Sun, 9 Sep 2001, 11:46 AM Team On A "Mission" Doubles Up

Courtesy of NHRA Marketing Hometown Favorites Also Win

BOISE, Idaho -- The first four of 28 places have been filled for the NHRA Summit Racing Series National Championship, to be held at the Automotive Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, November 8-11 in Pomona, Calif.

By virtue of victories at the NHRA Northwest Division Finals Saturday at Firebird Raceway, John Shaffer, Cory Thompson, Al Omond and Gary Fasset have qualified themselves to compete at the "winner-takes-all" national championship finals in November.

Greeted by hugs and cheers in the winner's circle by fellow Firebird Raceway competitors and Firebird staff, Super Pro winner John Shaffer was overwhelmed and excited by the win at his home track. "I'm very excited to win here at Firebird. I can't wait to go Pomona," said Shaffer, who defeated Renegade Raceway's Steve Beggerly in the Super Pro Final.

Taking home the win in Pro, was Mission Raceway's Cory Thompson, who defeated fellow Mission runner John Korfiatis in the all Canadian final.

"It was really nice to put Mission Raceway in the winner's circle for the second year in a row. I couldn't have done it without my engine builder Jim Behnke, who was working on my motor just last week so I could race. It also was fun to race my Mission teammate John Korfiatis in the final, since he and I are such good friends," said Thompson.

In the Sportsman final it was 18-year-old Gary Fasset, racing out of the Lost Creek Raceway stable. Behind the wheel of his 5.0 Mustang, the Universal Technical Institute (Phoenix, Ariz.) freshman defeated Bremerton Raceway's Steve Adams.

Racing for Mission Raceway, honors in the Motorcycle category went to last year's NHRA Summit Racing Series runner up, Al Omond, who defeated Woodburn Dragstrip's Mike Fordice.

"Though it was nice to be in an all Mission final last year against A.J. Boykin, that loss haunted me all year. I couldn't get it out of my mind. It was second time I took runner- up at one of these races. The first runner-up was not as bad because there wasn't the Pomona deal on the line, but last year really stung. I'm glad that this year I was able win and go to the NHRA Finals," said Omond.

The four drivers that have qualified for the Summit National Championship in Pomona will each receive $3,500 when they arrive at the Southern California facility. They then will race against six other competitors for four event titles, with the winner in each category receiving an additional $5,000 in the winner-takes-all contest.

Other winners at the NHRA Summit Racing Series Finals included, Nicole Brandner, High School Eliminator; Michael Peck, Junior Lightning and Necia Cox, Junior Thunder.

The following are final results from the NHRA Summit Racing Series Northwest Division Finals at Firebird Raceway:

Super Pro

Quarterfinalists: Lonnie Sharkey, Bremerton Raceway; Nick Nicholson,
Portland International Raceway; John Shafffer, Firebird Raceway; Rodney
Gregg, Steve Beggerly, Renegade Raceways; Brian Barnhart, Lewistown Raceway;
Damien Giddens, Mission Raceway, Donald Whitcomb, Lewistown Raceway. 

Quarterfinals
Sharkey, .505 reaction time, 10.871 seconds, 122.44 mph def. Nicholson,
.503, 9.017, 146.15
Shaffer, .512, 9.573, 134.14 def. Gregg, .506, 11.328, 118.17 
Beggerly, .527, 12.079, 126.26 def. Barnhart, .510, 11.300, 115.83
Giddens, .518, 9.678, 138.95 def. Whitcomb, .498 (foul), 10.242, 129.68

Semifinals
Shaffer, .526, 9.568, 138.07 def. Sharkey, .505, 10.816, 116.53
Beggerly, .559, 12.090, 124.94 def. Giddens, .692, 9.665, 138.91

Final
Shaffer, .526, 9.560, 133.90 def. Beggerly, .559, 12.124, 124.70

Pro

Quarterfinalists: Ken O'Keefe, Bremerton Raceway; Martin Rachel, Mission
Raceway; Cory Thompson, Mission Raceway; Wayne Floyd, Southern Oregon
Dragway, John Korfiatis, Mission Raceway; Ryan Ladret, Eagle Motorplex; Tom
Skjonsberg, Race City Motorsport Park; Gina Nimmo, Madras Raceway Park.

Quarterfinals
O'Keefe, .588 reaction time, 12.167 seconds 105.15 mph def. Rachel, .553,
11.032, 121.34 
Thompson, .502, 11.486, 113.75 def. Floyd, .526, 12.432, 109.14 
Korfiatis, .539, 11.515, 113.50 def. Ladret, .544, 10.857, 120.32 
Skjonsberg,  .553, 11.549, 106.69 def. Nimmo, .538, 11.460, 115.90

Semifinals
Thompson, .517, 11.514, 104.74 def. O'Keefe, .515, 12.223, 103.04
Korfiatis, .530, 11.530, 113.53 def. Skjonsberg, .606, 11.517, 115.56

