Several Canadians were in action at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway this past weekend. Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee John Waldie summarizes the highlights.
From Kingston, Ontario, to Pennsylvania and now Jupiter, Florida, the Kenny family—led by Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee Al, along with his wife and son Jason—shared in Jason’s sixth career national event Super Gas victory. Jason ran a 9.928-second pass to defeat Kevin Larson’s 9.949, with both drivers running just off the 9.90-second index.
Stratford, Ontario’s Spencer Hyde once again piloted the Jim Head Racing Funny Car Mustang into the final eliminations, upsetting higher-qualified Alexis DeJoria in a crucial Countdown to the Championship points race. Hyde earned a holeshot win, 3.904 seconds to DeJoria’s quicker 3.878.
Combined with first-round losses by Bob Tasca III and Cruz Pedregon, Hyde strengthened his hold on eighth place in the standings, with DeJoria, Tasca, and Pedregon sitting ninth, 10th, and 11th. Austin Prock was the Brainerd event winner, defeating J.R. Todd with a 3.907-second, 321.50-mph (520-plus km/h) run.
In Top Fuel, Doug Kalitta defeated Clay Millican with a 3.670 at 338.77 mph after Millican shut off early. Kalitta set low E.T. at 3.655, while Brittany Force recorded top speed at 341.25 mph. Canadian tuner Rob Flynn will return to competition at Indianapolis, overseeing Tony Schumacher—the winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history—as a teammate to Millican and the Rick Ware Racing entries.
Pro Stock teammates Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn staged another all-KB Titan final, with Anderson winning at 6.555 seconds and 206.86 mph to Glenn’s 6.577. Their KB Titan stablemate Matt Hartford claimed top speed honors at 209.01 mph (338 km/h). Closing in on the Countdown, KB Titan holds seven of the top 10 positions, with team principal Eric Latino of Port Perry, Ontario, ranked sixth.
Canadian racers with standout Brainerd performances included Stratford native Kenny Lee, who qualified all three Cuadra family Pro Stock cars in the always-tough field; legendary CMHF tuner Les Davenport, whose drivers Phil Esz and Stan Sipos ran strong in Alcohol Funny Car, highlighted by Sipos’ 266.74-mph top speed; and the dragsters of Doug Doucette (driven by Greg Hunter), Mike Quayle, and Shawn Cowie. Canadians also impressed in Lucas Oil classes including Stock, Super Stock, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, and Super Street.
All told, more than 20 Canadians proudly represented drag racing at Brainerd, Minnesota.
With over 700 competitors in Canada, Canadian NHRA representative Glen Grow and I encourage fellow racers to share their stories so we can continue highlighting their accomplishments within our country in Inside Track’s Canadian Connection coverage.
