Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:38 PM CDT
Dragway good holiday destination for juniors
By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Mother’s Day was just another day at the dragstrip for Denise Hooten, mother of three. She and husband Tom live in Oak Forest but own a house in Mattoon because it’s close to Lake Shelbyville, a favorite summer spot.
But four years ago, Nick Hooten, now 14, showed an interest in getting behind the wheel of a junior dragster. Soon after, brother Tyler, 13, and sister Julia, 10, were on board.
“My oldest son wanted to do racing, so we found this,” Denise said. “That’s why we do this as a family, to keep our kids close to us, keep them busy.”
Drag racing is now a weekly item for the Hootens, who have regularly traveled to Union Grove, Wis., Byron, the Chicagoland Speedway, Bristol, Tenn., and Cordova. The Coles County Dragway was the latest stop Saturday and Sunday as they traveled south of Chicago for the Midwest Junior Super Series.
The six-race series was organized a year ago by Brad Holzauer, father of defending champion Braedan Holzauer, who won the 330 Outlaw final on Saturday. Holzauer, 17, is currently in second in the points race behind 14-year-old Evan Wilson of Kokomo, Ind., who won the first event in Gleason, Tenn., and padded his lead Saturday by racking up more qualifying points than anyone.
The charm of the Outlaw division is that it eliminates bracket racing. The problem for the Holzauers? Only tracks in Texas, the West Coast, the deep South and the East Coast previously offered head-up competition.
“There was one race a year they used to call the Halloween Nationals at Gateway,” Brad said. “That was the closest race and they’re not holding that race anymore.
“I really wanted to race a car so I thought, let’s start a series.”
Most of the events are in Illinois or Indiana, so they draw the same competitors. Holzauer also convinced tracks not to run points races in other classes during the weeks in which the junior series was taking place. It was fairly quick to catch on.
Braedan has been consistently near the top, making it to the semifinals of the first two events. But his time in junior dragsters is going to be limited – not merely by age.
“He could race next year but he’s going to be too heavy,” Brad said. “We have no weight on the car right now and we’re maxed out. We’re two pounds over.
“But I have a younger son.”
Brendan, 13, finished third in the series last year.
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
Saturday’s results
Quick 8
Winner: Braedan Holzauer (Nashville) .5121 reaction time, 4.2899 elapsed time
Runnerup: Matt Gillen (Gainesville, Ga.) .5449 rt, 4.2789 et
Index racing
7.90
Winner: Travis Argabright (Brandenburg, Ky.) .5588 reaction time, 7.8141 elapsed time, 80.94 miles per hour
Runnerup: Derick Troxel (Seymour, Ind.) .5749 rt, 7.9462 et, 82.40 mph
8.90
Winner: Holden English (Metcalf) .5840 reaction time, 8.9479 elapsed time, 76.01 miles per hour
Runnerup: Mitchell Seymore (Cullman, Ala.) .6420 rt, 8.9231 et, 72.19 mph
12.90
Winner: Kammon Simpson (Seymour, Ind.) .6891 reaction time, 13.0497 elapsed time, 50.17 miles per hour
Runnerup: Trenton Bryan (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) .8400 rt, 12.9590 et, 47.61 mph
All-run
Winner: Derick Troxel (Seymour, Ind.) .6060 reaction time, 7.9368 elapsed time, 82.12 miles per hour
Runnerup: Jessica Schaeffer (Trenton) .6381 rt, 8.8968 et, 76.15 mph
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