Final
Thompson, .533, 11.433, 116.44 def. Korfiatis, .463 (foul), 11.546, 116.02

Sportsman

Quarterfinalists: Steve Adams, Bremerton Raceway; Jerry Weber, Woodburn
Dragstrip; Davie Copeland, Eagle Motorplex; Jennifer Krueger, Firebird
Raceway; Tom Wilcox, Southern Oregon Dragway; Vicki McKelvy, Madras Raceway
Park; Gary Fasset, Lost Creek Raceway;

Quarterfinals
Adams, .571 reaction time, 15.942 seconds, 83.25 mph def. Weber, .550,
15.240, 88.30
Copeland, .584, 16.181, 87.28 def. Krueger, .441, 13.454, 102.47
Wilcox, .535, 17.018, 81.89 def. McKelvy, .395 (foul), 14.538, 93.43
Fasset, .508, 13.132, 103.04 def. bye

Semifinals
Fasset, .566, 13.118, 99.85 def. Copeland, .590, 16.188, 87.63
Adams, .621, 15.879, 81.13 def. Wilcox, .631, 17.086, 81.65

Final
Fasset, .667, 13.108, 103.12 def. Adams .605, 15.784, 84.49

Motorcycle/Snowmobile

Quarterfinalists: Mike Fordice, Woodburn Dragstrip; Jason Detour, Portland
International Raceway; Jerry Stinson, Southern Oregon Dragway; Steve Cross,
Race City Motorsports Park; Al Omond, Mission Raceway; Stacy Hesch,
Bremerton Raceway.

Quarterfinals
Fordice, .474 reaction time, 9.566, 136.98 def. Detour, .408 (foul), 10.720,
123.38
Stinson, .455, 9.371, 113.35 def. Cross, .421, 10.202, 134.93 
Omond, .483, 10.384, 99.96 def. Hesch, .436 (foul), 18.506, 55.36

Semifinals
Omond, .436, 10.102, 130.58 def. Stinson, .390 (foul), 9.194, 142.15
Fordice, .509, 9.604, 137.59 def. Bye

Final
Omond, .441, 10.140, 120.11 def. Fordice, .543, 9.499, 134.22

High School Eliminator

Quarterfinalists: Craig Worrell, Renegade Raceways; Kraig Heinz, Bremerton
Raceway; Nicole Brandner, North Central Motorsport Park; Nathan Wieler,
Mission Raceway; Kyle Saucy, Woodburn Dragstrip.

Quarterfinals
Worrell, .664 reaction time, 11.176 seconds, 116.82 mph def. Heinz, .532,
16.575, 80.88
Brandner, .565, 12.293, 80.88 def. Wieler, .625, 12.735, 101.78
Saucy, .542, 11.130, 118.46 def. bye 

Semifinals
Worrell, .611, 11.149, 117.40 def. Saucy, .477, 11.073, 119.25
Brandner, .585, 12.197, 110.07 def. bye

Final
Brandner, .621, 12.287, 102.41 def. Worrell, .933, 11.090, 117.69

Junior Dragster Thunder

Quarterfinalists: Brett James, Woodburn Dragstrip; Carl Wardrobe, Eagle
Motorplex; Timmy Wallace, Firebird Raceway; Holly Clarke, Eagle Motorplex;
Necia Cox, Firebird Raceway; Jeff George, Woodburn Dragstrip; Charlie
Tiller, Portland International Raceway; David Weis, Bremerton Raceway.

Quarterfinals
James, .620 reaction time, 11.413 seconds, 54.47 mph def. Wardrobe, .532,
15.845, 38.61
Wallace, .757, 13.250, 48.59 def. Clarke, .649, 16.629, 34.71
Cox, .572, 11.375, 56.40 def. George, .682, 11.273, 57.55
Tiller, .709, 11.443, 55.70 def. Weiss, .438 (foul), 12.972, 48.75

Semifinals
Tiller, .514, 11.405, 55.56 def. Wallace, .793, 13.135, 49.03
Cox, .622, 11.151, 58.49 def. James, .609, 11.291, 55.04

Final
Cox, 600, 11.166, 58.88 def. Tiller, .388 (foul), 11.391, 56.33

Junior Dragster Lightning

Quarterfinalists: Jessi Ledbetter, Renegade Raceways; Rob Hoffman, Bremerton
Raceway;
Michael Peck, Mission Raceway; Michelle Elliot, Renegade Raceways; Paul
Jordan, Lost Creek Raceway; Kristi Dever, Firebird Raceway; Sean Kennedy,
Seattle International Raceway.

Quarterfinals
Ledbetter, .640 reaction time, 8.958 seconds, 69.50 mph def. Hoffman, .578,
9.435, 69.50
Peck, .595, 9.287, 67.89 def. Elliot, .640, 8.845, 70.40
Jordan, .613, 10.262, 60.57 def. Dever, .665, 9.020, 71.62
Kennedy, .485, 11.408, 58.50 def. (bye)

Semifinals     
Ledbetter, .529, 8.913, 71.64 def. Bye
Peck, .600, 9.206, 70.16 def. Kennedy, .478 (foul), 11.377, 59.17

Final
Peck, .560, 9.170, 70.64 def. Ledbetter, .504, 8.841, 71.97

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