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June 30, 2011 A Edmonton Rocky gallery is here. Photos from Edmonton are a little slow getting uploaded. Sorry about that. We will have a bunch up Friday. Lots of updates and previews to do for this weekend's event at Mission. I will have a Pro mod preview and Pro Street Friday after I see for sure what cars will be here. There is a fireworks show in Mission Friday night for the Canada Day celebration. It is at Heritage park and starts around 9:00 or 10pm, for all the out of town people who want to see the show. Lots of buzz on the Mission 32 Funny Car show July 22-24, 2011. Looks like over a dozen nitro floppers already and you know the BB/FC's will have close to 20 on the grounds. Mission has a big Billboard (electronic style) set to go live in two weeks in Surrey. As well there will be extensive advertising on the tellie, radio and newspaper. Maybe we can even get the province paper to do a story or two. SpeedZone is happy to have Rad Torque Systems on board this weekend's sponsor of the coverage of the doorcar event at Mission Raceway. This weekend at Mission is one of the Big "5" events for the local track. It is the "Doorslammer battle by the River". Pro Mods, Pro Street and CW Doorslammers. There is a test n tune on Friday and then qualifiying under the lights for the three doorcar classes. They qualifying goes at approx. 4:00pm, 6:30pm and around 9:00pm for the final session. Come on out to this race. It's one of the Canada Day fun events in the Mission area. Renegade Raceway in Yakima is having their "Nitro at Night" event this weekend. Derek Snelson is the track operator, and he has put together a cool show for the Tri City fans. 12 bucks gets you in the gate to see a Canada VS USA jet race. Saskatchewan's Kevin Therres takes on the Warhawk Jet and Shawn Nault in his nitro Funny Car races Brad Faria in the Secret Weapon Funny Car. A couple alky floppers, and Frank Tamez will also be there with his fast Pro Street Camaro. He will take on all comers, maybe event the nitro floppers. Go to www.renegaderaceway.com for all the info. June 28, 2011 SpeedZone is looking for a sponsor for coverage for this weekend's MRP Doorslammer extravaganza. Close to 50 very fast door cars will be in competition this weekend, and SpeedZone will have extensive coverage. Have your business or company or race team put in the spot light with sponsorship of our coverage. Email me if you are interested. A photo blog from Norwalk is posted. Photos from Edmonton are being cataloged. They should start appearing Wednesday evening. Mission has their annual Pro Mod show (not the West Coast Pro Mods for the first itme ever.... you don't want to go there) and the CPSA's 1st Pro Street race of the year. The Canada West Doorslammers have their sixth race of the year already, and this should be their biggest field of the season. The Doorslammers are looking for a field with 20-30 cars in competition. They are also hosting their annual Pig Roast fundraiser. It should a doorslammer fanfest for sure. Pro Mod should see 9-11 cars and ther Pro Street race will be very strong with 8-12 cars and their biggest purse here ever. Around 4k to win!!! The Edmonton pages are complete for the pro classes. Top Fuel, Rocky Mountain Floppers, and Fuel Altereds are covered here. Pro Mod, Nitro Funny Car and Nitro Harley are covered here. Photos for this event will be posted over the next two or three days, and we have a lot of them. Sportsman
classes and the Top Alky exhibition is covered here.
June 27, 2011 The Edmonton race got completed late Sunday night. Here are the final round results. The full report with photos starting Tuesday. The NHRA Full Throttle Norwalk results are here. A brief Recap has Mike Neff (Funny Car) Del Worsham (Top Fuel), Vince Nobile, Eddie Krawiec (Motorcycle), Mike Castellana (Pro Mod), Marty Thacker (TAD) and Fred Hagen (TAFC) in the winners circle. June 26, 2011 Final Pro rounds from Edmonton. Tim Boychuk won NFC over city mate Mike Grekul (they ran the finals as 1/8th mile due to weepers after the afternoon shower).
Bobby Lagana won Top Fuel over Bruce Litton.
Ron Maroney won Fuel Altered over Tom Padilla.
Wayne Hofer won Pro Mod over a very loose Vern Mills.
