Litton Repeats as Mardi Gras Champion

3/7/10 - IHRA.com

For the second straight year Mardi Gras Nitro Jam provided sold out crowds and thrilling on-track action as State Capitol Raceway hosted two straight nights of packed stands and Mardi Gras fun capped off by the crowning of champions Sunday afternoon.

Three different winners pulled into victory lane Sunday as Bruce Litton (Top Fuel) finally hit his stride with a victory over Bobby Lagana Jr., while Bill Evans (Pro Fuel) and Peter Gallen (Prostalgia NFC) also claimed wins in their respective classes.

In exhibition action Joseph Palmisano bested a field of eight to win the Outlaw Pro Modified shootout.

Joining the quartet of professional winners were the duo of Chris Gulitti (Top Sportsman) and Sheldon Bissessar (Top Dragster) who won in the second ever Harland Sharp Elite 8 Shootout. Gulitti bested a packed field to win for the first time this year while Bissessar continued his domination of the class with his second straight Harland Sharp Elite 8 win.

In sportsman action seven champions were crowned on Sunday included Glenn Wright (Top Sportsman), P.J. Vicari (Top Dragster), Tim Hebert (Super Stock), Jody Simoneaux (Stock), Mark Powers (Quick Rod), Chris Arnold (Super Rod) and Marlon Goates (Hot Rod).

Local racers David Dupont (Box) and Chris Chenevert (No Box) also hoisted an Ironman in front of the largest crowd to ever see a drag race in the state of Louisiana.

And that crowd witnessed a tremendous afternoon of professional racing.

Litton (Indianapolis, Ind.) spent the first three rounds of the 2010 season trying to get a grip on his Top Fuel dragster with new crew chief Mike Wolfarth at the helm and finally hit a stride on Sunday.

After a blistering first round pass Litton returned to the track in Sunday's final against Bobby Lagana Jr. and put down the low elapsed time of the weekend to take home his first Ironman of the year.

“We struggled last night. We had a hard time getting a feel for the track, but Mike and the gang got it figured out this afternoon,” Litton said. “We found a combination today and we found a stride and had a big speed, a bigger speed than we ran here last year, so it was good to finally find the car.”

Litton ran a 4.741, 314.79 in the final to get around Lagana's 4.822, 308.95 in a tremendous drag race that saw both cars welded together the length of the quarter-mile, a much different scene than the night before.

“Last night I had to pedal it a couple times and broke a few things. We got those bugs worked out and returned with a great run today,” Litton said. “I just have to thank Lucas Oil. Lucas is a great group that stands behind me with great products. United Trailers is also on the car, which is now the official trailer of the IHRA, so it was a nice introduction for them. We just feel very blessed today.”

In Sunday's consolation round Spencer Massey cruised to a win over Del Cox as Cox ran into trouble early in the run and had to shut it off. Massey ran a season best 4.881, 309.27.

Litton and Lagana replaced Cox and Massey in the final on Sunday after Cox won the opening night of competition against his teammate.

In first round action Litton finally found the track with a solid 4.753, 314.13 to get around Cox while Lagana was just behind with a 4.839, 306.64 to eliminate Massey.