Drag Illustrated Issue 118, February 2017 | Page 60

DIALED IN IHRA AT IMMOKALEE Scott during Sunday's match-up. Local racer Mark Nowicki used a wicked hole- shot to hold off New Yorker Steve Comella to take the Super Stock win on Saturday. On Sunday, Jerry Hatch, who traveled all the way from Maine, got the win over Georgia's Jeff Adkinson. In Stock Eliminator on Saturday, Merrill Schrimscher of Florida escaped a troubled run when Jim Mar- shall fouled at the start, handing the automatic win to Schrimscher. On Sunday, Schrimscher nearly doubled up with a second win, but Dan- iel Young, also of Florida, used a starting-line advantage to capture the win. The Hot Rod class had a double winner in Immokalee, when Bradenton's Troy Williams Jr. defeated Tennes- see's Jason Oteri on Saturday, and stopped Florida's Robert Ward on Sunday to produce an impressive double victory in Hot Rod. Amazingly, the Junior Master category also saw a double-up win- ner when Florida's Nick Ferraro captured the win in both eliminators. The Ft. Lauderdale racer stopped Nathan Lopez on Saturday and held off Gage Burch on Sunday. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI Kinston Drag Strip’s Winterfest Welcomes Racers for January Bracket Racing K inston Drag Strip owner Bobby Smith has had plenty of concerns over the 40 years he's owned his laid-back, quarter- mile track in eastern North Caro- lina, although the happenings of late 2016 presented a different kind of worry when Hurricane Matthew slammed the coastal area, causing torrential inland flood- ing in places like Kinston and the surrounding locales. With his marquee event, Winterfest, only two months away, Smith was surveying the area late last year and seriously wondering if the track was even going to be there come January, let alone have the opportunity to host his famous wintertime event for the 30th con- secutive year. The flood waters that were rising around the drag strip were unlike anything Smith had ever experienced, and that's significant when you consider that he bought this folksy Lenoir County 60 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com facility way back in 1977, and has been present for practically every single event that's been held here since then. "The neighboring lake flooded its banks, and I've never seen that happen before... ever!" Smith said. Amazingly, the drag strip didn't sustain any long-term damage, and Smith and his crew were able to make the track operational again after a period of clean-up. Much of Kinston and the neighboring towns were not so lucky, and sustained irreparable damage. "We were very fortunate!" he says. As for the legendary Winterfest event, for which the track is best known, it was success- fully held January 28-29 under sunny skies with a brisk wind blowing all weekend. The 30th running arrived with a hint of awe for Smith, but then again it always does. "I never imagined this event would last 30 years, and for that matter I never imagined I'd last 30 more years!" Issue 118 By Van Abernethy