TAD Driver Brandon Lewis Scores First National Event Win in Brainerd
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BRAINERD, Minn. -- NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Brandon Lewis scored his first national event win during this past weekend's Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. The weekend was the first outing for the TigerFlow Systems/Morrison Construction backed team with renowned tuner Steve Boggs calling the tuning shots.
Lewis, 22, of Broken Arrow, Okla., qualified the family owned A/Fuel Dragster fourth in the field with a 5.329 second elapsed time at 259.71 mph. In round one, he defeated defending Jeg's All-Star Champ Thomas Bayer with a 5.388 at 253.61 mph, then defeated Bayer's teammate Justin Davis in round two with a 5.310 at 265.69 mph.
In the semifinals, Lewis squared off with defending two-time World Champion Bill Reichert. Lewis scored a holeshot win, taking a .056 to .096 reaction time advantage, and holding on to win with a 5.304 at 266.37 mph to Reichert's quicker-but-later 5.271 at 270.97. Margin of victory was a mere .0073 of a second.
That set up a final round matchup with fellow Oklahoman Aaron Tatum, who was appearing in his first national event final round. Lewis left first and never looked back, running a 5.292 at 270.64 mph to defeat Tatum's 5.330 at 263.96 mph to collect his first national event win in his third national event final round appearance.
"What a great weekend," said Lewis. "I can't say enough about Steve Boggs. We were just hoping to make some progress with his combination and it went right down the first lap. From there we just kept tweaking some things and it seemed to get quicker every run. We finally got the car to quit dropping cylinders in the last few rounds, and we ran some good mph."
"To get a win and run in the 5.20's the first time out with this combination is really great," Lewis continued. "This is a long overdue win for us. This team has worked so hard to get here, and we've had some great sponsors in TigerFlow, Morrison Construction, ATTA Tank, Lucas Oil, Unifirst and A-1 Auto Body that have stuck with us. We're very glad to get them in the winner's circle, and we hope this is the first of many more."
Competitors in Top Alcohol Dragster can claim points at their best five out of the first eight nationals and divisionals they attend. The win came just in time as Brainerd was the eighth and final national event Lewis can claim towards his national points total. He is currently ranked 13th nationally, but has only attended three divisional events this season, leaving him a lot of room to improve that points total.
"It was good to get the win here at a race we can still claim for points," commented Lewis. "We're still going to go to some more national events to get exposure for our sponsors. Hopefully we can take this performance level to the divisional level and pick up some wins there. We've only been to three divisional races this year, so hopefully we can gain some ground and get back into the top ten. That's been our goal all year is to finish in the top ten. With Boggs in our corner, I think that's a real possibility."
The next event for the Lewis Family Racing Team will be the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., Aug. 22-23.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/BrandonMug.jpg" alt="BrandonMug" align="left"borders="0"/>
BRAINERD, Minn. -- NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Brandon Lewis scored his first national event win during this past weekend's Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. The weekend was the first outing for the TigerFlow Systems/Morrison Construction backed team with renowned tuner Steve Boggs calling the tuning shots.
Lewis, 22, of Broken Arrow, Okla., qualified the family owned A/Fuel Dragster fourth in the field with a 5.329 second elapsed time at 259.71 mph. In round one, he defeated defending Jeg's All-Star Champ Thomas Bayer with a 5.388 at 253.61 mph, then defeated Bayer's teammate Justin Davis in round two with a 5.310 at 265.69 mph.
In the semifinals, Lewis squared off with defending two-time World Champion Bill Reichert. Lewis scored a holeshot win, taking a .056 to .096 reaction time advantage, and holding on to win with a 5.304 at 266.37 mph to Reichert's quicker-but-later 5.271 at 270.97. Margin of victory was a mere .0073 of a second.
That set up a final round matchup with fellow Oklahoman Aaron Tatum, who was appearing in his first national event final round. Lewis left first and never looked back, running a 5.292 at 270.64 mph to defeat Tatum's 5.330 at 263.96 mph to collect his first national event win in his third national event final round appearance.
"What a great weekend," said Lewis. "I can't say enough about Steve Boggs. We were just hoping to make some progress with his combination and it went right down the first lap. From there we just kept tweaking some things and it seemed to get quicker every run. We finally got the car to quit dropping cylinders in the last few rounds, and we ran some good mph."
"To get a win and run in the 5.20's the first time out with this combination is really great," Lewis continued. "This is a long overdue win for us. This team has worked so hard to get here, and we've had some great sponsors in TigerFlow, Morrison Construction, ATTA Tank, Lucas Oil, Unifirst and A-1 Auto Body that have stuck with us. We're very glad to get them in the winner's circle, and we hope this is the first of many more."
Competitors in Top Alcohol Dragster can claim points at their best five out of the first eight nationals and divisionals they attend. The win came just in time as Brainerd was the eighth and final national event Lewis can claim towards his national points total. He is currently ranked 13th nationally, but has only attended three divisional events this season, leaving him a lot of room to improve that points total.
"It was good to get the win here at a race we can still claim for points," commented Lewis. "We're still going to go to some more national events to get exposure for our sponsors. Hopefully we can take this performance level to the divisional level and pick up some wins there. We've only been to three divisional races this year, so hopefully we can gain some ground and get back into the top ten. That's been our goal all year is to finish in the top ten. With Boggs in our corner, I think that's a real possibility."
The next event for the Lewis Family Racing Team will be the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., Aug. 22-23.
