Dirt
ANTHONY
BERTOZZI
CHAD
VOGES
DWIGHT
NUEST
ERIC
CAMPOLITO
JOHN
BENOIT
PHILLIP
OAKLEY
MARK
SMITH
JEFF
DONA
JEGS SPORTSNATIONALS
tries before parking his ‘96 Caprice in the National
Trail Raceway winner’s circle. Campolito posted a
dial-in prediction of 11.73 seconds and matched
it perfectly in the final to beat opponent Bryan
Merkle, who posted a 10.76 on a 10.73 dial-in.
In 2014, Oakley won the Top Dragster title
at the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals and
returned six years later to add another title after
winning the Super Comp crown here. Facing
world champion John Labbous Jr. in the final,
Oakley gained a slight lead at the start and held
on for a razor-thin victory with an 8.928 to Labbous’
8.932.
Nuest collected his second title in Super Gas
following a final-round win against Sarah Becker.
Driving his unique ‘82 Dodge Rampage, Nuest
matched the Super Gas index with a 9.906 to
Becker’s 9.866-second breakout. Nuest’s only
other national event win came in St. Louis in 2017.
Smith lost last year’s Division 3 Super Street
title via a tiebreaker but he’s now a SPORTSnationals
champion after driving his ‘82 Mustang
to a perfect 10.90-second run in the final to stop
Rocky Van Note, who had an early advantage, but
broke out at the finish line. Smith’s only other
national event final was a runner-up at the 2018
JEGS SPORTSnationals.
In Top Sportsman, Benoit claimed his second
title when he topped Chris Osborn in the final
round. Benoit gained an early lead and then drove
his ‘15 Corvette to a 6.57 on his 6.56 dial-in for
the win. Osborn matched his dial with a 6.68 but
couldn’t catch Benoit.
A pair of local racers met to decide the Sportsman
Motorcycle title with Sauer, of Reynoldsburg,
Ohio, riding to a victory against Zanesville’s Anthony
Moore, who fouled at the start. DI
PHOTOS: ALEX OWENS
28 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 159