Tanner, Marshall, Swain, Pitsch, Perrone Among Summit Racing Equipment MWDRS Winners at US 131
MARTIN, Mich. – Mark McElwee successfully defended his championship Saturday at US 131 Motorsports Park, driving his “Buzz’s Bomber” Chevy II down Michigan’s fastest track in a record-breaking 5.321 seconds at 291.26 miles per hour to delight a great crowd at the 18th annual Honor Credit Union Funny Car Nationals.
The veteran from Port St. Lucie, Fla., took out the “American Way” 1957 Chevy of Joe Haas of Findlay, Ill., in the final round of a two-day event that also featured the stars of the Midwest Drag Racing Series, the Larsen Motorsports jet dragsters, the “Black Pearl” and “Quartermaster” jet Funny Cars, a bullet-nose Studebaker wheelstander, and making its next-to-last appearance, the jet-powered Kenworth of Bob Motz.
Winners in the MWDRS portion of the show included former PDRA Pro Mod standout Preston Tanner of Rensselaer, IN, who drove his 2015 Chevy Corvette past the late model Camaro of point leader Dustin Nesloney of Orange Grove, TX, when the latter squandered low elapsed time of the meet (3.648 seconds) with a final round foul start.
Chris Marshall of McMinnville, OR, made up some ground on point leader Sean Bellemeur with his win over Annie Whiteley in the Funny Car division, Ionia’s Billy Swain outlasted a strong field in Top Dragster and recent NHRA national tour runner-up Michael Chitty of Ames, IA, put his 2004 Chevy Cavalier in the winner’s circle in Top Sportsman.
Brazilian Roderjan Busato drove his 2022 Camaro to the Pro Mod Slammers title, Lowell’s Eric Stewart prevailed in the Great Lakes Super Stock Series and Dorr’s Aliyah Pitsch, former two-time US 131 track champion, got a free pass to the Sportsman Jr. Dragster title when another 131 regular, Kenzie Wanamaker of Otsego, was guilty of a final round foul start.
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MARTIN, Mich. – Results from the 18th Honor Credit Union Funny Car Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park. Hometowns are Michigan unless otherwise indicated. Results include reaction time, track time, target time (where applicable) and finish line speed:
NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR:
FINAL – Mark McElwee, Port St. Lucie, FL, “Buzz’s Nitro Bomber” 1962 Chevy IL, .168, 5.321, 291.26 mph, def. Joe Haas, Findlay, IL, “American Way” 1957 Chevy.168, 6.254, 195.00 mph. Semifinalists – John Lawson, Joliet, IL, “Runaway” 1970 Chevy Camaro, and Pete Dove, Shelbyville, IL.
MIDWEST DRAG RACING SERIES:
PRO MODIFIED – Preston, Tanner, Rensselaer, IN, 2015 Chevy Corvette, .058, 4.215, 121.39 mph, def. Dustin Nesloney, Orange Grove, TX, 2017 Chevy Camaro, foul (3.648, 204.82 mph). Semifinalists – Ed Thornton, Chino, CA, 1968 Chevy Camaro, and Brandon Snider, Atmore, AL, 2016 Chevy Corvette.
FUNNY CAR – Chris Marshall, McMinnville, OR, 2017 Chevy Camaro, .034, 3.623, 212.06 mph, def. Annie Whiteley, Grand Junction, CO, 2017 Chevy Camaro, foul (5.526, 88.13 mph). Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction, CO, 2022 Chevy Camaro, and Steven Macklyn, Bountiful, UT, 2013 Ford Mustang.
TOP DRAGSTER – Billy Swain, Ionia, .020, 4.475 on a 4.470 target, 150.05 mph, def. Jared Ledford, Greenville, .016, 4.418 on a 4.400 target, 155.98 mph. Semifinalist – Scott Taylor, Portage.
TOP SPORTSMAN – Michael Chitty, Ames, IA, 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier, .011, 4.311 on a 4.290 target, 164.23 mph, def. Maximus Butcher, Doylestown, OH, .028, 4.969 on a 4.950 target, 136.36 mph. Semifinalist – Andy Horne, Delaware, OH, 2018 Ford Mustang.
PRO MOD SLAMMERS – Roderjan Busato, Curitiba Sprada, Brazil, 2022 Chevy Camaro, .093, 3.690, 203.25 mph, def. Tony Williams, Millington, TN, .028, 3.800, 188.52 mph. Semifinalist – Kyle Dvorak, McHenry, IL.
PRO JR. DRAGSTER – Austin Perrone, Ionia, .008, 8.328 on an 8.320 target, 76.53 mph, def. Logan Nap, Lawton, .215, 8.071 on an 8.030 target, 76.31 mph. Semifinalist – Tyler Howard, Battle Creek.
SPORTSMAN JR. DRAGSTER – Aliyah Pitsch, Dorr, .092, 8.938 on an 8.980 target, 72.73 mph, def. Kenzie Wanamaker, Otsego, Mich., foul (8.981 on an 8.960, 73.29 mph). Semifinalists – Wyatt Lanning, Coldwater, and Alex Selleck, Orleans.
GREAT LAKES SUPER STOCK SERIES:
FINAL – Eric Stewart, Lowell, .055, 11.294 on an 11.290 target, 116.28 mph, def. Randy Running, Lapeer, MI, .069, 9.445 breakout foul on a 9.450 target, 140.06 mph. Semifinalist – Muzz Muzzillo, Garrett, IN.
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