Former Modified Raider Champ Seth Phillips went right back to his winning
ways driving Jimmy Smith’s Mountain Road Transmission & 4×4 S-10 to the win!
With a nearly perfect weekend for racing and the pit area nearing a capacity crowd on the Richmond Dragway property, the 2013 Kickoff Event for the AutoFab Race Cars Raider ET Challenge Series took to the strip June 1-2. When the dust had cleared and there was only one driver standing in each class, familiar names were in the Victory Lane.
As darkness rolled in on Saturday where nearly 1300 runs were contested, the action in the final round was nothing short of intense. In Top ET, defending champion Steve Witherow piloted his trusty dragster through 8 rounds of fierce competition on the way to a final round dual with the 66 GTO of Ray Loan being driven by Al Burkett. Witherow clinched the win with a .008 light and a .01 over run to knock out Burkett’s .016 bulb and .01 over run in the other lane. Modified ET action saw former Mod Raider Champ, Seth Phillips use a .005 rt and some smooth finish line driving in Jimmy Smith’s S-10 pickup to take out Jason Stern’s Camaro. Stern had a great weekend because Saturday Night on the way to the Raider, he was the winner of Modified at Sumerduck Dragway. In Junior Dragster action, Shane Parker took out Jacob Mattera in a battle of MIR regulars to claim the big check and $500.00 for the win. Parker forced Mattera into a breakout run to lay claim to the Saturday Night victory.
Sunday’s activities promised more great side by side ET action in all 3 of the competition classes but unfortunately was shortened due to a severe weather front that dropped rain at just the wrong time. When the money was split in Top there were eight drivers still in contention including the doorslammer of Tom Lakey, and then the dragsters of Andy Lloyd, Wayne Tinnell, Wesley Washington Jr, Brent Martin, Troy Williams, Kenton Fulk and Michael Shoop. Modified ET got one round closer to the finals and had only 3 drivers remaining in competition including Mike Gardiner, Todd Atkinson and Larry Miller. In Junior Dragsters, the final round was set with Kendal Little ready to square off with Michelle Deisbeck for the bragging rights. For all three of the classes, the drivers earned points up to the split and took all of the remaining purses and split it amongst the remaining entrants.
“Our Richmond Dragway staff is so appreciative of all of the hard work and effort of all of the competitors as we rocked through two huge days of racing action,” commented Track Owner Johnny Davis. “We would have loved to celebrate with another set of winners in the AED Performance Winner’s Circle but that just didn’t play into our cards on Sunday. We wish all of the competitors the very best as the series continues August 3-4 at Virginia Motorsports Park and then comes to a close at Maryland International Raceway in the Fall. Thanks again for everyone coming out to run the AutoFab Race Cars Raider ET Challenge at RD!”
For more information on the 2013 AutoFab Raider Challenge including full results and points standings, visit www.richmonddragway.com.