NORWALK, OH – Bill Skillman and his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra raced to their third victory of the season, took back the points lead and claimed the $1,000 bounty Sunday at Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsport Park, the fifth stop on the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown schedule.

Skillman, the No. 1 qualifier, took on No. 2 qualifier David Barton and his Saw Mill Auto Chevy COPO Camaro in the final round. Barton would have the starting line advantage with a .009 reaction time to Skillman’s .067, but Skillman and his Ford Cobra would run down the Barton and his COPO Camaro. Skillman’s 7.810 -second pass at 177.07 mph defeated Barton’s 7.869 at 180.09 with a margin of victory of only .001-seconds.

“The car has been running really well. We are generating a lot of power,” Skillman said. “This team I have has been working hard and I am really proud of them. This was a big win for us.”

The victory sends Skillman around Barton in the Constant Aviation points standings and earns Skillman $1,000 for beating Barton, the most recent event winner, through the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program. Skillman will now carry the $1,000 bounty and it will increase until another driver defeats him during eliminations.

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NORWALK, OH – Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown is keeping the rivalries between the  Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks alive at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsport Park.

Sitting second in the Factory Stock Showdown points standings, Bill Skillman in his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra secured the No. 1 qualifying position thanks to a 7.811-second pass at 177.42 mph in the second qualifying session. On Saturday morning, Skillman would be looking to do some testing to get set for the first round of eliminations later in the day.

“We ran pretty good. That last pass, we just ran and plugged it into high gear and then threw it into neutral to coast the rest of the way down,” Skillman said. “We just wanted to see what those early numbers looked like. We weren’t the fastest, but we were right up there.”

Skillman faced Lee Hartman and the Carrier Services Group Dodge Drag Pak in the first-round Saturday evening. Skillman would run 7.882-seconds at 175.80 mph bettering Hartman’s 7.981 at 177.49.

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Norwalk, OH – The Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown, a class that tests the competitiveness of Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks in side-by-side racing, heads to the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park for its second consecutive race weekend.

David Barton and his Saw Mill Auto Chevy COPO Camaro took over the points lead last weekend at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Just 13 points ahead of Bill Skillman, who already has two wins this season in his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra, Barton isn’t letting himself feel comfortable with their recent success.

“It’s a battle in this class. It’s tough. Right now, it looks like we got the Fords and the Dodges covered, but I don’t think we do. They didn’t give it enough off the line in Bristol. They were too scared. Usually they don’t have to, but there, we had it going on,” Barton said. “This category is insanely hard. You’re either smoking the tires or pulling a 200-foot wheelie. It’s hard to find a balance but we have good momentum.”

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BRISTOL, TN – David Barton and his Saw Mill Auto Chevy COPO Camaro raced to victory Sunday at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, the fourth stop on the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown schedule, to take over the points lead by 13 points with only four races left.

“I feel like we have good momentum going. Every single race we’ve had a car in the final,” said Barton. “As a business, I think we’re doing good in that respect. We have a good team effort and a lot of strong cars moving forward. We’ll keep it rolling as good as we can.”

En route to victory, Barton defeated Lenny Lottig in the first round Saturday evening. Coming into Sunday, Barton would face reigning Factory Stock Showdown champion and eventual Pro Stock event winner, Aaron Stanfield. Barton would have the advantage with a .025-second reaction and, despite a tight side-by-side race, never trail laying down a 7.886-seconds at 174.01 mph to better Stanfield’s 7.886-seconds at 173.92 mph with a .042-second reaction time.

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BRISTOL, TN – The bounty was collected and the No. 1 qualifier was knocked out; Saturday night in the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown at the NRHA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway was full of plenty of excitement.

Scott Libersher and his Mickey Thompson Chevy COPO Camaro took out points leader and back-to-back winner, Bill Skillman, and his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra. Libersher had the starting line advantage, but Skillman would take the lead. Libersher managed to chase down Skillman for the hole shot win. Libersher would have a .065-second reaction time coupled with an 8.150-second pass at 171.47 mph to better Skillman’s .106-second reaction time and 8.132-second pass at 159.46 mph.

“I was thinking about it as a $2,000 match race. It was nice, I come up to race my race. It chattered a little bit, but I stayed with it.” Libersher said. “I don’t know what happened to him, but I caught him at about 1,000 feet and drove it through. You have to show up and do what you can. We know the track now. Tomorrow is another day. But we’re stoked.”

With the victory, Libersher takes home the $2,000 bounty that had accumulated over Skillman’s two wins. The next bounty will be placed on the crowned event winner at the end of eliminations on Sunday. Libersher will continue his hunt for a win facing Stephen Bell in the second round.

