World Sand Drag News

The 2022 Avenal Springs Nationals kicked off with the continuation of the 2021 Fall Nationals Pro Bracket eliminations. The previous year’s Fall event was cut short due to a massive sandstorm that engulfed the track and made racing an absolute impossibility. Luckily the wind was no where close to the last event and after a quick test and tune session, eliminations began. On the docket for the continuation event were the Top Eliminator, Pro 1, Pro 2, and Pro 3 categories. Only the pro bracket classes would wrap up their eliminations on Friday, as we would have to wait till Saturday to get the Top Eliminator winner of the 2021 Fall Nationals.

Making the way back down from the Pacific Northwest was Tom Groat who faced Las Vegas’ Eric Hickey in the Pro 1 final. Tom would come out on top in this bout. Trying to continue the success for the PNW, was Oregon’s Adam Hill who was against Bill Meaney. Unfortunately Bill proved too much and took out Adam for the Pro 2 win. Pro 3 was a family affair as Chris Adamson squared off against his son Justin. The old man must have made him nervous as Justin went red and handed the automatic win over to his pops.

The 2022 event proceedings officially took off starting with the Pro Gambler Test & Tune. After their passes, racing action stopped to honor the late Ron d’Artenay Sr. We lost Ron January 23rd after a battle with Covid. Ron’s impact as a founder of the Avenal Sand Drags, a supporter of WSDN, and an ambassador for the entire sport of sand drags was celebrated in the hoisting of a new flag at the starting line and an exhibition pass by two of his best friends in sand drags. Craig Brewster and Ron Moran spread Ron’s ashes across the 300ft sand strip with wheelstanding passes in the best fashion a sand drag racer could ask for.

Brewster and Moran’s passes would not count towards the first round qualifying order, but they would be back later for some make up passes. The rest of heads up competition would however make their passes following the conclusion of the memorial service and Pro Gambler test and tune.

Standouts from the first session of Top Eliminator included Mark Punos going number one with a great 2.975, Brian Drace had a wild pass heading towards the center or the track, and Adam Ross debuting his new Hemi powerplant. In Top Alcohol, two competitors took the stage with Jim Hammond having traction issues and managing a 3.391. Darrell Cypert had greater issues with something breaking in the rear end leading to a DNF.

Qualifying Order After Q1:

Top Alcohol 

1. Jim Hammond – 3.391
2. Darrell Cypert – DNF

Top Eliminator 

1. Mark Punos – 2.975
2. Teri Crawford – 3.015
3. Wade Powell – 3.075
4. Sally Rasmussen – 3.113
5. Tristan Graham – 3.217
6. Glen Hickey – 3.269
7. Brian Drace – 3.682
8. Adam Ross – 4.526
9. Jim Rossi – 2.903 
10. Jim Naffziger – DNF

The second round of heads up qualifying was up next with Mark Punos lowering his pole position to a 2.966. Tristan Graham in the “Whiskey Business” buggy climbed to the number three spot with a solid 3.041. Adam Ross went way too quick with a 2.86 showing that the new Hemi powered pickup was free of its first round gremlins. Jim Hammond came back in the Top Alcohol class to run a 2.506 lowering his number one spot. Unfortunately Cypert was unable to make the call and would be out for the weekend from his parts breakage in the first session.

Qualifying Order After Q2:

Top Alcohol 

1. Jim Hammond – 2.506
2. Darrell Cypert – DNF

Best of session: Jim Hammond – 2.506

Top Eliminator 

1. Mark Punos – 2.966
2. Teri Crawford – 3.015
3. Tristan Graham – 3.041
4. Wade Powell – 3.075
5. Sally Rasmussen – 3.113
6. Ron Moran – 3.190
7. Glen Hickey – 3.259
8. Brian Drace – 3.398
9. Marc Whitmore – 3.938
10. Taylor Berg – 4.380
11. Adam Ross – 4.526
12. Craig Brewster – 2.945
13. Jim Rossi – 2.931
14. Jim Naffziger – 2.889

Best of session: Mark Punos – 2.966

With the second round of heads up qualifying completed, the attention went back to the bracket racing action of the Friday Pro Gambler. The always large fields at Avenal Sand Drags had us pushing the light left in the day, but for once that wasn’t an issue as the Avenal facility turned on its new state of the art lighting system to continue racing action into the dark. This was certainly a great change of pace to avoid the stress of having to finish before dark. David Costa got all the way to the end and took out the 2021 Pro 3 winner Chris Adamson in the final.

