2018 Division 1 Super Comp champ Kyle Bigley broke through for his first national event win at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals.
READING, PA – Competing in his second final round in a row, Kyle Bigley captured his first NHRA national event in his second national event final round appearance of the season. Bigley was runner up at the New England Lucas Oil series race a week prior to wining the Mopar Nationals in a rematch of his New England Nationals final with Ken Moses.
Kyle continued to impress for the second straight week after averaging a .015 light through six rounds at Maple Grove Raceway. Bigley’s run to the Mopar Express Lane Nationals title began with a breakout win over Philip Mollichella.
Mollichella took .042 at the stripe to breakout -.003 handing the win to Bigley’s safe 8.937. Bigley then won a 8.898 to 8.890 double-breakout race over Super Gas winner Ed Alessi Jr. in round two.
Mike Robilotto threw a perfect 8.900 at Kyle in round three but came up .006 short. Kyle’s .007 initiated 8.909 was good enough to turn on the win light moving him into round four.
After an easy round four win over a late-leaving David Markle, Bigley moved into the semifinals where he paired up with Anthony Fetch. Fetch’s .014 take .001 was no good as once again, Bigley was great when he needed to be. Kyle paired a .013 light with a 8.887 to advance on a double-breakout past Fetch’s slightly quicker 8.885.
This setup a final round rematch with Ken Moses. Moses won their New England Nationals final round match up and was looking for his third win on the season. Moses benefited from a red-light and three breakouts from his opponents to reach the final round.
In the final, Moses grabbed the lead off the line, .009 to .020. As they approached the stripe, Moses rolled up on Bigley but didn’t get there. Bigley took .0044 at the stripe to claim the 8.925 to 8.940 victory.
The win moved Kyle into fourth place in the national standings, just eight points out of first place. As he chases the Super Comp world championship, he’ll have two nationals and two divisional events to improve his points total.
Bigley’s victory also gives him momentum as he looks to repeat as the Division 1 champion. He currently sits in third place, 45 points behind points leader Tom Stalba.
Kyle mentioned, “sponsors I’d like to thank are Bryan Keller at KB Trailer Sales, Brandon Barrentine at BTE Racing, the DiMino family at Numidia Dragway, Huntsville Engine, Hoosier Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, Steve Williams at K&N Filters, Todd’s Extreme Paint, Alliance Racewear, and Pro Systems Carbs.”
For more NHRA Lucas Oil series race results from the Mopar Express Lane Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, click here.
