Bryce Miller continued to collect wins on the drag strip June 11-12 and, with half the season over, has established himself as one of the hottest racers in Brainerd International Raceway's Bracket Drag Racing Series.
Nobody could beat Miller last Saturday in the Pro ET Class, and it appeared he was on his way to a clean Sunday until he lost in the semifinals. By then, he had already piled up hardware, cash and enough series points to vault him into first place in the standings, ahead of 54 other drivers.
Driving a 1969 Camaro, Miller won all seven rounds of Pro ET Saturday, beating KC Slyford in the finals with a time of 8.640 seconds at 157.10 mph. He then lined up against Super Pro Class winner Jeff Anderson in the Super Pro/Pro Shootout, which features a cash prize of $2,000 for the winner and $1,000 for the runner-up. Anderson beat Miller off the starting line but couldn't hold off the hard-charging Camaro as Miller kept his winning streak alive.
Miller then earned a place in the Quick 16 runoff, where the eight quickest cars and the eight quickest dragsters race down to a finals that pits the quickest car against the quickest dragster. Miller won his way to the finals against Dan Narusiewicz and his dragster. Their reaction times were nearly identical at the starting line but Miller's Camaro was a hair quicker, beating the dragster with a time of 8.651 seconds and 154.67 mph.
"It was a pretty good weekend," said Miller, who won the Pro ET Class in the first Bracket weekend. "We've been making a lot of changes over the year and everything came together. I got pretty lucky, too."
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The drag racing action was one leg of BIR's Wet & Wild Weekend, a trifecta of action that featured drag racing, Superbike racing and snowmobiles racing on Lake BIR. The International Watercross Association will return Sept. 23-25 and is paired with the Central Roadracing Association's Superbike racing again.
The IWA had 78 racers from Minnesota and Wisconsin competing in seven classes last weekend. There was drag racing (from one shoreline to the other) and oval racing around floating markers.
The CRA raced on BIR's 2.5-mile Competition Road Course for the second of five weekends at BIR.
Back on the drag strip, Rory Emmans raced his way to both finals in the Sportsman Class. Driving a '68 Chevy Caprice, he beat Lee Dugdale in Saturday's finals with a pass of 12.134 seconds at 105.69 mph. Then he lost to Joe Moriarty Sr. in Sunday's finals. Moriarty ran 12.387 seconds and 85.01 mph.
Brad Harder earned two trips to the finals as well in Pro Bike/Sled. Riding a 1998 Kawasaki, he lost to Mike Voss in Saturday's finals (Voss ran 9.988 seconds and 123.61 mph) but rebounded to beat Jeremy Berg in Sunday's finals with a pass of 9.375 seconds and 135.61 mph.
Brainerd's Todd Anderson was the only other drag racer to win his way to both finals. Driving a 1958 Chevy Biscayne, Anderson lost in Saturday's Street Trophy finals to Luke Schneider, who posted a winning time of 14.408 seconds and 93.49 mph. Anderson rebounded Sunday with a finals win over Denise Patnaude with a time of 14.802 seconds and 84.41 mph.
The fourth series weekend is July 8-10.
June 11 Finals
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Super Pro: Jeff Anderson of Sartell def. Mike Campbell of Roseville
Pro ET: Bryce Miller of Maple Lake def. KC Slayford of Nester Falls, Ontario
Super Pro/Pro Shootout: Bryce Miller of Maple Lake def. Jeff Anderson of Sartell
Sportsman: Rory Emmans of Nowthen def. Lee Dugdale of Scandia
Stock/Super Stock: Marlene Nelson of Hugo def. Terry Johnson of Maple Grove
Pro Bike/Sled: Mike Voss of Maplewood def. Brad Harder of Waconia
Comp Trophy: Chris Henry of Sauk Rapids def. Dean Markuson of Pequot Lakes
Street Trophy: Luke Schneider of St. Joseph def. Todd Anderson of Brainerd
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Quick 16: Bryce Miller of Maple Lake def. Dan Narusiewicz of St. Paul Park
Junior Dragster Advanced: Megan Neil of West Fargo, N.D. def. Zach McFarland of Sabin
Junior Dragster Intermediate: Riley Luberda of Foley def. Dylan Dancer of Foley
Junior Dragster Novice: Brody Thompson of Nowthen def. Daniel Dancer of Foley
June 12 Finals
Super Pro: Aaron Milton of Maple Grove def. Al Gavlovsky of Bemidji
Pro ET: Wally Higby of Maple Grove def. Mike Pease of Corcoran
Sportsman: Joe Moriarty Sr. of Ham Lake def. Rory Emmans of Nowthen
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Stock/Super Stock: Bad Haugaard of Ham Lake def. Jared Hutar of Cromwell
Pro Bike/Sled: Brad Harder of Waconia def. Jeremy Berg of Newport
Comp Trophy: Andrew Walcheski of Foley def. Bob Kuntz of Thompson, N.D.
Street Trophy: Todd Anderson of Brainerd def. Denis Patnaude of Sawyer
Junior Dragster Advanced: Zachary Zavadil of Clearwater def. Sydney Thompson of Nowthen
Junior Dragster Intermediate: Reese Reutzel of Annandale def. Aaron Clampitt of Line Lakes
Junior Dragster Novice: Davis Goodwin of Pengilly def. Adam Kritzky of St. Paul Park
IWA Watercross Results
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Pro Open: 1. Shawn Zurn of Downing, Wis.; 2. Joe Schellbach of Rush City
Semi Pro Open: 1. Kyle Lakner of Ely; 2. Aaron Godeen of Isanti
Pro Stock: 1. Nate Winberg of Hudson; 2. David Fischer of Apple Valley
Semi Pro Stock: 1. Adam Vowles of Albany; 2. Jeff Zappa of Cumberland, Wis.
Woman 800 Oval: 1: Cassandra Swanson of Ely; 2. Rachel O'Brien of Siren, Wis.
Mod Drags: 1. Aaron Lundeen of Maple Grove; 2. Matt Ledin of Osceola, Wis.
800 Drags: 1. Matt Lundeen of Maple Grove; 2. Krista Maki-zurn of Downing, Wis.
