The second day of the JEGS NHRA Cajun Sportsnationals was jammed pack with action as more than 550 racers made final qualifying 

Adam Hickey is the low qualifier in Comp headed into Sunday's final eliminations.

efforts for Sunday’s eliminations while also running elimination rounds
for several specialty races including the King of the Bayou
competition.  All seven NHRA divisions around the country are
represented here this weekend with racers including Ray Martin from
Anchorage, Alaska.

Leading things off was the conclusion of Friday’s heads-up class racing
with Joe Teuton Jr. of Schriever, La., out running his teammate Tim
Hebert, Thibodaux, La., in a battle of ’68 Super Stock Hemi
Barracudas.  Teuton ran 8.751 at 151.94 mph for the win.  Another local
racer Dempsey Pendarvis of Gonzales won in the AA/SA class in Stock
Eliminator and Michael Mans, Rogers, Minn., knocked off Charlie
Bohannon in the Stock/Super Stock CIC race in his ’00 Firebird.

A grueling race for Von Smith and the Al-Anabi Racing Pro Mod Extreme
1957 Chevy team came to an ecstatic conclusion Friday night when
Smith defeated Al-Arain in the title round at the Qatar Racing Club
with Al-Anabi team owner Sheik Khalid Al Thani in the large,
enthusiastic crowd.

However, it took a yeoman effort from crew chief Howard Moon and the
crew, assistance from others, and a Middle East record-setting Pro Mod
run of 5.84 seconds.

Smith began what became a long weekend by registering the quickest Pro
Mod Nitrous or Extreme quarter-mile elapsed time outside the U.S. –
5.814 seconds at 249.14 mph – on a pre-race test run Wednesday. 
However, the car’s rear end broke on the run and the damage was so
severe that a new one was necessary.  There weren’t any available in
Qatar, and the closest one was in the U.S., at car builder Tim McAmis’
St. Louis, Mo.-area shop.

The first champions of the sixth annual JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals
were crowned Saturday at No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, La.
Steve Cohen, Jacklyn Gebhardt-Still and Tom Phillips each won
individual titles in the special King of the Bayou race that has become
a staple of the Cajun SPORTSnationals. Cohen, of Trilby, Fla., drove
his dragster to the Super Comp win over Bart Nelson. Gebhardt-Still, of
Jacksonville, Ill., drove to the Super Gas title by beating former NHRA
national champion Jim Hughes in the final and Phillips, of Dallas,
Texas claimed top honors in Super Street by beating Jonathan Blades. In
addition to the $1,000 winner’s check, Phillips also claimed a $500
bonus for running closest to his index.
 
Champions were also crowned today in the Top Dragster and Top Sportsman
Shootout races, which are special bonus events that are open to the top
eight qualifiers in each eliminator. Mike Manners of Willis, Texas,
whose dragster was easily the quickest car in Top Dragster, won the
Shootout with a 6.15 elapsed time to defeat Scott Williamson. Manners
just missed a double in the Top Sportsman Shootout as he reached the
final round but was turned aside by former SPORTSnationals winner Keith
Raftery of Lake Charles, La. Raftery, the No. 3 qualifier in the Top
Sportsman class, got a head-start against Manner and then pulled away
for the win, 6.48 to 6.83.

Back-to-back Super Comp world champion Shawn Langdon won't have time to threepeat in arguably the toughest sportsman category
in
the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series as he realizes his dream of driving
the Lucas Oil/Dixie Choppers Top Fuel dragster. But that hasn't stopped
the 26-year-old from winning races in his old Super Comp dragster.

Langdon took advantage of an off-weekend from Full Throttle NHRA Drag
Racing to compete at the Tenn-Tuck $50 Grander presented by Comp Cams
and TCI at Beech Bend Raceway Park. The three-day event features two
races each on Friday and Saturday and another one on Sunday, rewarding
each race winner $10,000.

Today's classic video rewind comes courtesy of Dawn Mazi-Hovsepian's
DragStripRiot66 YouTube channel. She presents classic home video
footage of her legendary Comp eliminator racing father Frank Mazi and
the family's BB/Altered Opel at the 1984 NHRA Springnationals in
Columbus, Ohio.

JEGS CAJUN SPORTSNATIONALS UNDER WAY IN BELLE ROSE; FOLSE LEADS QUALIFYING

In the first rounds of qualifying at No Problem Raceway for the 6th
Annual JEGS Cajun Sportsnationals, Earl Folse of Raceland, La., leads
the Top Sportsman class running 6.380 seconds at 221.42 mph followed by
Keith Raftery, Lake Charles, La., at 6.460, 213.00.

Joining Folse were Top Dragster driver Michael Manners, Willis, Texas,
and Bruno Massel of Woodridge, Ill., in Comp Eliminator taking the No.
1 qualifying positions in their classes.

Manners clocked in at 226.81 mph in 6.086 seconds and is followed by
Joey Marcotte out of Denham Springs, La., at 6.291 seconds, 191.40
mph.  Bruno drove his ’08 Cobalt to a pass of 7.242 seconds with Scott
Benham landing in the No. 2 spot in his ’02 S-10 truck.

The Infineon Raceway Drag Racing Team will be honored with the Drag
Racers of the Year award by the Motor Sports Press Association,
officials announced. 

The Infineon Drag Racing Team, which is comprised of 68 drag racers
from Northern California, beat out 13 teams from across the western
United States to win the NHRA Summit Racing Series Pacific Division
title at Top Gun Raceway in Fallon, Nev., last September. This marked
Infineon Raceway's second Summit Racing Series championship in three
years.

Quick Eight Pro Mods featured in IHRA Division 9 Farmington Event ...

Quick Eight Pro Mods will run this weekend, March 20 - 21, at
Farmington Dragway in Farmington, N.C., as part of the IHRA Div. 9
event. This season marks the 20th anniversary of Quick Eight
doorslammer racing at the facility known simply as the FARM.

In
addition to the excitement of the Pro Mods, a full slate of racing is
planned for Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Super Stock, Stock, Quick Rod,
Super Rod and Hot Rod.

Addresses Air Force 49th Tactical Fighter Wing

As a longtime instructor at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, Jack
Beckman admits he was a student himself during that time. It's where he
acquired his skill as a motivational speaker. He didn't intend to, or
expect to, but the time he spent educating racers in the fine art of
negotiating a high-powered racing car down the quarter mile turned him
into an outstanding orator. Add into the mix his experience as a cancer
survivor and the ability to intellectualize ever aspect of driving a
vehicle to over 300 mph in under five seconds, and you have one helluva
communicator.

Beckman, whose day job is driving the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services
Dodge Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series, used his skill recently to speak to the Air Force's
49h Tactical Fighter Wing at the unit's annual maintenance awards
presentation at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamagardo, N.M.

The IHRA confirmed on their website that Milan Dragway and San Antonio Raceway are no longer under their sanction.