INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 14) -- A victory and a semifinal finish at the Division 3 double-header weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis finally convinced reigning Super Gas world champion Mia Tedesco she made the right call by building a brand-new CARS Vehicle Service Contracts/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster.

Tedesco crew chief "Racin' Jason" Lynch also won in his CARS Vehicle Service Contracts/Abruzzi Transmissions & Converters/Hoosier Tires Super Gas Cutlass, making this the most successful outing of the year for Tedesco Racing.

Mia Tedesco raced to her first Top Alcohol win of the season.
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"Until recently, it's been kind of a struggle getting this new dragster dialed in," Tedesco said. "We had great success in Top Alcohol the last two seasons but we still built a new car because we knew it would eventually make us even better. I think we're finally starting to see the rewards for all the hard word and testing we've been doing."

Racing out of the No. 6 qualifying position in the rain-postponed Ray Skillman Auto Group Spring Spectacle of Speed, originally scheduled for late April, Tedesco collected her landmark 10th Wally trophy by beating Marty Thacker, Brandon Greco and Kirk Wolf in the final with a string of ever-
quickening passes.

She quickly caught and passed first-round foe Thacker to win with a 5.372 at 275.00 mph to Thacker's surrendering 8.010 at 99.97 mph. She then took a wire-to-wire victory over Greco, crossing in 5.291 at 277.32 mph to his 5.444 at 261.27 mph. In the final, Wolf gave it away at the starting line with a red-light start, but it probably wouldn't have mattered as Tedesco blasted to a 5.258 at 279.85 mph to Wolf's 5.418 at 241.07 mph.

"The car was really consistent and it kept getting better every round," Tedesco said. "The guys did a great job all day. It was certainly an exciting start to the weekend."

As action shifted to the second race of the double header, the Division 3 Summer Shootout, Tedesco stayed in form, qualifying on top of the grid with a stout 5.291 at 277.32 mph.

The CARS Vehicle Service Contracts team took home two trophies this weekend.​

When eliminations began, she used a quick reaction time of .023 seconds to take a holeshot victory over first-round opponent Alex Laughlin, beating his quicker 5.458 at 266.48 mph with a 5.495 at 252.57 mph. Then Thacker was able to avenge his loss in the first race of the weekend by taking a very close match, 5.440 at 265.01 mph to Tedesco's 5.444 at 266.42 mph.

"We were very close to making it two finals in a row there but lost by a few thousandths of a second to Marty," Tedesco said. "It would have been nice to get that one but still we earned a bunch of points at two home division races, which should really help us in the points standings in Top Alcohol. I am super happy and we have a bunch of races right ahead of us so it's awesome to have the car running so well."

Tedesco's championship-winning CARS Vehicle Service Contracts/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet Cavalier also ran well in Indy, although she didn't have any hardware to show for her team's efforts in that category. She reached the third round in Race 1 before losing to a perfect run by Rock Haas. She then went two rounds in Race 2 before Joe Fisher edged her by .012 seconds.

Veteran Lynch claimed his seventh divisional trophy in the second event, bringing more glory to the CARS Vehicle Service Contracts race team. Lynch went seven rounds, beating Tony Cropper in the final, to secure the victory. He immediately dedicated the win to his cousin Windle Webster Jr., who lost his life in a racing accident Friday night at Middle Tennessee Dragway in Buffalo Valley, Tenn.

"Maybe not thinking about my own racing so much and having Windle on my mind was part of the win for me," Lynch said. "He was a great person from a great family. As good as they get, right there, and it weighed on me after I heard the news. I feel so sad for his dad and wife and kids.

"I probably got more than my share of luck in the race but it felt good to get one for the Tedescos and all the other people that help me. I was just racing, having fun, trying to keep my mind busy. I had put the Super Gas package in my Cutlass and it worked so I'll probably race it like that for a while. It's not super-fast but it's consis tent, and that won me the race."
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"Racin' Jason" Lynch earned a win for Tedesco Racing in Super Gas.
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