With just one more Wednesday Night Drags event remaining on the Sonoma Raceway 2016 schedule, drag racers and spectators took advantage of some great fall weather for another evening of quarter-mile drag racing under the lights, Nov. 9.
Napa's Mitch Whorton made a rare appearance which paid off for him as the retired Vallejo firefighter earned a class victory in the Jack Pot division. Joining Whorton in the winners circle was 40 year old Joe Lannoo from Riverside, who marched to the win for his first Sonoma class win in the Comp Rod class.
Other winners included Novato's Doug Love (Motorcycle), Vacaville's Ken Kalis (Sport Street), Richmond's Chris Burton (Street) and San Francisco's Vince Cardinale Next week's season finale will feature a King of The Track run-off special event which will include all six of the 2016 Wednesday night class champions. Vying for the special award will be San Jose's Steve Jaslovsky (Gear Jammer), Santa Rosa's Jorge Valencia Jr. (High School), Novato's Bobby Grabrian (Street), Rodeo's
Doug McCay (Sport Street), Novato's Doug Love (Motorcycle), Pacifica's Brian Kam (Comp Rod) and Santa Rosa's Tom Johnson (Jack Pot).
As part of the 2016 Wednesday Night Drags season finale, fans and racers are encouraged to bring in four or more non-perishable food items for the Sonoma Raceway Food Drive. Anyone who makes a donation will receive a voucher for $10 off a Wednesday Night Drags event in 2017.
Listed below are the semifinal and final round winners:
Comp Rod
Winner: Joe Lannoo (Riverside) 10 Cadillac .038 RT 11.571 ET (11.54 dial in) 116.98 mph
Runner-up: Joe Rossi (Napa) 72 Nova .173 RT 10.470 (10.45) 127.44
Semifinals: Dale Sandberg (Concord) 65 Nova
Jack Pot
Winner: Mitch Whorton (Napa) 68 Camaro .058 RT 9.876 (9.75) 135.17
Runner-up: Jeff Broussard (Novato) 98 GMC .060 RT 10.433 break out (10.44) 127.86
Semifinals: Daniel Valencia (Santa Rosa) 01 Chevy
Motorcycle
Winner: Doug Love (Novato) 01 Triumph .098 RT 13.038 (13.02) 100.44
Runner-up: Bill Myers (Petaluma) 89 Honda .238 RT 14.247 break out (14.35) 90.37
Semifinals: Eric Oliver (Santa Rosa) 05 Suzuki Alfredo Escandon (Novato) 96 Harley
Sport Street
Winner: Ken Kalis (Vacaville) 64 Valiant .014 RT 17.081 (17.19) 75.41
Runner-up: Matt Brians (Petaluma) 17 Camaro .144 RT 13.990 break out (14.10) 97.63
Semi finals: Bill Taggart Jr. (Pacheco) 97 Acura
Gear Jammer
Winner: Vince Cardinale (San Francisco) 13 Shelby Ford .251 RT 12.488 (11.89) 86.22
Runner-up: Jorge Montoya (Pleasant Hill) 03 Nissan .647 RT 15.790 (14.80) 92.58
Semifinals: Emillio Garcia (East Palo Alto) 01 Corvette
Street
Winner: Chris Burton (Richmond) 13 Challenger .075 RT 13.605 (13.65) 102.86
Runner-up: Scott Sterley (San Rafael) 71 Camaro foul -.010 RT 11.936 (11.90) 103.41
Semifinals: Nick Bublitz (Cotati) 01 Corvette
