Ed Niemeic

In the semi-final, Niemeic defeated Angelly, setting up an Illinois vs. Iowa finale. Niemeic was unable to keep the King of Illinois crown in state, however, as Smiley claimed the double-breakout victory and the huge $20,000 payday.

Sunday the JEGS Summer Door Car Shootout came to a conclusion with the Moser Engineering $7500-to-win main event. Before eliminations began, racers competed in the annual Blind “Dial for Dollars” to benefit the JEGS Foundation for Cancer Research. Each entrant donated $10 for the competition, with 100% of proceeds going directly to the JEGS Foundation for Cancer Research. The three best packages of the session went home with great prizes; and (thanks to a small donation from track and event officials) an even $2500 was raised for the JEGS Foundation.

Tyler Smith (Springfield, TN) posted a .006 package to take top honors: a $500 JEGS Gift Certificate. Second place went to the .007 package of Scott Carman (Owensboro, KY); which earned him a $402 Mark Sullens E85 Carburetors Gift Certificate. Saturday's runner-up, Rob Kropfeld took home a Flo-Fast Fluid Transfer system for his .008 package, which placed third.

Jeff Thompson

Jeff Thompson (Corinth, MS) scored the $7500 top prize in Sunday's Moser Main event when he drove his Monza past Auto Meter Friday winner Jeremy McKague. Thompson's win continued a stellar season for the 'Mississipi Monza,' as he had already claimed $5,000 victories in Huntsville, AL and Jackson, TN. For McKague, the win capped an incredible weekend. After winning the Auto Meter Pregame on Friday, McKague left I-57 Dragstrip and drove to Gateway Motorsports Park to compete in a points event. There, he won Pro (No Box), and advanced to the final round of the Combo event, before returning to I-57 Dragstrip for Sunday's event. Ronnie Slayden (Columbus, KY) was the lone semi-finalist, while Tim Vincent (St. Charles, IL), Jared Fulcher (Chandler, IN), and Chris Bledsoe (Hopkinsville, KY) were the quarterfinalists.

Sunday's specialty prize winners included Larry Penland (Sesser, IL), who earned a $402 Mark Sullens E85 Carburetors gift certificate as the Sunday “Lucky Dog;” Evan Anderson (Adams, TN), who took home a K&R twin dial board & controller package as the K&R “Oh So Close” award winner; Bill Hooker, who earned an entry to the 2017 No Box Nationals for his second “Bottom Bulb Bonus” award of the weekend; and Keith Hall (Cave Springs, AR), who took home the $500 FTI Gift Certificate for the “Be .50, take .00” award. SDCS officials named five “Cool Car” awards, who each received a California Car Duster and Golden Shine car care kit courtesy of California Car Cover. Those awards went to the gorgeous Chevy II of Mike Frese (Quincy, IL), the Opel of Greg Dawson (Scottsboro, AL), the Chevy II of Clarence Hunt (Jackson, TN), the El Camino of Tyler Smith (Springfield, TN), and the Mopar of Mike Crick (Nortonville, KY).

Rob Meservier, who made the long tow from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada earned the Crane Cams Long Distance Award ($500 Crane Gift Certificate) for a 3rd consecutive season thanks to a 16-hour ride to I-57 Dragstrip! The best package of the weekend was posted by Litchfield, IL racer Phil Bryant (.001 package), which earned him a free Triple Ten's entry to the 2017 Ultimate 64 Shootout. Finally, hard luck awards were randomly chosen for three drivers who were defeated in round 3 (the round before the money) in both the Saturday and Sunday main events. Those awards included a complimentary double entry to the I-57 Dragstrip Labor Day $5,000-to-win event, which went to Logan Diggs (Carthage, MO); a $500 BTE Gift Certificate, which was claimed by Dane Bruce (Cincinnati, OH); and an AirTek Pressure Monitoring System, which went home with Gary May (Indianapolis, IN).