Jay Turner Defeated Steve Dorn in Nitro Harley. The Rocky Mountain Funny Cars will finish their final at Mission as they did not want to run 1/8th mile. Ron Sekura vs Eddy Plaizier. Sportsman classes were still in elims when we hit the road. Full results Monday June 25, 2011 Three rounds of qualifying for Pro Mod, Rocky Mountain Funny Cars and Nitro Harley were completed. The third session of Nitro Funny Car was in the staging lanes when the rain hit, and with a track temperature of 65 and an air temperature of around 45 degrees and real windy they decided it would not be safe to continue. The fields are set and the short form is Tim Boychuk #1 in Nitro Funny Car (5.78), Gary Urlacher #1 in Pro Mod (career best 6.37/216), Cal Tebb takes the #1 spot in the Rocky Funny Cars based on a faster speed than Joey Steckler (both went 6.993). Steve Dorn is #1 in Nitro Harley. Bobby Lagana won the day in Top Fuel and Ron Maroney won the Fuel Altered class for today. Don St. Arnaud went 5.41/262 in the match race against Greg Sereda (5.83) and Ken Webster ran a 5.83 in TAFC. John Evanchuk broke in the first round and did not return for the final run. In Top Sportsman, Todd Fleck was set to race his team mate Don Wilk in the Elite 8 shootout and Mike Quayle was racing Tom McAvoy in Top Dragster. Both those shootout finals will not be run and the finalists will split the winnings. Full results Sunday morning. 5:30pm update. Round one of pro qualifying is done. Results for Rocky Mountain Funny Car, Fuel Altereds are here. Results for Pro Mod, Nitro funny Car and Nitro Harley are here. Saturday noon update: The call was made to add an extra run for all the pro classes except Top Fuel with that first session at 2:00pm today June 24, 2011 Friday 5:30pm update, the rain persists and the day has been called at Edmonton. We will try again Saturday. Sportsman qualifying is here. Norwalk has been called Friday without any Pro classes hitting the track surface, as no surprise, rain has again halted an NHRA event. Weather has affected the start of the feature classes at the Rocky Nationals, as wind and rain will delay the start. We are hopeful the Friday night session will go off, just a little later than originally scheduled. 9:00am update from Edmonton. We are here and it is windy. The forecast has changed for the third or fourth tim in the last 24 hours here and this one is unfortunately not as promising as the last one. It does call for rain this afternoon and evening as well as Saturday. Hopefully the weather does not follow the lousy forecast. Right now it looks good. SpeedZone is at the Rocky's. The Rocky pages are as follows: All coverage presented by Team Ace Racing. Page 1: Top Fuel, AA/FA, All Alky Classes Page 2: Pro Mod, FC, Harley Page 3: Sportsman page Speedzone is also at Norwalk. Coverage is here. June 22, 2011 IHRA's preview page for the Rocky's is posted. June 21, 2011 7:00pm update: My source did a bit of investigating today and this is what we know. Frank is still sponsored by Al-Anabi, and his relationship with the Sheik is still close and solid. As far as Frank's employment goes, I will have to wait until my source sees Frank at Norwalk to find out the rest of the story. We are trying to confirm if in fact the rumor of Frank Manzo being let go at Al Anabi are true. There has been a house cleaning in their drag racing empire and it would not surprise me. I have a call into my source and they will get back to Speedzone as soon as they hear. Full Spokane results are here. Bristol results are here. June 20, 2011 Edmonton's Rocky Mountain Nationals is up this coming weekend and SpeedZone is proud to have Team Ace Racing as their sponsor of all the coverage for the event. Spokane did get completed and there were a few cool happenings there. In Top Dragster, Albertan Garth Giroux took out his father in law Eddy Plaizier from Edmonton in the final round. BC's Steve Lowe won Super Street over Brian Phillips Jr. Chilliwack's Stefan Kondolay got his second R/U of the season, as he was the last loser in Super Comp. Fort St. John's Darryn O'Connor got his third win in Top Sportsman. He defeated Alberta's Todd Fricke. Gary Waldo won Stock over Mickey Alley. Another couple Albertan's were in the final in Super Stock as Art Congdon defeated #1 qualifier Byron Setters. Mike Dalrymple won Super Gas over Terry Wilcox. Buf Cobbs won Motorcycle over Brett Hordeman. Two time winner Al Omond lost in the semi finals. He had an easy win to reach the final but took too much stripe and lost when he broke out. Joey Severance won TAD over Ray Martin. Steve Gasparelli won TAFC over Clint Thompson (a repeat of the Mission final). In Comp, two BC drivers, Bob Marshall and Rob Harrison lost in the semi finals. Marshall went red and Harrison was the opposite, real late. Jeff Lane won his second race in a row, while runner-up Mark Wolfe was looking for his first ever Comp win. He went red in the final round. So close Mark, a very good effort! At Bristol, Larry Dixon, Robert Hight, Mike Edwards and Melanie Troxel were the pro winners. At Salt Lake, Todd Lesenko won Saturday's Funny Car final over a red lighting Tim Boychuk. Lesenko got to the final round when Mark Sanders could not make the call. On Friday, James Day (in the War Eagle car) defeated Boychuk and the NW's Tom Padilla in the Nasty Benjamin Fuel Altered took the win.
