K&N Racers Larry Cummings and Gary Stinnett Among Victors at Tough NHRA Division 4 Event

May 14, 2012

Cummings saved his best light of eliminations [.004], to run Peery way under his dial and take his first NHRA Division victory of the season.

In drag racing winner's circles all across the country the cars and the drivers are as about as diverse as you can get, but the one thing that seems to remain consistent across the board is the way the winners are choosing to protect their engines. Whether it's a Super Stock entry or a large cubic inch power plant that is found in so many of today's Super Comp dragsters, the winners choose K&N. Such was the case at the most recent NHRA Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas where both Larry Cummings, in his 2008 Super Stock Cavalier, and Gary Stinnett, in his Super Comp dragster, pushed their entries through numerous rounds to win their respective titles, doing so with the confidence that their engines were being filtrated by the "World's Best" air and oil filters from K&N Engineering.

After an uncharacteristic rough start to his NHRA championship chase at his season division opener in Houston, family patriarch of Cummings Motorsports, Larry Cummings drove the team's freshly painted 2008 SS/BM Chevy Cavalier to the Super Stock win during his second NHRA Divisional outing of the 2012 season.

First placing his Moser/K&N Cavalier on the Super Stock qualifying sheet at number eighteen, Cummings waded through six daunting rounds of competition, first sending home Ricky Marshall and his rare 1982 VW Beetle in round one to move on to taking down the 2012 Mustang of P.B. Candies in round two. The Hammond, Louisiana resident then met up with Norvell Bowers in round three, where he would not have the starting line advantage but was able to easily drive by Bower's and his 1983 Firebird when Bower's was unable to run close to his dial.

Next for Cummings would be one of the oh-so-important opportunities to earn the scheduled bye into the final, as he met up with his next matchup on the ladder, Keith Mawhee, in the quarterfinals. With a five thousandth of a second starting line advantage going to Mawhee, again Cummings had a better handle on the dial for his K&N Cavalier and drove around him for a very narrow finish line margin of just .009 to take the round win and grab the bye into the Super Stock final.

Also battling his way through the rounds on the other side of the Super Stock ladder was one of Cummings sons, Slate in his own 2008 K&N Cavalier and a chance for a father-son battle in the final. While Larry took his earned bye in the semi-finals, Britt took too much stripe by just the smallest fraction and his 9.029 on his 9.03 dial cost him the shot at racing his dad for the Wally.

Pete Peery had sent one Cummings packing, but for this event it wouldn't be two as Larry avenged his son's loss from the round before. Cummings saved his best light of eliminations [.004], to run Peery way under his dial and take his first NHRA Division victory of the season.

Reigning NHRA Super Comp National Champion Gary Stinnett used some of his awesome driving and tuning skills to whittle his way through six nail-biting rounds of Super Comp before finding himself with a shot of taking it all in the seventh and final 8.90 index class round. First taking down Carter, Pevey and A. Williams, Stinnett next faced Michael Van Winkle in round four and with yet another double-oh light at the start, he notched another round win, putting Van Winkle away and inched even closer to the championship round.

His next round competitor, Jeff Lopez was able to nearly match Stinnett at the starting line with his .016 to Stinnett's .015, but that's where it would end as the multi-time champ ran dead-on the index all while pushing Lopez to a 8.896 breakout. Next Stinnett would get the tune-up run he needed on his way to the final when Wayne Purser miscalculated when pushing the tree for any advantage he might get and clicked it .004 red, sending Stinnett down the Texas Motorplex quarter on a free pass into the final.

Both Stinnett and Westley Scott brought their "A-games" to the line for the Super Comp final, leaving within two-thousandths of each other and both within a blink of an eye of perfect reaction times. But it was K&N's Stinnett proving why he still remains the driver with the number one on his car as he masterfully cut Westley loose at the stripe for an 8.914 to 8.898 victory.

The NHRA Division 4 race at the Ennis, Texas facility was the first 2012 division event for Stinnett and with the win he looked to secure his place representing Division 5 in the 2012 JEGS All-Stars later this summer.

Super Stock, Super Comp and everything in-between, these winners and more choose the full line of K&N products to protect their high dollar race cars to get them from one round, one race and one championship to the next.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

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