SPORTS
STORM CENTER: Ratcliff revels in nationals victory
The Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis took place on Labor Day weekend from Sept. 2-7.
The event, sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association, is regarded as The Masters of drag racing, and no one was more masterful than former Bowie High School graduate Kyle Ratcliff.
See, Ratcliff won the stock championship with an elapsed time of 10.608 seconds and a top speed of 120.55 miles per hour – defeating veteran driver Tom Rambo.
Ratcliff overcame plenty of odds to win the title – including a field of 181 other drivers.
“It was very grueling,” said Ratcliff, who also works as a financial planner in Denton, “especially the heat. It was very hot over that weekend. I was hot, and I was tired.”
Pete Peery, Kyle’s stepfather who lives in Bowie, serves as the crew chief. Peery was understandably proud with the accomplishment.
“It’s the Super Bowl of drag racing,” Peery said. “It’s the biggest race you’ll ever win in the NHRA. There are more entries at this event, and there’s much more prestige than any other race.”
Ratcliff’s road to the title wasn’t easy, having to win seven rounds to take the trophy.
In the opening round, all Ratcliff had to do was defeat 95-time national winner Dan Fletcher, and that’s exactly what he did.
Ratcliff said he had a “little bit better light” to defeat Fletcher, as was told to senior editor Kevin McKenna in National Dragster magazine, the official publication of the NHRA.
Then Ratcliff was challenged by four-time national champion Jimmy DeFrank. Ratcliff defeated DeFrank because he fouled by one one-thousandth of a second.
That’s how drag racing works. Every second counts. But every thousandth of a second means even more than that ever will.
The sport takes its toll mentally and physically.
Ratcliff said his ribs were sore after the final day because he beats his chest to prepare for every race.
In the final versus Rambo, Ratcliff dialed at 10.58. He took a lengthy lead and eventually claimed his second career win. Kyle also won at Topeka, Kan., a couple of years ago. Read more in the weekend Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Kyle Ratcliff, a 1983 Bowie High School graduate, won the stock division at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in September. Click on the image itself for the complete photo. (Courtesy photo from National Dragster magazine/NHRA)
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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