Marshall & Brady Battle In Denton
May 19th, 2012 - North Star Dragway - Denton, TX
Report & Photos by Max Cackle Photography
The Smiley’s Racing Products Southwest Junior Fuel Association hosted their third event of the season at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas. Points leader and most recent winner Ricky Marshall entered the event with an undefeated round record and looked to keep his hot streak alive but had a tough road ahead with a total of twelve teams ready to put on a show and battle for position.
The qualifying rounds went smoothly and after two completed sessions, Ricky Marshall claimed his third straight pole of the season with a stout 4.59 pass at 149 mph. The number two and three qualifying positions were occupied by two of the series’ youngest members, Brandon Lewis and Tera Wendland.
(Brandon Lewis)
Lewis posted a 4.77 at 143 mph in Charlie Smith’s slingshot to qualify number two, his best start of the season. The first female driver to participate in the SWJFA, twenty one year old Tera Wendland, wheeled Darrell Walden’s junior fueler to a 4.78 at 143 mph to hold down the number three spot, also her best start of the season.
(Don Scott)
Richard Brady’s 4.834, Gary Isom’s 4.838 and Don Scott’s 4.92 were good enough to earn spots in the top half of the field with Don Scott and Brian Briggs also posting four second qualifying passes. Mike Millsap rounding out the twelve car field as the teams returned to the pits to draw pairings and make final preparations for the first round of eliminations as the weather conditions cooled off and some great racing was soon to come.
(Richard Brady)
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Ricky Marshall (Burleson, Texas) – 4.59 @ 149
2) Brandon Lewis (Tulsa, Oklahoma) – 4.77 @ 143
3) Tera Wendland (Commerce, Texas) – 4.78 @ 143
4) Richard Brady (Ft. Worth, Texas) – 4.834 @ 139
5) Gary Isom (Burleson, Texas) – 4.838 @ 140
6) Don Scott (Garland, Texas) – 4.92 @ 139
7) Ron Muncy (Weatherford, Texas) – 4.95 @ 138
8) Brian Briggs (Lake Charles, Louisiana) – 4.99 @ 138
9) Mike Buchanan (Goddard, Kansas) – 5.25 @ 130
10) Thomas Hixson (Keller, Texas) – 5.35 @ 132
11) Ross Laird (Ardmore, Oklahoma) – 5.36 @ 125
12) Mike Millsap (Sachse, Texas) – No Time
(Ron Muncy)
First Round Eliminations
Gary Isom and Ron Muncy kicked off the opening round of eliminations. Muncy, sitting number two in points, was hoping to keep up with points leader Ricky Marshall but drew a tough customer and higher qualified entry of Gary Isom in first round. Muncy got the advantage off the line but by halftrack Gary Isom had caught up and pulled into the lead to take the win at the stripe, posting a solid 4.78 at 142 mph to take out Muncy’s 4.94 at 139 mph.
(Ross Laird)
Richard Brady and Ross Laird rolled out next as Brady also hoped to gain every precious Smiley’s Racing Products point he could to hold his position in the top three. Laird had a huge advantage off the line and appeared to have the lead as the cars past the 330’ mark and as the cars crossed the line Richard Brady narrowly defeated Laird. Brady’s 5.23 at 112 took the nod over Laird’s 5.36 at 125 mph, margin of victory .038 at the stripe.
(Mike Millsap)
Don Scott and Mike Millsap crept into the beams next as eliminations continued. This one got a little whacky on the line as Millsap had struggled in both qualifying sessions with transbrake issues, yet in this round, Scott left before the tree activated with transbrake failure, giving Millsap the automatic win on a single pass, posting a 4.93 at 138 mph to advance.
(Thomas Hixson)
Mike Buchanan and Thomas Hixson wheeled their dragsters out next, but Hixson immediately ran into problems and shutoff, giving Buchanan the single as the Kansas based team posted a 5.24 at 131 mph to move to the second round.
(Brian Briggs)
Ricky Marshall and Brian Briggs were next to the line as Briggs looked to upset the number one qualifier by taking a chance at the tree, but left early by -.010 giving Marshall the win on the starting line as Marshall posted a 4.61 at 145 mph to move on.
(Tera Wendland)
The number two and three qualifiers lined up next as Brandon Lewis and Tera Wendland came to the line in the final pair of the round. Wendland was looking for her first round win in the series and she got just that as Lewis went red by -.038 and his 4.78 lost to Wendland’s 4.80 at 145 mph. The teams returned to the pits and pairings were set for what was shaping up to be a great second round of eliminations.
