was unable to better the light that David had, making this one tough race.

At the far end it looked as if Tony was going to catch David and take the win, however, he went too fast, breaking out, and giving David the win in our $1000 Pro Race. Congratulations to David Leonard on his Pro Class Victory.

1st Place - David Leonard Sikeston, MO DI - 6.93 ET - 6.931 MPH - 96.75 RT - .512

2nd Place - Tony Jacques Campbell, MO DI - 6.32 ET - 6.309 MPH - 107.16 RT - .596

Our final race of the night featured a couple of dragster drivers who always bring their "A" game to the Sikeston Drag Strip. Mark Buttrum is consistently finishing in the top 8, as is Cecil Whitaker, who finished in the top half of our points last year and has already won a couple big races at other competitive tracks.

That really shows you how tough it is getting at the Sikeston Drag Strip these days! Cecil and Mark lined up, with cecil giving up close to a half second worth of spot. Mark leaves first with a near perfect light. Can Cecil catch up with this against him?

Cecil could not better Mark's light which almost made it seem out of reach for Cecil. At the far end, Mark appeared to get their first, but as the times were shown, Mark broke out by a heartbreaking .001 of a second. Cecil ran on his dial in and took the win light at the far end.

What a show of driving! These guys were fighting hard, but in the end Cecil gets the win. Congratulations to Cecil Whitaker on his Super Pro Class Victory.

1st Place - Cecil Whitaker Dexter, MO DI - 4.64 ET - 4.643 MPH - 149.50 RT - .525

2nd Place - Mark Buttrum Murphysboro, IL DI - 5.00 ET - 4.999 MPH - 137.65 RT - .508

Thanks to all that came out to race and watch at the Sikeston Drag Strip. Don't forget, Test n Tune is now on Friday nights from 6pm until 10 p.m. BLOWN ALCOHOL FUNNY CARS will be at the track THIS SATURDAY May 27th. Also, you can still sign up for the points race at the ticket booth on the pit side. Congratulations to all of our winners from this week and we hope to see you all next week at the Sikeston Drag Strip. Don't forget to find us on the web at http://www.sikestondragstrip.net

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