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Stahl sweeps Junior Class at PCMS' third weekend

The Hi-Line Dragstrip hosted the third Phillips County Motorsports race of the 2018 season and it was a great weekend for Junior Dragster Kyle Stahl of Glasgow, who swept his class.

The Montana Drag Racing Association state points races were held on Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22.

"The four tracks in the state have a state points race," Phillips County Motorsports (PCMS) President Dan Stout of Harlem said. "You have to go to at least three of the tracks to get points."

There were racers present from the tracks in Anaconda, Billings, and Lewistown. Anaconda's race was first, Malta's race was second on the list.

"They've come here today to earn points to win the state trophy," Stout said.

Malta's track hosted 86 cars, a little less than what they averaged at every race last season.

"We would like to have more but that's still a pretty good turnout," Stout said. "The next race we are hoping for more cars but we will see."

The crew was without longtime track operators John and Kari Carnahan, who were out of town.

"I think we are doing well," Stout said. "Everyone is doing their job. I'm pretty happy with the way it's going."

The weather conditions were dry and hot.

"It's pretty warm, 90 degrees at least," Stout said.

Glasgow's Kyle Stahl, a fifteen-year-old, won the junior class race on Saturday with a time of 7.982 seconds, with a top speed of 77.73 miles per hour and a reaction time of .103. He would also go on to win the Junior Class in the following day.

The PCN caught up with Stahl who had won his first events on the 2018 racing year.

"It feels good," Stahl said. "It feels like I finally did something," said Stahl, who mentioned that he typically wins six to seven junior events at Malta's track in a season.

He shared what was holding him back this season.

"I've been having trouble with reaction time," Stahl said, noting that it could be because he is growing into a bigger body. "I'm not fitting into the car very good this year, so we had to change a ton of stuff.

Stahl had won the junior class in 2016 and 2017, sending him to Memphis for the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Summit Super Series World Finals.

"I red-light in the first round," Stahl said admitting that he was in his own head. "I fixed the mistake that I did the year before but last year I made another, so it kind of just stuck with me."

He went on to say that he did have a better outing in the 2017 Finals than in the 2016 Finals.

Stahl is currently taking a driver's education course and as soon as he has a license and turns 16, he will likely drive his 1985 square body Chevy in the Pro Class, foregoing the Sportsman Class.

"I'm jumping right into Pro," Stahl said.

Stahl's seven years of racing experience will likely bode well for Stahl, but he is still getting used to the real car feel.

"The feeling in a real car when it launches is totally different than one of these," Stahl said pointing to his dragster. "You get more butterflies in a real car. There is more power."

He shared his key for winning races.

"You've got to cut a light and get a good reaction time and then drive to the finish line," Stahl said.

Saturday's winners included Rod Taylor of Kalispell in the Super Pro Class, who had a finish time of 5.533 seconds in the finals. He had a top speed of 126.65 miles per hour during the run and a reaction time of .027. The winner in the Pro Class was Mark Theilen of Billings who had a time of 7.391, a top speed of 85 miles per hour and a reaction time of .033. The winner in the Sportsman Class was Chris Palmer of Havre who finished with a time of 7.803, with a top speed of 85.47 miles and a dial-in time of .049.

Sunday's winners included Duane Lloyd of Glasgow who won the Super Pro Class. Havre's Brian Buskirk won the Pro Class. Josh Viall of Havre won the Sportsman Class and Kyle Stahl won the Junior Class.

 

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