What a great year of Slant 6 Drag Racing!!!
There were 27 races competed across the country by 74 different racers. That makes 2016 the 6th largest turnout in our 19 year history. And to top that off, 20 of those racers were Rookies. That's 27% new racers added to the Slanted Family.
It was a great battle for the Championship this year that came down to the wire at Mason Dixon between the top 3 finishers. When the tire smoke cleared in Maryland it was Rodney Hargis that managed to unseat Ron Hamby for the 2016 National Championship, followed closely by Ryan Covalt looking for his first National Championship. This makes Rodney's third. All three of the top finishers took advantage of the additional 20 points earned for setting an official record. Rodney and Ron were both seen throwing bricks, sandbags and dead chickens in the back seats of their cars to add enough weight to re-set the D/Gas record at Mason Dixon. Ryan had set his record earlier in the season.
The top finisher out West was Andrew Howard who gave it his best, winding up with an impressive 0.6333 Performance Index winning 19 of 30 rounds for the season. Unfortunately, for Andrew the Killer Bees just haven't had the car counts for anything more than 3 round races this season. Just a couple more 4 round races like they had at Woodburn in June could make the difference.
Other notables to mention:
Greg Ondayko who was really dialed in as usual. He just wasn't able to attend enough races for that last push.
Rusty Heisten who typically gets the Long Distance award for towing from the Midwest to the East Coast finished with a 0.5500 P.I. Rusty and the rest of Team Green hosted the final race of the season at Tulsa, OK. Early reports on the race indicated that a potential upset may have been brewing in and amongst the corn fields and barns of the Midwest, causing a little concern for those top 3 finishers... The Tulsa race had a great turnout for an inaugural event, but it wasn't enough to overthrow those top finishers.
Rick Covalt!! Yes, the same "Red Light Rick" we all know and love finished at #7 in the National Championship. Rick won all the marbles at the Wilkesboro race this year. Way to go Rick!!
Rookie of the Year was earned by Jeff Strahl who showed up at Tulsa looking for his friend James Soard so they could duke it out for the title... James was out cruising around in the sweet '64 Valiant wagon previously owned by Bob Stepp and missed the race, allowing Jeff to take the title.
Here are the final results for the 2016 Slant 6 Drag Racing National Championship:
……………………………………………………….Points….Index…Wins..Rounds..(Over 5) Rodney Hargis…………………………………..250…..0.4130…..19…..46…..(-20) Ron Hamby……………………………………….240…..0.4468…..21…..47…..(-50) Ryan Covalt……………………………………….230….0.4500…..18…..40…..(-20) Andrew Howard…………………………….….200…..0.6333…..19……30…..(-40) Greg Ondayko…………………………………..175…..0.5152…..17…..33…..(-30) Rusty Heisten……………………………………165…..0.5500……11…..20 Rick Covalt………………………………………..110…..0.2059…..7…..34 Richard Bjerklund………………………………105…..0.5333…..8…..15 Norman Foster………………………………….90…..0.3889…..7…..18 Brian Droschak…………………………………..90…..0.2500…..6…..24 Jack Everhardt Jr………………………………..80…..0.3750…..6…..16 Gary Bruner……………………………………….80…..0.2381…..5…..21 CJ Stoakes………………………………………….65…..0.5556…..5…..9 Mark Murray……………………………………..65…..0.2667…..4…..15 Walt Skoczylas…………………………………..60…..0.7143…..5…..7 Doug Chow………………………………………..60…..0.4444…..4…..9 Will Burns………………………………………….55…..0.6000…..3…..5 Denny Covalt……………………………………..55…..0.3571…..5…..14 Bill Barksdale……………………………………..50…..0.6667…..4…..6 Mike Andreas…………………………………….50…..0.5000…..4…..8 Doug Dutra………………………………………..45…..0.6667…..4…..6 Jeff Strahl (Rookie)…………………………….40…..0.7500…..3…..4 Doug Powers……………………………………..40…..0.4286…..3…..7 Bruce Pine…………………………………………40…..0.3333…..2…..6 Micah Covalt……………………………………..40…..0.3000…..3…..10 Jack Everhardt III……………………………….40…..0.1250…..2…..16 James Soard (Rookie)………………………..35…..1.0000…..3…..3 Glen Ambacher………………………………….35…..1.0000…..3…..3 Steve Adams……………………………………..35…..0.7500…..3…..4 Scott Silkwood…………………………………..35…..0.0667……1…..15 Seymour Pederson…………………………….30…..0.4000…..2…..5 Tim Charapich (Rookie)……………………..30…..0.0500…..1……20 Charlie Schmid……………………………….....30…..0.0000…..0…..8 Michelle St. Onge-Bohman (Rookie)…..25…..0.6667…..2…..3 Ken Anderson……………………………………25…..0.2000…..2…..10 Meril Bruner……………………………………..25…..0.0909…..1…..11 Mark Charapich…………………………………25…..0.0833…..1…..12 Austin Goodman……………………………….20…..0.2500…..1…..4 Lukus Bruner…………………………………….20…..0.1429……1……7 Mike Bjerklund………………………………….20…..0.1429…..1…..7 Sam Daugherty………………………………….20…..0.1429…..1…..7 Andrew Shank…………………………………..20…..0.0556…..1…..18 Dana Prater……………………………………….20…..0.0000…..0…..9 Lou Madsen………………………………………20…..0.0000…..0…..22 Bill Kendall (Rookie)…………………………..15…..1.0000…..1…..1 Dino Tomassi (Rookie)………………………15…..0.3333…..1…..3 Mike Keller………………………………………..15…..0.3333…..1…..3 Bryan Decker (Rookie)……………………….15…..0.3333…..1…..3 Jennifer Koehler (Rookie)………………….15…..0.2000…..1…..5 Derrick Sword……………………………………15…..0.1000…..1…..10 Roy Murray……………………………………….10…..0.0000…..0…..0 Derek Gordon (Rookie)……………………..10…..0.0000…..0…..10 Brian Mimken……………………………………10…..0.0000…..0…..8 Kay Hamby…………………………………………10…..0.0000…..0…..8 Matthew Rhoades……………………………..10…..0.0000…..0…..8 Howard Darnell (Rookie)……………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..1 Buy Back?? (Rookie)…………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..1 Josh ??????? (Rookie)………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Darren Smith (Rookie)………………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Andrew Bland (Rookie)……………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..4 Dan Gravatt………………………………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..5 Bob Calimer (Rookie)…………………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..5 John Burgmaster (Rookie)…………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..5 John Imber (Rookie)……………………………5…..0.0000…..0…..4 Steve Mader (Rookie)………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..10 George Kelley (Rookie)………………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Everett Kelley………………………………………5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Scott Jones………………………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Gary Szabo (Rookie)…………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Jerry Keltner………………………………………..5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Rhonda Amis……………………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..3 Dave Mueller………………………………………5…..0.0000…..0…...3 Allen Dutra………………………………………….5…..0.0000…..0…..6 Tom Kagarise………………………………………5…..0.0000…..0…..4
I'm Rob "Snagglepuss" Simmons, your International Slant 6 "Laff-A-Lympics" Drag Racing commentator, bidding you a fond adieu as we wrap up the 2016 National Slant 6 Drag Racing Championship!!.
(No Cookie, a "fond adieu" ain't that melted cheese stuff you like so much... ) The definition of adieu is a French word used to wish someone well when you are leaving. Y'all know Cookie's French, right? I proved it this summer. Later,... Mater
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