First Round Results
(W) Gary Isom (.052 rt) 4.78 @ 142 mph vs. (L) Ron Muncy (.026 rt) 4.94 @ 139 mph
(W) Richard Brady (.114 rt) 5.23 @ 112 mph vs. (L) Ross Laird (.022 rt) 5.36 @ 125 mph
(W) Mike Millsap (.433 rt) 4.93 @ 138 mph vs. (L) Don Scott (No Time – Foul)
(W) Mike Buchanan (.997 rt) 5.24 @ 131 mph vs. (L) Thomas Hixson (No Time – Broke)
(W) Ricky Marshall (.043 rt) 4.61 @ 145 vs. (L) Brian Briggs (-.010 rt) 5.07 @ 138 mph
(W) Tera Wendland (.025 rt) 4.80 @ 145 mph vs. (L) Brandon Lewis (-.038 rt) 4.78 @ 143
Second Round Eliminations
(Ricky Marshall)
Ricky Marshall and Mike Millsap started off the second round as Marshall led this one from start to finish, taking the advantage off the line and posting a 4.79 at 140 mph to Millsap’s 4.88 at 139 mph.
(Gary Isom)
Gary Isom and Tera Wendland were out next as Isom took the starting line advantage and clicked off low elapsed time of the round with a 4.77 at 142 mph to take out Wendland’s off pace 5.23 at 137 mph. Isom was moving to the semi-final in his debut event with the series.
(Mike Buchanan)
In the final pair of the round, Richard Brady squared off with Mike Buchanan. Buchanan had the advantage off the line and posted his best pass of the night, but Brady had the ponies and at the stripe Brady’s 4.93 at 132 mph was enough to take out Buchanan’s 5.17 at 131 mph.
Second Round Results
(W) Ricky Marshall (.040 rt) 4.79 @ 140 mph vs. (L) Mike Millsap (.265 rt) 4.88 @ 139 mph
(W) Gary Isom (.090 rt) 4.77 @ 142 mph vs. (L) Tera Wendland (.135 rt) 5.23 @ 137 mph
(W) Richard Brady (.074 rt) 4.93 @ 132 mph vs. (L) Mike Buchanan (.047 rt) 5.17 @ 131 mph
Semi-Final Round Eliminations
As the cars dwindled down to three, Ricky Marshall and Gary Isom lined up to battle for a spot in the final round. Marshall going up against his old car, as Isom now owns and races a car formerly owned and raced by Marshall. Regardless, Marshall showed no mercy on his former ride, blasting off the line first and taking the win light with a 4.65 at 147 mph to Isom’s 4.78 at 142 mph. Isom looked great in his debut event with the series, qualifying strong and posting a semi-final finish.
(Richard Brady)
Richard Brady drew the lucky bye run in the semi-final and clicked off an early shut-off 5.64 at 90 mph to solo into the final round to face Marshall.
Semi-Final Round Results
(W) Ricky Marshall (.041 rt) 4.65 @ 147 mph vs. (L) Gary Isom (.080 rt) 4.78 @ 143 mph
(W) Richard Brady (.190 rt) 5.64 @ 90 mph vs. (L) Bye Run
Final Round Eliminations
By this point, Richard Brady had moved into second place in the points standings passing Ron Muncy who went out in round one, so the top two points holders were now set to decide an event winner at North Star Dragway. Brady hoped to put an end to Marshall’s winning streak while Marshall looked to win his second straight event.
(Ricky Marshall)
The cars crept into the beams and at the flash of amber, Brady was off the line first. By half track Marshall had closed the gap and pulled ahead to take the win at the stripe with low elapsed time of eliminations, a 4.59 at 149 mph to take out Brady’s 4.83 at 138 mph.
(Final Round - Marshall "Near" vs. Brady "Far")
Final Round Results
(W) Ricky Marshall (.070 rt) 4.59 @ 149 mph vs. (L) Richard Brady (.054 rt) 4.83 @ 138 mph
(Ricky Marshall - North Star Dragway Winner)
"I would like to thank my friends and family for coming out to the races and for all their support and help. A big thanks goes out to Bob McKray for the power and the Southwest Junior Fuel Association for giving us a place to race," said Marshall.
This win for Ricky Marshall kept undefeated round record intact and notched his second straight event win this season, which also kept him atop the Smiley’s Racing Products points standings. Richard Brady moved into second place in the standings with Ron Muncy, Brandon Lewis and Brian Briggs rounding out the top five.
(Mallory & Brady - North Star Dragway Runner-Up)
The S.W.J.F.A. series would like to thank Smiley’s Racing Products for their continued support and to Competition Sales of Dallas for the “Luck of the Draw” bonus which went to Gary Isom. A handful of teams will have just a few weeks off before heading to the NHRA Holley Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Kentucky June 14-16th.
Click Here to see photos from Denton.
