60-Year-Old Grandmother Wins 3rd Overall Track Championship
By Jeff Mills

BONNE TERRE, MO. (Sept. 30, 2006) - In what very-well maybe the "feel good" story of the year, 60-year-old grandmother of five, Gladys Edwards of Bonne Terre, won her third Missouri Sand Racing Association "Overall Track Championship" Saturday night at Big River Sand Drags.

"I feel like John Force," yelled Edwards as she bounced out of her 1987 Chevy 4x4 pickup Saturday night after winning the title. "I'm so happy I just don't know what to do."

Edwards, who is a caregiver for the elder, earned her third championship after first defeating Open 4x4 class champion J.R. Dreher of Wentzville in the opening round of the single-elimination tournament before knocking off Stock Buggy track champion Cody Sellers of Arnold in the title race. Edwards was so good in the title race she posted an ET time of 6.565 on a 6.56 dial-in.

The win guaranteed Edwards a trip back to the St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club's "Banquet of Champions" in January, something she dearly values.
"I've got to get tickets for all the grand kids plus who else knows who," Edwards said with watery eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

And what about that big, bad truck that Edwards won her third championship in?

"It had 400 miles on it when I first started racing," she said. "Now it's got over 130,000 or so. It's paid for itself racing."

The ATV "Overall Track Championship" went to Jason Waller of Bonne Terre.

"This means more to me that anything I've ever won," Waller said. "This is just unreal."

Waller, the Super Pro ATV track champion, knocked off Tim Brown of Bonne Terre to earn his title.

Here are all the class champions for 2006 at Big River Sand Drags: Whitney Dee of Leadwood (Junior ATV); Allie Glatczak of Potosi (ATV-1); Jimmy Farris of Potosi (Pro ATV); Waller (Super Pro ATV); Edwards (Vehicle ET); Cody Sellers of Arnold (Stock Buggy); J.R. Dreher of Wentzville (Open 4x4); and Todd Dee of Leadwood (Competition Eliminator). All of the class champions will be joining the overall champions at the "Banquet of Champions" this season.

Here are the results of the regular competition held prior to the "Tournament of Champions" Tournament on Saturday night.

In Junior ATV, Andrew Zack of High Ridge was the top eliminator and first place winner while Alex Brown of Bonne Terre was second.
In ATV-1, Allie Glatczak of Potosi was top eliminator and first place with Kyle Jasper of Festus taking second.
In Pro ATV, Page Barker of Waterloo, Il. was first with Jimmy Farris taking second place and top eliminator.
In Super Pro ATV, Bill Reissing Jr. of DeSoto was the first place winner with Waller taking second place and top eliminator.
In Stock Buggy, Kevin Sellers of Arnold was the top eliminator and first place winner while Ralph Smith of Mineral Point was second.
In Open 4x4, J.R. Dreher was the top eliminator and first place winner while Joe McNeill of Monroe City was second.
In Competition Eliminator (a record-number of 22 competitors), Andrew Burcham of Park Hills stunned everyone including himself by taking both top eliminator and first place while Eric Blackford of Monroe City was second.

There is no racing at Big River Sand Drags until the ATV Nationals on Oct. 13th, 14th and 15th. For more information phone (573) 747-0566 or go to: www.bigriversanddrags.com