That's because after earning the Wally for winning the Division 3 race in Top Alcohol Dragster with her CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil car, Tedesco had to go jump in her Super Gas car.
Tedesco ended up falling in the semifinals with her CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet, but a win and a semifinal appearance is a stellar weekend.
"After I won in the dragster, I ran the fifth round in Super Gas and then lost in the sixth round," Tedesco said. "It's something that I'm actually a little used to now. The first time, it was really hard because you want to race, but you're jacked up. Now, I don't let myself accept that I've won and I don't celebrate or anything."
She tried to treat her Super Gas quarterfinal and semifinal races like any other round, not celebrating her TAD win until much later in the night -- or, rather, early the next morning.
"I celebrated at 2:30 a.m.," Tedesco said. "It was really late, and my original flight (home) was at 6:50 in the morning. It was a long day but well worth it, for sure. It was awesome."
Tedesco qualified No. 2 in TAD and beat Jared Dreher in the first round with a run of 5.438 seconds at 251.11 mph. In Round 2, the semifinals, Tedesco left first again (with a .056-second reaction time) and then made a run of 5.364 at 262.03 mph to beat Rachel Meyer's 5.761 at 254.90 mph.
In an all-female final, Tedesco beat Megan Meyer with a .034-second reaction time and a track-record pass of 5.230 seconds at 269.46 mph.
"The Alcohol car ran good," Tedesco said. "It ran good in the first qualifier, not so good in the second, and we pretty much got lucky in the first round, got lucky in the second round, and then the car ran good in the final.
"Then, I made it to three cars in Super Gas, so it was definitely a good weekend."
Tedesco ended up falling in the Super Gas semifinal despite a better reaction time (.010 to .017). Joe Fisher ran closer to the 9.90 index and ended beating Tedesco by about 18 inches (.006-second).
Still, Tedesco was then able to celebrate her Top Alcohol Dragster victory.
"Heck yeah, it was a good weekend," Tedesco said. "Definitely an ideal weekend."
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| Mia Tedesco drover her CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster to victory at the Division 3 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Gateway Motorsports Park. |
