On what would have been the 50th running of the biggest four-wheel drive happening in the United States of America, Gravelrama 50, Gravel-Rona has taken its place just for this year due to said event being postponed to August 2021. Instead of the usual 5 day, all heads up class racing in the flat drags, the uphill side by side drags, and the big eliminator hill climb. This event was only 2 days and featured a plethora of bracket and index classes.
After some short showers in the morning, Friday started off with the usual 6 hours of test and tune for anyone wanting to make test and tune passes. Followed by the 1st qualifying session of Top Eliminator, which we all know is a 2.95 index class. Kyle Farwick would claim the number 1 spot after the session with a 3.059.
Qualifying order after the 1st session:
1. Kyle Farwick – 3.059
2. Craig Gum – 3.171
3. Burt VanBennekom – 3.264
4. Johnny Dreher – 3.395
5. Andrew Meyer – 3.511
6. Kathy Ellington – 3.551
7. Ryan Wilson – 3.717
8. Cody Trice – 6.024
Friday night finished up with a 50/50 sportsman bracket class that had 44 competitors (50% of the total pot would be awarded to the 1st place winner, and the other 50% would go to the club expenses for the track), an open ATV bracket class with 4 competitors, a 4.00 Index with 11 competitors, and a 3.50 Index with 12 competitors.
Here are the winners from Friday nights classes:
Friday ATV
1st – Tim Engel
2nd – Darren Butts
4.00 Index
1st – Darren Smith
2nd – Ryan Kerr
3.50 Index
1st – Ryan Wilson
2nd – Rodney Upchurch
50/50 Sportsman
1st – David Trice
2nd – Braden Berry
Saturday at 9A.M. was nothing but business for the future of the sport. The next generation took to the staging lanes for the beginning of Pee Wees (age 9 and younger / 9.00 limit) and Juniors (age 10-15 / 5.00 limit) classes for kids. Pee Wees had 8 entrants and Juniors had close to 20.
Pee Wees
1st – Jaylen Meyer
2nd – Austin Rosenberger
Juniors
1st – Trinity Montgomery
2nd – Jared Welke
Time Trials for the bracket classes would then hit the track, along with Qualifying for Top Eliminator & the Quick 16 Car class. Two more entries would enter TE and shake up the qualifying order.
Qualifying order after the 2nd session:
1. Kyle Farwick – 3.046
2. Burt VanBennekom – 3.151
3. Craig Gum – 3.171
4. Ryan Wilson – 3.333
5. Joe Gorney – 3.337
6. Johnny Dreher – 3.380
7. Blake Cole – 3.461
8. Kathy Ellington – 3.464
9. Andrew Meyer – 3.511
10. Cody Trice – 4.693
As the day went on and we burned well passed the midnight oil, we got around to the finals of each class into the early morning.
In the field of 5 in the ATV class, we would see Chad Means take the win over Chad Ohmer.
The highly anticipated 5.0 Index class would see Carole Patterson take the win over Michael Becken. This class would actually have the highest amount of entries in all the index classes this weekend with 20.
In Quick 16 cars action, we’d see young Kelin Trainor (at just 19 years old) take the win over Kyle Harney in the Hayshaker
In Top Eliminator the #2 Qualifier, Burt VanBennekom, would defeat the #3 Qualifier, Craig Gum. This would break Burt’s string of 2nd place finishes in 2020 and surely give him confidence going forward.
The Slow Bracket Class would see the newly christened D/Pro Modified record holder, John Brown, take the win over Austin Benevengooooo! (As the announcer would say).
Final pair of the night saw Aaron Korner in his Mini Buggy MPH record holding machine defeating Ashton Wilson.
Gravel-Rona turned out to be an exciting event and even though it didn’t have the Gravelrama feel, it surely has everyone excited for the 50th Anniversary to come in 2021.
WSDN has our calendars marked and we look forward to seeing you then!
Saturday ATV
1st – Chad Means
2nd – Chad Ohmer
5.00 Index
1st – Carrol Patterson
2nd – Michael Becken
Quick 16
1st – Kelin Trainor
2nd – Kyle Harney
Top Eliminator (2.95 Inedx)
1st – Burt VanBennekom
2nd – Craig Gum
Slow Class Bracket
1st – John Brown
2nd – Austin Benevengo
Fast Class Bracket
1st – Aaron Korner
2nd – Ashton Wilson
