SE: Gainesville Sunday final summary

Lawson & Payne Crowned at Gainesville Raceway

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (February 22, 2009) -- Racing is complete and the winners have been crowned at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event hosted at Gainesville Raceway. This wraps up the second of six events in Southeast division competition. Winners walking away with the coveted Wally trophy included Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Shayne Lawson, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Jay Payne from Claremont, Calif., in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Lawson was in the groove this weekend making his way out of the No.2 qualifying position and into the winner's circle. On his way to the Final, the event champ took out local Gainesville, Fla., resident Cherissa Griffis in Round 1 and Bill Evans of Miramar, Fla., in the Semis. Lawson posted a 5.403 second, 250.51 mph run defeating Artie Allen from Jacksonville, Fla., to take home the hardware.

Top Alcohol Funny Car was dominated once again by Payne, who has won the last four Lucas Oil Gainesville events. The weekend's No.1 qualifier had a fairly easy road to the winner's circle as he was unopposed in the first two rounds. The 2008 Southeast division Top Alcohol Funny Car champ pieced together a 5.703 second, 258.12 mph pass to defeat Mark Billington of Norcross, Ga., in the Final.

Other event winners included Van Puckett of Monroe, Ga., in Comp Eliminator; Anthony Bertozzi, Ashland, Va., with back to back Gainesville wins in Super Stock; and Jeremy Preston of West Palm Beach, Fla., in Stock. The Super Comp trophy went to Brandon Christie of Apopka, Fla.; John Taylor, Naples, Fla., collected the Super Gas hardware; and Leland Poppel out of Odum, Ga., came out on top in Super Street.

Running in conjunction with the Lucas Oil Series, Ryan Ondrejko from Roslindale, Mass., won the Davis Golf Carts Top Sportsman trophy and the Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales Top Dragster hardware was awarded to Jeffrey Burnett of Orlando, Fla.

The division's next Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event is slated for March 7-9 at Orlando (Fla.) Speed World Dragway. That race will mark the half-way point in the season.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER:

Round 1
8) Artie Allen, Jacksonville, Fla., 5.305, 258.76 def. 1) Duane Shields, Boulder City, Nev., 5.392, 268.71;

2) Shayne Lawson, Broken Arrow, Okla., 5.368, 274.39 def. 7) Cherissa Griffis, Gainesville, Fla., 5.593, 248.84;

3) Bill Evans, Miramar, Fla., 5.434, 262.74 def. 6) John Finke, Selkirk, N.Y., 5.536, 266.85;

4) Robin Samsel, Marion, Ind., 5.463, 265.06 def. 5) Arthur Gallant, Boxboro, Mass., foul;

Semifinals
Lawson, 5.319, 264.65 def. Evans, 5.747, 251.11;
Allen, 5.377, 257.38 def. Samsel, 7.492, 120.11;

Final
Lawson, 5.403, 250.51 def. Allen, 5.611, 246.75.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR:

Round 1 4) Mickey Ferro, Stamford, Conn., '08 Monte Carlo, 5.745, 256.21 def. 5) Alexis De Joria, Venice, Calif., '09 Mustang, 10.840, 77.72;

7) Jeremy Haskett, Gray, Tenn., '02 Firebird, 5.969, 238.64 def. 2) Frank Schuster, Chesterfield, N.J., '02 Firebird, foul;

6) Mark Billington, Norcross, Ga., '01 Avenger, 5.893, 245.81 def. 3) John Sullivan, Pike Road City, Ala., '04 Firebird, 6.201, 194.13;

1) Jay Payne, Claremont, Calif., '08 Mustang, 5.630, 256.80 was unopposed;

Semifinals
Billington, 5.801, 251.63 def. Haskett, broke;
Payne, 5.754, 255.34 def. Ferro, broke;

Final
Payne, 5.703, 258.12 def. Billington, 5.718, 252.28.

COMP ELIMINATOR
Van Puckett, Monroe, Ga., '05 Cavalier, G/AA, 8.334, 161.11 def. Glen Treadwell, Sorrento, Fla., '23 roadster, F/EA, 7.963, 163.77.

SUPER STOCK
Anthony Bertozzi, Ashland, Va., '98 Grand Am, SS/AS, 9.277, 139.30 def. Joe Teuton Jr., Schriever, La., '68 Barracuda, SS/AH, 8.989, 145.41.

STOCK ELIMINATOR
Jeremy Preston, W. Palm Beach, Fla., '03 Corvette, D/SA, 10.994, 116.76 def. Bud Rowe, Bridgeton, N.C., '94 Camaro, C/SA, 10.407, 126.51.

SUPER COMP
Brandon Christie, Apopka, Fla., dragster, 8.950, 179.30 def. Jim Perry, Niota, Tenn., dragster, 8.896, 168.39.

SUPER GAS
John Taylor, Naples, Fla., '99 Dakota, 9.889, 159.72 def. Brian Forrester, Parrish, Fla., '63 Corvette, 9.879, 167.68.

SUPER STREET
Leland Poppel, Odum, Ga., '96 Acheiva, 10.863, 142.91 def. Travis Giddens, MacClenny, Fla., '73 Duster, 10.784, 121.70.

TOP SPORTSMAN
Ryan Ondrejko, Roslindale, Mass., '08 GTO, 6.886, 198.06 def. Tommy Turner, Naples, Fla., '06 GTO, 6.850, 204.39.

TOP DRAGSTER
Jeffrey Burnett, Orlando, Fla., '23 roadster, 6.816, 199.61 def. Steve Furr, Harrisburg, N.C., dragster, 7.044, 181.13.

-credit: nhra