Castrol Raceway takes Division 6 Summit Team Finals win; Thornsley, Smith, Ochitwa advance in Summit SuperSeries

In the first Summit Team Finals action of the year, Castrol Raceway opened the season with a victory in the Division 6 Border Bandits team competition at the Edmonton, Alberta track while three drivers punched their tickets to Memphis as the first qualifiers of 2014 for the Summit SuperSeries presented by AMSOIL World Championship in October.

Castrol Raceway Team C took the team crown with 20 points, holding off Northern Lights Raceway Team A by just one point. It was the third year in a row a Castrol Raceway team has taken the Division 6 Summit Team Finals crown. Castrol Raceway Team F was third with 14 points, followed by Castrol Raceway Team B with 13 points and Castrol Raceway Team D with 11 points. The rest of the Summit Team Finals standings included teams from Hi-Line Dragstrip, Alaska Raceway Park, Calgary Drag Racing Association, Interlake Dragway and Northern Lights Raceway.

In the Summit SuperSeries runoff, Nathan Thornsley, Dean Smith and Ethan Ochitwa won their respective classes at the Summit Team Finals opener in Edmonton, securing their tickets to the Summit World Finals at Memphis International Raceway in October. The trio will runoff against other Summit SuperSeries champions for an opportunity to win the 2014 Summit SuperSeries World Championship.

Thornsley, representing Alaska Raceway Park, won the Top ET championship at the Division 6 Team Finals for the second year in a row. Thornsley defeated Dean Smith, who was -.044 red on the tree. Despite the guaranteed win, Thornsley still took a near-perfect victory lap with a .002 reaction time and a 7.666-second elapsed time on a 7.67 dial.

While Dean Smith went red in his attempt to take the Top ET victory, he more than made up for that error in the Mod ET race with a redeeming victory over Kalem Menzel. Representing Interlake Dragway, Smith ran a 9.247 on a 9.23 dial at 140.53 mph in the final, besting Menzel’s 10.482 on a 10.45 at 121.35. He added a .013 reaction time to put together a .03 package for the win.

Finally, in the Junior Dragster runoff, Castrol Raceway’s own Ethan Ochitwa took the victory over Zack Jagnicke from Interlake Dragway. Jagnicke had a slight advantage on the line with a .047 to a .057 light, but Ochitwa battled back on the top end, running a 7.974 on a 7.96 at 81.86 to take the win. Jagnicke had a 9.116 on a 9.08 in the runner-up effort.

Other big winners from the Division 6 Summit Team Finals were Main Event winners George LeBlanc (Top ET) from Northern Lights Raceway, Corey Hewitt (Mod ET) from Castrol Raceway, Broderick Allison (Junior Dragster) from Castrol Raceway and Kevin Steenhart (Street) from Calgary Drag Racing Association.

The following are the final results from the Division 6 IHRA Summit Team Finals event at Castrol Raceway.

Division 6 Summit Team Finals Team Standings

1. Castrol Raceway Team C – 20
2. Northern Lights Raceway Team A – 19
3. Castrol Raceway Team F – 14
4. Castrol Raceway Team B – 13
5. Castrol Raceway Team D – 11
6. Castrol Raceway Team A – 9
7. Calgary Drag Racing Association Team A – 8
8. Hi-Line Dragstrip Team A – 6
9. Alaska Raceway Park Team A – 6
10. Northern Lights Raceway Team D – 5
11. Northern Lights Raceway Team B – 4
12. Castrol Raceway Team E – 4
13. Interlake Dragway Team A – 2
14. Hi-Line Dragstrip Team B – 2
15. Northern Lights Raceway Team C – 2

SUMMIT SUPERSERIES RESULTS

Summit SuperSeries Runoff Top ET – Nathan Thornsley, Alaska Raceway Park, (.002) 7.666 on 7.67, 175.47 def. Dean Smith, Interlake Dragway, (-.044) foul

Summit SuperSeries Runoff Mod ET – Dean Smith, Interlake Dragway, (.013) 9.247 on 9.23, 140.53 def. Kalem Menzel, Castrol Raceway, (.046) 10.482 on 10.45, 121.35

Summit SuperSeries Runoff Junior – Ethan Ochitwa, Castrol Raceway, (.057) 7.974 on 7.96, 81.86 def. Zack Jagnicke, Interlake Dragway, (.047) 9.116 on 9.08, 69.63

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Main Event Top ET – George LeBlanc, Northern Lights Raceway, (.017) 9.53 on 9.52, 142.33 def. John Tiegen, Northern Lights Raceway, (n/a) 8.599 on 8.60, 152.85

Main Event Mod ET – Corey Hewitt, Castrol Raceway, (.013) 10.532 on 10.49, 126.10 def. Adolph Sabourin, Castrol Raceway, (.038) 10.458 on 10.44, 126.76

Main Event Street – Kevin Steenhart, Calgary Drag Racing Association, (.025) 14.698 on 14.64 def. 87.63 def. Shane Graw, Northern Lights Raceway, (.080) 15.034 on 14.79, 93.70

Main Event Juniors – Broderick Allison, Castrol Raceway, (.010) 7.998 on 7.98, 81.12 def. Ethan Ochitwa, Castrol Raceway, (.132) 7.992 on 7.97, 81.44

Adam Sinclair