John Bombatch
Local motorsports
With a little help from the weather, the first “Shake, Rattle & Roll” event will take place Sunday at Tri-State Dragway.
And no, the race is not named in honor of the sounds my car makes when I drive to and from work each day.
Sunday’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll” event consists of a High Roller bracket and a Low Roller bracket, where the drag racing competitors are eventually lumped into an “all-run” racing bracket of competition.
Dragsters, door cars and footbrake cars will be kept separate in their own brackets until they need to be combined with the other divisions.
According to Bob “Flash” Martin, of Tri-State Dragway, the purse for the High Roller bracket will award $3,000 to the winner, $1,000 to the runner-up, semifinalists will earn $500, quarterfinalists will take home $200 and those placing 9th through 16th will earn $50.
That all plays out if they can get at least 100 entrants in the High Roller field, and a minimum of 80 cars in the Low Roller field.
Entry is $80 for the High Rollers, $50 for the Low Rollers.
Drivers can also pay a Buy-Back fee to get themselves into the second round, should they happen to lose in the opening round. That cost is $50 for High Rollers and $30 for the Lows.
Tri-State isn’t leaving the Junior Dragsters out of the fun, either.
For the third year, the track will offer a “Run for the Money” event for the Junior Dragsters, where the parents of the junior dragster winner will earn $500, with the runner-up giving his/her parents a nice $200 prize. Semifinalists will win $75 for mom and dad.
Martin says Lebanon, Indiana’s Nick Isenhower won the “Run for the Money” event last season. Lebanon, Ohio’s Kenny Carson won the event the year before.
At that rate, maybe this is the year someone from Lebanon, Pa., comes in to win the event.
Spectator passes are $10. Kids 12 and under can get into watch Sunday’s races for free.
Points leaders
Tri-State announced its current points leaders in each of the racing divisions.
The points will help determine the track champion, while also counting toward the Summit Sportsman Bracket Series title.
Heading into Sunday’s fun, Brookville, Ind. driver Jeff Russell sits atop the Super Pro standings with 220 points.
Indiana drivers are in the top three spots in Super Pro as the Indianapolis duo of Wes and Gary May are second and third respectively with 215 and 205 points. Wes is Gary’s son, by the way. Cincinnatian Josh Teal is tied with Gary May for third, also with 205 points.
Somerville’s Wes Marcum leads the Pro division points, while his son Robbie is the current points leader in the junior dragsters.
Racing was rained out last weekend at Tri-State.