Spencer Massey Pomona wrap up

Massey uses Pomona runner-up to finish third nationally

POMONA, Calif. - If there was a 'Rookie of the Year' award for the NHRA Top Alcohol categories, Top Alcohol Dragster rookie Spencer Massey would certainly be one of the front runners. Massey used a runner-up finish during this past weekend's Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to finish third in national points standings.

Massey, 24, of Ft. Worth, Texas, entered the season-ending event tied for seventh in national standings. He qualified his injected-nitro dragster fifth in the field with a 5.333 second elapsed time at 267.80 mph. In the first round, Massey's stellar reaction times came to play as he took a huge starting line advantage (.016 to .200) to take the win over Chris Demke with a 5.362 at 268.42 mph to Demke's quicker-but-later 5.336 at 266.69 mph. In the second round, he defeated Garrett Bateman's A/Fueler with a 5.305 at 269.83 mph posting a near-perfect .001 reaction time in the process, then received a competition single when his semifinal opponent, No. 1 qualifier Dave Hirata could not get into reverse after the burnout. Massey singled to a 5.325 at 268.80 mph.

Massey's final round opponent would be recently crowned National Champion Bill Reichert. The classic saying 'live by the sword, die by the sword' played true as Massey redlighted by a mere thousandth of a second with a -.001 reaction time, handing the automatic win to Reichert, who went on to run a 5.262 at 274.39 mph.

"I really didn't think I pushed the tree that hard," said Massey. "It was pretty dark for the finals, so I knew it was going to be close. If you ever back down from trying to cut a light, you'll be really late. It's hard to say if I could have made it all the way down track anyway. It had the wheels up and was moving toward the wall, and I knew I had redlit, so I clicked it. Overall, it was a good weekend, we went rounds and accomplished our goal of finishing third nationally."

The event marked the end of a very successful season for the rookie Massey. Along with his third place national finish, Massey also won the Division 4 (South Central Region) Championship. He is also a front-runner for Division 4 Rookie of the Year honors.

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Contact: Will Hanna/ Pro Race Communications
Email: Will.Hanna@InsideTopAlcohol.com