Drag-And-Drive Champs Brett LaSala and Matt Lamphier Highlight Final Day of TX2K At Houston Raceway
After battling weather, crashes and oil downs, day five of TX2K 2023 at Houston Raceway got under way on March 19th.
But before round one of eliminations were started, it was announced that TX2K would be moving to Texas Motorplex for 2024.
The first all-concrete quarter-mile race track built in 1986, Texas Motorplex should bring an interesting new chapter to TX2K.
Amongst thirteen different classes of competition, four classes featured drag-and-drive competitors in a final round.
Sick Week 2023 Modified class winner Brett LaSala qualified number one in Street Car Elite class with a 6.96 at 206 mph.
He wheeled the 2012 twin-turbocharged Mustang to the final, staging opposite the tenth qualifier Daniel Burks and his Chevrolet Luv truck, and LaSala’s “Snot Rocket” would score a multi-car-length victory via a 6.73 at 210 mph over Burks’ coasting 8.29 result.
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In the Street Car Pro class, LaSala’s Sick Week co-pilot Jim Braun made his way to the final round alongside Jack Roberts in an all-white Mustang battle. In a close battle, Braun just held off Roberts via a 7.64 to 7.66 result, giving the Florida-based Mustang friends a double-up victory between Street Car Elite and Street Car Pro classes.
After failing out of contention on Sick Week due to a hurt engine after day one, Matt Lamphier put together a fresh bullet with a few days to spare before TX2K.
He qualified the “Turtle” Miata seventh in the Street Car Champ class with an 8.28, then made a solo shot in the final for the win when his opponent was disqualified for a second oil down on the weekend. Lamphier capped the event off with a 7.88 at 175 mph blast, his new personal best.
The Street Car Sport class had James Taal making the final in the Cleetus McFarland “McFlurry” Mustang against Rick Crawford in his Pontiac G8. The cars were limited to an 8.44 break out time at TX2K due to the class he qualified in, and the final found both contestants trying to not go too fast. The result was an 8.40 break-out pass for Taal, swinging the win to Crawford who ran an 8.44.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, 1320 Video and Matt Lamphier.