Special to the Daily Journal
ROCKINGHAM — Clayton’s Randall Blinson claimed the biggest prize in a Hoosier Tires Carolina Coalition Series cut short by the weather-induced cancellation of the final event at Rockingham Dragway.
Blinson, who held a solid five-point lead entering the Rockingham event, earned a $750 champion’s bonus, a set of Hoosier Racing Tires and a Carolina Coalition Champion’s jacket courtesy of Bobby Taylor Oil Co., the Carolina supplier of VP Racing Fuels.
The cancellation of the final event resulted in the awarding of co-championships in the Footbrake class. Dunn’s Justin West and Hudson’s Kelly Stevens were deadlocked with 42 points apiece. As a result, the first- and second-place bonuses were combined and split between the two.
Stevens also earned a pair of Hoosiers to replace those on which he competed all season long in races at “The Rock,” Farmington Dragway and Piedmont Dragway.
Season champion in Jr. Dragster was Ryan Howard of Pelzer, South Carolina, who like the others earned a champion’s jacket.
According to Steve Earwood, owner of Rockingham Dragway, the 2016 Hoosier Carolina Coalition Series will again consist of two races of one weekend each at Rocking, Farmington and Piedmont, but will feature an increase in the season-ending point fund in both Top Eliminator and Footbrake.
Format for the 2016 events will essentially be the same with individual champions in all three categories crowned on both Saturday and Sunday. The 2016 series will begin at Farmington Dragway, April 16 to 17, move to Piedmont Dragway, June 18 to 19, and then to Rockingham, July 30 to 31.
Final Point Standings (top five finishers share in bonus fund)
TOP ELIMINATOR – 1. Randall Blinson, Clayton, 40; 2. Tie, Joseph Harstell, Stanfield, Tommy Plott, Winston-Salem, and Gary Ingold, Raleigh, 35 each; 5. Tie, Gary Ingold, second entry, and Tommy Plott, second entry, 33 each.
FOOTBRAKE – 1. Tie, Justin West, Dunn, and Kelly Stevens, Hudson, 42 each; 3. Kelly Stevens, second entry, 41; 4. Ross Freeman, Westville, South Carolina, 39; 5. Edward Freeman, Kershaw, South Carolina, 34.
JR. DRAGSTER – 1. Ryan Howard, Pelzer, South Carolina, 42; 2. Ashleigh, Stafford, Kernersville, 38; 3. Dillon Goodnight, Landis, 36; 4. Jacob Baker, Yorktown, Virginia, 35; 5. Isaac Bridges, Shelby, 34.
Justin West finished tied for the title in the Footbrake class with Kelly Stevens.