June 18, 2011 Spokane Divisional is on this weekend up here in the NW. It is only a two day event (with the same costs as a three day to the racers though), and I hear they are charging for an extra pit vehicle if it is in a trailer, talk about the tracks (there and Seattle from what I hear) giving it to the racers. Results will be posted here for the Spokane race. June 17, 2011 The Eagle Motorplex Langley Loafers story is complete, including highlite photos. A gallery from the Loafers event is posted. Lots of action state side, as the Bristol Full Throttle event is up this weekend, as is the ADRL at Topeka and the IHRA at Salt Lake. Last week's Chicago Divisional and Fallon Nevada Divisonal results are posted. June 15, 2011 Here is THE classic... oh man I should have stayed home....Not a good start to the weekend as this driver was attempting to get his NHRA licence at Mission at their last race weekend. He was up at Ashcroft at a week before. After this fire which started at the launch when a fuel line or the tank split, he and his team (sorry not name), worked all day to get it fixed and the next day he went out and as unbelievable as it sounds, he got loose and hit the wall 700 feet down track. Another fire ball ensued and the front of the car was badly damaged. What a tough weekend! Thanks to Tony Krause for the great photos
June 13 2011 The Langley Loafers Saturday recap is posted. Sunday as well. The full report with photos Tuesday. June 11, 2011 SpeedZone is at the Eagle Motorplex this weekend for the 24th Annual Langley Loafers Old time drags. A big turnout of show n shine cars and race cars are at the desert facility. The crowd is one of the biggest we have seen in quite a while at the 'Plex. Much like the early 90's. A four car blown alky Altered/FED match race, two Nostalgia Corvette Funny Cars, including Jay the "Nitro Prospector" Mageau and Darrell Webb. As well, the Canada West Doorslammers. Go here for all the coverage June 9, 2011 A major suspension is handed
down from the NHRA, as one of the top A/Fuel teams in competition has been suspended
for one year. Three Tiger Flow A/Fuel TAD team members, owner Todd Odom, driver
Munroe Guest and crew chief Joe Monden have been suspended for one year after
their horrific crash involving a second TAD team. Guest crashed last Saturday
at the Englishtown Full Throttle event after his tires blew in a round one victory.
Guest was running Hoosier rear tires on his A/Fuel car despite a notice from Hoosier
to stop running that tire. This notice was posted on the Hoosier web site after
another incident involving their tires. Mike Manners had a similar blow out on
the top end while testing in Texas in the middle of May. Hoosier's notice was
posted May 18th. Crew chief Joe Monden was asked by Hoosier to stop running the
tire, but he felt since the two sets of Hossier's he had, were purchased last
year, and they had put 27 runs on the first set. He installed the second set on
the car after getting balanced by the Hoosier reps the on the Friday, and was
told at that time as well, they should not run them, but he chose to put the second
set on the car. They were not new (2011 models) ones, which is where he thought
the problem lied. Monden took full responsibility for the unfortunate incident,
but was informed today that he along with the other principles of the team, have
been suspended. The suspension is appealable as per the NHRA rulebook. I was informed of the issues with the tire from my photo/journalist at Englishtown right after the accident. David Smith informed me that the tire manufacturer had put out a notice, after Manners' crash. Since that time I was wondering if this would go anywhere. NHRA was not informed of the notice prior to this crash which seems a little odd. My question is
this: While I understand the differences with the A/Fuel car vs the BAD's or TAFC's,
should the notice also be given out to those teams. This could blow up (literally)
in Hoosier's face. The Edmonton Pro Am double header results are posted. A couple racers doubled up including Mike Pople in Quick Rod and Paul Glandon in Top Sportsman. Two others, Blu Hayball and Dale Dryden reached the finals on both days. The final Pro Am event in the IHRA's Div 6 is in two weeks in Edmonton at the Rocky Mountain Nationals event. June 8, 2011 Photos are added to the Englishtown Full Throttle wrap up. An Englishtown event gallery is here. The Tucson Fuel Altered Nationals recap is posted. Man would it be nice to see a dozen FA's up here. The Langley Loafer's Old time drags are up this weekend at the Eagle Motorplex. A Nitro Funny Car (the Prospector) vs an Alky Funny car (Darrell Webb), Alberta Blown Altereds (three of them) matchup with a blown FED. The Canada West Doorslammers and a huge show n shine. Head on up to the desert facility this weekend. June 7, 2011 MRP Saturday and Sunday results are posted. June 6, 2011 The Full Throttle event final rounds from Englishtown are posted. A Sportsman winners circle gallery is here.