Pro Gambler Friday
1st David Costa
2nd Chris Adamson

Night racing really raged on now with the 3.95 Index class that completed qualifying and eliminations all under the new lights. Early rounds looked like the Pintor family would be primed to have Chris and Chaylene headed towards a semi final match up, but Oregon’s Adam Hill came in to dash Chaylene’s hopes. Justin Adamson had a huge wheelstand in round one against Bob Schlicht, but was able to stay in it long enough to break out Bob. Adamson would face Chris Pintor in the next round and wouldn’t have the same luck. Stephen Chase driving Michael Mccord’s turbocharged pickup had to face the new look “Witches Brew II” Jeep of Mike Bolton in the semi finals where old school triumphed over new school sending Bolton into the finals against Chris Pintor who took out Adam Hill in his semi final matchup. Chris got a little anxious in the final and went red handing the win over to Mike Bolton.

3.95 Index
1st Mike Bolton
2nd Chris Pintor

A Friday Motorcycle Gambler class was added to give the bikes a shot at some night racing. The final would come down to two California natives with Hesperia’s Randy Mings coming out on top of Hanford’s David Markle.

Motorcycle Gambler
1st Randy Mings
2nd David Markle

Saturday kicked off with the Sport Motorcycle Classes. Randy Mings was on a roll after winning last night’s Motorcycle Gambler class and was heading to the finals after taking out Tessa Nunes in the semis. There he was scheduled to face Marcus Riedel, but his bike had other plans. Randy’s chassis had suffered damage from the previous pass and was unable to make the final round round call. This damage would unfortunately put him out for the weekend. Marcus Riedel would get the automatic win. Over in Motorcycle Sport 1, Tessa Nunes would make it past the semis and would be matched up against Joseph Weaver. Nunes would be just a tad early at the tree, giving Joesph Weaver a win in Motorcycle Sport 1.

With the Motorcycle classes wrapped up, the attention move over to the Sport Car test and tune. The usual mix of eclectic vehicles was present ranging from full bodied pickups, UTVs, and even a turbocharged El Camino. The Sport Car classes would get two shots at the track before their eliminations.

The third qualifying session of Top Eliminator had a little extra at play as this round would resume eliminations from the 2021 Fall Nationals. Jim Rossi would be the beneficiary of the bye this round and would automatically run in the finals during the fourth session. In the other half of the semi final round was Jim Naffziger and Mark Punos. Jim would shake off his previous issues and get both the round win and number two spot with a 2.983. Many other competitors would improve their times, but not necessarily their qualifying positions as Rossi, Brewster, and Naffziger would get bumped into the top half of the field after laying down times within the index. Adam Ross went quicker again running a 2.844 in his new truck. This wasn’t the most impressive run however. The current WSDN Top Alcohol record holder, Gary Mink, was now on the property and decided to show off with a blistering 2.389 off the trailer pass. This was one of the quickest Top Alcohol passes ever and would qualify for a new WSDN world record if he could back it up later in the event.

Qualifying Order After Q3:

Top Alcohol 

1. Gary Mink – 2.389
2. Jim Hammond – 2.506
3. Darrell Cypert – DNF

Best of session: Gary Mink – 2.389

Top Eliminator

1. Mark Punos – 2.966
2. Jim Naffziger – 2.983
3. Craig Brewster – 2.997
4. Teri Crawford – 3.015
5. Tristan Graham – 3.041
6. Wade Powell – 3.075
7. Jim Rossi – 3.099
8. Sally Rasmussen – 3.113
9. Ron Moran – 3.190
10. Glen Hickey – 3.223
11. Brian Drace – 3.323
12. Taylor Berg – 3.639
13. Marc Whitmore – 3.938
14. Adam Ross – 4.526

Best of session: Jim Naffziger – 2.983

The final qualifying session would commence after the Sport Cars had their second test and tune shot. The 2021 Fall Nationals final was set for this session between Jim Rossi and Jim Naffziger. Naffziger was qualified quicker from the previous sessions, but was too quick on the trigger finger handing the win to Rossi on the red light. Craig Brewster would take over the number one spot running an identical 2.966 to Mark Punos’ time, but would beat him on the MPH. Ron Moran would be the only other competitor to improve his time breaking into the twos with a 2.998 to take the fourth spot. Eyes were on Gary Mink to see if he could back up his record breaking pass. Mink laid down a good lap at 2.496, but it wasn’t enough to be a back up. Hammond struggled with traction early on and only managed a 2.617.

