The Universal Technical Institute Friday Night Drags hit the halfway point of its six-week summer season this past week at Texas Motor Speedway.
And as two divisions saw its leaders further expand their overall leads, the other five divisions are all still very much up for grabs with three Fridays left on the docket.
Brief yet hard rains swept through the Dallas-Fort Worth area late Friday afternoon, but more than 225 vehicles weren’t going to let Mother Nature spoil the evening. Three racers – Matt Pesqueda (Springtown), John Kuethe (Arlington) and previous overall champion Adam Gerety (Trophy Club) – picked up their first wins of the season, while John Apple (Euless) and Shea Thompson (Fort Worth) won for the second consecutive week.
Chance Brackeen (Saginaw) and Joe Watson (Fort Worth) took care of all contenders in the Reunion Tower GeO-Deck Bandit and Texas Born Performance Black Smoke Warrior divisions, respectively, for their third wins in as many weeks.
Week 3 Division Winners:
Reunion Tower GeO-Deck Bandit Division
Chance Brackeen, Saginaw, 2015 Ford Mustang
Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Division
Matt Pesqueda, Springtown, BMW 135i
Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman
Modified Division
John Apple, Euless, 1966 Chevrolet Nova
Snap-on Tools All Wheel Drive Division
John Kuethe, Arlington, Nissan GTR
Texas Harley-Davidson Super Car Division
Adam Gerety, Trophy Club, Chevrolet Camaro SS-RS 1LE
Texas Born Performance Black Smoke
Warrior Division
Joe Watson, Fort Worth, Chevrolet C10
Summit Racing Equipment Outlaw Division
Shea Thompson, Fort Worth, 1988 Ford Mustang
Hills Air Support
Show-N-Shine
Best Motorcycle
Mike Musgrove
Standings begin to take shape
Best Current (1973 or newer)
Ian Deguzman, North Richland Hills, 1990 LX 331 Stroker
Best Classic (1972 or older)
Shawn Sharp, Fort Worth, 1952 Ford F-1
Best In Show
Jeff Peterson, Fort Worth, 1986 Mustang Foxbody
Offering car enthusiasts an opportunity to race down a transformed 1/8-mile drag strip on pit road at Texas Motor Speedway, the six-week UTI Friday Night Drags competition features weekly races racers compete for trophies and points, which are tallied at the conclusion of the final weekend to ultimately crown the season champion.
Week 4 of the six-week summer series is Jeep Night. Anyone bringing a Jeep is asked to check in at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track (behind Big Hoss) to register/pay.
The cost to participate in Universal Technical Institute Friday Night Drags or Hills Air Support Show-N-Shine competition is $20. For those who would like to watch the action, general admission grandstand tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

To read more, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.