Wed, 16 Nov 2011, 17:30 PM NHRA Summit National Champions Crowned

Courtesy of NHRA Field Marketing Photo copyright 2011 Auto Imagery, Inc.

POMONA, Calif. --

Mark Horton, Brandon Schmall, Edmond Richardson and Tom Klemme are joined onstage by Summit's Don Lower and Jim Greenleaf and NHRA president Tom Compton.

The NHRA Summit Racing Series crowned their four National Champions this past weekend at Auto Club Dragway at Pomona during the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. Brandon Schmall and Mark Horton led the winners as Schmall, Lino Lakes, Minn., took home the trophy and the championship in the Pro class. Schmall drove his '70 Challenger to a 9.918 second lap in the final to defeat Paul Comeau, Vancouver, Wash., and his '39 Chevy. A starting line advantage of 6-hundredths of a second proved to be the difference as Schmall left first and never looked back.

Horton, a Callahan, Fla., resident, worked through three rounds of eliminations in Super Pro and faced off with Steven Shearer, Exeter, Calif., in the final round. Shearer left early with a red-light foul start handing the win to Horton who went on to a near perfect run of 8.107 seconds on an 8.10 dial-in and a reaction time of 0.006 seconds for a combined package of 0.013. Horton's dragster that runs on E85 Ethanol fuel ran consistent all day with runs of 8.093 (8.09 dial) and 8.102 (8.09 dial) in rounds one and two.

In the Sportsman class it was a pair of NHRA regulars doing battle in the final round as Edmond Richardson faced off against Mark Faul. Richardson, Greenbrier, N.C., took the win on a double breakout running 12.140 (12.17 dial) in his '66 Nova to Faul, Tacoma, Wash., running 12.719 (12.75) in his '51 Chevy.

In the two-wheeled motorcycle class Tom Klemme returned to his winning ways taking his second NHRA Summit Racing Series National Championship having won the trophy back in 2008 as well. Klemme out of Davenport, Iowa, rode his '76 Kawasaki to a winning lap of 8.841 seconds with a 0.008 second reaction time in downing David Primrose, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

28 Summit Racing Series competitors made the trip to California for the National Championship after earning NHRA Divisional Summit Racing Series Championships. Summit Racing Equipment and NHRA kicked off the weekend of racing with a dinner banquet for all of the competitors at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Auto Mobile Club of Southern California.

SUPER PRO
Mark Horton, Callahan, Fla, dragster, (0.006 reaction time) 8.10 dial -in, 8.107 seconds def. Steven Shearer, Exeter, Calif., dragster, (-0.004 foul) 7.73 9.909 2.179

PRO
Brandon Schmall, Lino Lakes, Minn., '70 Challenger, Left lane, (0.014) 9.84 9.918 0.078, def. Paul Comeau, Vancouver, Wash., '39 Chevy, (0.075) 9.49 9.521 0.031

SPORTSMAN
Edmond Richardson, Greenbrier, N.C., '66 Nova, Right lane, (0.064) 12.17 12.140 -0.030, def. Mark Faul, Tacoma, Wash., '51 Chevy, (0.048) 12.75 12.719 -0.031

MOTORCYCLE
Tom Klemme, Davenport, Iowa, '76 Kawasaki 9000, Left lane, (0.008) 8.86 8.841 -0.019, def. David Primrose, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, '96 Kawasaki, (0.024) 9.04 9.004 -0.036