Brownsburg, IN: Nostalgia racing in the Midwest has a new premiere event and it also happens to be the first stop in the Powershield Coatings-NDRL Championship series. Gateway Motorsports Park played host to a hugely wild field of cars during the St. Louis Nostalgia Rendezvous as several of the area racing associations came together to give this event its largest turnout to date.

Qualifying was up first with Quick Fuel Technology taking to the track. 2016 Champion Phil Stamps rolled out a .018 overlap to end up fifth and watching the top four cars all land dead on. Canadian Bob Perkins took the top spot and the Dishon Transmission low qualifier cash by dropping a dead .001 lap to lead the class into race day followed by Dan Mullin, Frankie Radake, and Jim Hayes.  The final four found Greg Hillyer dropping Jim Hayes off for lunch at the line advancing him to the final to meet Chuck Owen who downed Perkins. The final was decided early as Owen lit the tree red handing the win to Hillyer.

QUICK FUEL PRO GAS

Winner: Greg Hillyer (Plainfield, Indiana) 1968 Mustang  .045  9.987 sec. 133.29 mph.

Runner-up: Chuck Owen (N. Aurora) 1970 Camaro  -.001 (fouled)  13.992 sec. 68.15 mph.

Rod and Custom PRO Comp rolled under the tower with Glenn Lever taking the top spot early but after three passes the other racers had caught up with Troy Wilson taking the top spot and the Dishon Transmission bonus running dead on zero followed by Dan Dishon, Lever, Gary Leever, and Shane Bowman. Semifinal pairings had Ted Mannor advancing over a red lighting Bowman to meet Lever who advanced with a bye. The final was all Mannor as he took the tree and the stripe running dead on .001 pushing Lever under.

ROD & KUSTOM PRO COMP

Winner: Ted Maynor (Jackson, Michigan)  .051  9.001 sec. 133.74 mph.

Runner-up: Glenn Lever (Rochester, New York) dragster  .100  7.966 sec. 14.49 mph.

Phenix Industries PRO 7.5 took to the track next and it took series Champion Bo Boles no time to resume his spot on the throne running .01 over the index to claim the Stanke Motorsports low qualifier bonus and hold the bye going into eliminations. Boles was followed by teammate Jarrod Bradshaw, Darrell Wathen, Kurt Duckworth, and Ric Burdine rounding out the top 5. Semifinal pairings had Bradshaw taking the tree and the in over Kelly key to meet Boles who advanced over Duckworth. Bradshaw took the tree and led the way but found himself on the wrong side of a double breakout giving the win to Boles.

PHENIX INDUSTRIES PRO 7.5

Winner: Bo Boles (Slaughters, Kentucky) 1923 Ford T  .048  7.498 sec. 177.16 mph.

Runner-up: Jarrod Bradshaw (Utica, Kentucky) dragster  .007  7.480 sec. 175.55 mph.

Ross Racing Engines PRO 7.0 was last to do battle and at 200 MPH the game gets harder to play making qualifying that much more important. Jeffrey Sanborn found himself on the top of the pile looking down after his Fiat delivered a dead on pass to lead the way into eliminations and taking the Stanke Motorsports low qualifier bonus. He was followed by Gordon Horn, Cory Millet, Ernie Lipinski, and Walczak. Semifinal pairings found Jamie Palmer downing Sanborn and Billy Smith taking the win over Robbie Freels. The final was all Smith as he took the tree and led Palmer to the stripe and taking the win.

ROSS RACING ENGINES PRO 7.0

Winner: Billy Smith (Pickerington, Ohio) dragster  .008  7.057 sec. 180.16 mph.

Runner-up: Jamie Palmer (Bowling Green, Ohio)  -.143 (fouled)  7.169 sec. 194.32 mph.

The next stop on the tour will be Memphis Tennessee June 9-10 for the Rod and Custom Machine Memphis Nationals.

NOSTALGIA DRAG WORLD - Courtesy of Troy Wilson & NDRL Media