Mark and Kyle Pawuk became the latest father-son combination to win at the same NHRA national event Sunday, capturing separate titles at the Texas FallNationals at Texas Motorplex. Their victories marked the 19th father-child double in NHRA history, with Mark winning Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown and Kyle claiming Super Gas.
The occasion carried added significance for Mark, whose victory came on what would have been his father’s 101st birthday. He defeated Lee Hartman in the Factory Stock Showdown final with a .017 reaction time and a 7.522-second pass at 185.07 mph, earning his first victory of the season and sixth in the category.
“Unbelievable. We really struggled this year with this new Charger,” Mark Pawuk said. “Dodge has been good to us. We worked our butts off on Ray Barton racing engines, Mike Valerio, Frank Medonia, my son Kyle, my wife for all her support. And you know what is so cool about today? This would’ve been my Dad’s 101st birthday, so he was looking over us all day.”
Kyle completed the family double by defeating Jeremy Demers in the Super Gas final with a .008 reaction time and a 9.920 at 161.98 mph on the 9.90 index. Demers ran 9.929 at 157.55, giving Kyle his first national event victory in his first final-round appearance.
“I never expected this to happen,” Kyle Pawuk said. “I’ve tried for a long time with my dad too, and finally got it done. Didn’t know I won until I turned off the track, which was cool, but just an amazing feeling.”
The Pawuks weren’t the only family celebrating a connection to drag racing’s past.
Christopher Benham, son of legendary Modified racer Crawford Benham, earned his first NHRA national event victory in Competition Eliminator, defeating Monty Bogan with a .030 reaction time and a 7.426-second run at 148.89 mph. Bogan recorded a .049 light and an 8.447 at 127.30.
Benham qualified No. 1 and completed the weekend with a victory that carried its own family significance. His father had won the Dallas event 25 years earlier.
“It’s just a dream come true,” Christopher Benham said. “I’ve been coming to this race for 25-plus years and dreamt of this moment. Now to finally be here and this is one of the hardest classes, one of the most technically complex classes, it means the world to do it. Especially my dad won this race 25 years ago, to do that on the anniversary, it’s very special.”
Shawn Cowie continued his march through the Top Alcohol Dragster record books, collecting his 29th career national event victory and second of the season. Cowie ran 5.207 seconds at 279.69 mph in the final after Alan Bradshaw was unable to fire his dragster.
Cowie had qualified No. 1 and reached the final with victories over Krista Brounkowski, Megan Smith and Noah Spiegel. His quickest elimination run came in the semifinals, a 5.156 at 282.54 mph.
Top Alcohol Funny Car produced one of the closest finals of the day as Shane Westerfield defeated Doug Gordon by approximately six feet. Westerfield’s .032 reaction time and 5.479 at 266.73 held off Gordon’s quicker 5.478 at 241.27 after Gordon left with a .049 light.
Gordon briefly pulled even during the run, but Westerfield recovered to claim his 20th career national event victory. The margin of victory was just .016 seconds.
Jeremy Duncan used a nearly perfect .001 reaction time to defeat Larry Hodge in the Super Stock final, running 9.213 at 139.09 mph on a 9.21 dial-in. Hodge broke out with a 9.717 on a 9.74 dial, giving Duncan his second career national event victory.
Stock Eliminator produced another .001 reaction time as Chris Knudsen defeated Paul Stalba for his third career national event win. Knudsen ran 10.226 at 125.13 mph on a 10.19 dial, while Stalba broke out with a 10.205 on a 10.21 dial.
Kyle Secrest earned his second career Super Comp victory in his third final-round appearance, defeating Tom Stalba with a .002 reaction time and an 8.895 at 174.11 mph. Secrest broke out by just .005, but Stalba’s recorded 88.911-second run left Secrest with the victory.
Crystal Peterson-Martinez claimed her first national event victory in Right Trailers Top Dragster, defeating Dylan Hough with a .018 reaction time and a 6.111 at 214.79 mph on a 6.10 dial. Hough ran under his 6.17 dial with a 6.163 at 223.99 mph.
Chanse Bullock added his first national event victory in Right Trailers Top Sportsman, using a .013 reaction time and a 6.526 at 206.01 mph on a 6.50 dial to defeat Jim Thorp. Bullock was making his second career final-round appearance.
Ross Ragland completed the sportsman winners list with his first national event victory in Super Street, defeating Cary Huber with a .010 reaction time and a 10.913 at 133.28 mph on the 10.90 index. Huber posted a .028 light and a 10.932 at 126.45.
