CLASS CEILING
Femme Fanatic Sports: A look at motor sports from a female perspective -- recapping the NHRA's trip to Baytown
By Tery Red (Crew Chief for Rig Tech Motorsports )
Apr 23, 2018, 6:46 am
Brittany Force, left, was among the big winners in Baytown. NHRA.COM
Welcome to Femmefanaticsports, which covers the feminine perspective of Motorsports.
What Readers should know:
What: The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series / Spring Nationals
When: This past weekend (April 20-22, 2018)
Where: Royal Purple Raceway
SportsMap was in the house for the NHRA Spring Nationals !
If the NHRA Spring Nationals was a music genre it would be Coachella mashed up with Woodstock, with a little T in the Park, squished up with Lollapalooza, mixed with a tad of Bonnaroo and a splash of Glastonbury (for garnish). Like Wow!
As SportsMap strolled through the entrance, Snap! No way,
The Mongoose (Tom McEwen) was sitting right there with that notorious killer smile! Front Line and Center, this was to be the place to be this weekend! I couldn't help but look over my shoulder as we conversed to see if Don "The Snake " Prudhomme would slither by! NO CIGAR.
For The opening act you have the Sportsman Class , followed by Pro Mod on stage 2, with El Arabe Jet Car and the GameXChange Jet Dragster on Center Stage, followed by the headliners Pro Stock, Funny Car, Top Fuel.
Ladies and gentlemen start your engines Please!
SportsMap caught up with #theonetowatch Erica Enders. who posted the top spot in our book by driving not one, but two cars in two different categories. She dawned the Elite Performance Pro Mod Car as well as the Melling Performance Pro stock Car.
Matt Hartford took the win in Pro Stock, and J.R. Todd had four for four in Funny Car! There were records set of course with Matt Hagan and Greg Anderson, too much to mention. Then in between sessions there was a nice DJ who dazzled us with Fallout Boy and Rihanna.
Do not feel bad for Enders. She was not alone in the elite field of class at the NHRA Mello Yello Spring Nationals here at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. You had Kayla Morton of Street Outlaw fame driving her "Hot Mess Express" Mustang taking home the Redemption Title Friday over contender Barry Nicholson in a nice grudge match of Chevy vs. Ford.
Then of course, Tammy Gatlin had her Jet Funny Car shimmying down the track on her exhibition runs along with fellow jet car exhibitionist Juan Cantu and the GameXChange Jet Dragster. Definitely warmed things up on chilly Friday afternoon!
Not to forget Leah Pritchett, and Courtney Force. To be sure, Brittany Force did not disappoint as she took the win in her Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster at 3.762e.t. at 299.46 mph over fellow competitor Terry Mc Millen.
Then there was Brenda Grubbs, in her '69 Camaro in Super Stock, who showed us what life can be like in the quarter mile as this was her first Wally, winning out over Craig Gualtiere. Thanks to Janet, Gina, and Randi Lynn Ship and then some, we had a roaring weekend.
With the thundering of the funny cars, the roaring of the jet cars, the wind, rain and shine, the revving of motors, the testing and tuning, all the behind the scenes strumming throughout the pits and the harmonious voices of all the participants, it made for quite the music festival that only can be found at the NHRA Mello Yello Spring Nationals.
The winners
Top Fuel -- Brittany Force, 3.762 seconds, 299.46 mph def. Terry McMillen, 3.818 seconds, 311.56 mph.
Funny Car -- J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 3.955, 313.29 def. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.993, 308.14.
Pro Stock -- Matt Hartford, Chevy Camaro, 6.522, 211.36 def. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.570, 210.50.
Pro Modified -- Jim Whiteley, Chevy Camaro, 5.834, 239.14 def. Rick Hord, Chevy Corvette, 5.818, 252.43.
Top Fuel Harley -- Doug Vancil, Weekend, 6.300, 230.76 def. Randal Andras, JTR, 12.128, 80.94.
Super Stock -- Brenda Grubbs, Chevy Camaro, 9.284, 138.47 def. Craig Gualtiere, Chevy Nova, 9.691, 132.43.
Stock Eliminator -- Tim Snively, Chevy Camaro, 11.745, 110.84 def. Brandon Bakies, Olds Cutlass, 11.091, 114.30.
Super Comp -- Lyndon Rutland, Dragster, 8.901, 180.07 def. Austin Williams, Dragster, 8.902, 156.99.
Super Gas -- Koy Collier, Chevy Camaro, 9.902, 156.75 def. Steve Collier, Chevy Vega, 9.890, 163.06.
Next Weekend
When: April 27-29
What: NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals North Carolina
Where: zMAX Dragway
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Marcell Ozuna hit his major league-leading eighth homer and Orlando Arcia’s RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
It completes a three-game sweep of the struggling Astros and is Atlanta’s fourth straight victory.
The Braves scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 4-4. Michael Harris II started the 10th as the automatic runner on second and there was one out in the inning when Seth Martinez (1-1) intentionally walked Matt Olson.
Ozuna lined out to right field to send Harris to third base. Arcia then singled on a ground ball to left field to score Harris and put the Braves on top.
Pinch-runner Jake Meyers was on second when Kyle Tucker walked with no outs in the 10th. Meyers moved to third on a fly out by Yainer Diaz but Jeremy Peña grounded into a double play to end it.
A.J. Minter (3-1) got the last two outs of the ninth for the win and Raisel Iglesias earned his fifth save.
Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. added his first homer of the season to help the Braves to the victory. Ozuna also leads the majors with 23 RBIs and he extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which ties his career best and is the longest active streak in the majors.
Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubón both homered for the Astros, who fell to 6-14 and are last in the AL West.
There was one out in the first when Alvarez connected on his homer to the seats in left field to put Houston up 1-0.
Ozuna opened the second with his 432-foot shot to left field, which bounced off the wall and tied the game.
Acuña put the Braves up 2-1 when he sent the first pitch of the fifth inning to straightaway center field.
The Astros tied it on an RBI single by Alex Bregman in the fifth and Kyle Tucker’s RBI double came next to put the Astros up 3-2.
Dubón hit his first home run of the year off Jesse Chavez to start Houston’s sixth and push the lead to 4-2.
Harris singled to start the seventh before a ground-rule double by Austin Riley. Olson reached, and Harris scored on a fielding error by first baseman José Abreu when he couldn’t grab a routine ground ball.
There was one out in the inning when Riley scored on a sacrifice fly by Arcia to tie it at 4-all.
Houston starter J.P. France allowed four hits and two runs in five innings.
Max Fried gave up seven hits and three runs in five innings.
UP NEXT
Braves: Atlanta is off Thursday before opening a series against Texas on Friday night with LHP Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA) on the mound.
Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night against Washington. The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.