Excellent weather and great racing greeted fans at the Eighth Annual Hensley Performance Mopar Thunder at Bristol Dragway last weekend. No driver had a firm grip on the competition, providing for a wide range of faces in victory lane.

Stanley, N.C.'s Billy Varner III drove his dragster to the victory over the 1994 Daytona of Kingsport's Danny Cooper in Saturday's Super Pro action. Varner used a .020 reaction time and a 5.171-second elapsed time at 116.11 mph to knock off Cooper's .012 R.T. and 5.680 E.T. at 107.71 mph.

In Saturday's Pro finals, both drivers received red light disqualifications, but Mt. Vernon, Ky.'s Doug Leger collected the win in his 1963 Plymouth. Johnny Burch from Mechanicsville, Md. took home second place honors.

Bluff City's Jason Nelson drove his 1974 Dart to victory in Saturday's Sportsman action using a .033 R.T. and an E.T. of 11.252 at 118.37 mph to defeat Fancy Gap, Va's, Justin Upchurch who ran faster than his dial-in, receiving a disqualification. The 1999 Dakota of Upchurch completed the track in 15.457 seconds on a 15.46 dial-in.

Jeff Smith from Mosheim took his 1995 Dakota to victory in the Trophy class with a .107 R.T. and a 12.941 E.T. at 96.69 mph. Runner-up honors went to Jim Medvec from Waynesville, N.C. in a 2003 PT Cruiser. The PT Cruiser left the line with a .198 R.T. and completed the run in 15.580 seconds at 89.31 mph.

Sunday's Super Pro champion, David Horton from Belew's Creek, N.C., pulled off the win in his 1985 Daytona with a .017 R.T. and a 5.892 E.T. at 115.25 mph. Steve Bralley from Rural Retreat, Va. came home second with a .029 R.T. and a 5.260 E.T. at 131.20 mph.

Wytheville, Va.'s Michael Shipnosh drove his 1973 Dart to victory after Kingsport's Donald Gilbert left the line too soon and his light went red. Shipnosh had a .046 R.T. and a 7.762 E.T. at 87.75 mph. Gilbert fouled by -.017 seconds, and ran the track in 6.688 seconds at 101.57 mph.

Sunday's Sportsman action saw Brian Long from Hollywood, MD defeat Ron Tefertiller from Crab Orchard, TN.  Long's Duster left on a .074 light and ran an 11.251 second pass at 113.27 mph.  The Polara of Tefertiller had a .241 R.T. and completed the pass a little faster than his dial-in. 

The Slant 6 finals on Sunday came down to a couple of racers from Dalton, Ga. Norm Foster's 1981 Challenger picked up the win after Ron Parker's 1964 Dart was faster than his dial-in sending him packing. Foster used a .055 R.T. and an 11.811 E.T. at 110.22 mph to claim the victory.

Mosheim's Jeff Smith went two-for-two by beating Sevierville's Barbara Dennison to the line in Sunday's Trophy class. Smith's .063 R.T. was much better than Dennison's .285 R.T. and helped his 1995 Dakota receive the money for the second day in a row.

Bristol Dragway's season ends this week with a number of events set to thrill the crowd. Tommy Clowers, nine-time X-games medalist, will bring his freestyle motocross show to Thunder Valley at Tuesday's Street Fights. On Thursday night, Scion will give one lucky person a new 2008 Scion tC at the Street Fights season finale.

The Sunoco Thunder Valley Shootouts series will bring the curtain down on the 2007 season with the final race of the year on Saturday.

For more information about the season-ending events, please call 423.764.DRAG.

 

EIGHTH ANNUAL HENSLEY PERFORMANCE MOPAR THUNDER RESULTS, September 29-30
Saturday Results
Driver, Hometown	Car	RE	DI	ET	MPH
SUPER PRO
W- Billy Varner III, Stanley, NC	Dragster	0.02	5.03	5.171	116.11
R- Danny Cooper, Kingsport, TN	1994 Daytona	0.01	5.40	05.680	107.71
PRO
W- Doug Leger, Mt. Vernon, KY	1963 Plymouth	-.019	6.56	6.570	103.83
R- Johnny Burch, Mechanicsville, MD	Dart	-.018	7.08	7.099	94.04
SPORTSMAN
W- Jason Nelson, Bluff City, TN	1974 Dart	.033	11.22	11.252	118.37
R- Justin Upchurch, Fancy Gap, VA	1999 Dakota R/T	.023	15.46	15.457	83.13
TROPHY
W- Jeff Smith, Mosheim, TN	1995 Dakota	.107	12.86	12.941	96.69
R- Jim Medvec, Waynesville, NC	2003 PT Cruiser	.198	15.42	15.580	89.31
Sunday Results
Driver, Hometown
SUPER PRO
W- David Horton, Belews Creek, NC	1985 Daytona	.017	5.88	5.892	115.25
R- Steve Bralley, Rural Retreat, VA	1998 Dakota	.029	5.24	5.260	131.20
PRO
W- Michael Shipnosh, Wytheville, VA	1973 Dart	.046	7.74	7.762	87.75
R- Donald Gilbert, Kingsport, TN	1974 Duster	-0.017	6.69	6.688	101.57
SPORTSMAN
W- Brian Long, Hollywood, MD	1973 Duster	0.074	11.17	11.251	113.27
R- Ron Tefertiller, Crab Orchard, TN	1964 Polara	0.241	12.8	12.784	106.84
SLANT 6
W- Norm Foster, Dalton, GA	1981 Challenger	0.055	11.79	11.811	110.22
R- Ron Parker, Dalton, GA	1964 Dart	0.013	12.69	12.661	102.65
TROPHY
W- Jeff Smith, Mosheim, TN	1995 Dakota	0.063	12.86	12.945	92.58
R- Barbara Dennison, Sevierville, TN	1993 Dakota	0.285	16.54	16.624	82.23