Houston Recap

The SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Houston, Texas was the next stop on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yellow tour. This 3 day event had racers lined up early as usual, all eager to get started with time runs and eventual eliminations. Mid 80s Texas heat would start the weekend which eventually dropped for Sunday into the lower 70s, but racers were hoping that the typical hurricane like weather that we could say usually accompanies this event would stay far away. When it was all said and done the race was completed as scheduled on Sunday with a few familiar faces in the winner circle and even a few brand new ones. But as one could imagine it was primarily the division 4 racers that dominated the weekend, having multiple “in” division finals and eventual winners.

Super Stock: Norvell Bowers over Kevin Helms

First time National Event winner Norvell Bowers takes the crown in his GT/OA super stocker as he defeats Helms and his quest for the double. Bowers was dialed 10.59 and only broke out by .003 running 10.587 with a .034 light, Helms was dialed 9.39 and broke out by .007 running 9.383 with a .026 light. Even though Helms got to the finish line first by 12 thou, Bowers broke out by .004 less, giving him the win.

Stock: Kevin Helms over Austin Ford

Helms took his 25th National Event win in a D4 match up over Austin Ford. Helms was better on the tree with a .030 reaction time to Ford’s .061 and also ran on the positive side of his 10.08 dial at 10.096. Ford was having traction problems all weekend and was forced to dial up a stack each round to compensate for the spin, unfortunately was just 1 round short as he broke out running a 9.632 on the 9.69 dial.

Super Comp: Alan Savage over Britt Cummings

Savage collects his 2nd win in another double breakout race on the weekend. Both of these drivers were not as sharp as usual on the tree with Savage being .030 to Cummings .055. But it was Savage that ran closer to the 8.90 index (8.888) to (8.876), powering him to victory.

Super Gas: Steve Collier over Roger Warren

Collier should make sure he never skips Houston, as he collects his 4th National event title but his 3rd in SG which all came at Houston. Collier really wanted this one as he makes his best run of the weekend with a .008 total package, being .008 and running dead on 0 to the 9.90 index. Warren didn’t make a bad lap as he was .018 and broke out by .001 running 9.899 but in the end was just no match for Collier’s 8 pack.

Super Street: Chris Vang over Val Harmon

This one was over before the 60’ mark as Vang gets his first National Event win by margin of his opponent’s red light. Harmon should have thrown 1 more in the box as he was just .001 red giving the win the Vang with a .023 reaction time. Both drivers were set up a little too quick running 10.834 (Vang) and 10.876 (Harmon) but in the end were just wasting parts after the red light dropped.

Top Sportsman: Keith Raftery over Vince Hoda

Raftery takes the stripe by .008 to get his 5th National Event Wally. He was ahead on the tree with a .014 light and drove around Hoda at the end to run 6.479 on the 6.46 dial. Hoda was dead on 1 to his 6.85 dial but was shut out with a .040 light.

Top Dragster: J.R. Baxter over William Kruse

Baxter makes it 3 years in a row at Houston with the Top Dragster trophy. In basically a heads up final (6.15 to 6.18), Kruse turns it .004 red handing the win over to Baxter who was .041 on the tree and ran 6.130 on the 6.18 dial. Baxter has now won this event in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Photos By – Auto Imagery