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Mid-West Drag Racing Series shines the spotlight on Top Alcohol Funny Car By Josh Hachat
The Mid-West Drag Racing Series made the bold move to introduce Top Alcohol Funny Car to its lists of classes almost exactly a year ago . What might have been seen as a risky decision to bring in a co-headlining class in the midst of a pandemic has produced nothing but great results with the MWDRS set to resume racing in late August after taking the summer off .
The likes of Jim and Annie Whiteley , as well as Tony Bartone , were instrumental in bringing the class to the Mid-West Drag Racing Series and it ’ s given the drivers in the class the chance to race for big money and grab the spotlight in the process .
It remains a work in progress as MWDRS continues to work on building depth in the class , but there ’ s no denying it ’ s been a surefire success story a year after it debuted .
“ It ’ s still in its infancy , but I ’ m really excited about how it ’ s worked so far ,” says Bill Bernard ,
who won for the first time in the class at the most recent event in Tulsa . “ The treatment , the ability to travel home on Sundays has been massive . Racing on Friday and Saturday has been big and the treatment of the racers has been huge . They ’ ve bent over backwards for us .”
It ’ s been a common sentiment among TAFC race teams that have raced with the Mid-West Drag Racing Series . A sizable purse doesn ’ t hurt matters either , with teams competing for a $ 10,000 prize at each event .
With $ 20,000 going to the world champ and $ 10,000 to the season runner-up , it ’ s an added benefit for the drivers as well . Plus , MWDRS founder and owner Keith Haney says it ’ s an easy sell to tracks considering the facilities don ’ t have to foot any of the bill .
“ It costs the track nothing for the show , so it ’ s very beneficial to them ,” Haney says . “ Jim and Tony were the biggest advocates for the class and they brought the sponsorship aboard . When I reached out to them , they were in and one year into it , the class just continues to grow . I believed in the class and it ’ s turned out to be pretty amazing . The class continues to get faster and faster , and the superb track prep is a real
PHOTOGRAPHS BY COLE ROKOSKY
28 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 170