HPT Div. 5 TAD wrap up

REICHERT WINS TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER FROM POLE POSITION

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 7, 2006) - Bill Reichert’s trip to Topeka from the upper Midwest paid off.

The Owosso, Mich. native drove his Top Alcohol Dragster to the pole in qualifying on Friday, and then backed it up by taking out Randy Meyer in the final round to win at the NHRA Lucas Oil Division V Heartland Spring Shootout presented by Goodyear at Heartland Park Topeka Sunday afternoon.

Reichert, who finished fourth in the 2005 NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster world standings, drove his injected nitro rail right down the groove in the final round, going 5.334 seconds at 272.89 MPH. Meyer, a Spring Hill, Kan. native, smoked the tires at 100 feet and coasted through the finish line with a 13.676/51.15.

“The Bars Leak car just performed awesome this weekend,” said Reichert. “Sometimes it takes you awhile to get the tune-up. We had a perfect setup for the first run of the weekend, and we just tweaked on it the rest of the weekend and it ran great.”

The win was the third of the season for Reichert in divisional and national competition. Reichert also won at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston in April, and claimed the top spot two weeks ago at a Division 3 event held at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

“This is our third win in a row, and it feels really awesome. This really puts us in a great position for a national championship this year, and I’m just on cloud nine,” said Reichert.

The following are the final results from the Lucas Oil Drag Race Series event at Heartland Park Topeka.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER

Round 1
3) Randy Meyer (Spring Hill, Kan.) 5.687, 224.36 def.
6) Robin Samsel (Marion, Ind.) 6.041, 224.66.

1) Bill Reichert (Owosso, Mich.) 5.305, 273.00 def.
8) Richard Putz (Earlville, Iowa) 5.781, 250.51.

2) Todd Datweiler (Herscher, Ill.) 5.892, 252.57 def.
7) Gerald Gossman (Garden City, Kan.) 6.221, 220.12.

5) Jeff Hamelink (Savage, Minn.) 5.820, 242.54 def.
4) Larry Traugott (Woodward, Okla.) broke.

Semifinals
Meyer, 5.624, 224.51 def. Datweiler, 5.707, 258.71.
Reichert, 5.420, 263.56 def. Hamelink, 6.092, 219.47.

Finals
Reichert, 5.334, 272.89 def. Meyer, 13.676, 51.15.

Heartland Park Topeka Media Relations
Contact: Jamie Overocker, (785) 274-0070 (office) or (785) 925-3786 (cell)