EAKINS KEEPS MOMENTUM WITH SEMIFINAL FINISH
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (April 13) — Two weeks after scoring the first national event win of his career, Randy Eakins continued to climb the Top Alcohol Dragster championship points standings with a strong semifinal finish at the 9 th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Eakins, 39, drove the Canidae All Natural Pet Foods/Red line Oil A/Fuel dragster to six consecutive NHRA round-wins before being halted in the semifinals.
The Edgecombe Racing team worked hard to battle through electrical issues that plagued their nitromethane-burning dragster throughout the weekend, and they managed to qualify in the top half of the 16-car field and go rounds in eliminations. Eakins posted a 5.63 elapsed time in the first round to defeat a tire-smoking Johnny Ahten. His round two matchup paralleled the one from his Houston win in which he defeated 2007 Top Alcohol Dragster world champion Bill Reichert on a holeshot. This time he raced 2007 Super Comp world champ Shawn Langdon, who qualified No. 1 behind the wheel of Morgan Lucas’ dragster, and again it was decided on the starting line as Eakins cut a superb .011 reaction time and won with a 5.73 over Langdon’s superior 5.69. Back-to-back wins were not in the cards, however, as Eakins’ engine dropped cylinders in the semifinals and he lost to Jeff Isbell, who ran a solid 5.47 and became another first-time winner after defeating Jim Whiteley in the final round.
“We had some ignition trouble that I think was caused by the rain and moisture after the event in Houston, and we weren’t able to get it solved during the race in Vegas,” said Eakins. “All things considered, we’re very happy to go to the semifinals and add to our points total.”
The Edgecombe Racing team, whose first national win came at this event 2002 Darren Nicholson as their driver, climbed to seventh in the national points standings and kept their momentum alive after an invigorating win at Houston Raceway Park two weeks earlier.
“We’re still on a high from the win in Houston, and I can’t believe all of the attention it has brought this team,” said Eakins. “As long as we’re in contention for a top 10 finish or a division championship, we’ll keep traveling to chase the points. Right now, we’re focused on getting this car to run high-5.20s and low-5.30s where it needs to be.”
Television coverage of the Las Vegas event will be shown on Sunday, April 20 at 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Eakins will also be featured as a Sportsman Spotlight on the weekly show Inside Drag Racing that premieres on Saturday, May 3, at 4:30 p.m. ET on ION Media Network (check ION Media Networks to find the station channel in your area). Eakins will be racing next at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 6 event at Mission Raceway in Mission, B.C., Canada, on May 23-25.
Race Results:
Qualifying
No. 8 qualifier (5.457 ET, 258.91 MPH)
Eliminations
R1 EAKINS (.031) 5.633 ET, 251.95 MPH def. Ahten (.064) 10.066 ET, 75.85 MPH
R2 EAKINS (.011) 5.731 ET, 252.38 MPH def. Langdon (.059) 5.697 ET, 265.33 MPH
R3 Isbell (.060) 5.478 ET, 251.67 MPH def. EAKINS (.039) 6.135 ET, 240.12 MPH
To find more information on Edgecombe Racing’s partners, please visit the following companies online:
All Natural, Human Grade, Holistic Pet Foods. Dog Food, Cat Food, Kitten Food, Dog Biscuits, & Canidae Platinum Diet — Find out more about Canidae All Natural Pet Foods, a leading manufacturer of premium dog and cat foods, and it’s Responsible Pet Ownership program which promotes responsible pet ownership through proper nutrition, care, and exercise.
Red Line Oil — Red Line Oil makes the most advanced synthetic engine oils, fuel additives, coolant products, and high performance fluids available for your street or race car.
East West Engineering :: NV - Clucthes, automotive, vehicless, Manufacturers, ... — East West Performance Clutches offers a wide range of high performance clutches that are running and setting records in all classes from Top Fuel to Comp, asphalt to sand.
Ace Manufacturing & Ace Racing: - News — Ace Manufacturing and Parts Co., Inc. has manufactured and distributed heavy duty clutches and clutch parts for the past 30 years.
S&S Automotive — The San Leandro, Calif.-based company is a leader in machining, assembling, and repairing high-performance racing engines.
