Local Racers Win "Mopars vs. the World"
One of the largest annual drag racing events of it's kind in the Midwest, The Budweiser Challenge - Mopars vs. the World, took place this past weekend at Northern Michigan Dragway. For the first time, it was local racers that came away with the top prizes of $5,000 and $2,000.
In the past three years, traveling racers such as Andrea O'Neil of the Port Huron area, Ron Hagar near Kalamazoo and Roy St. Denis of Wallaceburg, Ontario were the recipients of the $5,000 win money.
Jim Weeks of Beulah brought the faithful local crowd to its feet with his thrilling $5,000 main event victory just after 9 p.m. Saturday night. Dwayne Greenfield's AMC entry from Cadillac lost in the semifinal when the heavy hitting Mopar entry of Al McChesney from Saginaw drilled the NMD tree with a perfect light and .012 off against the AMC's .023 package. McChesney then lost in the final with Weeks, who ran dead on his dial! - giving "the World" its third victory in four years of Mopars vs. the World
.In 17 rounds of competition, Mopar entries dominated the head-to-head battles, taking an impressive 149-114 victory over "the World". But it was Chevrolet that dominated the final round battles with a clean sweep in all six races over the two days - three of them courtesy of Weeks' S-10. A Chevy S-10 even won the smoky burnout contest Saturday night as Thompsonville's Tom Clark clearly outperformed his competitors to take the championship plaque.
Corey "Maestro" Mikus of St. Johns captured the Super Quick division with his Camaro's victory over the Dragster of Kaleva's Dwayne Lindeman in the final Saturday, giving Lindeman the lead in the 2001 NMD Super Quick season points standings. Rob Gregory of Ionia was the lone semifinalist.
Trophy and the big money division featured an amazing four foot trophy for the winner, and both were won by Weeks, who hoisted them up in the air during his victory lap around the cheering crowd for the smoky burnout contest. Just imagine having that feeling! Brian "Finny" Tadajewski of Alanson settled for the runner-up in the Trophy division. Semifinalists were Brian Nelson of Twin Lake and Ryan Kerby of Beulah.
Sunday's $2,000 to win main event was also a delight to the home crowd. Tim Heiges of Traverse City drove his Chevy Vega past the fearsome Dodge Demon of Jim Whitaker from Ithaca by a mere 4 thousanths of a second. An .033 package to an .037, and this is NO BOX racing? Klint Bailey of Farwell and Chuck Melnik of Long Lake were semi-finalists. Bailey's points earned catapulted him to the lead in the 2001 NMD Super Pro points standings. Mark Mayfield also jumped into the lead in the Street Legal points standings with a quarter-final finish.
In Super Quick, Steve Mikus' Chevy Rally Nova from Ashley, MI claimed the victory, and moved past Lindeman for the lead in the points as well. Kevin Damkoehler of Fountain was the runner-up with his Dragster; Semifinalists were Rick LaPouttre from Bay City and Jeremy McCormick of Fountain.
Sunday's Trophy final was won by Jim Weeks again, this time against Bill Fluette from Interlochen. Semifinalists were Phil Gunther of Beulah and Heath Bates from Twin Lake.
With over 150 entries each day, the 2001 Budweiser Challenge - Mopars vs. the World was by far the most successful ever. Plans for the 2002 event are under way, with a possibility of splitting the event into separate races; one being the Budweiser Challenge, the other being Mopars vs. the World. Both races would pay the same $5,000 Saturday/ $2,000 Sunday.