Dragway 42 Hangover Nationals

Results and photos courtesy Dragway 42

Nearly 200 racers from a multi-state area enjoyed a far warmer and rainier than normal New Year's Day by participating in Dragway 42's 12th Annual "Hangover Nationals".

For the first time in several years, the snow was gone from the track for this event, but wet conditions the majority of the day kept things interesting as the racers were separated into 2-Wheel Drive and 4-Wheel/All Wheel Drive classes for the heads-up 20.11 index eliminators.

The finals in the 4-Wheel/All-Wheel Drive class saw Columbus, Ohio's Doug Thompson (who ran dead-on the 20.11 index in his semi-finals win against Nick Bowman) match up against Shreve, Ohio's Jason Theil.

Thompson had the better reaction time and was second across the finish line in his 2006 Jeep Cherokee as Theil had to push his 2005 Ford Ranger a bit too hard to get the stripe, recording a break out elapsed time of 20.0660.

The last run of the day was the battle of previous event champions in the 2-Wheel Drive finals. The defending class champion, Ron Hagar of Clark Lake, Michigan was paired against Medina, Ohio's Bob Hamey who won the inaugural "Hangover Nationals" back in 2000.

Nearly 200 vehicles packed the lanes at Dragway 42's 12th Annual Hangover Nationals. Some participants brought along lots of their friends while a few racers brought along Man's Best Friend for Dragway 42's annual New Year's Day event.

Duplicating the other class final's run, Hamey and his 2010 Ford Focus were first off the line and second across the stripe, but when the scoreboards displayed the results, Hagar's 1984 Buick Regal had run too quick, recording a 20.0393 to break out while a the other lane's scoreboard showed that Hamey had run 20.1224 @ 78.67 for the victory.

Following Dragway 42's January 1st event, its calendar filling schedule shows the Annual Awards Banquet and Rules Meeting on tap for Saturday, February 12th with the next "on-track" event being a season opener in late March. The track's traditional Sunday Points Program gets underway in April with weeknight programs moving into full swing in May.