The Canada West Doorslammers results from MRP are posted at their site. The NW Outlaws race one coverage will be posted Tuesday evening. June 6, 2011 Many familiar winners at Englishtown as Mike Neff (Fc), Spencer Massey (TF) , Alan Johnson (PS), Matt Smith (PSM), Danny Rowe in Pro Mod, Duane Shields (TAD) and Frank Manzo (TAFC) got wins at one of the few races without any rain delays. No on track incidences to speak of and Dennis Radford and Leah Pruett both got repairs done to their rides in time for round two of Pro Mod. With all the performance marks set by the turbo and nitrous cars it was a bit of a surprise to see two blown cars in the Pro Mod final. Full results and photos Tuesday. At MRP, Mike Peck won the inaugural NW Outlaw race against Dane Lachelt. Stefan Kondolay defeated Rob Charlton in the final of Doorslammer. Otto Schulte won Super Pro, Kash Sandhu won Pro Bracket, Craig Johnson won Sportsman, Kevin Brennan got the win in Motorcycle, Brad Owens won Hot rod, Gerald Patzer won Sports Compact, Peter Lachanas won Jr Thunder and Katie Brown won Jr. Lightning. Super Combo winner was Larry Miner. June 4, 2011 At Englishtown, the talk on Saturday was..... Pro Mods!!! Melanie Troxel shatters the old record in the class not once, not twice not three times but four times overall at almost 260 mph (258 and an awesome 5.772 best). Then not to be out done, here team mate Brad Personette has solved his early season woes with his 5.772 pass, also over 258. (Melanie gets the record because her speed was faster. Then not to be out gunned a nitrous car turned in a 5.7 lap. Mike Castellana rips off a 5.781/243 to defeat his team mate Khalid Balooshi who ran a 5.87. Rickie Smith went 5.833/244 to advance in round one as well. A blower car is now the slowest car in Pro Mod. Has Hell frozen over? Then to add to the drama in the class, Leah Pruett-LeDuc won here round but the chutes opened late and she did a slow barrel roll in the sand trap (she may get the car repaired in time for round two Sunday). She was not hurt. Dennis Radford also crashed after his first round win (he hit the wall in the shut down area). 14 of the 16 runs were in round one were in the 5 second zone in Pro Mod. In TAD, Munroe Guest had
two tires blow in the A/Fuel car after a 5.23 pass in his round one win. His car
went sideways as the chutes came out and he slid sideways into his opponent Brandon
Greco's car. Both drivers were okay, and no word yet of the damage to Munroe's
car and whether or not he can make repairs overnight. Manzo went 5.47/264 in his
round one win. At
Mission Raceway, The Canada West Doorslammers and the new race series, the NW
Outlaw's headline the weekend. Three Doorslammers were in the 6 second zone with
Craig Donaldson leading with a 6.81. The NW Outlaws were led by Brent Murray's
6.81. Canucks win for a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final..... YES!!! Got this from Jay Maqeau as he traveled to Alaska Raceway for a match race against the Gorilla AA/FA "Hi
Gang. We just got back from Anchorage Alaska, home of Alaska Raceway park.
Pretty cool back drop. I
was very moved while strapped in on the starting line, to hear them play the Canadian
anthem with a young lady belting out the lyrics. They even hoisted a Canada flag.
The track owners Karen and Earl Lackey are just GOOD people.
One of the big seven events on the NHRA Full Throttle schedule is up this weekend. Englishtown's Super Nationals. One of the original and oldest on the schedule, looks to have decent weather for the weekend. Robert Hight (FC), Shane Gray (PS), Del Worsham (TF), Jerry Savioe (PSM), Frank Manzo (TAFC), Daniel Page (TAD: Driving Art Gallant's A/Fueler) and Melanie Troxel in Pro Mod led Pro Mod qualifiying, she ran the quickest and fastest Pro Mod run in history and backed it up with an even quicker and faster run. She went 5.800@258.71 mph. Speedzone results presented by Sonny's Racing Engines. Results are here.