Fall Nationals – Top Eliminator
1st Jim Rossi
2nd Jim Naffziger

Final Qualifying Order:

Top Alcohol 

1. Gary Mink – 2.389
2. Jim Hammond – 2.506
3. Darrell Cypert – DNF

Best of session: Gary Mink – 2.496

Top Eliminator

1. Craig Brewster – 2.966 (106.83MPH)
2. Mark Punos – 2.966 (104.64MPH)
3. Jim Naffziger – 2.983
4. Ron Moran – 2.998
5. Teri Crawford – 3.015
6. Tristan Graham – 3.041
7. Wade Powell – 3.075
8. Jim Rossi – 3.099
9. Sally Rasmussen – 3.113
10. Glen Hickey – 3.223
11. Brian Drace – 3.323
12. Taylor Berg – 3.639
13. Marc Whitmore – 3.938
14. Adam Ross – 4.526

Best of session: Craig Brewster – 2.966

Sport Car eliminations resumed after the final heads up qualifying session. Tom Groat would continue his winning ways doubling up with a Sport 1 win against Alvin Rego in his new Jeep. Sport 2’s final was a heavy metal matchup between Blaine Oliveira’s Ford and Curtis Ridenour’s Chevy. This matchup would end with the Ford in the winner circle, but Ridenour wasn’t done yet. He had another final round to attend in the Sport 3 matchup against Michael Huffman. There Ridenour would come out on top with a nice finish to his Saturday performance.

The Saturday Pro Gambler was another huge field and big payday to the winner. Justin Adamson worked his way through the field picking off heavy hitters like Bill Meaney and Russ Wilkinson along the way to the finals. On the other side Brandon Montgomery in his Team Hardcore truck had a bye to the final after defeating Kenny Hayes in a decisive quarter final round. In the Adamson and Montgomery matchup, both would get off the line green and it was Brandon Montgomery who would take the win and wrap up Saturday night competition.

Pro Gambler Saturday
1st Brandon Montgomery
2nd Justin Adamson

Sunday kicked off with the Pro Motorcycle classes. Motorcycle Pro 2 was a little short staffed with Mings Racing out for the weekend. Tessa Nunes got a bye into the final to run against Joseph Weaver who took out newcomer Bobby Marshall in his semi final round. Joey had already taken the Motorcycle Sport 1 win and was looking to add another trophy to his collection this weekend. Tessa’s bike struggled down track and ran off its number to give Weaver just that.

In Motorcycle Pro 1 it was Joey who earned the bye into the final after taking out David Markle in the quarter finals. Tessa Nunes on her new “Wicked Intentions” bike would run Mike Miller in the semis with a double breakout going to Miller. A re-run was in order as the dial-in times accidentally were swapped on this match-up. Nunes would be the benefactor of this turning the tables around on Miller the second time around. This would set up a rematch of the Motorcycle Pro 2 final with Weaver and Nunes. Weaver was going for the triple up, but would be denied this time around by Tessa as she took the Motorcycle Pro 1 win.

The juniors program followed the Pro Motorcycles with old and new faces in the mix. Pee Wees saw Aubrey Peña as one of these new faces getting the semi final win over Colton Thorton. She would face Adalynn Abril who took out Hazel Ross. The all girl final would go Adalynn, taking the Pee Wees win.

The Junior Motorcycles were split into two categories the Juniors 2 class had newcomer Cayden Fulton working his way through the field to meet Maddox Martindelcampo who had to defeat Cooper DePasse and his own brother Meriik Martindelcampo to earn a spot in the finals. There it would be Cayden’s day as he took first in his first ever sand drag competition.

In Juniors 1, Eric Young put his new wheelie bar to the test with hard launches in test and tune and a first round matchup against Jesse Wallis. A win there gave him the semi final round bye into the finals. Eric’s sister Hallie took out Peña Racing’s Maddox Peña in round one, but she would be stopped from facing her brother in the finals by another Peña family member. Dominic Peña took her down and had one more Young sibling in his way to a Juniors 1 victory. Unfortunately a staging error gave Dominic the red light and the easy win over to Eric Young.

