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Clarksville Speedway
Drag Racing
September 4th, 2009
Tyler O’Donnell
The Clarksville Speedway drag strip hosted another weekend of racing this past Friday. Four different classes competed, with the super pro, trophy, foot brake, and street classes taking to the strip. Every driver had a lot to race for with the point’s championship on the line.
In the super pro class, the final round came down to Adam Bourne and James Stacey; both from Clarksville. Bourne came in to the round with a dial in of 6.4531 seconds, compared to Stacey’s time of 6.8061 sec. When the tree came down, Stacey had a slightly better reaction time, (.4999), than Bourne’s (.5179). But when they crossed the finish, it was Bourne who pulled ahead, crossing the line in 6.47 sec. Stacey had a time of 6.76 sec. Bourne topped 105 mph during his run. Stacey was four mph slower in the close finish.
In the trophy class, Bryan Russell out of Clarksville had to compete with Robert Knight, out of Hopkinsville KY, in the final round. Russell had a 9.6120 sec. dial in compared to Knight’s 9.4531 E.T. Russell’s reaction time, (.5478), was much better than Knight’s (.8350). As they raced down the strip, Russell managed to run a time similar to that of his projected time. He crossed the line in 9.61 sec. Knight beat out his projected time on his run but fell short of the win. His poor start might have been the reason for the loss. Knight is still fourth in the trophy standings, 130 points behind the leader, Wesley Svatba.
In the footbrake class, the final round came down to Mark Smith from Clarksville, and Terry Krantz out of Ashland City. Smith came in with a dial in time of 7.3281 sec. compared to Krantz’s 5.9074 sec. time. Krantz had a slightly better reaction time, (.5028), than Smith, (.5240). In the end, Krantz would easily motor his way to a win. He ran a time of under six seconds, (.5.87), topping 108 mph. Smith, meanwhile, had a finishing time of 7.26 sec. They both beat out their projected times. With the win, Krantz sits 11th in the footbrake point’s standings. He is 80 pts out of tenth.
The last class to race was the street class. Jim Elrod and Janet Mulderink made it to the final round. Elrod had a dial in time of 10.6863 sec. compared to Mulderink’s 7.9740 sec. time. When the tree fell, Elrod’s reaction time, (.5508), was better than Mulderink’s, (.6830). As they raced to the line, Elrod beat out his projected time with a time of 10.64 sec. Mulderink crossed the line in exactly eight sec. Elrod would pull out the win and move up in the point’s standings. Elrod is currently 12th in the street class standings. Mulderink, meanwhile, continues to head the pack. She leads the standings by 60 pts over Jerry Knox in second.
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