Special Section
ELITE TOP SPORTSMAN
BUDDY PERKINSON
AFTER PURCHASING Randy Weatherford ’ s proven ’ 69 Camaro Pro Nitrous car over the winter , Buddy Perkinson could ’ ve expected some initial challenges in calming down the 3.60-second-zone player enough for Top Sportsman competition . Sure , it ’ s MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by Tejas Borja , the quickest and fastest Top Sportsman cars in the series , but it still boils down to consistently running the number on the dial-in board .
Perkinson made it look easy , though , kicking off the year with back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Musi 959-powered LAT Racing Oils Camaro . He slipped up in the first round of the third race on tour , while John Benoit took the event victory in his Buck-powered Camaro to pass Perkinson for the points lead .
The North Prince George , Virginia-based wheelman bounced back at the very next race , scoring the Summer Shootout victory at Virginia Motorsports Park . Perkinson and Benoit both fell in the semifinals at the second-to-last race of the season , DragWars at GALOT , where Perkinson ripped off a wild 3.673-second pass , the quickest in class history .
Perkinson padded his points lead in qualifying at the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals by setting the new class record , a 3.731 , backed up by a 3.733 . Perkinson and Benoit remained in
semifinal competition when the rest of the race was put on hold – and eventually cancelled – but Perkinson had already sewn up his world championship with his second-round win .
Past world champions Donny “ Hollywood ” Urban and Dewayne Silance , as well as class veteran Bruce Thrift , followed Perkinson and Benoit in the top five .
TOP SPORTSMAN
STACY HALL
IT TOOK STACY HALL a couple races to get going , but by the time the series rolled into Virginia Motorsports Park for the Mid-Atlantic Showdown , the South Carolinian was ready for battle in his Fultonpowered ’ 63 Corvette . He bounced back from early exits at the first two races by winning at VMP .
Hall added another solid finish to his points total at the next race , the Summer Shootout at Virginia , racing to the semifinals . He stumbled a little bit at DragWars at GALOT , falling in the second round .
Going into the World Finals , an incredible 17 drivers remained mathematically eligible for the MagnaFuel Top Sportsman world championship . It was the most competitive points battle the series saw in 2020 , and Hall was right in the middle of it .
Hall went to work , collecting round win after round win in the 48-car Top Sportsman eliminations . It was survival of the fittest . He outlasted
several of the top drivers in points , reaching the semifinal round . He had earned enough points to claim the championship over Nick Meloni , who rebounded from a DNQ at VMP 1 by getting a bye to the final at the World Finals . Hall also finished seventh in Top Dragster points .
Mark Payne , who was the points leader entering the World Finals , finished third in points . Mike Butler and Glenn Teets III finished fourth and fifth , respectively .
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