TOP SPORTSMAN

Mick Snyder

Past Pro Extreme world champion Mick Snyder is settling into his new home in Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel, as evidenced by his second win in the class. The former alcohol Funny Car driver ran 3.99 on a 3.96 dial-in to beat Cheyenne Stanley in the final round after scoring the low qualifier bonus earlier in the day.

“That doesn’t happen very often. Especially in bracket racing, anybody can win any race. There’s no performance advantage really. I tell you what, this EFI deal and the Lencodrive and the combination that we have right now, it’s just consistent and it’s good. We’re starting to learn enough now that we know what changes it makes when the air changes. We can chase it better than we used to,” Snyder claimed, referring to his roots-blown, ComSYNC EFI-equipped 1963 Corvette that he previously ran in PX trim.

Snyder’s first Top Sportsman win came at the Memphis race last year, so he was glad to earn his second win closer to the team’s Demotte, Indiana, base.

“This is the closest PDRA race to our house, so we have family and friends here and all the kids got to come. It’s one of those deals where you get to the final and you just hope you can finish it off. That one round is so important.”

TOP DRAGSTER

Though he was victorious in Lucas Oil Top Dragster competition, Craig Sullivan probably grabbed more attention when his Richard Petty-themed 1969 Dodge Daytona suffered an explosion on the burnout during the first round of Pro Boost.

“We’ve never run Pro Boost before. We’ve got EFI on a blown Hemi and there’s no owner’s manual. Nobody can tell you how to do it, where to do it. I leaned it down three percent and it popped the burst panels and destroyed the front clip. We just pushed it away, stuck it in the trailer and concentrated on Top Dragster.”

Along with crew chief Chad Crawford, Sullivan marched through the Top Dragster field with a nitrous-assisted entry, eventually running 3.947 on a 3.94 dial-in in the final round. Opponent Chaz Silence broke out, going 3.948 on a 3.96 dial.

Sullivan dedicated his win to former PDRA announcer Brian Olson, who passed away unexpectedly shortly after last year’s Summer Drags.

“Brian Olson was watching over us. This was the last event that Brian had announced. Brian was one of my best friends, so he was riding along with me the whole time.”