Sunday
Prime racing conditions led to an incredible final day of racing at the 2017 Avenal Sand Drags Fall Nationals in Avenal, CA. Jake Morton put down a strong 2.51 ET to earn the Top Alcohol class final round victory over Jim Hammond. Jim Rossi persevered through bad luck early in the weekend to put his “Bad Toy” Dragster in the Winners Circle with the TE class win. A similar story could be told for Robert Watanabe and the Watanabe Racing Dragster as he fought through some gremlins to take the Pro 1 class win over an incredibly tough field. Justin Adamson was on his game all day Sunday and took home top honors in the Pro 2 category defeating Charlie Johnson in the final. Speaking of on their game, Charlie Johnson made it to his second final round of the day & earned the Pro 3 victory defeating Stacy Bolton. A great story took place in the Motorcycle Pro categories as brothers Taylor Holmes & Dylan Holmes swept the MP1-MP2 categories. Taylor’s MP1 win and Dylan’s MP2 win coupled with Cole Foy’s MP1 meant Team Marchant swept 3 of the Top 4 spots in MP class competition on Sunday. Junior class competition was great as always with a field of 40+ entries taking to the track Sunday morning. Chaylene Pintor broke through for her first final round win in the Junior Dragster class after many final round appearances in the past with her very cool Junior Truck. Tessa Nunes used consistent low 5-second ET’s to earn the Juniors class victory. Last but not least young Jhett Montgomery stole the show in his first ever race day as he blistered the track with 4.5MPH laps en route to the Youth class victory, which was such a neat moment for the next racer from the Montgomery Family. Run Sheets & TA/TE Highlight Videos are now posted.
NSDN Live Stream Links
Sunday 1 - TE Round 1 / TA Final / MP Finals
Sunday 2 - TE Round 2 / Pro 1
Sunday 3 - TE Final Round / Late Round Pro Bracket Elims
Top Alcohol
1st-Jake Morton
2nd-Jim Hammond
Top Alcohol Eliminations Run Sheet & Qualifying Data Log
Top Alcohol Weekend Highlight Video
Final Round Eliminations (Driver ET RT)
Jake Morton (W) 2.512/NS .071 def. Jim Hammond 3.631/51.06 .057
Top Eliminator
1st-Jim Rossi
2nd-Marc Whitmore
3rd-Paul Taylor
3rd-Wes Gilmore
Top Eliminator Eliminations Run Sheet & Qualifying Data Log
Top Eliminator Sunday Eliminations Highlight Video
Round One Eliminations (Driver ET RT)
Wes Gilmore (W) 3.729 .044 def. Paul Graham 2.823 .073
Jim Rossi (W) 2.989 .111 def. Ron D’Artenay 2.977 .125
Paul Taylor (W) 3.081 .090 def. Tristan Graham 3.238 .154
Marc Whitmore (W) 2.990 .115 def. Andy Olivera 3.040 .124
Round Two Eliminations
Jim Rossi (W) 3.177 .041 def. Wes Gilmore 3.243-DQ .069
Marc Whitmore (W) 2.961 .039 def. Paul Taylor 2.965 .067
Final Round
Jim Rossi (W) 2.915 .061 def. Marc Whitmore 2.943 -.343
Pro 1
1st-Robert Watanabe
2nd-Wes Johnson
3rd-Dave Stidham
3rd-George Amos
Pro 1 Eliminations Run Sheet
Pro 2
1st-Justin Adamson
2nd-Charlie Johnson
3rd-Perry Stumbaugh
3rd-Chris Adamson
Pro 2 Eliminations Run Sheet
Pro 3
1st-Charlie Johnson
2nd-Stacy Bolton
3rd-Tony Soares
3rd-Justin Adamson
Pro 3 Eliminations Run Sheet
Motorcycle Pro 1
1st-Taylor Holmes
2nd-Cole Foy
3rd-Heather Taylor
Motorcycle Pro 1 Eliminations Run Sheet
Motorcycle Pro 2
1st-Dylan Holmes
2nd-Jack Vandigriff
3rd-Cole Tschacher
Motorcycle Pro 2 Eliminations Run Sheet
Juniors
1st-Tessa Nunes
2nd-Hailey Young
Junior Dragster
1st-Chaylene Pintor
2nd-Grady Reynolds
Youth
1st-Jhett Montgomery
2nd-Killian Schlater
Saturday
Day two of the 2017 Avenal Sand Drags Fall Nationals was filled with great 300’ sand drag action all day long. Top Alcohol qualifying wrapped up with Jake Morton nipping Jim Hammond for the top qualifying spot by just .001 with a 2.508 ET in Q2. Jake’s top spot will give him lane choice for their final round matchup on Sunday. The Top Eliminator wars continued at Avenal with excellent competition in qualifying. Paul Graham ended up atop the list with a strong 2.965 in the final session with is “Excavator” Buggy. The hotly contested Pro Gambler class saw Charlie Johnson turn on the final win light defeating Tony Soares. The Sportsman class categories were filled with ultra close races; class winners were Bill Meaney (Sportsman 1), Joey Urena (Sportsman 2), Daniel Bailey (Sportsman 3), Kevin Ruiz (Motorcycle Sportsman 1) and Rowdy May (Motorcycle Sportsman 2). Racing action wraps up on Sunday with Eliminations for Heads-Up, Pro Bracket and Junior class competitors.
