The 4th stop on the 2017 NHRA National Event tour was in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Denso Spark Plug Nationals. At this event all of the class quotas were pretty much full or just an entry or two shy at 64-65 cars, the weather looked to be great with sunny skies and 70 degree temperatures, and after all it is Vegas right? Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans, the weekend started out on Thursday for most class racers at 50 degrees with steady 30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph. And if that wasn’t enough, she added a dust storm that left anything that was clean with a ½ inch of dirt on it, needless to say there wasn’t much activity on the grounds for the day. Time trials were scheduled to begin Friday at 8am with stock, but it was 48 and raining on and off until about noon. That left the racers with the “1 and go” format for the weekend, with class winners being determined by the farthest under the index in that one and only time trial. The rest of the weekend was clear skies and warm weather, which let competitor’s widdle their way through the competition until we had our winners!

Comp: Alan Ellis over Tony Mandella

Ellis gets his 9th National event win in a repeat final of last year’s race. Mandella came into the final down -.06 on his original 9.11 index while Ellis was down -.12 on his original 7.26 index, but Ellis had him covered by about a tenth in qualifying so it was a pretty evenly matched final. Both drivers smacked the tree, .008 (Mandella) and .004 (Ellis) but Ellis had just too much power and shut off to still take the win.

Super Stock: Mike Loge over Tim Hall

Loge wins his third National event Wally as Tim Hall goes red behind him. Mike Loge was leaving first dialed 11.55 to Tim Hall’s 10.59, Loge was .032 on the tree and broke out by 1 thousandth of a second (11.549). Hall was a little too eager to run him down leaving -.022 early and ran under by almost 4 hun (10.552).

Stock: Chris Hall over Phil Mandella Jr.

Chris Hall was killer on the tree all weekend with his lights varying only about 3 hundredths, in the final he cuts a .000 perfect reaction time but couldn’t even put it to good use as Phil Mandella Jr. turns it -.014 red in front of him. Mandella then runs 11.314 on the 11.31 dial, Hall dialed 10.73 but saves the parts and shuts it off early as he collects his first National event win.

Super Comp: Ryan Herem over Luke Bogacki

In probably the best final of the weekend Ryan Herem gets his 5th win as he drops to dead on 6 for a .018 overall package. Bogacki left slightly before Herem on the tree .010 to .012, then broke out by just 1 thou running 9.049 on the factored 9.05 index taking .009, handing the win to Herem.

Super Gas: Rick Cates over Tim Parker

Rick Cates seals the deal and is now 1 for 5 in final rounds, in a final that was guaranteed a first time winner. Parker left first with a .020 light but had problems by the 1/8th mile and had to get out of it, Cates was .032 and backs out of the gas to ensure he wasn’t under the 10.05 index. Side note, Cates might want to go get a lotto ticket after this race, as his opponents in the ¼’s, semis and the final all broke.

Top Sportsman: Dean Hall over Ed Olpin

Hall collects his 3rd National event win and scores a “perfect run” all in the same weekend. Round 2 Dean Hall was .000 and ran 7.220 on the 7.22 dial and made killer passes the following 3 rounds to take the event title. Olpin has already been to 4 finals this year but was .040 and ran 7.160 on the 7.15 dial, Hall on the other hand was .006 on the tree and ran 7.295 on the 7.26 dial taking the stripe by .009.

Top Dragster: Chuck Phelps over Kyle Seipel

Third time is the charm as Chuck Phelps gets his first National event win on his third try. Phelps was .001 on the tree but only had a 5 thou advantage at the line as Seipel was .006 but ran 6.941 on the 6.90 dial. Which gave just enough room for Phelps to drive around him dialed 6.57 and ran 6.603 for the .013 MOV.

Photos By – Auto Imagery