Hayes takes first place in Super Pro
SIKESTON -- Jeff Hayes of Herrin, Ill., defeated Mark Murakami of Cape Girardeau to capture the Super Pro division at the Sikeston Drag Strip on Saturday.
Hayes, calculating his dial-in to .01 second -- 6.51 dial-in to 6.520 elapsed time -- ran at 103.99 mph with a reaction time of .504 second.
Murakami, on the other hand, had better numbers but scored a breakout when he exceeded his dial-in time of 6.06 with an elapsed time of 6.055, a miniscule .005 second. He averaged 112.30 mph with a reaction time of .496.
In handicap racing, the dial-in is a preselected elapsed time predicted by the driver based on the car's most consistent qualifying time. The team is penalized if the elapsed time (actual time of the run) exceeds the dial-in time.
Reaction time is the time it takes a driver to react to the green starting light on the Christmas Tree, measured in thousandths of a second.
Two Puxico drivers battled for the top two places in the Pro division. Greg Harvey won with a run of 6.505 seconds at 101.60 mph and a reaction time of .504. His dial-in was 6.49.
Robbie Ruser finished second with an e.t. of 6.916 with a dial-in of 6.89 at 101.41 mph. His reaction time was .578.
Richard Smith of Bloomfield won the ET division with an e.t. of 9.856 with a dial-in of 9.80. He averaged 70.32 mph with a reaction time of .613.
Runner-up was Tommy Nolen of East Prairie with a run of 7.921 and a dial-in of 7.78 at 76.66 mph. His reaction time was .546.
In a special Junior Drag race, Tyler Bowman of Cape Girardeau crossed the finish line first with an e.t. of 7.661 second with a dial-in of 7.57 at 83.02 mph and a reaction time of .512.
Tracy Armer of Kevil, Ky., was runner-up with an e.t. of 11.744, a dial-in of 11.72, an average speed of 53.24 and a reaction time 1.245.