The 2007 West Michigan Sand Dragway season continued on with races on June 16, June 30, and July 7. This recap covers races 3, 4, and 5 of the 12 race WMSD point series.Top Fuel
Top Fuel was only consisted at the July 7 race. This race featured three quality entries as Bob Piunti, Jay Poortenga, and Pat Goodale all showed up shooting for the victory. Qualifying was very close with Bob Piunti putting his car in the top spot with a 2.71/125mph pass. Bob was followed by Goodale’s 2.72/118mph and Poortenga’s 2.75/121mph. Bob’s top qualifying spot gave him a round one bye, and he ran it out to a 2.72. The big match up between Goodale and Poortenga ended up with Poortenga taking a hole shot win 2.73/126mph to 2.67/131mph. Pat’s 2.67 would end up as Low E.T. of the weekend. The final round ended up with Jay breaking on the line and Piunti cruising to a 2.80 victory for his second TF class victory of the season at WMSD.
Bob Piunti - July 7 TF Winner.
Jay Poortenga's "Blown Profits" Dragster was the runner-up on July 7.
Pat Goodale ran low E.T. of the July 7 race with a 2.67.
Top Eliminator
The Top Eliminator class was dominated by Troy Turnock over the three race stretch. At the June 16 race, Troy defeated Nick Vanderputte in the final, who broke out with a 2.96 to Troy’s 3.09. Troy won the June 30 event over Lee Courville in a close race 3.16-3.18. The July 7 event was saw Troy qualify number one with a 3.02 then take the final round win over a red lighting Rob Lemon. Troy’s victories keep him atop the TE points and move him up in the Pro Point standings.
Troy Turnock and his Fiat have captured three TE class victories in a row.
Pro Index
Matt Peel took two of the three race victories in the Pro Index class. Peel started off on June 16 with the final round win over a red lighting Jay Poortenga. A repeat final round match up would happen on June 30 with the outcome being the same. Peel won this time with a .014 light and 3.44 (3.40). The final race of the three race stretch was the special Chassis Shop Shootout event. This is the most prestigious race of the Pro Index class during the season and features an $800 payout for first place. Final round opponents from the previous race Peel and Poortenga raced in round one with Peel taking the round win. Peel’s win streak was stopped in round two by Mike Bolyard and his “Digger” V8 buggy. Bolyard would advance to the semi-finals where he faced Darrel Roe’s four-cylinder buggy. Bolyard took the victory to advance to the final round against Brian Morgan, who had the semi-final round bye. Brian, in his first race of the season, faced a thrash before the final round and was able to take the big race win. Peel’s wins put him in the Pro Index class points lead and third in the Pro Point Series.
Brian Morgan took the Chassis Shop Shootout victory with his VW-powered Dragster.
Pro Comp
The Pro Comp class was won twice in the three race span by Randi Vsetula in her V6 Ford powered Buggy. Randi kicked off the three race swing by winning on June 16 over Jim Brantley. The June 30 race saw Tim Holstege take his altered to the class win over Fred Hugo in the final round. Randi would face off with Fred Hugo, who was in his second consecutive final round, in the July 7 final round with Randi taking the win. Randi’s July 7 win vaulted her into the Pro Point Series lead. Fred Hugo and Jim Brantley are sitting second and third in Pro Comp class points.
Randi Vsetula sits atop the Pro Point standings with her V6 Ford-powered Buggy.
Tim Holstege won the June 30 PC class victory with his Altered.
Pro Mod Truck
Dale Flaugher won the first Pro Mod Truck class win of the three race swing defeating Mike Page in the final round. June 30 saw a final round race that was won by Jim Brantley over Jay Poortenga in an all Funny Jeep final round. The final race of the three race stretch saw two more different finalists as Ryan Poortenga won in his truck over Dave Kramer’s “Super Toy” Jeep. After it all shook out, Kip Martin kept his lead in Pro Truck points with Mike Page and Dale Flaugher his closest followers.
Ryan Poortenga won the July 7 Pro Truck class.
Pro ATV
Rich Wood started off a successful three race span with a 2nd place finish on June 16 after falling to Ryan Jenkins in the final round. Wood would then take the June 30 and July 7 class victories. On June 30 Rich defeated Buck Raspotnik while on July 7 the runner-up was Shawn Roth. Wood took a big lead in the Pro ATV class standings and currently sits in 2nd place in Pro Point standings, only 3 points out of first. Buck Raspotnik and Shawn Roth follow Rich in the Pro ATV class point standings.
Buck Raspotnik was the Pro ATV runner-up on June 30.
Comp
Kyle Homik started off the three race span with the Comp win in a tight race over points lead Tom Hartman in the final round. The June 30 event saw a first time winner as Brian Wagner drove his Jeep to the class win over Keith Hendricks’ V8 Buggy. Tom Bray would finish off the three racers with the July 7 victory in his Jeep over Mark Groenink’s “Gone Green” Blazer in the final round.
Tom Hartman is currently the Sportsman Point Series leader.
Modified
Jason Hendricks and Chad De Wys became a familiar final round match up as they would meet up in the June 16 and July 7 finals. On June 16, Jason took the win over a red lighting Chad, while the tables were turned on July 7 when Chad took the race win. June 30 saw a first time winner in John Echtinaw when he defeated Don Parmenter in the final round. Tom Bray stayed atop the Modified point standings with Chad and Jason sitting in second and third place respectively.
ATV
The ATV class was won by Chad Louth on June 16 defeating Trent Everett, Jr. in the final round. Chad made it back to the final round on June 30, but was defeated Travis Raspotnik for the class win. Reanna Hessoun won her second race of the 2007 season on July 7 defeating Buck Raspotnik in the final round. Chad Louth, Reanna Hessoun, and Rich Wood are the top three point leaders in the ATV class.
Junior Dragster
Tyler Lirones was the dominant racer in Junior Dragster over the three race stretch. Tyler took the victory on both June 16 and June 30 over Elise Shaffer and Paige Villemure respectively. He would make it back to the final round; however he was defeated by first time winner Lani Young. Tyler continues to lead the points, followed by his brother Jordan in second and Lani Young in third.
Junior ATV
Cody Turnock swept all three races in the Junior ATV class. Cody defeated Caitlynn Page, Andrew Pastorious, and Dillon Reust in each final round respectively. Cody is leading the points with Danielle Morgan and Caitlynn Page following.
Mighty Midgets
John DeBoer was the class winner on June 16 defeating Kelsey Ambs in the final. Joshua Rammacher extended his points lead on June 30 with a final round victory over BT Pyper. BT continued his hot streak with a win on July 7 defeating Trey Buehler in the final. BT’s final round appearances moved him into third in points following first place Joshua Rammacher and second place John DeBoer.
*All photos Copyright National Sand Drag News 2007*