Daniels takes top honors at HEMI Challenge at Maple Grove Raceway

Jim Daniels, a dentist from Bristol, Pennsylvania, set a new NRHA class record and clinched the Dutch Classic event at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania.

In his 1968 Dodge Dart, Daniels beat David Barton of Robesonia, Pennsylvania with a run of 8.284 seconds at 159.53 mph. Ironically, Daniels could have walked the quarter-mile and still been victorious because Barton fouled at the start. Despite that, Daniels was still pleased with his performance, saying, “It was a ‘no-lose’ final, but it is awesome to have won the race and set the record. It was a total team effort all season long and it feels great.”

This is the third time Daniels has claimed a Mopar HEMI Challenge event, His first victory came at the 2008 Dutch Classic.

Daniels also set the NHRA Super Stock/A HEMI class record run in qualifying Thursday, with a pass of 8.331 seconds at 157.96 mph. He was quicker on Sunday, but NHRA rule only allow class records to be set before the first round of eliminations.

The Dutch Classic is the largest all-sportsman event on the east coast. This year there were 467 entries in all classes. The Dutch Classic was the final event in the 2009 Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series.