Brad Northrop Crowned Inaugural Big Bobby’s Summer Slam Champion
The Inaugural Big Bobby’s Summer Slam Series is officially in the books, and Brad Northrop is your 2026 Summer Slam Champion!
Brad claimed the Championship Belt, the newly minted Diamond Card, and all the bonuses that come along with it after a strong run throughout the four-race series.
Following an executive decision by Rob DiMino, the original Summer Slam Gold Card was upgraded to the Diamond Card, giving Brad FREE ENTRY and FREE BUYBACK at all non-150 Numidia Dragway races in 2027. That means Brad won’t pay a cent to race in any Points Races or holiday weekend money races next season.
We want to congratulate Brad on an outstanding showing throughout the series. Even before the Gauntlet began, he was once again deep in eliminations on the final day, making it down to nine cars in Super Pro.
In fact, each of our first three Gauntlet Contenders made a serious run on the final day, and for a while it looked like one of them might earn a second spot in the Gauntlet.
Our first Summer Slam Contender, Jon Northrop, made it all the way to the Pro final against Scott Tupper. Tupper was .002 on the tree and dead-eight for a .010 total package, while Jon was .011 and dead-six for a .017 total. Tupper took the win and advanced to the runoff for the final Gauntlet position.
Our second Contender, Kyle Kohr, also made another deep run, eventually bowing out in the quarterfinals with five cars remaining.
Over in Super Pro, Heather Castelletti picked up the $5,000 win over Jim Carty. Following the final, Heather lined up against Pro winner Scott Tupper to determine who would claim the fourth and final position in the Championship Gauntlet. Castelletti came out on top, officially setting the Final Four.
With the field set, chips were drawn to determine the Gauntlet pairings. Heather would face Jon Northrop, while Kyle Kohr would line up against Brad Northrop.
Heather advanced past Jon after he went -.012 red on the starting line. In the other race, Brad got the best of Kyle with a strong .008 reaction time and a two-over run.
That set up the Championship Final between Brad Northrop and Heather Castelletti.
Brad delivered when it mattered most, going .013 on the tree and one-over for a .023 total package, locking out Heather’s .029 reaction time and securing the Inaugural Big Bobby’s Summer Slam Series Championship.
With that, Brad Northrop put his name in the Numidia Dragway history books as the first-ever Summer Slam Champion, taking home the Championship Belt and Diamond Card after four races of some of the best competition we saw all season.
Meanwhile, in Junior Dragsters, Hunter Ward picked up his second career win, defeating Bryant Kitchen in the final and taking home the Junior Mini Belt. Congratulations to Hunter on another strong showing as we head toward the end of the season.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with how the inaugural Summer Slam Series turned out. We battled for belts, battled the rain, completed all four races, filled the Gauntlet, and ultimately crowned our first Champion.
For a first-of-its-kind series at Numidia, we’d call that a success.
Thank you to everyone who supported the Summer Slam this year, whether you raced, watched, helped out, or simply followed along. We hope to see the series continue to grow even bigger in 2027!
Congratulations again to the 2026 Big Bobby’s Summer Slam Champion Brad Northrop!
— Puddy Out
