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Utah’s Newport wins Jason Whitenack Memorial at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Rick Newport of West Valley, Utah, won tonight’s Motorcycle finale during the Wicked HP Championship E.T. Drag Racing Series at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event for the Motorcycle class also was the second annual Jason Whitenack Memorial Shootout, held in memory of 2003 LVMS Motorcycle champion Jason Whitenack, who lost his life in a highway accident in October of 2007. Newport’s 1995 GSXR defeated Mike Cragun of Sandy Valley, Utah, 8.634 sec./149.20 mph to 10.354 sec./127.39 mph.

Carl Cannavo of N. Las Vegas won his second consecutive Super Pro finale, defeating Joe Niswonger of Las Vegas, who fouled (“red-light”) on the starting line. Cannavo’s dragster ran 8.231 sec./133.76 mph to Niswonger’s Chevelle’s 9.102 sec./145.91 mph.

Andy Pressimone of Las Vegas defeated Scott Parsons of Monroe, Utah, in the Pro finale. Billy Farnum of Las Vegas defeated Sal Cachia of Las Vegas for Sportsman honors. Lyndzi Powers and Meaghan Henderson – both of Boulder City – faced each other in the High School final. Powers won, with a winning pass of 18.268 sec./69.94 mph.

Charles Sturdevant of Draper, Utah, defeated Becky Phlegar of Las Vegas in the Duck Race. The duck race is a consolation event for losing racers during the first or second round of eliminations.

NEXT EVENT: Four nitromethane-burning nostalgia Funny Cars will headline the second annual Las Vegas Speed Spectacular for the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series May 15-17 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The four cars will make exhibition passes on Saturday, May 16. Cars scheduled to appear include: Nathan Bugg in the “Li’l’ Nate” Barracuda, Dennis Taylor in the “Future Flash” Dodge Charger, the “Beach City Chevrolet” topless Corvette driven by Ed Schwarz and the “McCain’s Bomb Squad” Plymouth Duster piloted by Mendy Fry.

The weekend will include nostalgia drag racing, a vintage car show and music. Also on the weekend’s card is the world-famous Nanook AA/FA fuel altered owned by Dave and Linda Hough (www.nanookracing.com).

Drag-racing classes at this year’s show include: A/Fuel, AA/Gas, Junior Fuel, Nostalgia Eliminator, A/Gas, B/Gas and C/Gas, to name just a few.

Legendary rockabilly DJ “Flattop Tom” Jacob of La Habra, Calif., will provide his special blend of music on a 1,000-watt sound system.

The Las Vegas Cruisin’ Association (www.lasvegascarshows.com) will produce the car show, featuring hot rods and show cars from the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. For car show entry information, please call (702) 643-0000.