Cummings Team Continues NHRA Hot Streak
Slate continues to win
Hammond, LA: When Slate Cummings made back-to-back NHRA National Event final round appearances in Super Stock (Winning in Houston, his first NHRA national crown, and taking runner-up honors in Atlanta), and added a semi-final finish at the Dallas Lucas Oil Division Series event, he made himself a serious contender in the race for the NHRA Lucas Oil Super Stock Championship. Up to that point, he had struggled in his second class, Stock Eliminator, fighting nagging transmission issues and general bad luck. His recent outings haven’t aided his cause in Super Stock: Cummings suffered early losses at the Houston and Tulsa LODRS events, and had mechanical issues at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN. His Moser Engineering backed Stock Eliminator Firebird, on the other hand, has begun to find its way to the winner circle repeatedly. Cummings’ began to find his feet in the Stock category three weeks ago at the IHRA Pro-Am event at Baton Rouge, where he won the Stock class in Sunday’s eliminator, his first win in nearly a year with that machine. He carried that momentum to the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, where he not only took the B/SA class honors on Friday, he went on to hoist his second NHRA National Event Wally after defeating Russell Johnson in the final round of the event. Then, just last weekend, he continued his mastery of the Stock category by claiming another Stock Eliminator victory at the NHRA LODRS event in Tulsa, OK. Suddenly, Cummings is now a major factor in the Lucas Oil Points standings in both Super Stock (where he is currently 3rd nationally) and Stock (where his recent surge has moved him into 7th position). “Winning is a great feeling, regardless of the class,” said Cummings. “We’ve struggled in NHRA competition for a few years, and a lot of people told me that once we got a few wins under our belts, the floodgates would open. I wasn’t sure I believed them, but it seems like it’s happened that way. This season has been great so far. We started off hot in Super Stock, but we had a lot of bad luck in Stock. The last month or so, the roles have reversed: I can’t seem to do anything wrong in Stock, but we can’t get a break in Super Stock. I don’t know how that will work out in terms of points. There’s still a lot of racing left to do, but I’m thrilled to put any Moser Engineering car in the winner circle.” Since Cummings Super Stock runner-up at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta back in May, the team traveled back home for the IHRA Pro-Am event in Baton Rouge. There, Slate and his father Larry Cummings had a rare opportunity to meet in the final round of Super Stock in the make-up event from a previous IHRA Pro-Am that was postponed due to rain. Larry showed that father does indeed know best, topping Slate to take home the hardware. Slate drove to another runner-up in the second make-up race of the weekend, while longtime family friend Burlin Taylor wheeled another Moser Engineering machine to runner-up honors in Stock Eliminator. Slate then capped the weekend with a victory in Stock, at the scheduled Baton Rouge event, which would prove to be the catalyst for his impending hot streak at the NHRA events in Bristol and Tulsa. In addition to his standing in NHRA points, Slate Cummings is also currently leading IHRA Division 4 points in Super Stock; just a few scant points ahead of father Larry Cummings. Slate also sits in second position in the Division 4 Stock category, following only Jacob Pitt. The Cummings team will continue their aggressive race schedule, with the goal of adding to their already impressive ledger of championships within both NHRA and IHRA in 2010. All Cummings team vehicles are backed by Moser Engineering, along with a host of associate marketing partners.
The Moser Engineering Sponsored Cummings Family Continues Strong Start!
IHRA’s Stock classes produced another batch of incredibly tight races as Cummings (Hammond, La.) defeated David Simmons in Super Stock and Beard (Seagrove, N.C.) won over Brent Darrooch in Stock.
Cummings won his second career Super Stock championship with a perfect light leading to a 9.093 E.T. on a 9.07 dial. Simmons ran a 10.176 on a 10.16 in his runner-up effort.
“I had been very good on the tree all day and so was David so I knew I had to be good on the tree and not cut him any slack,” Cummings said. “I was set up for a perfect tree and that is where I left it. It feels really good. You look at the final eight of Bertozzi, Folk, Lyons – you have a bunch of champions who should be there.
“They were all there to win the world championship and they earned their spot there. To win against that group feels really good.”
Along with Simmons, Cummings also defeated Michael Lyons, Missy Phillips and Tracy Robbins in the opening rounds to win his first championship since 2004.
“This championship is great for my guys at Moser and my whole family. This is my anniversary weekend. Actually this weekend is keeping with a tradition in my family,” Cummings said. “My dad brought my mom to a race on their anniversary and he won and my brother and I did the same thing so we kept the tradition going. My wife has been telling me she is bad luck, but she was here for my world championship here today.”
Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
4735 Slate Cummings 2938 David Simmons
E5 ****WINNER**** 0.000 9.093 133.38 0.024 10.176 125.47
SS/CM Dial: 9.07 (+/-): 0.023 GT/TA Dial: 10.16 (+/-): 0.016
Prior rounds:
E4 (M LYONS ) 0.013 8.997 0.007 (N FOLK ) 0.028 10.199 0.059
E3 (M PHILLIPS ) 0.001 9.132 0.042 (A BERTOZZI ) 0.047 10.140 -0.020
E2 (T ROBBINS ) 0.028 9.116 0.056 (S RICHARDSON) 0.010 10.169 0.009
E1 0.032 9.609 9.609 0.006 10.160 10.160
Qualified: #11 0.032 #3 0.006
Houston, TX: Congratulations to Slate Cummings and Familyand Team Moser on Slates first ever NHRA National Event win in Super Stock! Slate Cummings,In his Chevy Cavalier,ran an 8.979, 135.24 defeating Chris Chaney who ran an 9.681, 133.33.
Also congratulations to Britt and Slate on their semi final’s in T/D and S/C. The Bayou Boyz are on the move early this season and sem to be hitting on all cylinders.
Hammond, LA: The headline may come as a surprise to many: Jody Simoneaux wins first national event. The Louisiana based racer has been a standout competitor for years; first behind the wheel of various bottom bulb bracket machines, and in recent years as a member of the Cummings Motorsports team, flying the Moser Engineering colors in Stock Eliminator. Since teaming with the Cummings family, Simoneaux has enjoyed great success in the Stock Eliminator category. He’s won a handful of events at the divisional level. He was the NHRA Division 4 JEGS All-Stars representative last season, and he’s been a contender for the Division 4 Stock Championship in both NHRA and IHRA. But, a win on the national stage had proven elusive–until the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals two weeks ago.
Cummings Family Announces Schedule for Upcoming Season
Larry, Britt and Slate have announced their tentative schedule for the upcoming 2010 season. The Cummings Motorsports Team had another successful season in 2009. Brothers Britt and Slate Cummings along with family patriarch Larry Cummings, Jody Simoneaux and team partner Allen Constantine posted wins along the IHRA and NHRA sportsman racing tours.
Moser Engineering backed Cummings Motorsports Team racked up wins in IHRA and NHRA Sportsman Class events
Late Model Camaro is one of many competition vehicles for former IHRA World Champions Britt and Slate Cummings
In IHRA competition, the Moser backed team scored a pair of division titles. Britt Cummings earned the Division 4 Top Dragster crown and Jody Simoneaux took the top sport in Division 4 Stock Eliminator. The team also scored a trio of IHRA national event victories. Slate Cummings earned a double victory at the Mardi Gras Nationals and Larry Cummings took his first national event triumph at the Northern Nationals.
Family patriarch Larry Cummings drove the team Cavalier to his first National Event Title in Super Stock at IHRA Northern Nationals
The Cummings Team will compete in the IHRA Tournament of Champions and JEGS All Stars in 2010
The Cummings Team also earned six spots in four categories at the IHRA Tournament of Champions event in 2010. Both Larry and Slate Cummings will compete in Super Stock, while Slate Cummings and Simoneaux earned bids in Stock Eliminator. Britt Cummings earned a seed in the Top Dragster runoff and Constantine will compete for the title in Quick Rod.
In NHRA competition, both Slate Cummings and Simoneaux earned the right to compete in the JEGS All-Stars competition in June 2010.
“We can’t look back and say this was a bad season,” said Britt Cummings. “We all had our moments. We are moving forward next year and hope to take our program to the next level. We’re a world championship caliber team, we’ve proven that in the past and anything short of that really does not meet our expectations.”
Britt Cummings is also looking forward to a full race schedule next year. He spent much of his time over the past few seasons at home with his wife who fought cancer. “The latest prognosis is good,” he said. “Our family life has resumed some degree of normalcy. We race as a family and when you’ve got a serious illness in the family it takes its toll on everyone. It’s behind us now and the future looks bright at home and on the track. We’re looking forward to getting back out in force and getting back to that championship level of competition.” The Cummings Team will also add a Phantom Chassis hot rod in Top Dragster competition to its stable of vehicles in 2010.
2010 Schedule For Moser backed Cummings Motorsports Team:
3-11 / 3-14 NHRA Gainesville, Fl.
3-19 / 3-21 NHRA Belle Rose, LA.
3-25 / 3-28 NHRA Charlotte, NC.
4-9 / 4-11 NHRA Houston, TX.
5-1 / 5-2 IHRA Rockingham, NC.
5-14 / 5-16 NHRA Atlanta, GA.
6-3 / 6-6 NHRA Chicago, IL.
6-18 / 6-20 NHRA Bristol, TN.
8-13 / 8-15 IHRA Martin, MI.
9-23 / 9-26 NHRA Dallas, TX.
Slate Cummings Your 2009 T.O.C. Champion!
