Winners crowned at San Antonio Summit Sportsman Spectacular
Courtesy IHRA
SAN ANTONIO, TX – With $5,000 on the line and a spot in the year-end Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions presented by AMSOIL on the line, the first Summit Racing Sportsman Spectacular presented by AMSOIL of
the year brought out the best of the best in south Texas and produced some great racing.
San Antonio Raceway was the host track for the first big money IHRA race of the year and at the end of the day six drivers walked away with their share of the loot brought to racers by Summit Racing Equipment and AMSOIL. The big winners from San Antonio were Ricky Vedros (Belle Rose, La.) in Top Sportsman, Todd Robinson (Corpus Christi, Texas) in Top Dragster, Pete Peery (Bowie, Texas) in Super Stock, Matt Hawk (Tucson, Ariz.) in Stock, Alan Savage (Mexia, Texas) in Quick Rod and Super Rod and Ray Dew (League City, Texas) in Hot Rod.
Other winners from the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular presented by AMSOIL were Ryan McDonnell (San Antonio, Texas) in Top ET, Matt Hawk (Tucson, Ariz.) in Mod ET and Ethan Marr (Forney, Texas) in Junior Dragster.
Savage was Saturday’s biggest winner, taking home $10,000 and two Ironman trophies in two of the Rod categories, although he had to work harder than anyone to get there. Savage lost in round one of both Quick Rod and Super Rod, but won his way back into the event via the re-entry round and rode that momentum to two season-altering victories. Although Savage had the biggest payday, he did not earn a spot in the TOC due to his losses.
Savage qualified fifth in Quick Rod and second in Super Rod, but didn’t fare well in competition losing to Mike Pevey in one matchup and Lloyd Parfait in the other. But with a special re-entry round available at Sportsman Spectacular events, Savage’s day wasn’t over just yet.
Savage’s journey to victory began in the re-entry round where he defeated Tina Stull in Quick Rod and Matt Exner in Super Rod. He followed that up with five more flawless rounds of competition in Quick Rod, defeating Clayton Nance, Vernon Rowland and Tony Livengood before meeting Scooter Choate in the final. Savage ran a 8.942, 159.74 in the 8.90 class while Choate posted a 8.934, 180.29 in the first final.
In the other Savage eliminated Tommy Phillips, Jarod Wilson and Charlie Stewart before meeting Jeff Lopez in the final. Savage won on a double breakout, running a 9.889, 157.07 in the 9.90 class to Lopez’s 9.887, 148.96 to take victory No. 2 on the evening.
San Antonio’s biggest field was in the third .90 class as Ray Dew qualified 14th in his ’70 Nova and went six rounds on his way to victory. Dew defeated Ryan McDonnell, Thomas Marlow, Ty Casey and Richard Ortegon to reach the finale where he matched up with Bart Nelson. Dew was nearly perfect on the tree and just a few hundredths off his dial in a double breakout victory with a 10.887, 136.74 in the 10.90 class to Nelson’s 10.877, 134.57.
The second biggest field was in Top Dragster where Todd Robinson defeated some of the best dragster racers in the sport to take the win. Robinson defeated Aaron Cole, Leonard Greathouse, Lee Lightfoot and Ryan McDonnell before meeting former champion Scott Ball in the final. Unfortunately the exciting matchup was cut short when Ball went red and Robinson was able to coast across the line to pick up the big payday.
One former champion who did manage to pick up a win was defending Summit SuperSeries World Champion Matt Hawk who won in Stock. Hawk qualified 10th behind the wheel of his ’88 Mustang and defeated John Brimer, Lee Bannister and Brimer again before meeting Jacob Pitt in the final. Hawk ran a 12.858, 86.56 on a 12.62 dial in the final while Pitt went red.
Top Sportsman produced one of the most exciting final round matchups as Ricky Vedros drove his ’96 Beretta five rounds, culminating with a win over Matt Crisp in his 2009 Mustang. Vedros defeated Marlon Goates, Daniel Liebham and Trent Wilson before meeting Crisp, with both running within a few thousandths of their dial. Vedros ran a 7.732, 178.57 on a 7.73 dial while Crisp was narrowly too quick with a 7.631, 187.97 on a 7.64 dial.
The final victor came in Super Stock as Pete Peery continued his winning ways in 2012 with a victory over Cody Blackmon and Dewayne Custer, defeating Custer in the final with a 10.023, 126.69 on a 10.00 dial to Custer’s 10.820, 124.52 on a 10.82 dial behind the wheel of his ’91 Calais.
Saturday’s other winners were Hawk, who ironically met Jacob Pitt in the final of both Stock and Mod ET, winning both, and Ryan McDonnell who defeated Michael Pennington in the Top ET final. Ethan Marr won Junior Dragster with a victory over Kenneth Hillin.
Maryland International Raceway will host the second Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular presented by AMSOIL of the year July 13-15 and Memphis International Raceway will host a Sportsman Spectacular and the final regular season race of the year October 12-14.
