FRIDAY

Day number one of the 2013 Mo-Power Events series has hit the track here at National Trail Raceway and the action was clean and great all day long. The first session of qualifying in the Quick 16 was run this afternoon, while the Friday Gamblers Race in both Box and No Box was also run. Taking home the first wins of the Mo-Power series here today was Carl James in Box and Jason Wheatcraft in No Box.

James, from Thornville, Ohio, drove his 1972 Duster to the final round of the Box class. Waiting for him in the final round would be the 1970 Duster model of Mitch Williams from nearby Hebron, Ohio. James had to wait quite a while with the handicap head start based off the dial ins of both drivers. James waited it out and got the better reaction time and forced Williams to breakout trying to stay ahead. James was no slouch with a 5.967 on a 5.96 dial in winning over the too quick 8.145 on a 8.20 for Williams.

It was quick and fast throughout the day in the No Box category and two of the quicker cars met in the final round. Wheatcraft brought his Xenia, Ohio based 1967 Barracuda to the starting line to run against the 1933 Roadster of Shaun Bemiller from Pataskala, Ohio. Both drivers were dialed in with 9.9 second times, but it proved to be anticlimactic in the end. Bemiller was too quick hitting the gas and left the red light glowing in his lane. Both drivers saw the red light and saved their cars for tomorrow as Wheatcraft ran a 21.422 on his 9.97 dial in.

Qualifying session one for the Quick 16 class had the defending champion sitting on top of the Open side. Boomer Ellison from Beavercreek, Ohio put his Undercover dragster on top with a 4.444 at 155.65 miles an hour. Sitting right behind Ellison is the team of Fred and Brian Hurst from Fairborn, Ohio. The Hurst entry ran a 4.446 at 155.29 for the second spot so far.

On the Door side of the field, it is Chris Wheatcraft and his 1967 Dart from Jamestown, Ohio on top with a 4.746 at 146.48 miles an hour. Derrick Nicholson is second in the field with a 5.126 at 140.36 miles an hour

Racing continues tomorrow at 9 AM with the running of Quick 16 and the Ten O Shootout as well as another Box and No Box Gamblers Race.

Thanks see ya in the morning

Good stuff Chris!!

On a side note, Carl also took the Friday night gambler's race.

And a little self promotion.....Carl, Jason and Chris Wheatcraft are all John Holt Race Cars customers. We are so proud to help such excellent racers!!

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SATURDAY

After a slow start due to Mother Nature raining on the parade early in the morning, the second day of the 2013 Mo-Power Event here at National Trail Raceway went off without a hitch throughout the day. All of the racers were eager to not only get back on the track after the morning delay, but were looking towards getting ready for final eliminations on Sunday. The Quick 16 and Ten-Oh Shootout were run here today along with gamblers races for the Box, No Box, and Hemi/Max Wedge cars. The big winner for the day was Ed Waack as he scored the first win for the Door side in the 2013 Quick 16 season. Also winning today was Roger Webb (Ten-Oh Shootout), Brett Spring (Box Gamblers), Bob Frazee (No Box Gamblers), and Casey Fauss-Johnson (Hemi/Max Wedge Gamblers).

With two qualifying session today to complete the field for the Quick 16, the pole spots from yesterday were traded back and forth during the early morning session. However, both Boomer Ellison (4.423 - Open) and Chris Wheatcraft (4.717 - Door) were able to hold onto the top spots when the final qualifying order was established. However, as it always seems to go in drag racing, the ladder in eliminations didn't go according to plan.

Waack was able to come from the #6 starting spot on the Door side of the field to reach the final round. The Harrison Township, Pennsylvania driver took his Mopar Mafia 1992 Daytona past Homer Gray in round one on a holeshot, Wheatcraft with an on the dial pass in round two, and then defeated Mark Claypoole when he left the red light glowing. On the Open side, former series champion Ron Strayer Jr. drove the Wheatcraft Motorsports 2000 Fox dragster to the final round. The North Lawrence, Ohio runner gunned down Nathanael Stilwell in round one, Brian Hurst with a five thousandths total package in round two, then teammate Ellison in the semis. In the final round, it would be the red light that found the lane of Strayer by .005. Waack won the race with a 5.505 on his 5.50 dial in.

The Ten-Oh class found the 1968 Dart of McDermott, Ohio's Webb going up against the 1933 Roadster of Shaun Bemiller from Pataskala, Ohio in the final encounter. Bemiller, the runner up yesterday in the Box Gamblers race was looking to not do that again in this final round. However, it was going to be tough as Webb had posted a perfect 10.000 in the opening round and looked dialed in all day. Off the line, it was Bemiller with the better reaction time, but he took too much stripe at the finish line and broke out. A 9.988 shined in Bemiller's lane and Webb's 10.012 was the winner.

Two great drivers and cars made up the Box final round for the day as Spring and his 1969 Dart from Newark, Ohio went up against the 1971 black Duster of Troy Vanscoy from Grove City, Ohio. Spring, who had won Super Pro here at NTR during the last points event, looked to keep riding the wave in this final round. Spring was the slower of the two cars, but it didn't matter as Vanscoy was bitten by the same red light bug that found Strayer in the Quick 16 final round. Spring won with a 7.290 on his 7.27 dial in.

