45 racers were part of Team BIR that traveled to compete in the 2024 Division 5 ET Finals held at the new Flying H dragstrip in Odessa Missouri. This event is where racers come to compete against the best racers from the other twelve tracks who are part of D5 for a team championship along with individual Divisional Championships and the opportunity to travel to The Las Vegas National event to race for a National Championship in their class. Racers compete in Super-Pro, Pro Et, Sportsman, Motorcycle, EV, High School, and Jr. Street. New for 24 was the inclusion of three 1/8th mile index classes, 5.80/6.50/7.50, each team was allowed 2 racers in each class and BIR brought a total of 5 index racers from our Muscle Car Series to run in the new program.
After a test n tune session Thursday afternoon Friday would consist of time trials, a gamblers race, and the Race of Champions where the number one racer from each team in each class races for the ROC honors and the Wally that comes with it. Congratulations to Carter Luberda for his runner up finish in the High School class and Jimmy Paulson who won the Motorcycle Race of Champions and with Division 5 holding the Motorcycle wildcard earned a trip to Vegas to compete for the National Championship.
Saturday’s main event round one proved to be a tough one for Team BIR as only 18 racers turned on their win light to advance to round two putting the pressure on those who won to continue to earn points towards the team total looking for the team win and preferred parking for next year's race. In Super Pro Brian Johnson made it to the semifinals. Travis Reutzel was able to make it to the finals in Pro ET but couldn’t turn on his win light to punch his ticket to Vegas.
The High School Class was dominated by Team BIR with Gabe Killian, Carter Luberda, and last years High School winner Riley Luberda making up the semi’s. The final round would be Friday’s ROC runner up Carter taking on his brother Riley, the reigning D5 high school champ with Riley getting the win and his second ET Finals HS championship. The points earned by those who went deep into the event were enough to put Team BIR into third place in the team standings, only two points behind team champions Kearney Raceway Park and 1 point behind 2nd place Tri-State Raceway.
In the EV class which does not earn team points Todd Larson proved the third time’s a charm winning the Wally and earning his way to Vegas for a national championship in his third attempt in the class. In the new index classes, which also did not count for team totals Daniel Dancer won the 7.50 class earning him a Wally, check, and a championship jacket.
Team BIR was also represented well in the off-track accolades with Mike & Laura Sterling ‘s 5.80 Index 68 Barracuda, Baracat being named The events Best Engineered, Gabe Killian’s Mustang Best Appearing High School, and Jason Clampitt’s Best Appearing Motorcycle with the Voss Enterprises entry. Congrats to all the winners, Good Luck to Todd & Jimmy in Vegas, and thank you all for being part of the 2024 BIR ET Finals Team.