June 3, 2011 The Canada West Doorslammers are looking forward to Race #2 this weekend at MRP after a long wait since race #1. Go to their site for all the info. A gallery from the Eagle Motorplex Pro Am is posted. A week late but worth the look.
June 2, 2011 Photos are now added to the Sportsman page from the MRP Lucas Oil race. Check it out. A Bill Jeffery weekend gallery is here. A Drag boat gallery from the Firebird season opening Lake fest event is here. The Reading Division one Lucas Oil event coverage is here. A gallery is here. Paul Romine (Man o War) won the Rockabilly Funny Car race. He defeated Mike Halstead in the Nitro Angel car. Check out Eddy Plaizier's new Nostalgia Funny Car. It is wild! Bob Snyder was there shooting for SpeedZone. His Rockabilly Reunion gallery is here. Mission Sportsman wrap up is posted. Photos will be posted tonight and there are a number of awesome ones. Check back tonight. A bit of news from Eddie Plaizier who was at Vegas with his new 37 Bodied Funny Car. TEAM ACE Racing update from Vegas, WE made it to the Semi Finals in C Gas and 7.0 Pro, In C gas, lost a close won great lite .009 to a .032, Anglia did a wheelstand and out of the grove, and scrubbed valuable ET out , 2 thousands at the stripe. The Anglia was dialed in and were hoping to reach the final in our first ever competition in C Gas. In 7.0 Pro, the new 37 Altered, Chevy all Aluminum body, ran a 7.01 to a 7.05 , to eventual winner Philips who an a .009 lite to my .100, great race, but the tree got us, he was gunning for us as previous rounds we ran a 7.01, and 7.02, Overall we were very pleased in our efforts, as running in C gas with no electronics and shifting takes a few runs to get used to, the 7.0 pro class is always challenging and again didn't disappoint with the close racing. June 1, 2011 A couple galleries from the FIrebird Drag Boat race. Friday gallery is here. Saturday is here. 32 Funny Cars.......... That is the deal for Mission Raceway at the JET Equipment/ TDN Constructors group Canadian National Open. 16 Nitro burning Funny Cars and 16 Alcohol burning Nostalgia Funny Cars are scheduled and invited for what will be the largest Funny Car race in Canada, and the first field of its type in the North West since the days of Bill Doner and Steve Evans. This will be the race of the decade! The purse is one of the largest for the Nitro Funny Cars and without the commitment of JET Equipment and TDN this deal would not happen. I was lucky enough to talk to Brian (the president) of BCCCA, he talked at length early in the year about how cool it would be to have a big field. At around the same time Bill Jeffery (product developement manager) of Jet Canada was conversing with me talking about the vey topic of 16 cars. We all rolled with it from there. Then Tim and Nancy Nemeth who have allied with JET for years, wanted to be involved. Their role and participation will be revealed in the next month, but it is big! So stay tuned here for all the details and the news. The goal now of the powers that be at MRP and with my assistance is to try and entice all the teams from south of the border to head North and the best damn track in Canada. It won't be a cake walk but already 11-14 have expressed excitement. Then at least 16 BB/FC will race in two different classes. The boys from Alberta and the group from Oregon and Washington state. Both have put on great shows here already and are back. Am I excited, you bet!!! oh ya, GO CANUCKS GO!! Secondly, I am still working diligently on the Mission Lordco BC Nationals story and am waiting eagerly for a few more Bill Jeffery photos. It will be up over the next day and a half. Lastly, a new race series will debut this weekend at MRP. It will be cool, but it has to grow: Fast cars with power adders are invited. If you go 6.99 and have a blower, nitro, nitrous and or a turbo, come on out. The series is called the NW Outlaws and their web site will go live this Friday or Saturday. May 31, 2011 Still putting together the Mission Divisonal story. Will be posted some time Wednesday. It will include local performances and highlights from many BC and Alberta drivers and tons of photos. Mission Raceway is in a meeting Wednesday to put the final touches on a sponsorship deal for the National Open in July that will see one of the biggest events in the history of the track. We have talked about it a bit over the last couple months but it will be officially revealed very soon. May 29, 2011
