NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Four new champions were crowned on Monday in the Summit E.T. Racing Series welcomed at the Mopar NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge as with Duston Wutz, C.J. Yeager, Tyler Janousek, and Jeff Green scoring hard fought victories in Super Pro, Pro E.T., Sportsman, and Sportsman Motorcycle respectively.

The team from the South Central Division (Division 4) also won the overall team championship with a dominating performance.

Wurtz, representing Firebird Raceway, earned the Super Pro title after a narrow win over fellow Division 6 racer Daniel O’Connor of the RAD Torque Systems Raceway squad. O’Connor gained a very slight lead at the start, .012 to .019, but it was Wurtz that lit the win light with a 5.156 on his 5.15 (eighth-mile) dial-in. O’Connor was just .002-second behind with a 5.735 against his 5.72 dial.

Yeager scored a win for the Division 3 team, winning the Pro final round against Nick Bowman of Division 1. Yeager races for Summit Racing Equipment Raceway Park in Norwalk while Bowman competes at New Jersey’s Island Dragway. Both drivers were sharp at the start, and Yeager surged ahead to win with an 11.667 against his 11.65 prediction. Bowman was just slightly behind with a 10.572 on his 10.54 dial.

Janousek, of Little River Raceway, helped the Division 4 team to the overall title with his win in Sportsman. Janousek was nearly perfect with a .008 light and an 11.601 on his 11.60 dial to freeze out opponent Chad Isley of the Byron Dragway team in Division 3. Isley, who won the Summit Series Pro title in 2016, ran 10.025 on his 12.00 dial in the loss.

The final win light in Sportsman Motorcycle went to Green, who scored a victory for Division 3 and the U.S. 131 Motorsports Park team after opponent John Hudson of Tulsa Raceway Park and Division 4, fouled by .002-second in the final.

Each of the Summit E.T. Racing Series champions not only earned the right to carry the No. 1 on their vehicles next season, but also claimed $6,000 and the team champions split an additional $2,000 courtesy of Summit Racing Equipment. This year’s field was expanded to 16 cars per class for a total of 64, making the path to victory even more difficult.

For more than two decades, the Summit E.T. Racing Series has been a staple of the NHRA Member Track network. Racers from across North America compete at their local tracks for a chance to compete in the Summit E.T. Finals held in each of the seven NHRA divisions. Those winners earn the right to come to Las Vegas and race for national championships in the penultimate NHRA national event of the season.