Drag Racing Action Online   Images: Robert Grice

Kenner La. Sportsman racer Darian Boesch scored a rare double victory at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series South Central Division event at Houston Raceway Park on Sunday March 26. Boesch who was 2020 NHRA Top Sportsman champ, has been one of the most successful Sportsman racers in the past few years, won both Top Sportsman and Top Dragster. Only a handful of racers have accomplished the double win in Top/Top.

In Top Dragster Boesch qualified his Vortech Supercharger powered car in the #6 spot with an 6.134 in a very quick Top Dragster field with Ross Laris grabbing the #1 spot with a 6.102. In the finals Boesch was racing #5 qualifier J.R. Baxter from Beckville Texas.

Boesch got the better light with a 0.017 RT to Baxter’s 0.038 and ran a 6.187 to Baxter’s breaking out 6.19 on his 6.20 dial.

“Before the finals, we were in the lanes and it was starting to get cooler. We had some time as they were running the Junior Dragsters. At that point I knew I was going to run under. I went down to the end and we both dropped at the same time and I was a little over as J.R. went under.”

Earlier in eliminations Baxter defeated Chanse Bullock while Boesch put Jessica Ogden on the trailer to get to the final round. Boesch said, “I was catching her and knew I didn’t have the greatest light and I was on the brakes.

In the win over Ogden Boesch put a 6.202 on the board with a 6.17 dial as Ogden lost with a off pace 7.014 on a 6.97 dial.

“In round three I had an eleven package against David Bills which was about as close as you can get because he had a 0.021 package. I have raced David probably five or six times in the last year and we are always close.”

“Top Sportsman was a round behind the dragsters, so I ran the Top Dragster final in the same rotation as the Top Sportsman semi. I had an hour between the two finals.”

“By that point I was just making the runs I needed to make and not thinking about anything but what I had to do the next round. I’ve learned to separate my performance between the two cars and not let what happens in one car affect what happens in the other.”

Racing Boesch in the finals of Top Sportsman was the ’03 Cavalier of Kevin Wilson from Magnolia Texas. Wilson had beat Mark Buehring’s Cobalt in the quarterfinals and a had a bye to the finals as Boesch defeated the Shelby Mustang of Bob Gulitti in the semis to get to the historic final.

“I dialed a 6.41 for my semifinal against Gulitti and he shook hard and couldn’t get back into it, so I clicked it early.”

Boesch who qualified #1 had his blown Camaro dialed in with a 6.33 on the window for the final against Wilson. It didn’t matter as Wilson had issues starting his Chevy and was never competitive as his 8.207 on a 7.72 dial was no match for Boesch’s 6.47 on the 6.33 dial.

Boesch adds, “The track conditions on Sunday were not as great as I would have liked. I thought the right lane looked a lot better than the left and I had lane choice. They were having issues with the lights earlier and during my time runs I ran a 5.94 with the chutes out so that was a mess too.

“In the finals, Mr Kevin’s car didn’t sound right and I didn’t set up that tight on the tree. I’ve ran 7.70 cars lots of times and I knew at eighth mile I knew I was catching him. We went thru and took the last win light at Houston.”

The double win at Houston gave Boesch his 10th and 11th career Wallys.

“The closest I ever got to a double was the US Nationals in 2020,” Boesch said,  “I had both cars in the semis. Normally when I do good with one car, I don’t do well with the other. With the Vortech I feel a lot better with both cars.”

Boesch hasn’t been sitting on his laurels since his 2020 championship season. He has had three more Top 10 finishes. And Boesch also grabbed the D4 Top Dragster title in 2021. Last year, Boesch finished sixth in the Right Trailers Top Sportsman World points chase and a very respectable No. 16 in Right Trailers Top Dragster.

The MKD team, named for his parents Mario and Karen along with Darian, have five cars in their stable. “We race as a family. The three of us. We have the Camaro, a former Pro Stock Truck built by Jerry Haas that has a Roots Blower and three dragsters. We use a combination of three engine builders depending on the car. Race Engine Development, Oakley Motorsports, and Doucet Motorsports handle all our engine building needs.”

“Both cars have 540 cubic inch motors with different setups. We use New Century and Dart cast aluminum blocks for the dragster. The Vortech supercharger goes through a APD Carb prepped by Joey Hessling.  The Camaro has a Chuck Ford blower mounted on a Chuck Newton billet block. With the boost the Roots blower has the Newton block has more strength.  With 40 lbs. of boost on the Camaro versus 26 lbs. of boost on the dragster we need the added beef. All our cars use Brodix heads too.”

“The Camaro uses a M&M trans and convertor and we have a Marco Abruzzi Racing Transmission and convertor in the dragster.”

Darian ends with, “Division 4 director Mady Ayesh did a great job of getting the race in considering the weather. It was a perfect ending to the event. I was afraid that if it was postponed, we would have to finish it at another track. And for 2023 we plan on racing D3. Historically we have always raced D4 but this year I want to go out and see some different things, race at some different tracks. By racing D3 we will go to Norwalk and Indy along with the double event at National Trail in Columbus. By racing at the JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals I can get two races in on the same weekend. We also have St Louis and Topeka on our national event schedule.”