Acton, Allen, Kerkstra, Klepinger and Morris Capture Class Wins at Second Annual Drop The Hammer Event, Mark Sussino Claims Victory From Drag-and-Drive Exhibition at the NHRA New England Nationals
Following our coverage that began on Monday from a weekend with three separate events featuring drag-and-drive participating classes, we’re adding part two today from a pair of events:
Drop the Hammer from Michigan, and the second drag-and-drive exhibition of the 2024 season at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) New England Nationals in New Hampshire.
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The Drop the Hammer event, a brainchild of fellow drag-and-drive participant Carl Stancell, features five classes, plus a Quick 8 Shoot-Out for the 8 quickest cars on the final day.
Starting and ending at US 131 Motorsports Park, competitors make a trip to Mid Michigan in Stanton for Saturday’s drive and track action before returning back to Martin, Michigan for the final day, wrap up and awards.
A bunch of well known names in the drag-and-drive world entered the Unlimited class, with Tom and Aydan Bailey, Steve Morris, and Clark Rosenstengel joined by Jimmy Cline’s classic 1966 Pontiac GTO.
When the final tally was complete, Morris would complete his comeback from a nasty wreck earlier in the year at Sick Week, putting the wagon on top of the class. Morris clocked the only 4-second passes of the event, the best being a 4.61 at 166.49 mph, to average out at 4.78 for the class and overall win.
Kline finished second with the lowest 5-second average, a 5.03, and Tom Bailey would edge out son Aydan for the third spot thanks to a 5.20 to 5.22 average final result. Rosenstengel rounded out the top five with his ’95 Chevrolet Camaro, his first car to be used in drag-and-drive competition, and one that hadn’t seen action in a while.
The 28/275 class (which requires a 28-inch tall x 10.5-inch wide maximum slick or a 275/60/15 radial tire), had a small participant base, and unfortunately Mark McGill broke on day two.
That gave drag-and-drive veteran Scott Klepinger the task of just completing the event for a class title, but he chose to keep pushing the performance of his turbocharged ’86 Camaro, with a 5.27 average and a best pass of 5.21 at 136.99 mph to claim the class win.
5.45 index would be the quickest of three index-based classes, and a pair of Chevrolet Nova models would battle it out for the top spot, with Brian Acton going against Roger Wardell. Acton got the better run on day one, a nearly-perfect 5.450 to a 5.465 from Wardell, then strengthed the lead with a 5.461 to 5.476 advantage on day two.
The final day found Wardell chewing into the lead via a 5.467 time slip to Acton’s 5.474, but Acton has enough to hold on for a close 5.462 to 5.470 average result and claim the victory. Vance Cooper snagged third with his 2009 Cadillac thanks to a 5.94 average.
The next fixed index class was the 6.40 class, and this one would feature the tightest margin between the top two combatants on averages. Tony McDowell fired off the best run of day one with a 6.418 from his ’67 Chevrolet pick-up, with Ashley Jones 6.44 in second, and a 6.45 getting Devin Kerkstra the third spot after day one.
Things changed for day two, with McDowell slowing to a 6.76, while Kerkstra’s 6.417 moved him to the top spot. A 6.439 put Jones in second. The final day had Jones and Kerkstra matching the 6.40 index number, Kerkstra with a 6.402 and Jones turning in a 6.401 time slip.
The resulting averages put Kerkstra at 6.425, while Jones checked in with a 6.427, a narrow two thousandths of-a-second victory for Kerkstra. Gary Stancell and his ’84 S-10 claimed third, John Ramos in fourth, and Ken Johnson wrapped up the top five.
Dial-Your-Own (DYO) doesn’t set an index number to hit, but instead focuses on the spread of elapsed times between the time slips you hand in. We’ve seen some very close times from stop to stop at Sick events, and Drop the Hammer did the same thing.
From a field of nearly 30 entries, Luke Van Allen would conquer all with his 1998 Chevrolet Camaro, handing in three time slips between 6.513 and 6.516 for a three thousandths variance.
The second spot was captured by Kenneth Graff and his unique 2010 Ford Expedition, which only varied eight thousandths of-a-second with a 10.225 best and a 10.333. Gage Stancell occupied third with his ’97 Pontiac Trans Am only moving twelve thousandths from day one to day last, while fourth and fifth would be earned by Justin and Randy Hyma.
Moving from Michigan to New Hampshire, the NHRA New England Nationals not only featured the second exhibition of drag-and-drive competitors for the 2024 season, but also witnessed drag-and-drive historian Brian Lohnes being named to the New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame.
From a veteran group of runners, including Glenn Hunter, Tony Niemczyk, Jeff Oppenheim, Frank Romano, Jason Rousseau, Jeff Sias, Rick Steinke, and Mark Sussino, the Sunday semifinal round featured Niemczyk, Rousseau, and Sussino.
Last year’s Death Week winner Rousseau faced Sussino in the lone semifinal pairing, and while Rousseau got the better reaction, the Malibu spun just off the starting line to give Sussino’s trouble-free 8.65 at 157 mph the win.
That moved Sussino to the final round, where he would face two-time Sick Week winner Niemczyk. At the drop of the Christmas tree, Niemczyk’s Mitsubishi Eclipse moved first. But just past the 60 foot mark Niemczyk was already slowing with problems, and he slowed while Sussino rolled the Pontiac Grand Prix known as ‘Champagne Express’ to the finish line to claim victory with an 8.61 pass.
“Tony is such a competitor, I knew it was gonna be a hell of a race,” said Sussino. “So I had it wicked up a little; I was disappointed that he broke a few feet out, but I’ll take it.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Hard Target Images, Matt Donovan, Scott Klepinger, Jeff Oppenheim and Mark Sussino.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com