The bounty was collected and the No. 1 qualifier was knocked out; Saturday night in the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown at the NRHA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway was full of plenty of excitement.
Scott Libersher and his Mickey Thompson Chevy COPO Camaro took out points leader and back-to-back winner, Bill Skillman, and his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra. Libersher had the starting line advantage, but Skillman would take the lead. Libersher managed to chase down Skillman for the hole shot win. Libersher would have a .065-second reaction time coupled with an 8.150-second pass at 171.47 mph to better Skillman’s .106-second reaction time and 8.132-second pass at 159.46 mph.
“I was thinking about it as a $2,000 match race. It was nice, I come up to race my race. It chattered a little bit, but I stayed with it.” Libersher said. “I don’t know what happened to him, but I caught him at about 1,000 feet and drove it through. You have to show up and do what you can. We know the track now. Tomorrow is another day. But we’re stoked.”
With the victory, Libersher takes home the $2,000 bounty that had accumulated over Skillman’s two wins. The next bounty will be placed on the crowned event winner at the end of eliminations on Sunday. Libersher will continue his hunt for a win facing Stephen Bell in the second round.
Continuing with the upset theme, No. 1 qualifier Dan Condon and his Mickey Thompson Tire / VP Fuel Chevy would have the starting line advantage before spinning the tires to an 11.867-second pass losing to the Hamp Racing Chevy driven by Doug Hamp. Hamp would go 8.229-seconds at 167.72 mph for his quickest pass of the weekend. Hamp will face David Janac in the second round. Janac and his Janac Brothers Ford Racing Cobra defeated Lindsay Wheelock, who was making his Factory Stock Showdown debut in the first round.
“This was my first No. 1 going into eliminations. I have had some provisional No. 1s, but this is the first official No. 1 in Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown,” Condon said. “I got to enjoy it for a couple minutes.”
Defending class champion Aaron Stanfield and his Stanfield Racing Chevy got their first-round win with an 8.041-second pass at 172.56 mph to defeat Alan Scruggs and his Bilstein / Wesley Motorsports Dodge Drag Pak’s 8.192-seconds at 169.66 mph.
Eliminations at the NHRA Thunder Valley nationals at Bristol Dragway for the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown will continue Sunday at 1:40 p.m.
First Round Results:
No. 16 Doug Hamp def. No. 1 Dan Condon
No. 2 Aaron Stanfield def. No. 15 Alan Scruggs
No. 3 David Davies II def. No. 14 Anthony Troyer
No. 13 Scott Libersher def. No. 4 Bill Skillman
No. 12 Stephen Bell def. No. 5 Mark Pawuk
No. 6 Don Belles vs. No. 11 Lee Hartman
No. 10 David Barton def. No. 7 Lenny Lottig
No. 8 David Janac def. No. 9 Lindsay Wheelock
Elon Werner PR
