Stallard Scores at Dallas Raceway
Dallas Raceway - Crandall, Texas
Event #2 - May 29th, 2010
Photos by Jenny Huckabee & Max Cackle
Dallas Raceway in Crandall, Texas hosted the second event of the Southwest Junior Fuel Association 2010 season. This was the first event for the SWJFA at the “concrete palace” and twelve teams showed up for some fun in the sun on a warm and clear Saturday evening. Richard Brady came in leading the points after winning the first event in Evadale, Texas in April beating Ken Hawkins in the final. Dallas Raceway has been a hot spot for testing lately and now it was time to make it count as the call went out for first session of qualifying to begin.
Richard Brady led the first session with a 7.79 at 169 mph with Mike Millsap close behind with a 7.81 at 170 mph. Steve Dunkin clicked off a 7.99 at 164 mph in his opening lap and Kenny Stallard went 8.14 at 157 mph. Ron Muncy rounded out the top five after first session with a 8.19 at 160 mph.
(Ron Muncy)
(Steve Dunkin)
In the second session, Ross Laird made the biggest improvement with a 7.755 at 170 mph to qualify second, his best qualifying effort to date. Mike Millsap claimed the top spot with a 7.754 at 171 mph, his first pole since 2008. Steve Dunkin stepped up to a 7.94 at 165 mph to qualify fourth behind Richard Brady’s 7.79 from first session. Don Scott made his first appearance since the summer of 2008 in his beautiful new machine and qualified fifth with a 8.03 at 161 mph.
(Don Scott)
(Ross Laird)
Ted McCord laid down a best of 8.17 at 162 mph to qualify seventh with Ron Muncy’s 8.19 holding down the eighth spot. Ken Hawkins put down an 8.22 at 167 mph, Don Holley made his first appearance since the finals in 2008 and qualified tenth with an 8.32 at 141 mph and Thomas Hixson rounded out the field with an 8.56 at 144 mph. Joe Scarlata made qualifying attempts but never got a time and both Ken Hawkins and Ted McCord missed the call for first round with mechanical gremlins, so the nine remaining cars all competed in first round.
(Thomas Hixson)
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Mike Millsap (Sachse, Texas) – 7.754 @ 171
2) Ross Laird (Ardmore, Oklahoma) – 7.755 @ 170
3) Richard Brady (Ft. Worth, Texas) – 7.79 @ 169
4) Steve Dunkin (Aledo, Texas) – 7.94 @ 165
5) Don Scott (Garland, Texas) – 8.03 @ 161
6) Kenny Stallard (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) – 8.14 @ 157
7) Ted McCord (Claremore, Oklahoma) – 8.17 @ 162
8) Ron Muncy (Weatherford, Texas) – 8.19 @ 160
9) Ken Hawkins (Poolville, Texas) – 8.22 @ 167
10) Don Holley (Denton, Texas) – 8.32 @ 141
11) Thomas Hixson (Dallas, Texas) – 8.56 @ 144
12) Joe Scarlata (Garland, Texas) – No Time
(Don Scott)
(Don Holley)
Richard Brady and Don Scott opened the action in the first round with Brady taking the win with a 7.82 at 169 mph. Kenny Stallard clicked off a strong 7.75 at 168 mph to defeat Thomas Hixson. Mike Millsap laid down a great 7.70 at 171 mph in a solo pass to advance to the semi, his best pass since debuting his new car this season. Steve Dunkin got caught sleeping on the tree with a .456 reaction time and went 7.93 at 166 mph to take the nod over Don Scott’s 8.31, who would have won but he left with a -.007 rt. In the final pair, Ross Laird’s 7.89 at 165 mph took the win over Ron Muncy.
First Round Results:
(W) Richard Brady (.104 rt) 7.82 @ 169 mph vs. (L) Don Scott (Broke)
(W) Kenny Stallard (.112 rt) 7.75 @ 168 mph vs. (L) Thomas Hixson (.050 rt) 9.69 @ 95 mph
(W) Mike Millsap (.063 rt) 7.70 @ 171.95 vs. (L) Bye Run
(W) Steve Dunkin (.456 rt) 7.93 @ 166 mph vs. (L) Don Scott (-.007 rt) 8.31 @ 146 mph
(W) Ross Laird (.114 rt) 7.89 @ 165 mph vs. (L) Ron Muncy (.070 rt) 18.21 @ 77 mph
(Kenny Stallard)
(Mike Millsap)
Starting off the semi-final, Mike Millsap lined up with Richard Brady in a heaving hitting battle. Brady was off the line first with a .038 light but his 7.79 at 168 wasn’t enough for Millsap’s 7.71 at 171 mph, margin of victory was one thousandths of a second at the stripe. Kenny Stallard’s 7.73 at 168 mph ran down Steve Dunkin’s 7.98 at 164 mph to advance to the final against Millsap.
Semi-Final Results:
(W) Mike Millsap (.117 rt) 7.71 @ 171 mph vs. (L) Richard Brady (.038 rt) 7.79 @ 168 mph
(W) Kenny Stallard (.218 rt) 7.73 @ 168 mph vs. (L) Steve Dunkin (.170 rt) 7.98 @ 164 mph
Stallard was hoping for his first SWJFA event win while Millsap hoped to return to the winner’s circle since his last victory in 2008. Both drivers were in the seven seventy zone in their two previous rounds and this was a great final on paper as the cars crept into the staging beams. Millsap jumped the green light with a -.048 rt giving the win to Stallard, who clicked off a 7.78 at 166 mph to take his first SWJFA win of his career in the Tulsa based “T-Town Hustler” machine owned by Don Alexander and Stallard.
Final Round Results:
(W) Kenny Stallard (-.014 rt) 7.78 @ 166 mph vs. (L) Mike Millsap (.-048 rt) 12.46 @ 60 mph
“I want to give thanks to all of our SWJFA series sponsors, Dallas Raceway and all the people who support us back home in Tulsa. We enjoy racing with all of the great folks in the junior fuel group and we are looking forward to the rest of the season. We hope to see you all in a few weeks in Bowling Green for the Holley Hot Rod Reunion,” said Stallard.
A strong field of SWJFA member cars is expected to compete in Bowling Green, as last year it was an all SWJFA final with Odie Coker taking the win over Mike Millsap. With Millsaps runner-up finish, he jumped into second place in points just seven behind Richard Brady. Stallard’s win puts him in fifth place after two events in the seven scheduled races this season. The next stop on the SWJFA points series is at North Star Dragway, July 3rd in Denton, Texas.