The Avenal Junior Dragster class is always a fun one to watch with a slew of Junior Jeeps in the mix. The quarter finals saw three of those Jeeps left in competition. The number 80s Jeep had a bye into the semi finals. Brielle Gleeson faced off Alexis Pritchard’s Junior Jeep and was able to get passed her. Tyler Ross was doing work in the last pair in the Ross Racing Honda Pioneer and took out another Junior Jeep belonging to Dax Phillips. Ross had to take on another Junior Jeep in the semis, while their finalist opponent, Brielle Gleeson, waited to see who she’d race after getting the bye into the final. Tyler would get around the 80s Jeep to make it an all UTV final. In a near heads up start, Tyler Ross would get the better of Gleeson and took the Junior Dragster win.

Pro 1 competition came down to a battle of the Jeeps with Craig Durning’s rear engine “Eugene The Jeep” against Brian Chapman’s more conventional style Jeep. Chapman would get the win here in typical wheels up fashion.

In Pro 2, Paul Graham in the newly “bracket-ified” “Frisky Business” buggy was killing the tree against Bill Meaney in the semi finals, while Kenny Hayes took out Alvin Rego to earn a bye into the final. Here Graham would be a tad tardy on the tree, and Hayes would push him into a big breakout while running nearly dead on his own 4.18 dial with a 4.185 to take the Pro 2 win.

Zach Phillips was taking out some heavy hitters in Pro 3 with a mix of luck and skill. He was handed a quarter final win after Chris Adamson went red, but showed he definitely had the stuff when he took out Mike Smith on a finish line pedal job. Kenny Hayes struggled in Pro 3 after getting past Tayler Ayers in the quarter finals as he couldn’t get around Chris Wells who was taking residence in a Jeep after his car broke earlier during the event. Wells forced the breakout against Hayes after getting passed Mark Van in the quarter finals. In the Jeep versus Bronco final of Chris Wells and Zach Phillips, Wells showed that even though he wasn’t in his normal vehicle, he still knew how to win and took the Pro 3 victory back to the Pacific Northwest.

Top Alcohol would feature two of the best in its final round. Darrell Cypert was out for the weekend which set the final between Gary Mink and Jim Hammond. Gray was not only looking for the win, but also the backup to his new world record of a 2.389. He’d need a 2.412 to be within one percent and he needed to stay on top of the performance with Hammond waiting in the wings to capitalize on any mistakes. With the lights green and the sand falling, Mink would take the win, but wouldn’t have enough to solidify the world record only running a 2.466 to Hammond’s 2.572.

Top Alcohol
1st Gary Mink
2nd Jim Hammond

The first round matchups of Top Eliminator saw attrition already shaping the bouts. Mark Punos earned a first round bye and used it a tuning session running a 3.04. Jim Rossi, who won the 2021 Fall Nationals continuation race, had a legal single as Sally Rasmussen was broke. Ron Moran was up next with another legal single as he was scheduled to face Marc Whitmore. He let off about half track to a 3.40. Adam Ross’ new Hemi combo proved fierce again running a 2.858 on the brakes which made the loss even more of insult as his competitor Jim Naffziger broke after breaking the staging beams. His teammate Teri Crawford inked out a slight victory in an ugly match against Taylor Berg with both running poorly. Craig Brewster had the other by in round one due to his number qualifying position. He knew he had to tune it down in round two against Glen Hickey after running a 2.936 on that first pass. Glen got around round one after Wade Powell red lit against him, but wouldn’t have luck against Brewster and put a few holes in his small block “Excessive Force” dragster. Tristan Graham found himself in a similar situation with engine damage after a legal single when Brian Drace could not make round one. Jim Rossi would get around Mark Punos in round two. Vegas racer Teri Crawford defeated Ron Moran and Jim Naffziger had a legal single after Graham could not make repairs in time for round two. Jim Rossi would get a little luck in the semi finals as Teri Crawford suffered a staging foul. Teri’s teammate, Jim Naffziger, would run into the same issue going 0.005 red against Craig Brewster who ran a touch under the index with a 2.949. This set the Brewster vs Rossi final with Rossi looking to win back to back finals. In an incredible final round, he would pull off the double up fittingly on a double breakout with his 2.931 to Brewster’s quicker 2.918.

Top Eliminator
1st Jim Rossi
2nd Craig Brewster