Mon, 09 Mar 2020, 14:21 PM Voss Wins Pro 632, Mills Scores Top Sportsman Victory at Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals

By Allyson Johnson Photos by Roger Richards

Dillon Voss (far lane) defeated Chris Holdorf

ORLANDO, Fla. --While the focus was on Pro Stock and Pro Mod at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing, the event also included racing in Pro 632, Top Sportsman, Super Pro and Pro ET.

Dillon Voss (Pro 632), Vonnie Mills (Top Sportsman), Stu White (Super Pro) and Troy Stafford (Pro ET) joined Pro Stock winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Pro Mod winner Alex Laughlin as the first-ever World Doorslammer Nationals event champions.

Fourteen Pro 632 drivers battled it out at Orlando Speed World Dragway to compete for $10,000, more money than the Pro 632 class has ever seen before.

Dillon Voss and his 2016 Corvette had what seemed like the perfect weekend. He qualified No.1 after the first qualifying pass, held that position all weekend, and ended up in the winner's circle on Sunday evening.

Voss said on Friday that he would be the No. 1 qualifier - and he was. He says that confidence played a big role in him getting the win this weekend.

"[Confidence is] big," Voss said. "I came into this race knowing we had a car that could win, and knowing that I've been working on being a better driver. And it's paid off tenfold. Confidence is the biggest thing and it worked out well this weekend."

Voss says he struggled with his driving in 2019, but he's worked hard on improving. And that's evident by his reaction times in eliminations - starting off in round one with a .003 light and winning the final round with a .014.

And that final round reaction time is the reason he ended up taking the win. Both he and his opponent, runner-up Chris Holdorf, both ran a 4.247, making them mathematically dead even at the stripe. But it was Voss's reaction time, .014 compared to Holdorf's .030, that put him in the winner's circle.

It's early in the year, but not too early for Voss to say that 2020 may just be his year.

"This feels better than my 2017 championship [PDRA Pro Outlaw 632], and if we carry this through the year I'm positive we'll have another championship trophy on the shelf."

Vonnie Mills defeated Stanley Albritton

Top Sportsman racer Vonnie Mills traveled more than 13 hours from her home in Maryland to Orlando Speed World Dragway this weekend for her first race of the year.

She came into the race to test ahead of Gainesville, not really knowing if she would be able to run the race. After qualifying sessions on Friday night, they decided her 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt was in a good spot and they were going to race.

And not only was her car in a good spot, but her driving was too. Out of her four elimination runs on Sunday, her worst reaction time was a .020. Her other lights included a .011 in round one, a ..013 in round three and a very close-to-red light in the finals, a .000.

"We try to get as close as we can," she said about her perfect reaction time in the finals. Not only was her reaction time perfect, she also ran dead-on her dial-in, a 4.196 on a 4.19, making the final round run a six-thousandths package, impressive by any standards.

Mills is a self-proclaimed "door car person" and says the World Doorslammer Nationals was a great one to come to, and that the atmosphere was awesome.

The runner-up in Top Sportsman was Stanley Albritton of Bradenton, Florida. He had a -.004 light in the finals, immediately giving the win to Mills.

SUPER PRO RESULTS
In Super Pro, Stu White of Fort Pierce, Florida, took home the win in his '67 Camaro, running a 6.296 on a 6.29 dial with a .015 light. His opponent, runner-up Kenny Underwood of Delaware, Ohio, had a .029 reaction time and ran a 6.013 on a 5.99 dial in his .92 Firebird.

PRO ET RESULTS
In Pro ET, Troy Stafford of Orlando, Florida, took him the win in his '73 Dodge, running a 6.980 on a 6.97 dial. Runner-up, James Thompson of Edgewater, Florida, went a little too fast and lost due to a breakout, running a 6.955 on a 6.97 dial, with a .020 reaction time.

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