FOLEY HEADLINES FIRST-TIME WINNERS AT PENULTIMATE 2021 VIRTUAL REALITY EVENT

Sat, 2021-02-13 19:46

 

 

It took him only nine races, but for Top Fuel racer Doug Foley, the wait was worth it.

Foley defeated defending VRHRA Top Fuel champion Terry McMillen to win the inaugural Mickey Thompson Tires Golden Gate Nationals on Friday evening. The drag racing school instructor and part-time Top Fuel driver secured 52-percent of the votes cast for his monumental victory.

Other first-time winners included Chris McGaha (Pro Stock), Kelly Clontz (Pro Stock Motorcycle), and Chip King (Pro Modified). Tim Wilkerson picked up his third win of the season and clinched his second Funny Car world championship.

Foley, who started from the No. 5 qualifying position, took out Justin Ashley and NHRA champion Steve Torrence to reach the final round

"It's pretty cool because us, being a team that really for the most part hasn't been out there other than last year for 10 years and to see that people get around you and push it and sometimes they remind me what's going on," Foley said. "It's cool to see people rally around you and say, "Hey, listen. I drove one of your race cars back in the 90s and voted for you on Competition Plus. So all that stuff is all good. And it kind of riles us up to go out and get busy on this."

Foley understands there's no such thing as big and little teams when it comes to the VRHRA style of racing.

"I think it's gotten to the point in this world that people can appreciate maybe the underdog and maybe a smaller teams and maybe the people that don't have all of the luxuries in life," Foley said. "I think that's part of it. I think it's part of the fact of where our sport is going. We have definitely a big base of racers that are kind of getting older, but they've seen us race and come up and try and fight through the hard knocks and stuff. I think for them to be able to support something that maybe hasn't had all the success or all the glories is kind of cool to them."

TJ Zizzo currently leads the Top Fuel points standings, but a first round upset at the hands of Torrence left him seven points shy of clinching the title.

Pro Stock remains the only other undecided championship as Bruno Massell leads Kenny Delco by 77 points.

When Wilkerson stopped second-place Alexis DeJoria in the final round, he secured a back-to-back championship.

Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Rickie Smith (Pro Modified) clinched their titles ahead of this week's race.

The nine-race series, now in its second season of fan-vote drag racing, ends next week with the final event of the 2021 season with The Finals at Ontario Motor Speedway, the track formerly located in Ontario, Ca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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