After a completely rained out final day of qualifying, the final
eliminations of the Goodguys 20th Hot Rod Nationals here at O’Reilly
Raceway Park @ Indianapolis were as sunny and hot as the previous day
was wet. A field of over 200 cars did battle on the ORP quarter mile
today in twelve different classes offering everything from ground
pounding Nostalgia Top Fuelers and Funny Cars to 13-second station
wagons. Variety and ingenuity was the order of the day.
In Nostalgia top fuel, Cedar Falls, Iowa racer Roger Lechtenberg won
the battle and the war. Driving Dale Suhr’s “Orange Crate” dragster,
the man they call “radar” breezed through eliminations, routinely
pulling his parachute at the 1,000 foot mark. Maybe he was saving gas?
“We’ve tinkered and tinkered with our tune up,” said car owner and
chief mechanic Dale Suhr. “But today we left it basic and got the
trophy.” Lechtenberg took Suhr’s hot rod through three flawless
elimination rounds running as quick as 6.001 (in the semi final) and as
fast as 251mph. In the final he defeated the gritty and consistent
Randy Bridges of Virden, IL 6.024 @ 236 to the runner up’s 6.324 @
236.71
The 8-car Nostalgia Funny Car exhibition delivered in a big way with
ear-piercing nitro burning retro funny cars bringing the fans to their
feet throughout the afternoon. Veteran racer John Dunn of Monticello,
IL driving his maroon “Dunn & Gone” ’69 Nova pounded out a hard
earned victory over rival Steve Nichols in the Mill Road Boys ’70
Camaro. It was Nichols who got the performance spoils of the weekend,
setting Low ET and Top Speed of the meet @ 6.195 @ 226.96 in Friday’s
qualifier. In the final, Nichols appeared poised for sure victory but a
sheared magneto rotor spelled his demise. Dunn’s 6.290 was good for the
event victory.