It was an all-Nelson final in Friday’s Top (Box) race. Michael Nelson Jr. and Rickey Nelson had identical .017 reaction times, but Michael Jr., the 2016 IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Champion, was nearly spot-on in his Camaro with a 5.181-second pass at 133.23 mph against a 5.18 dial-in. Rickey came up just short despite a strong effort in his dragster, going 5.095 seconds at 133.71 mph against his 5.09 dial-in.
Hometown racer Bradley Tippett, another driver with a great history of success at MIR, was the winner in the Mod (No Box) class. He had a .035 to .067 advantage over Russ Archer at the start and then drove his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda to a 6.579-second run at 98.54 mph against a 6.57 dial-in. Trying to match a 6.74 dial-in, Archer finished in 6.751 seconds at 98.28 mph.
Virginia racer Peyton Bunch won on a holeshot over hometown racer Kaden Groves in the Junior Dragster final. Bunch was .004 at the tree and added a 7.942-second pass at 79.95 mph against a 7.91 dial-in. Groves had a .063 reaction time and broke out with a 7.892-second run at 81.52 mph.
Michael Nelson Jr. doubled up with another Top win Saturday. He was dead-on with a 5.14-second pass at 136.75 mph to go along with a .016 reaction time. Bobby Mattera was right with him with a .017 start, but barely missed out with a 4.779-second pass at 141.98 mph against a 4.78 dial-in.
The Mattera family entered the winner’s circle in Mod when Bobby Mattera went 5.624 seconds at 120.36 with a 5.62 dial-in. Russ Archer had the better reaction time .009 to .036, but broke out with his 6.675 seconds at 99.37 mph.
Hunter Groat from Hollywood, Md., had a starring role in Junior Dragsters. He won on a holeshot and added an 8.086 elapsed time at 76.38 mph against an 8.05 dial-in. Ayden Robinson went down the track in 9.125 seconds at 70.10 mph.
Part of the fun was also a special golf cart race which was won by Austin Bridge.