Final victories of 2003 Jerry's Nugget Championship Drag Racing Series at The Strip to Naffziger, Sweeting, Acton, Woods, Dudley

 

The final points race of the 2003 Jerry's Nugget Championship Drag Racing Series laid everything on the line Saturday night.  The double-point event also awarded coveted NHRA "Wally" trophies to the winners and more than one pre-race favorite and/or championship contender lit the dreaded red bulb or broke out.

 

Chris Naffziger withstood the closing-night pressure to win the Super Pro final round and 2003 championship.  Naffziger cruised to victory when opponent Mike Giordano fouled at the starting line.  Alfred Sweeting's red '67 Camaro delivered him to victory and the series title in the Pro division when he defeated Utah's Pat French.  Mark Acton defeated Bill Culver for Street honors and Kahea Woods claimed an upset win over past Motorcycle champion Leo Shaver.  Bill Dudley, 60, showed the kids how it's done in the Sport Compact class by defeating Aaron Kimball in the final round.  Dudley also scored the series championship.

 

Final 2003 Jerry's Nugget Championship Drag Racing Series point standings and an official list of class champions will be released later this week.

 

Jerry's Nugget Reaction Time Bonus Awards were won by: Nick Ariotti (Street), Tim Matthews (Pro), Mike Giordano (Super Pro), Andy Lewis (Motorcycle) and Aaron Kimball (Sport Compact).  The Jerry's Nugget award is earned by posting the best reaction time on a winning run during the first round of eliminations.

 

Run-for-the-Money winners included: Becky Landram (Super Pro), Ryan Cole (Street/Sport Compact) and Dennis LeBaron (Pro).

 

Earlier in the day, Tristan Craig and Justin Lamb won final rounds of Shortline Express Markets NHRA Jr. Dragster competition and also clinched championships in their respective divisions.  Craig (Thunder class) and Lamb (Lightning class) faced off against each other Saturday night for the NHRA Wally trophy.  Ten-year-old Craig defeated Lamb, 16, to add the Wally statuette to his trophy collection.

 

Results, including: driver name, hometown, car/bike, reaction time, elapsed time (ET) and top speed (1/4-mile).

 

SUPER PRO

Winner: Chris Naffziger (Las Vegas) '70 Nova  .539  9.879 sec./133.05 mph.

Runner-up: Mike Giordano (Las Vegas) '00 S-10  .493 (foul)  10.797 sec./135.08 mph.

 

PRO

Winner: Alfred Sweeting (Las Vegas) '67 Camaro  .674  10.402 sec./128.60 mph.

Runner-up: Pat French (Parowan, Utah) '79 Mustang  .525  12.005 sec./111.57 mph.

 

STREET

Winner: Mark Acton (Las Vegas) '79 Trans Am  .564  14.077 sec./90.74 mph.

Runner-up: Bill Culver (N. Las Vegas) '67 Chevrolet  .13.098 sec./103.99 mph.

 

MOTORCYCLE

Winner: Kahea Woods (Las Vegas) '95 Suzuki  .488  9.226 sec./140.62 mph.

Runner-up: Leo Shaver (Las Vegas) '87 Kawasaki  .393 (foul)  10.499 sec./121.37 mph.

 

SPORT COMPACT

Winner: Bill Dudley (Las Vegas) '00 Mazda Protege  .622  18.337 sec./73.91 mph.

Runner-up: Aaron Kimball (Las Vegas) '92 Nissan Maxima  .460 (foul)  16.147 sec./84.96 mph.

 

Shortline Express Markets NHRA Jr. Dragster Thunder vs. Lightning winners "Wally" race (1/8-mile)

Winner: Tristan Craig (Henderson) .549  11.16 sec./58.32 mph.

Runner-up: Justin Lamb (Henderson) .620  8.11 sec./76.94 mph.