Steven Farrow is one of the most successful track operators in the country at Brainerd Motorsports Park. He showed he could still get it done in the Box final with a winning pass of 4.708 seconds at 143.76 mph in his rail car. Dwayne Gibson from Knoxville Dragway, who had a better reaction time .029 to .067, took his front-engine dragster down the track in 5.603 seconds at 122.03 mph.
Charlie Weismuller from Knoxville drove his Chevy S-10 pickup to the No Box win. He had a .015 better start and then paired it with a run of 6.258 seconds at 107.20 mph. Chad Brewer, representing Brainerd, finished in 6.254 seconds at 108.90 in his fire-engine red Chevy Nova.
It was a sibling battle in the Junior Dragster final. Grace Varner, who won the Gamblers race at the 2022 IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals, bested brother John in the championship round. Both racers represented the host Alabama International Dragway. John had the slightly better start .057 to .060, but Grace’s run of 7.844 seconds at 78.02 mph proved to be the winning combination.
The Sportsman final pitted two of the top racers in the country in that class as Marty Goldsmith took advantage of a red-light by former IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Champion David Bigham. Goldsmith, who had a .012 reaction time, had a 7.719-second pass at 87.45 mph. Bigham finished in 7.554 seconds at 90.91 mph.
Friday action included another Box winner from Brainerd with Ron Lane’s winning package of 4.684 seconds at 148.09 mph and a .011 reaction time. Brady Johnson, representing Baileyton Dragstrip, had an even better start at .005, but finished runner-up at 6.431 seconds at 104.04 mph.
The Varner family had more to celebrate with Derek Varner racing to the No Box victory. The Alabama International Dragway racer powered his 1967 Chevy Chevelle down the track in 6.227 seconds at 111.63 mph after a .010 reaction time. Billy Parker from I-22 Motorsports Park, was -.005 too quick at the start to disqualify a run of 6.587 seconds at 103.77 mph.
John Varner finished one spot better on Friday, winning the Junior Dragster title with an 8.384-second pass at 75.76 mph in the final round. Varner had the .022 to .033 advantage at the start over CJ Handy from Baileyton, who finished in 7.957 seconds at 80.70 mph.
David Muncey from Knoxville was the Sportsman winner with a 10.699-second pass at 67.63 mph, paired with a .077 start. Bigham was runner-up for a second straight day with a 7.580-second run at 87.69 mph and a .090 reaction time.
Keep looking at IHRA.com and our social media pages for more recaps on Saturday’s Gamblers race, Sunday’s main event and special award winners.