NSDN Live Stream Links
Saturday 1 - TA/TE Q2
Saturday 2
Saturday 3 - TA/TE Q3
Saturday 4 - Pro Gambler Eliminations
Top Alcohol
Final Qualifying Order
1. Jake Morton 2.508/NS
2. Jim Hammond 2.509/NS
Top Eliminator
Final Qualifying Order
1. Paul Graham 2.965
2. Paul Taylor 2.968
3. Marc Whitmore 2.981
4. Jim Rossi 2.989
5. Ron D’Artenay 3.019
6. Andy Olivera 3.146
7. Tristan Graham 3.230
8. Wes Gilmore 3.232
Did Not Qualify
9. Craig Brewster 2.949
10. Ron Moran NT
Pro Gambler
1st-Charlie Johnson
2nd-Tony Soares
3rd-Chris Calafiore
Pro Gambler Eliminations Run Sheet
Sportsman 1
1st-Bill Meaney
2nd-Leon Wilmot
3rd-Brian Phillips
Sportsman 1 Eliminations Run Sheet
Sportsman 2
1st-Joey Urena
2nd-Paul May
3rd-Brandon Montgomery
Sportsman 2 Eliminations Run Sheet
Sportsman 3
1st-Daniel Bailey
2nd-Dave Stidham
3rd-Christy Amos
3rd-Cooper Lehnert
Motorcycle Sportsman 1
1st-Kevin Ruiz
2nd-Robert Garnas
3rd-Gerrit Willard
Motorcycle Sportsman 1 Eliminations Run Sheet
Motorcycle Sportsman 2
1st-Rowdy May
2nd-Dylan Taylor
3rd-Jack Vandigriff
Motorcycle Sportsman 2 Eliminations Run Sheet
Friday
The 2017 Avenal Sand Drags Fall Nationals got off to a fast start with some incredible 300' sand drag racing in Avenal, CA. Jim Hammond earned the #1 Qualifying spot in Top Alcohol so far with a strong 2.50 ET in his “April’s Dream” Dragster. Paul Taylor led the pack in early Top Eliminator qualifying recording a 2.968 ET on the 2.95 Class Index. Chris Adamson topped a huge Pro Gambler field in his “Bounty Hunter” Jeep defeating Kenny Hayes in the final round. The highly anticipated return of the 3.95 Index class did not disappoint as Kevin Williams turned on the final win light over Washington’s Chris Wells. Action continues on Saturday with Final Heads-Up Qualifying as well as the highly popular Saturday Pro Gambler & Sportsman categories.
NSDN Live Stream Links
Friday 1
Friday 2
Friday 3
Top Alcohol
Qualifying Order (After 1 of 3 Sessions)
1. Jim Hammond 2.509/NS
2. Jake Morton 2.614/132.10
Top Eliminator
Qualifying Order (After 1 of 3 Sessions)
1. Paul Taylor 2.968
2. Paul Graham 3.138
3. Wes Gilmore 3.232
4. Jim Rossi 3.249
5. Tristan Graham 3.303
6. Andy Olivera 3.314
7. Ron D’Artenay 2.948
8. Marc Whitmore 2.945
9. Craig Brewster 2.944
3.95 Index
1st-Kevin Williams
2nd-Chris Wells
3rd-Dave Stidham
3rd-Justin Adamson
3.95 Index Eliminations Run Sheet
Pro Gambler
1st-Chris Adamson
2nd-Kenny Hayes
3rd-Charlie Johnson
3rd-Stacy Bolton
Pro Gambler Eliminations Run Sheet
Preview
National Sand Drag News will be in Avenal, CA this weekend October 20-22 for the 2017 Avenal Sand Drags Fall Nationals. NSDN will have our normal race coverage including all the stats, results, news, and videos each night after racing action is complete. We will be posting our normal event updates on the NSDN Facebook page throughout the event at www.Facebook.com/NationalSandDragNews and on our Twitter Feed at www.Twitter.com/NSDN. This NSDN Daily Race Coverage is brought to you by Avenal Sand Drags & d'Artenay Motorsports / Red Warrior Racing. The National Sand Drag News Live Stream will be presented by Avenal Sand Drags at this event; the Live Stream can be accessed on the NSDN Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/NationalSandDragNews. Racing action kicks off Friday early round Heads-Up Qualifying & Pro Gambler action as well as the return of the highly popular 3.95 Index category. For any questions throughout the race weekend or to inquire about future Daily Race Coverage sponsorship opportunities, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..