NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Past national champions Chris Demke and Shane Westerfield each collected their first wins of the 2019 season during the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Demke won in Top Alcohol Dragster and Westerfield scored in Top Alcohol Funny Car in a race that is often regarded as the toughest event of the season for competitors in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series largely because of the JEGS Allstars competition.

Demke, the No. 5 qualifier in the stacked field, won for the 20th time in his career when he defeated current Top Alcohol Dragster points leader Megan Meyer in the final round, 5.265 to an off-pace 5.594. [video]

Westerfield drove past Doug Gordon to win his 11th national event  Top Alcohol Funny Car Wally and first since the 2018 Auto Club Finals in Pomona. Westerfield powered to a 5.460 to complete the victory after Gordon slowed. Westerfield had earlier set low E.T. of the weekend with a 5.433 in his win against Terry Ruckman. [video]

Demke and Westerfield shared the stage with fellow Chicago champions Greg Kamplain (Comp), Vic Penrod (Super Stock), Randi Lyn Shipp (Stock), Dave Dahlem (Super Comp), Nathan Vrooman (Super Gas), Rodger Sauder (Super Street), Lester Johnson (Top Sportsman), and Jim Prevo (Top Dragster).

Kamplain is now an eight-time national event winner following his most recent  Comp win at Route 66 Raceway. Kamplain wheeled his C/DA to a final round victory against the F/AA Cavalier of JEGS Allstars rep Van Puckett. Kamplain had lost just .03-second from his index by the time he got to the final and that helped him get past Puckett who was down 11-hundredths. The final numbers favored Kamplain with a (-.563) 7.53 to Puckett’s (-.493) 7.937. [video]

During Saturday’s JEGS Allstars race, five-time national champion Justin Lamb got the best of Division 4 rep Vic Penrod in their opening round battle. The duo met again a day later in the Route 66 Nationals Super Stock final and Penrod evened the score after a Lamb fouled. Penrod also drove to wins against low qualifier Jason DeForrest and Jeff Dona, who entered the day as the favorite after winning the Allstars title. Penrod’s last national event title came in Dallas in 2006. [video]

As the fiancée of Pro Stock champ Bo Butner, Shipp races in almost all of the NHRA Mello Yello series events and she more than holds her own against the toughest competition from coast to coast. Earlier this year, Shipp and Butner shared the winner’s circle at the 50th Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals and now she’s got seven career wins, all of them in Stock after beating JEGs Allstars champ Jeff  Lopez in the final.  [video]

En route to his second national event win in Super Comp, Dave Dahlem scored a memorable round one win over Dan Fletcher where both drivers recorded perfect 8.900 elapsed times. Dahlem turned on the win light thanks to a .008 to .019 lead at the start. Fletcher wasn’t the only one of Dahlem’s opponents to run 8.900. semifinal foe Craig Anderson was also perfect and so was final round opponent Megan Strassweg, who red-lighted by four-thousandths. [video]

Reigning Lucas Oil Super Gas champ Devin Isenhower made the final round in Chicago but was turned away by Vrooman in a 9.898 to 9.887 double-breakout battle. Vrooman, the 2012 Norwalk winner, reached the final after wins against low qualifier Larry Bernhausen, Rodney Benson, and Randy Nygaard. Vrooman’s best run came against Bernhausen, where he coupled a .013 light and a 9.903. [video]

Division 5 champ Sauder lost in the opening round of Super Street at the JEGS Allstars but he quickly regrouped and drove his ’72 Barracuda to a win on Sunday. Sauder finished off his first national event title with a .020 light and a 10.917 to stop Wayne Christopher, who was close behind with a .022 light and a 10.934. Sauder’s road to the final also included a win against Hill. [video]

For the second-straight year, Johnson left Chicago win a win and a runner-up in Top Sportsman presented by Racing RVs.com. After dropping the JEGS Allstars final to fellow D3 racer Kynon Dinkel, Johnson ran right on his 6.18 dial to stop Brandon Baxter in Sunday’s final. Johnson’s ProCharger equipped ’55 Chevy is of the quickest cars ever to win a Top Sportsman race. [video]

In Top Dragster presented by Racing RVs.com, Prevo saved his best performance for last with a .005 light and a 6.337 on his 6.33 dial. and needed it against two-time national champ Jeff Strickland, who broke out by .011-second in the final round. Prevo’s earlier wins also came against well-known opponents including Anthony Bertozzi and recent Zach Sackman. [video]