A large gathering of No Box racers were waded through by the two veteran finalists on this day. Frazee and his Massillon, Ohio based 1969 GTX would go up against the always tough 1971 Duster of John Lawson from Pataskala, Ohio. Both drivers had been a part of the Ten-Oh shootout today and their final round dial ins showed it. With only one hundredth of a second between the two, Lawson left with a great .014 reaction time and was still behind off the line! Frazee was .001 off the start and won the race on a sick hole shot. Both drivers ran a 10.026, Frazee on his 9.99 dial in and Lawson on his 10.00 dial in for a three thousandths of a second margin of victory.

Finally, in the Hemi/Max Wedge final round it was the Etna, Ohio driver Fauss-Johnson driving his 1965 Coronet into the money round. Waiting for him was the 1963 Polara of Glen Smith from Mogadore, Ohio. Fauss-Johnson was the quicker of the two drivers in the final round and that may have played a role in the eventual outcome. Smith was better on the tree, but broke out at the stripe trying to stay ahead of the charging Coronet. Fauss-Johnson ran a 10.085 on his 9.85 dial in to win over the 11.489 on a 11.50 for Smith.

The final day of the Mo Power event tomorrow will have one time trial for the Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman, and Hemi/Max Wedge classes starting at 9 AM with eliminations to follow.

Also, for those of you that want to keep up with the events tomorrow, you can check out the live timing on the 1320go.com page

(Sorry no video )

1320go.com - National Trail Raceway

SUNDAY

The final day of the 2013 Mo-Power Event here at National Trail Raceway appeared to be threatened by impending rain showers heading towards the track throughout, but as they say Mother Nature drives a HEMI and it stayed away. The action was fast and furious all day and in the end four deserving champions were crowned in the winner circle. Boomer Ellison, last year's Quick 16 winner here, wasn't able to repeat yesterday but did score the win in the Super Pro division today. Also winning today was Jason Wheatcraft (Pro), Laura Trainer (Sportsman), and Danny Smith (Hemi/Max Wedge).

It was a battle between two Undercover dragsters in the final round of Super Pro as Ellison and his 2009 Undercover dragster from Beavercreek, Ohio went up against Mary Lou Norris and her 2008 version from Sarver, Pennsylvania. Both drivers were killer throughout the day on both the starting line and the finish line and it proved to be just as tight in the final round matchup. Ellison gave up a one thousandth of second edge to Norris off the starting line, but was able to drive around her at the 1/8 mile stripe for the win. Ellison posted a 4.469 on his 4.46 dial in to win over the close 4.733 on a 4.72 for Norris. The margin of victory at the stripe was thirty five ten thousandths of a second.

Two killer cars from the Pro eliminator division matched up for the final round race. Wheatcraft, who had already won in the No Box Gamblers Race on Friday, returned to the final round with his 1967 Barracuda from Xenia, Ohio. There he would match up with the 1971 Duster of Vince Butler from Manitos Beach, Michigan. Butler, who had a scare in the quarterfinals when water began to come out from the engine in the shutdown area, recovered with a perfect reaction time in the semifinals to earn the right to face Wheatcraft. However, that perfect reaction time might have bitten Butler in the final round as he left the red light glowing in his lane. Wheatcraft saw the foul and cruised to a 16.459 on his 9.97 dial in for the win.

A battle between a 1974 Challenger and a 1972 Barracuda made its way to the starting line for the Sportsman final round. Trainer and her Challenger from Orient, Ohio was up against the Barracuda of John Callen from Marysville, Ohio. Trainer, who had been deadly off the starting line all day long, was once again the better of the two off the line with a great .015 reaction time. That would be all that she would need as she drove around Callen at the stripe for the win. Trainer ran a 12.160 on a 12.10 dial in to secure the opening race win of the series. Callen ran a 13.506 on his 13.55 trying to stay ahead.

Smith came out from Westerville, Ohio with his 1967 Belvedere and scored the win in the Hemi/Max Wedge class. The final round matched the Hemi car against Fred Rader in his Max Wedge 1963 Dodge from Mansfield, Ohio. Rader had a one second handicapped head start in the final round and knew that a reaction time advantage would help in his quest for the win, but was too quick on the trigger and fouled his chances away. Smith roared down the track to a 9.476 on his 9.50 index for the event win.

Great racing throughout the day made the 21st annual Mo-Power Events here at NTR a great weekend for everyone. The next scheduled Mo-Power Event is set for July 12-14 at Kanawha Valley Motorsports Park in West Virginia.

We here at NTR would like to thank each and every racer for their prompt return to the lanes throughout the event weekend. Like I said above, Mother Nature must have a HEMI because the rain that was tracking towards us basically stopped and fell apart right around I-70 to the South. Best of luck to everyone throughout the rest of the year and hope to see all of you back at NTR soon and for the 'Nats in August.

I got a mile from the track and found rain !

thanks for these weekend updates.

Just got home, best run event and best hooking track ever at this facility in my experience. Today I ran it out the back door five consecutive runs, ran 10.32 each time, got beat 10.324 to his dead on 7, he got the tree and the win light. Will post more later after a shower!

I'm with Charlie - the weather was great, track was great, even the band on Friday night was pretty darn good. There were always cars rolling down the track with no downtime. I think I made in the neighborhood of 30 passes over the weekend and I bet 27 of those were 1.33 60ft.

The fact that mid 4 second dragsters were in the final of S/Pro and high 9 second cars in the final Pro shows the track was solid.

We also thought the same track was really awesome, dart hooked really well. On the new motor we went three rounds today best time of the weekend was 11.24 at 119 mph. Had a awesome weekend.

Had a good time with good people once again.

It

I saw his set up but didn't stop by. It was located about half way down behind the big bleachers on the pit side, just north of the women's rest rooms.