A very special race took place the weekend of July 22nd – 24th as Thunder Valley Sand Drags in Grain Valley, MO celebrated their 30th Anniversary. Along with their regular season classes on the docket, Top Alcohol, Top Eliminator, and A/Fuel were added for some heads up competition, as well as, a handful for Friday night racing.
Starting things off on Friday was an hour of test and tune. Following that was the first qualifying session for the heads up classes. WSDN Top Alcohol record holder, Gary Mink, would make his return to sand drags after a 3 year hiatus and take the top spot in the first round of Top Alcohol qualifying with a 2.535 E.T.
The rest of the qualifying list was as follows:
Qualifying after Round 1
A/Fuel
- Terry Glasscock – 2.860
- Kenny Kapple – 2.981
- Greg Johnson – 2.991
- Sally Rasmussen – 3.191
- Mike Belcher – 3.249
Top Eliminator
- Dennis Burrows – 3.086
- Jim Rossi – 3.152
- Russ Bailey – 3.173
Top Alcohol
- Gary Mink – 2.535
After a 4 hour long delay due to timing system issues, it was decided to push the originally scheduled third qualifying session to the next day, while the second round of qualifying would be run after the conclusion of the delayed test and tune.
Sally Rasmussen, Jim Rossi, and Kenny Kapple would join the TVSD 2 second club with Sally running a 2.882 E.T. to get the number two qualifier spot in A/Fuel and Jim running a 2.961 E.T. to take the number one spot in Top Eliminator. Kenny Kapple ran his first ever 2 second pass with the 2.981 E.T. to take the number three spot in A/Fuel.
The rest of the qualifying list was as follows:
Qualifying after Round 2
A/Fuel
- Terry Glasscock – 2.860
- Sally Rasmussen – 2.882
- Kenny Kapple – 2.981
- Greg Johnson – 2.991
- Mike Belcher – 3.249
Best of session: Sally Rasmussen 2.882
Top Eliminator
- Jim Rossi – 2.961
- Jeremy Click – 3.041
- Dennis Burrows – 3.043
- Russ Bailey – 3.173
- Russ Payne – 3.329
Best of session: Jim Rossi 2.961
Top Alcohol
- Gary Mink – 2.535
- John Moreland – 2.710
Best of session: Gary Mink 2.567
Four bracket classes were run on Friday night and here were the results:
50/50 Sportsman ATVs
1st – Craig McNiel
2nd – Josh Koch Jr.
50/50 Sportsman Cars
1st – Mike Crabaugh
2nd – Craig McNiel
Quick 16 ATVs
1st – Craig McNiel
2nd – Tommy Springer
Quick 16 Cars
1st – Hunter Shelton
2nd – Dennis Burrows
Saturday started off with the 15 & Younger Pee Wees division, followed up with the 3rd round of Qualifying for the heads up classes.
Pee Wees
1st – Cody Koch
2nd – Kenton Spencer
Gary Mink would break into the 2.40’s in the 3rd Qualifying session with a 2.482.
The rest of the qualifying list was as follows:
Qualifying after Round 3
A/Fuel
- Terry Glasscock – 2.860
- Sally Rasmussen – 2.882
- Kenny Kapple – 2.981
- Greg Johnson – 2.991
- Mike Belcher – 3.249
Best of session: Terry Glasscock 3.018
Top Eliminator
- Jim Rossi – 2.961
- Russ Bailey – 3.037
- Jeremy Click – 3.041
- Dennis Burrows – 3.043
- Russ Payne – 3.329
Best of session: Jim Rossi 2.985
Top Alcohol
- Gary Mink – 2.482
- John Moreland – 2.678
Best of session: Gary Mink 2.482
Time trials were held for all of the bracket class competitors and the final round of Qualifying was held afterward. Greg Johnson would suffer some parts breakage and would not be able to compete in A/Fuel, so he was simply removed from the ladder to make an even 4 car field. The final qualifying list was as follows:
Final Qualifying Order
A/Fuel
- Terry Glasscock – 2.860
- Sally Rasmussen – 2.882
- Kenny Kapple – 2.912
- Mike Belcher – 3.249
Best of session: Kenny Kapple 2.912
*Greg Johnson – Broke
Top Eliminator
- Jim Rossi – 2.961
- Jeremy Click – 3.023
- Russ Bailey – 3.037
- Dennis Burrows – 3.043
- Russ Payne – 3.145
Best of session: Jeremy Click 3.023
Top Alcohol
- Gary Mink – 2.482
- John Moreland – 2.667
Best of session: Gary Mink 2.525
A memorial ceremony was held after time trials and qualifying to remember and appreciate all the previous/current track staff and of course the Sieg family for keeping the facility open for 30 years. Jeff and Stacey Sieg, along with Tricia Bailey took the reins of the facility since the original owner, Harland Sieg, passed away 10 years ago.
Pro 2 ATV (5.00 & Slower)
Young Cody Koch would double down as he took the win in Pee Wees and Pro 2 ATV. Gary Curtis would bring out his late father’s old trike to race in the 30th Anniversary event, sadly he would turn on the red bulb in the final ensuring Cody’s victory.
1st – Cody Koch
2nd – Gary Curtis
Pro 1 ATV (4.99 & Faster)
Tennessee’s Tommy Springer made the jog out for this race and ended up making it to two final rounds, both against Missouri’s Craig McNiel. Craig would get the upper hand in the Quick 16 class the night before, but not in Pro 1 ATV as Tommy would run closer to his number to get the win.
1st – Tommy Springer
2nd – Craig McNiel
Pro Comp
Hunter Shelton would also double down, taking the win in both Quick 16 Cars and Pro Comp. 50/50 Sportsman Cars winner, Mike Crabaugh, would settle for 2nd as he broke out in the final.
1st – Hunter Shelton
2nd – Mike Crabaugh
A/Fuel
Sally Rasmussen knew she would have to chop the tree down as Terry ran a 2.79 pass the round before and she would make the trip from California worth the drive as she got the holeshot win to take 1st place.
1st – Sally Rasmussen
2nd – Terry Glasscock
Top Eliminator
Russ Payne was Mr. Consistency as he had a handful of 3.13 E.T’s, and relied on holeshots to get the W. Russ Bailey would unfortunately get the red light to settle the Top Eliminator final.
1st – Russ Payne
2nd – Russ Bailey
Top Alcohol
John Moreland would suffer some parts breakage and give Gary Mink the legal single to take the win in Top Alcohol.
1st – Gary Mink
2nd – John Moreland
Sport ATV
1st – Seth Curtis
2nd – Josh Koch Sr.
3rd – Richard Blake
Sport Comp
1st – Edward Speer
2nd – Ava Winsor
It was hot and humid, but turned out to be an eventful weekend at TVSD for their 30th Anniversary. We at WSDN want to extend our congratulations to the track on hitting that mark and wish them more years to come in the future. We will be covering two more races at the track this year. Look forward to the weekend’s of August 12th-14th and September 23rd-25th!