Three Days ago, I would not have thought the MRP LODRS would be completed on time, but in fact it was, and eliminations Sunday were awesome!. Ray Martin won TAD against Joey Severance in his first ever race in the class, and possibly the last year for Martin. Ray had this to say about the historic win. "This was a one off deal. I got licensed last year at Vegas and had the opportunity to race one of the best TAD's in North America. The Federlin team is so professional and focused and were a dream to work with. This is a race I will remember forever". Martin also ran Top Sportsman and went to the 1/4 finals in that class. Steve Gasparelli is happy the team travelled North From California, as they took home the Wally after defeating Clint Thompson in the final round. In Comp, everyone expected Kaplan and Rob Harrison to compete in the final found, and they were half right. Kaplan was there, but Harrison went out in round two after he got real loose against the other finalist, Jeff Lane. Lane was a huge underdog in the final as Kaplan had almost a half second performance edge. But as they say, 'you don't race on paper'. Kaplan had a great start to the race and actually caught Lane by just past half track. But as he feathered the throttle just making sure he stayed just in front of Lane, the car slowed and Kaplan was not able to get the car to respond (probaple ignition issues), and Lane managed to stay just in front at the stripe. His margin was only .02, but it was enough. Al Omond is a repeat winner in Sportsman Motorcycle. He won in BOise three weeks ago, and this weekend the Chilliwack rider defeated a red lighting Doug Rathbun. In Top Sportsman, Craig Cawte was in his first final, but the engine went south on the burnout and multiple winner Robert Matthews got the easy win. Top Dragster saw local racer Stefan Kondolay take on Paul Nero. Nero got the holeshot and caught Kondolay by 1000 feet. He held on for a .023 stripe. Super Stock winner was BC driver Rick McKinney. He defeated first time finalist Charlene Gullet. Dallas Glenn defeated local driver David Rastad in the Stock final. John Dalrymple joined his son Josh in the winner's circle. He defeated Greg Hehr in the final. Josh got by Jess Dale in Super Street when Dale left too early. Super Comp winner was Emmitt McKillop. He defeated Rick Dearinger. Al Chinn was the Super Pro winner.
Qualifying for the Sportsman classes from MRP is posted. A Friday gallery is here. May 28, 2011 10:00pm Update ............5.97/229 mph...........
Comp eliminator..................Jirka Kaplan..... The world's first 5 second et in Comp Eliminator... Enough said. Easily the run of the year, and Mission Raceway is again known as the track to set records. First it was the first 7 second Super Stock run then it was the first 9 second Stock run then it was the first 8.50 run by a Hemi Super Stock, now one of the biggest milestones in drag racing and it was not set by a Pro Mod. Good friend Dave Barcelon from Truck Town has come on board to support SpeedZone and this weekend's divisional coverage. Thanks to Dave and Don for their support. Click on their logo to the right. Other notable runs included Red Deer Alberta's Barry Daniluk going 6.36 and 6.37@216 in Top Sportsman with his monster inch Camaro. Clint Thompson goes 5.61 Steve Gasparellii goes 5.62 and both Ray Martin in his first ever weekend in TAD and Joey Severance go 5.33 in TAD. A day that looked so ugly weather wise in the morning turned into a day (after extensive track prep) with to many good runs to count. We also got a great shot of all the TA teams in attendance (below) and Hugh Ridley took care of the costs and will have it presented to Shawn at the end of the weekend.
It is very wet out on all road surfaces in the Mission area but is not raining at this time. The forecast for today sees minimal rain with less than 1mm of precip over the next 12 hours. That being said there should be racing for most of the day. I expect the track dying will take a couple hours. Last evening the rain was as bad as I have seen it. May 27, 2011 A couple corrections to the Mission City Record feature in the local paper. Ken Webster, not Ken Gilmore is in the seat in the Synoil Funny Car. Wording on The Cowie team and the Hough team should have been team mates or close friends not friendly rivals as they both run in a different class. And finally the fan that designed the decal is Bambee Haddock. The editor I sent the story to did not pick up the second edited version that had Bambee's name. For that I apologise to Bambee. Her efforts in the ordeal has been extensive and totally awesome. 9:00pm
update... Comp saw Rob Harrison take the early #1 spot with a 7.58/176. Brandon Huhtala is #2 with a 7.32. Jirka Kaplan was out for the first time in a couple years, and he went .97 to 60 feet and was on a low, low 6 second lap in his AA/AM Altered, but the Blower belt took a right turn at 250 feet. After the TA classes completed their runs, Stock was back for round two and then the skies opened up big time and the day was done. Hopefully Saturday is a good day weather wise, because the track is fast and pretty sticky considering the weather in the last month. If it is good, numbers will be impressive for sure. Oh
ya, in Top Sportsman, Barry Daniluk went an awesome 6.37/216 in his big inch Camaro.
