Neither Rain Nor Snow Can Stop The Fourth Drag-And-Drive of 2023, Cruise and Lose, From Crowning Winners!
Combining two days of driving with two days of racing action, the second annual Cruise & Lose is in the books! And the crew of the event, plus track crews, had to work through some interesting conditions to determine winners in four classes.
Even before the event got underway, the forecast would test the organizers on whether or not to postpone the event. “We finally made a call Thursday morning when Doug (at I29 Dragway) gave us the all clear which meant we were going to keep on with the event,” said Zach Slevin, who along with Tyler Maggart and Landon Jensen, organized the event.
Starting the event Friday, April 21st at Kearney Race Park in Kearney, Nebraska with check-in and tech inspection, 64 participants left the Kearney track and headed for I29 Dragway in Pacific Junction, Iowa for their first day of racing action. “The weather was definitely on the not ideal side of things,” said Zach. “But all of these drag and drive peeps said ‘we have street cars and we are going!’” About five hours later, the cruise made it to I29 Dragway. “At that point we had only lost about 3 of our racers,” said Zach. “We had 61 slips turned in at 10:30-ish when we called it quits.”
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Participants were allowed to make the return trip to Kearney Race Park as soon as they turned in their time slip, and the weather had taken a unique turn. “Along comes day two; we head out of the hotel, and to our surprise it was snowing,” said Zach. “Definitely testing street car cred in Nebraska fashion.”
A count was taken once the tour had returned to Kearney Race Park on Saturday, April 22nd, and 56 out of 64 participants that started the event completed the 425 mile round trip.
Action on the track at Kearney Race Park was intense in all four classes, and by Saturday evening, winners had been determined on the eighth-mile standard.
The small tire class (limiting a 29.5-inch height x 10.5-inch width slick or 315/60/15 maximum size radial smaller tire) had nine participants put their rides through the rain, snow and track abuse for the lowest e.t. average and the $1000 winner check. In the end, Nick Lawson would emerge the victor with his twin-turbo 1973 Chevrolet Camaro netting a 5.29 average for the win, with Sandon Slaubaugh’s 2000 Camaro in second and Chris Sills rounding out the top three.
The quickest of the three index classes, 6.50 index, had the top five finishers less than six hundredths of-a-second away from the 6.50 standard. The top two spots were separated by a mere one thousandth of-a-second, and Braydon Pokhorney’s 1995 Chevrolet Camaro got the nod with a 6.517 just edging out the 6.518 from the Camaro of Travis Urbach. Shawn Slaubaugh’s 2001 Pontiac Trans Am nabbed the third spot with a 6.522 to barely deny Josh McShane’s 6.523 a top three spot.
7.50 index would have the top five posting averages less than a tenth of-a-second away from the index, and the top three narrowed that gap to less than five hundredths. Seth Littrel got the job done for the top spot with a stellar 7.506 average in his 1999 Chevrolet Camaro for the win. Dave Chaney’s 7.52 average landed his 2020 Camaro in the second spot, and Wyatt Jasa was third with a 7.546 average in his 1998 Pontiac Trans Am.
The final index class, 8.50 index, would also have top three finisher averages less than five hundredths away from the index standard. Kelli Hoff would earn the top spot thanks to a 8.531 average in her 1999 Chevrolet Camaro, with Jeff Greer finishing second with an ‘oh-so-close’ 8.539 average from his 1968 Oldsmobile. Andrew Buckmaster’s 1967 Plymouth wasn’t far off in the third spot, courtesy of his 8.547 average.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Seth Littrel, Kelli Hoff and MK Photos.