Elizabethton's McKinney, Gill take both ends of doubleheader

from staff reports

  BRISTOL --Last weekend was a great weekend for Jared McKinney and Mike Gill as both Elizabethton residents dominated their respective classes in Sunoco Bracket Series action at Bristol Dragway.
  McKinney snagged both wins in the Junior Dragster Division 1 class while Gill rode off with the Pro Bike victories. McKinney's first win on Saturday came over Piney Flats' Victor Vanover and he backed it up on Sunday as he knocked off Bristol's Avery Denton.
  McKinney cut a .081 light with a 9.903 elapsed time at 65.88 mph to oust Vanover (.185, 12.840 E.T., 48.26 mph) and came back with a .020 reaction time at 9.784 at 67.53 mph to beat Denton (.086, 16.967, 81.20 mph).
  Points leader Gill got the best of Kingsport's Joe Perry in both finals. On Saturday he had a .023 light with a 5.975 E.T. at 113.57 mph while Perry picked up a redlight. Sunday's final saw Gill post a .072 light with a 5.925 E.T. at 111.85 mph to Perry's .108 reaction time with a 10.605 elapsed time at 62.91 mph.
  Super Pro points leader Allen Byrd of Kingsport grabbed a win over Bluff City's Rob Nelson on Saturday and Jeff Smith of Mosheim, won over Michael McKinney of Johnson City on Sunday.
  Byrd had a .021 green light with a 5.135 E.T. at 131.65 mph to Nelson's .032 light with a 6.754 E.T. at 99.20 mph. Smith had a .013 reaction time with a 5.348 E.T. at 129.43 while McKinney drew a redlight.
  In Pro action, the winners were John Nelson, Jr. of Bristol and Jason Buckles of Elizabethton. Nelson knocked off Lynn Welch of Blountville with a .059 reaction time with a 7.299 E.T. at 74.44 mph.
  Welch came off the line with a .094 light with an 8.761 elapsed time at 57.26 mph. Buckles had a .061 reaction time with a 7.410 E.T. at 89.51 mph to best Sid Weaver's .078 light with a 7.937 E.T. at 84.79 mph.
  The Sportsman wins went to Matthew Buckles of Piney Flats and Tim Vinson of Dante, Va. Buckles beat Sevierville's Jim Dennison with a .066 reaction time with a 13.766 elapsed time at 81.77 mph.
  Dennison had a .056 light with a 19.141 E.T. at 54.02 mph. Vinson had a .080 reaction time with a 13.117 E.T. at 101.70 mph in his winning effort over Elizabethton's Carl Widner who had a .058 light with an 11.957 E.T. at 106.51 mph.
  In Junior Dragster Division 2 action, the winners were Britton Babb of Elizabethton and Tony Careccia of Asheville, N.C. Babb came off the line in .025 with an 11.341 E.T. at 55.94 mph to whip Knoxville's Tyler Smith who had a .128 light with a 7.977 E.T. at 81.82 mph.
  Careccia put up a .106 light with an 8.961 elapsed time at 70.26 mph to eliminate C.J. Hodges of Boone, N.C. Hodges had a .072 light with an 8.550 E.T. at 74.69 mph.
  Bracket action takes a break until July 31 when the 10th points race of the season takes place. The AutoZone Super Chevy Show takes over Thunder Valley this weekend, June 25-27 while the NOPI Southeast Nationals are on tap July 10-11.
  The NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Junior Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals are July 15-17 and the 3rd Annual Winnebago Industries Thunder Valley Challenge is July 22-24.