Top Sportsman was very impressive. May 26, 2011 SpeedZone MRP picks are: TAD: Joey Severance, TAFC: Clint Thompson and Brian Hough toss up finalists, Comp: Rob Harrison, dark horse: Jirka Kaplan will he run a "5" (I think so). Top Dragster: Wilcox, Top Sportsman: Darryn O'Connor, Super Gas: Mike Ferd, Super Comp: Mike Shannon, S. Street: Ellingson, S.Stock: Faul and Stock: J. Lang. Motorcycle, Havens or local Omond (He has the new bike dialed.) Results page and NHRA preview is here.
Thursday's Test N Tune at Mission Raceway got started a couple hours late due to weather but the afternoon went pretty well with most of the TA teams in attendance making at least one hit. The day ended badly though, as Jay Syvertsen hit the wall in his new AA/PM. Jay was going to run Comp to get grade points for his chance to race in the NHRA GSA series. The new Turbo Corvette did not spoil up the turbos until 300 feet down track, the car went hard right and hit the guard rail and then went across and hit the left guard rail hard as well. The front of the car was badly damaged and Jay had a sore foot and got x-rays at the local hospital Thursday evening.
The Local paper (Mission City Record) printed two previews I put together for them. Sportsman class story and preview. The second story is a Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car preview and story including a feature with Shawn Cowie and his turn of events after a great start to the season. Click here for that story.
Today Friday looks awful, as rains are steady and look to last until noon for sure. More info later today. A Thursday gallery is here.
Las Vegas has the Rockabilly Reunion Heritage series race. A number of Canadian teams (Pro 7.0 and Funny Car) will be in attendance. Two other LODRS events are one this weekend, including Brainerd Minn., and Reading Penn. May 26, 2011 Weather today (at 9:00am) looks okay for the MRP LODRS Test N Tune. But unfortunately the overall picture is not stellar. But weatheren are known to be wrong once or twice. Stayed tuned for updates. The Eagle Motorplex final round photos are posted on the results page from last weekend's race. The Pittsburgh Nitro Jam gallery is posted. Photos are also added to the story from that race. May 25, 2011 A three hour power outage has reeked havoc with my computer this evening. Will try and get photos up from Ashcroft and Pittsburgh but no promises tonight. May 24, 2011 The IHRA Nitro Jam went to Pittsburgh for the first time this past weekend. They ran to 1000 feet as the shutdown is a little short there. A huge crowd was on hand. Full results are here. Photos will be posted Wednesday evening. It was much for of a circus type or monster truck show, as the feature real race cars were almost matched by side show cars. The Grave Digger Monster truck, Jet trucks, the 'Megasaurus' Car Crusher, a Wheelstander, Jet Golf Carts and even a Jet Bar stool entertained the fans. The Eagle Motorplex got in their two Pro Am races but the Monday Summit ET race was hampered by the rain gods all day. Saturday's results are highlighted below and posted on the results page. Sunday's race did suffer through a couple rain delays, but it did get completed by around 7:30 pm. A couple Saturday winners repeated on Sunday and they included the ultra hot Mike Shannon who left town with three wins in total, Bradee Lowe went to two finals in Jr. Dragster, Mark Faul got two wins and one runner-up on the weekend, Steve Lowe was 1 for2 in the finals in Hot Rod, and Randy Modersohn got two wins in Top Sportsman. Full results are here. Photos will be added Wednesday. At Topeka Kansas, Spencer Massey, Robert Hight, Shane Gray, Frank Manzo and Cody Perkins were the winners in the top classes. FUll results are here. Bakersfield California ran their LODRS this past weekend as well, and car counts were the topic, as TAD saw only 5 entrants in what has been a hot bed in the past for the dragster class. TAD winner was Chris Demke and the TAFC winner was John Lombardo. Full results are here. Mission Raceway gets underway Wednesday with a private track rental for a couple Alberta teams and parking for all the teams. There is a Thursday test n tune and a then the main action gets underway Friday. A preview for the top five classes will be here Wednedsday and Thursday. The weekend's coverage here at SpeedZone is sponsored by JBS Canada. May 22, 2011 Saturday at the 'Plex saw a number of first time and first time in a long time winners. Dave Stobbe won in Super Rod, his first win in ....well a long time, and his first ever Ironman. He defeated Casey Plaizier. Kirk Lanz won in Box. He defeated first time finalist Greg