Whitehead Wheels His Way to ASRA Victory

The second event of the double header to open the 2021 season was completed on Sunday, May 23rd at New England Dragway. With the threat of Saturday’s rain in the past, 47 racers were in attendance to hit the track in competition. The event would also conclude the 4 top point earnings collecting $100 gift certificates from Eastern VP Fuel Sales.

Racing action in the third round started with Tyler Fillipone turning the win light on in his 307 Powered ’86 Oldsmobile as Raffe Karaguezian went red in his flamed ’66 Nova with a 283 cu.in. chevy. Tim Barret in his G/SA ’69 Camaro gained a .006 advantage at the line against Ed Bednaz in his B/S ’70 Nova but Barret would run a breaking out 11.227 (11.26 dial) as Bednaz was safe with a 10.352 (10.33 dial). Corey Menard red lit his chances away to Chris Butcher, although Butcher would have been tough to beat with a 0.003 light couples with a dial matching 11.154. TJ Boucher driving a GT/GA ’97 Firehawk used a strong 0.007 light to best John Gray in his high flying AA/SA Big Block ’69 Camaro who ran 0.01 over his 10.09 dial. Bill Pomponi would also take advantage of a 0.007 light to get past Bob Letellier with a margin of victory of just six thousandths at the stripe. The round would close with a C/SA heads up battle between Jim Whitehead and Greg Gay. Whitehead had the quicker car running 10.842 at 120.75mph in his ’98 Camaro while Gay ran a 10.915 at 119.95 in his ’69 Super Bee.

The quarter finals saw Butcher turn a slight starting line advantage against Pomponi into a win as Butcher ran 11.159 (11.14 dial) in his H/SA ’83 Camaro to Pomponi’s 11.43 (11.41 dial) in his G/SA ’69 Camaro. Boucher would leave a tick too early with a -0.002 against Bednaz who shifted his way to the win with a nice 0.019 light and 10.375 (10.36 dial). Whitehead and Fillipone had one of the tighter races of the weekend with Whitehead getting to the stripe first by 4 thousandths.

Semi-finals would begin with Bednaz picking gaining a slight edge over Butcher at the line, but the big block would take a bit too much stripe and break out 10.358 (10.38 dial) as Butcher drove the top end well to run safely over his dial with a lifting 11.165 (11.13 dial). Whitehead would single his way to the final round. In the last round of racing for the weekend, Whitehead picked up a 3 hundredths advantage at the tree which he was able to turn into a win light in a double breakout affair. Whitehead ran 10.86 (10.87 dial) to Butcher’s further under 11.116 (11.130) which would be Whitehead’s 2nd timeslip of the day with a 4 thousandths MOV. Congrats to Jim and the Whitehead clan on the ASRA win.

At the conclusion of the weekend, the highest point earners over the 2 days were Bill Pomponi, Jim Whithead, Ed Bednaz, and Billy Pires. Each of them will be receiving the $100 VP gift certificates provided by Eastern VP Fuel Sales.

Specialty Awards:

Seacoast Auto Repair #1 Qualifier: Eric Merryfield

D.I.P.G. Awareness Take Out the #1 Qualifier: Bill Pomponi

Deanco Automotive Dead on the Dial: Tyler Fillipone

Boucher’s Bounty Hunter: Raffe Karaguezian

Eric Merryfield’s Best Losing Package: Gregg Sutherland