Jason Hamstra  (Richard Muir photo)

Von Smith and runner-up Hamstra both wheeled supercharged engine-powered racecars at the Summernationals held at venerable Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The Al-Anabi backed Von Smith drove to his first victory in his second final-round appearance of the 2014 NHRA season and sixth of his NHRA career. Smith won the 2010 NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Championship.

Eric Latino. The rain clouds make a pretty photo, but weren’t fun for the racers. (Ron Lewis photo)

Smith’s Howard Moon-tuned ‘69 Camaro recorded a final round 5.966-second pass at 241.58 mph to defeat the number 14 qualifier Jason Hamstra in the final. Von Smith defeated “Turbo” Troy Coughlin, Clint Satterfield and Eric Latino en route to the final.

Track conditions were as important in determining a winner at this event as what type of “power adder” the racers had. Whether a racer preferred a supercharger, nitrous oxide/water injection or turbocharger made little difference as the lack of traction both Saturday and Sunday had a major role in determining who won the race. During first round eliminations on Saturday night 13 of 16 cars in the field had ET’s in the 6-six to 9-second range instead of the high 5-second, low 6-second times that are the norm, indicating just how treacherous the track was.