NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Led by Troy Galbraith, Mark Nowicki, and Tyler Bohannon, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Sportsman champions were crowned as the JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals returned to scenic National Trail Raceway.

The event kicked off on Wednesday morning, where more than 400 Sportsman racers and their crews were treated to a pancake breakfast served by National Trail Raceway track owner Jay Livingston and NHRA Vice President Josh Peterson. National Trail Raceway and Weldon also gave away free ice cream to every driver entered in the event on Thursday.

There were also nearly $3,000 in JEGS gift cards awarded to top qualifiers, perfect reaction times, dead-on-dial or index runs to help sweeten the pot. The final car count nearly topped 600 entries, yet the event was completed on schedule and followed immediately by the equally popular North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event.

At the end of a long weekend, Galbraith won his third NHRA national event Wally, and his first special-edition copper SPORTSnationals trophy, when he defeated Greg Kamplain in the Comp final. Galbraith got off to a big lead at the start and drove his B/DA entry to a 6.908 to capture the title, his first since the 2015 Chicago event.

Nowicki had enjoyed considerable success in NHRA class racing but had never won a national event until he defeated Ernie Neal in the Columbus final. Nowicki sealed the win with a 9.698 against his 9.68 dial.

The Stock final was one of the highlights of the event as it pitted Tyler Bohannon and Houston Raikes in a heads-up, no-breakout battle of A/SA entries. Bohannon’s Corvette proved to be the quicker of the two vehicles, and he cruised to a 10.21 to 10.40 victory for his third national event title.

Steve Eckard, well known as NHRA’s first Super Gas national champion, collected career win No. 4 in Super Comp when he topped Joshua Kamplain in the final round, 8.912 to 8.914. Eckard’s first win came at the 1982 Englishtown event.

Jesse Fritts drove a solid race in the final of Super Gas to claim his first NHRA Wally. Fritts cut a .012 light and ran 9.956 for the win against David Morris, who was just .008-second behind at the finish line.

Three of Don Moyer’s four national event titles have no come in Columbus following his latest victory in Super Street. Moyer, who also won the 1981 U.S. Nationals, won the final uncontested after Mark Smith was a no-show.

Doug Gbur also joined the list of first-time national event winners by topping Mark McDonald in the final of the Right Trailers Top Sportsman class. Gbur cut a .018 light and ran 7.077 against his 7.06 dial to defeat McDonald by a scant .002-second.

Two years after winning his first national event title at the JEGS SPORTSnationals, Blake Peavler struck again in Right Trailers Top Dragster when he defeated Jim Halverstadt in the final. After an even start, Peavler turned on the win light with a 6.106 against his 6.10 dial.