Continuing with the upset theme, No. 1 qualifier Dan Condon and his Mickey Thompson Tire / VP Fuel Chevy would have the starting line advantage before spinning the tires to an 11.867-second pass losing to the Hamp Racing Chevy driven by Doug Hamp. Hamp would go 8.229-seconds at 167.72 mph for his quickest pass of the weekend. Hamp will face David Janac in the second round. Janac and his Janac Brothers Ford Racing Cobra defeated Lindsay Wheelock, who was making his Factory Stock Showdown debut in the first round.

“This was my first No. 1 going into eliminations. I have had some provisional No. 1s, but this is the first official No. 1 in Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown,” Condon said. “I got to enjoy it for a couple minutes.”

Defending class champion Aaron Stanfield and his Stanfield Racing Chevy got their first-round win with an 8.041-second pass at 172.56 mph to defeat Alan Scruggs and his Bilstein / Wesley Motorsports Dodge Drag Pak’s 8.192-seconds at 169.66 mph.

Eliminations at the NHRA Thunder Valley nationals at Bristol Dragway for the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown will continue Sunday at 1:40 p.m.

BRISTOL, TN –  The Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown class that puts Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks in side-by-side battle, is making its fourth of eight stops on their NHRA schedule, the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

With back-to-back victories at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte and at the most recent event, the Virginia NHRA Nationals, Bill Skillman and his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra head into this weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals with the points lead, a full 62 ahead of second place David Barton and his Sawmill Auto Chevy COPO Camaro.

“Virginia was a fun race and I really enjoyed that win. It is always more enjoyable when you win,” Skillman said. “I go to win. We are in the car business in the Indianapolis area, and we go out and compete every day. I want to be in the front. That is where I want to be. I really enjoy this class and I think it is really good racing. When we are given a good track, these cars really put on a good show for the fans. You can’t beat the racing. It is super tight. There are a bunch of good racers out here. This class is one of the few filling up the fields every race.”

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DINWIDDIE, VA – David Janac, in his Janac Brothers Ford Cobra Jet, secured the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown No.1 qualifying position Saturday at the Virginia NHRA Nationals. Through a rain riddled two days of qualifying, Janac’s 7.711-second pass at 178.92 mph from Friday afternoon held up through two qualifying rounds before Mother Nature took over.

“We’re plenty excited about that No. 1 qualifier. We’re on a learning curve with this car, so we put together something we thought the car would do and everything went fantastic. Everything went great and we were really happy with that run,” said Janac who will line up against Lee Hartman and his Carrier Service Group Dodge Drag Pak in the first round. “I think we’ve got good data to be competitive tomorrow. It’s going to come down to being able to go from A-to-B. That’s going to be our focus and if we can do that without making mistakes, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

A monster match-up in the first round of eliminations is the duel against David Barton in his Saw Mill Auto COPO Camaro and Mark Pawuk in his DSR Empaco Equipment Dodge Drag Pak. The pair have faced each other in both previous Factory Stock Showdown 2022 events. Both times Barton defeated Pawuk on a holeshot.

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DINWIDDIE, VA – Making just the second appearance at Virginia Motorsports Park, the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown class that puts Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks against each other in heated battle, is making its third of eight stops on their NHRA schedule, the Virginia NHRA Nationals.

Coming off a victory at the most recent event, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Bill Skillman and his Ray Skillman Ford head into this weekend’s Virginia NHRA Nationals as the current series points leader.

“I think the Charlotte win has sunk in. I am ready for this weekend. Your accomplishments are short lived. You always have your next journey coming up. It was great to win but that is in the past. It is time to go win the next race. You want to try and get as many points as you can at the next race,” Skillman said. “You have some tough racers out here. This deal for the championship will go down to the wire. I don’t think anyone is going to run off from the field. The cars are too competitive. I think you will see a lot of different winners this year.”

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CONCORD, NC – Bill Skillman came from behind to take the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals victory, the first race where the Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks of the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown class have competed in a four-wide format.

“Coming out here racing four-wide, it was awesome. I really thought every quad that I ran in from qualifying up, everybody did a great job. I was really, really impressed with the guys as we went through the quads,” Skillman said. “It was awesome, my team, my God, I can’t even tell you what a great job those guys do. They crushed me, I was pitiful on the tree all day today, but I got a fast hot rod here. We struggled mightily when we got here but they just kept picking away at it today and they did a wonderful job.”

In the first round, No. 1 qualifier Geoff Turk and his Wild Turkey Engineering Dodge Drag Pak would go 7.792-seconds at 180.21 mph to win the quad while Skillman took his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra Jet to a 7.784 second pass to advance.

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