Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:14 PM CDT
Record still stands at Dragway
By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- Despite a confident prediction to the contrary, the Coles County Dragway’s two-year-old bracket record still stands.
Brandon Booher came close on his first pass Saturday, building up for it by sitting through one delay at Thunder on the Prairie. Once the rain disappeared he and Fran Peppler’s jet funny car nearly clocked the same speed hitting the finish line.
One one-hundredth of a second from shattering 3.97 on the eighth-mile track, he could only muster 4.04 on the dial the final time through, a mere 172 miles per hour.
“I went out there to walk (the track), just look at it, checked the temperature,” said Booher, relaxing in the pit area of competitor John Tilford, who was unable to compete in the final. “I’ll break the record today. I’ll put money on that.”
Even though he didn’t follow through, it has been a good year for Tolono’s Pro Top Outlaw driver. He opened the season with a win at Roxboro, N.C., setting a track record after dropping an exhaust valve and pulling a piston — a “$4,000 pass,” by his estimation.
About a week later, he was in position to win at London, Ky., after qualifying first, only to lose in the final to an upstart he underestimated. Now 25, he demonstrated his potential at a young age, first racing a blown alcohol dragster when he was 16.
“We’ve had a really good run so far,” he said. “We’re looking to continue that, lengthen up that points lead. The first race of the year we qualified No. 1, won the race and reset the track record in the final, both ends of it. It should have been a lot quicker.”
His best time thus far is 3.82, 189 miles per hour on an eighth-mile strip. The next stop on the Pro Top Outlaw circuit is at the Pacemakers Dragway in Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 11-12.
One local driver, Humboldt’s Rob Fisher, is in the midst of a quest to pull off a rare double. Leading the point standings in Pro and Sportsman, he promptly rolled into the quarterfinals of both classes, closing in on a payout that would have rivaled that given away by Super Pro ($1,100) alone.
Corey Wood, borrowing a car owned by Chris Eichelberger, ousted Fisher in Pro. Advancing to the semis in Sportsman, Fisher ran into Katie Beason’s Alero. Beason, a relative newcomer from Mattoon who won her first Novice trophy earlier, nearly swept two classes herself, losing to Ellis Buth in the Sportsman final after breaking out too early.
Fisher’s performance did little to hurt his position in the point standings. A three-time Pro champion (1999-2001), he entered his Malibu wagon in the Pro class full-time after running the final two and a half months of the season last year and finishing outside of the Top 20. The 1966 Chevelle wagon that powered him to previous titles is still receiving a paint job, so he purchased another that was originally used as a “deer-hunting vehicle.”
“It’s been two or three years in the making, so I built this car to kind of tide me over and now it’s better than the other car,” Fisher said. “It’s got a different motor, tranny, rear end ... I gave $500 bucks for the car and started running it in Street and then started improving it little by little, trying to get it into Pro because you’re racing for more money in Pro.
“My goal is to get this car to the Race of Champions (in Indianapolis) in both classes at the bracket finals.”
Fisher’s wife, Stacey, already owns a Powder Puff championship at the track. Once his Chevelle is ready, the plan is to let 15-year-old daughter Sydney inherit the Malibu, a car that is bound to earn more mileage.
“On any given day, we could run this in Novice, Street for my daughter, Powder Puff, Pro and Street – the same car in four classes,” said Fisher, a 21-year veteran who won his first title in high school.
“Whenever I get the other car done, I hope to race it in Super Pro and this car in Pro and Street every week, all three classes. It makes you be on your game because you don’t have time to second guess yourself. One of the goals is to win both classes this year because if you’re the champion you don’t pay entry fees.”
Ray Hughes didn’t come to the track Saturday expecting to win. The primary goal was to film a spot for a reality TV show called “Vision World Ink” to air with Comcast Channel 2 in August. Hughes has his own Web site (visionworldtattoo.com) and plans to sell DVDs for $5 each.
Filming takes place in six two-hour segments, with a 30-minute commercial-free show as the end result.
“It’s like a paid infomercial in a way,” Hughes said. “We were on somebody else’s and they said they got a lot of requests to do that. I’m a tattoo artist. We have our own tattoo studio in Urbana, actually. We thought we’d do our own, see where it comes from, see where it goes, give people a chance to see what you do on your free time.
“The filming mostly involves me tattooing and then I build custom cars. Just for myself right now I’m building a 1970 Dodge Super Bee, 440 six pack, four speed. We’re going to compete at Monster Mopar (at Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis) with that.”
Hughes brought his blue Corvette to Charleston for the first time in four years. His family had turned to dirt bikes in the meantime.
“Now our kid’s out of the house,” he said. “We decided we’d come down and come racing again.
“I never win. I always lose. We’re happy if we get to come out here and do a couple of burnouts.”
Justin Long captured the Super Pro win, defeating Scott Gordon, while Joe Kortte won a close Motorcycle final against Chad Beery.
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
Super Pro
Winner: Justin Long, Tuscola, 05 Spitzer, .5280 reaction, 5.43 dial-in, 5.4288 ET, 126.84 mph
Runner-up: Scott Gordon, Mattoon, 1992 Camaro, .5599, 6.08, 6.0379, 111.94
Semifnalists: Todd Stillwell, Marshall, MeanMachine; Lynda Woods, Cedar Hill, Mo. 00 Olson
Quarterfinalists: Doug Kennedy, Decatur, 72 Cuda; Bob Paul, Westfield, 82 S-10; Tim Papp, Mattoon, 02 Worthy; Tracy Parrott, Toledo, 67 Camaro
Pro
Winner: Josh Chase, Gibson City, 73 Duster, .5267, 8.05, 8.0631, 79.95
Runner-up: Corey Wood, Litchfield, Malibu, .5619, 6.67, 6.6698, 101.65
Semifinalist: Andy Romine, Tuscola, 69 Nova SS
Quarterfinalists: Rob Fisher, Humboldt, Malibu; Tony Hill, Arthur, 84 Mustang
Motorcycle
Winner: Joe Kortte, Sigel, 82 Suzuki, .5120, 5.99, 6.0119, 110.26
Runner-up: Chad Beery, Decatur, 78 Kawasaki, .5238, 5.70, 5.7191, 117.49
Sportsman
Winner: Ellis V. Buth, Warrensburg, 96 F-150, .5178, 11.72, 11.7311, 57.90
Runner-up: Katie Beason, Mattoon, 04 Alero, .5879, 11.09, 11.0359, 64.74
Semifinalists: Andy Romine, Tuscola, 69 Nova SS; Rob Fisher, Humboldt, 83 Malibu
Quarterfinalists: Kyle Wright, Ashmore, S-10, Chris Little, Mahomet, Mustang; John Wallace, Charleston, 73 Trans Am; Cleo Robinson, Camargo, 83 Firebird
Novice
Winner: Katie Beason, 04 Alero, Mattoon, .6800, 11.09, 11.2352, 57.96
Runner-up: Danny Reed, 97 Sunfire, Mattoon, 1.1160, 11.70, 11.6840, 59.83
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