IHRA Pro Stock champ Robert Patrick stormed the field at FFW Richmond in his Shelby GT 500 to pick up his first series win and a $10,000 page check as well.
By the time the semifinals rolled around, Patrick, Schorr, Brinsfield and Mangrum were still in the thick of it. In a battle of Fun Ford and IHRA champs, Patrick drove around Schorr’s holeshot to grab a hard fought 6.415 to 6.524 victory. Mangrum, who was behind the wheel of Dan Seamon’s IHRA Pro Stock Mustang, did a heck of a job driving an unfamiliar car, as his 6.562 at 216.58 came up just short against Brinsfield’s 6.429 at 217.00.
With the top two qualifiers in the finals, the fans knew they were in for a treat. Brinsfield had run quicker all weekend, but was slowing down each round and not quite as sharp on the tree as Patrick had been. That proved to make all the difference in this race, as Patrick’s .056 holeshot gave him the lead all the way to a 6.413 to 6.390 upset victory.
ProCharger Street Renegade was just as dramatic. Five drivers were in the field at Richmond. Defending class champ Travis Franklin, who showed up just before the last round of qualifying, led the field with a 7.667 at 188.38, which was significantly faster than Dan Schoneck’s speed record of 185.49 from 2005. Don Burton, Atlanta winner Ronnie Wilson, Houston winner Angel Padilla and local driver Shelly Smith rounded out the field.
Don Burton put his name in the record books at Richmond in Street Renegade by setting a new class ET record and winning the event in this nitrous true 10.5 Mustang with Gene Fulton nitrous power. Burton ran a 7.585 at 181.52 to beat defending class champ Travis Franklin in the finals.
In the semifinals, Franklin ran a 7.661 at 188.25 to beat Smith, who improved to an 8.186 at 173.90 over her qualifying effort. Burton dropped a bomb, however, when he uncorked a 7.527 elapsed time, which was way under Sam Vincent’s record which was set at Richmond the year before. While Franklin was running the best he has all year, he knew he didn’t have the horses in his ProCharger car to run those numbers with Burton’s nitrous car. All he could do was try to make up that difference at the tree, which he almost did. Franklin left with an .079 starting line advantage, but Burton made up the difference and then some as his 7.585 at 181.52 put $3,000 in his pocket as the event winner.
IHRA Hot Rod class racer R.L. Smith came to Richmond to try his hand in heads up Street Bandit and wound up winning it all. Smith used a great light and a 10.756 and a 10.60 index to defeat Joe Marini’s 10.677 elapsed time.
In the heads up index classes, Borla Street Bandit saw R.L. Smith upset the championship point’s race with a victory while Saleen Speedlab Street Stang was clinched by Tom Conrad, Jr.