Tue, 30 Oct 2012, 18:32 PM Halloween Classic @ San Antonio Raceway, 10/26-28/12

By of J.M. Hallas

MARION, Texas -- With the summer points chase over San Antonio Raceway hosted the Halloween Classic with some potential big bucks on the line. Three separate shows gave racers an entire weekend of racing as they tried to grab their shares of the purses. Being a Halloween event, the track also held a costume contest for adults, kids, pets and haulers.

Racing on the 1/8th mile was supposed to begin on Friday night. Drivers and crews faced cool, damp conditions that made for a tricky track surface during the evenings time trials. After a crash, officials were forced to postpone the remainder of the night due to unsafe conditions.

Saturday would start with early time trials in the morning and Fridays eliminations beginning near mid-day with sunny, pleasant temperatures making for a better track surface to begin the first rounds. Regular Friday eliminations in the Electronics, Foot Brake and Jr. Dragster's classes, would be alternated with the Saturday portion of the show, then the big money "Gunslinger" race for the Electronics class.

Friday Electronics Honors to Head
Rusty Head(Buda) used a better reaction time to get the hole-shot win over Preston Pennington in the Electronics finals. Head's '01 Undercover Chassis, tripped a .018 light to Pennington's .030 and took the win despite Pennington nearly hitting his dial in with a 4.704 on a 4.70 dial, while Head ran a 4.725 on a 4.71. Both Head and Pennington rebought after being eliminated in round 1.

Rusty Head, 4.725 @ 146.39 defeats Preston Pennington, 4.704 @ 147.78

Ball Betters Pennington in Tight Battle
In the closest final round of the night, former champ, Scott Ball(San Antonio) gave Preston Pennington his second runner-up finish. Ball and Pennington both cut .01 lights with Ball running a 4.8963 on a 4.89 dial to best Pennington's 4.7068 on a 4.70 dial. The margin of victory at the finish was .001. The win gave Ball, who bought back in, redemption over Pennington who knocked him out in round 1.

Scott Ball, 4.896 @ 139.71 defeats Preston Pennington, 4.706 @ 141.82

Hughes Guns Down Field
Thirty desperados signed up for the Gunslinger finale, and when the bullets stopped flying, Pasadena's Stephan Hughes was the last man standing. The final duel came down to Hughes against Mike Zampese. Hughes, in his '03 Miller Chassis was first on the draw by .03, and gunned down Zampese.

Stephan Hughes, 4.813 @ 132.78 defeats Mike Zampese, 4.897 @ 128.35

Carrasco Captures Friday Foot Brake Final
Carlos Carrasco Jr.(San Antonio) got the victory in the final for Foot Brake finishing off Friday night. Carrasco, in his '69 Pontiac Firebird, was given the win after D. Brinkketer broke out by a tenth.

Carlos Carrasco Jr., 7.384 @ 82.98 defeats D. Brinkketer, 6.243 @ 107.71

Price Picks Up Foot Brake Win
Russell Price(San Antonio) took home the money in Foot Brake finals for Saturday's show getting the easy win after Dustin Bradford red lit. It didn't matter that Price's '67 Chevy Nova broke out slightly running a 7.016 on a 7.02 dial.

R. Price, 7.016 @ 96.13 defeats Dustin Bradford, 6.013 @ 113.44

Ball Bests Field for Jr. Dragster win
Emily Ball(San Antonio) grabbed the win in the Friday Jr. Dragster finals over Matthew Villareal who went red and broke out. Ball, who used the round 1 buy-back, used a .039 light and ran a bit over her dial, but took home the victory.

Emily Ball, 9.196 @ 68.69 defeats Matthew Villareal, 7.886 @ 78.95

Villareal Victorious in Saturday Jr. Dragster Shootout
Bouncing back from his defeat in the Friday portion of the show, Matthew Villareal(Corpus Christi) outran Gianni Carrola to redeem himself. Villareal, in a '03 Spitzer Chassis, ran 7.903 on a 7.90 dial to best Carrola who ran a 7.929 on 7.90.

Matthew Villareal, 7.903 @ 78.18 defeats Gianni Carrola, 7.929 @ 80.92

Coming in November(23rd and 24th) San Antonio Raceway will again host an 'All Out Big Money Bash' for door cars and motorcycles. In an expanded version of the popular 'Pinks All Out' show, four different index classes plus the quickest 16 on the property will run for the money on Saturday. Friday will be test-n-tune, qualifying and a Jackpot Race.

For more info visit www.sanantonioraceway.com or on Facebook facebook.com/SARaceway. Track phone 210-698-2310.