Sports

At last count, the Middletown-Hamilton area can lay claim to five racing titles for the 2008 season.

Drivers have always said "If you can win around here, you can win anywhere." Well, Pro Comp II drag racer Wayne Sears and KOIL Tour racer Ty Rose, both of Middletown, and Kart racer Chase Stempfley of Trenton, have proven that drivers here can win everywhere else, too.

It would seem that good news comes in two's.

Chase Stempfley

Stempfley motored his Arrow Racing-prepared kart to six Ohio Valley Karting Association wins and seven runner-up finishes in the Junior Yamaha No. 1 division. He also racked up five event wins and eight second-place finishes in Jr. Yamaha No. 2, to win both season points titles.

If the Stempfley name sounds familiar to you, you've followed racing for a while. Chase is the grandson of the late Doug Stempfley Sr., who raced in the 1960s and helped build G&J Kartway in Camden. Chase's dad, Doug Stempfley II, also raced karts, and he assists the OVKA with race operations today.

Ty Rose

Rose also has a pair of championship titles to brag about: He clinched the 600 Racing Midwest KOIL Tour title for 2008, and he was named Ohio's champion among the 600 racing division competitors for his division.

Nationally, Rose finished 12th overall out of 132 competitors in the Young Guns racing division. That bracket is for drivers ages 12-15.

Ty came within 61 points of first place this year.

Wayne Sears

Last but certainly not least, Sears won his second straight Nostalgia Pro Comp Association national drag racing title this season. In seven national events, Sears motored his injected front-engined "Super Mouse" dragster to five series wins.

"It's the best racing season I've ever had," Sears said. "To run seven races in the series and win five of them, that's a pretty good record.

"We had a great time this season, and we didn't once have a mechanical problem, none at all. I had some tire shake in a nonpoints race in Lancaster, N.Y., but that was basically it. It's been a dream season."

Sears also made his career-best pass during the season. He clocked 7.32 seconds and ran at 187 mph and finished the run in spectacular fashion to boot.

"The chute didn't work. There was some kind of a cable problem, but it made for a really exciting ride trying to get stopped," Sears said.

Here's wishing that each of those drivers continue to win for years to come.

One more for Jeg?

As long as Ohioan Jeg Coughlin Jr. qualifies his bright-yellow JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt pro-stocker into the field for this weekend's Auto Club NHRA Finals event in Pomona, Calif., he'll have garnered enough points to win his fourth POWERade Championship.

Coughlin also won the NHRA Pro Stock title in 2000, 2002 and 2007.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.