Doughty. Both drivers were attending their first ever IHRA event. This was actually Kirk's second only sanctioned race. His first was two weeks ago at Boise's NHRA LODRS. Bryce Lowe defeated another Lowe, (no relation though) Bradee in Jr Dragster. All the winners are here. Topeka Kansas did manage to get in all the NHRA Full Throttle qualifying despite inclimate weather all around them. Tony Schumacher, Jack Beckman, Mike Edwards, Frank Manzo and Jim Whiteley lead qualifying in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, TAFC and TAD. May 21, 2011 Eagle Motorplex Pro Am test n tune saw around 80% of the teams hit the new surface. Go here for more details. May 20, 2011 A big weekend locally, as the Eagle Motorplex hosts their first big IHRA event this weekend. A double header Pro AM. A test N tune goes today and race one is Saturday, race two is Sunday with guaranteed sportsman payouts both days. As well They are running Box (electronics) and No Box (non electronics) bracket classes and Jr Dragster, and those classes will be a triple header with a race running Monday as well (Canadian holiday). SpeedZone will be there as the official media and photo source. Flyer for the race is here. The Topeka Kansas Full Throttle event is on tap as well. Weather is much better looking then orginally forecasted. Corey Mac is back in a Top Fuel seat. He takes over the ride exited by Steve Torrence, who is putting together his own team. . May
16, 2011
May 15, 2011 9:30 pm news update: SpeedZone Magazine wants to give the people of Slave Lake Alberta prayers and hope as the entire town has been evacuated due to wild fires. A number of racers are from the area, including Top Alcohol Funny Car Owner/Driver Trevor Lebsack. Hopefully the town gets through this tragedy without any lives lost.
The Atlanta Full Throttle event is complete and Top Fuel saw Antron Brown get the win over teammate Tony Schumacher. Jack Beckman won Funny Car over Mike Neff. Jason Line won Pro Stock over his team mate Greg Anderson. In Pro Stock Motorcycle LE Tonglet won from the #1 qualifying spot. He defeated Karen Stoffer. In Pro Mod, a blown car won the event. After hitting the wall on Saturday Ed Hoover defeated Houston winner Mike Castellana. Full results are here. In Fontana, at the SPORTSnationals, eliminations only got half way completed due to heavy rains. This morning's heavy rain created a big problem for the racers, as NHRA was not able to start eliminations until about 2:00p.m.,this afternoon. Two full rounds for all classes were completed and two classes of round three wrapped up today's racing. The remaining rounds of eliminations will be completed in three different ways: Competition Eliminator will be run at the Auto Club World Finals in Pomona, CA at the end of the year. Top Sportsman; Super Stock; and Sportsman Motorcycle will run next Friday and Saturday at the LODRS 7-3 event in Bakersfield, CA The remaining rounds of eliminations in the remaining five sportsman classes will be run here starting at 10:00AM, Monday morning. Weather prediction for Monday : Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 67F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. At Norwalk Ohio, the LODRS named the Cavalcade of Stars, was washed out Sunday and is rescheduled to July 2 and 3. Great Bend Kansas also ran their LODRS on the weekend. Randy Meyer defeated Richard Putz in TAD, In TAFC Kirk Williams defeated first time finalist Billy Davis. Comp winner was Clint Neff. Other winners include Dustin Long: TS, JR Lobner: TD, Travis Nygaard: SC, Tommy Phillips: SG, Donnie Durenberger: SS, Michael Mans: Super Stock, Jimmy Holzman: Stock and Tom Gilligan in Motorcycle. No word yet from the 'Plex, we hope to have results up Monday. May 13, 2011 A notice out there to all the race teams with a low low seven or six second race cars (any style) . We have a four race series, two events at Mission and two events at the newly paved Eagle Motorplex. June 4&5 MRP, July 9&10 Eagle, Aug 20&21 Eagle , Sept 17&18 MRP. Open to any car running 6.99 and quicker. We have a guaranteed points fund for the season champion and has the potential to be the most exciting new series in the NW. My list put together shows as many as 24 cars in the NW (BC, Alberta and Washington state, are you one of them). Minimum $1,000 to win. Email me for more info. We will have a web site for the series up by next weekend. We have one event sponsored and the series has a title sponsor already. Get on board! The Web site is called NorthWestOutlaws.com. Check it out stating next week. We
have the ADRL coverage and photos from
last weekend up. As well, we will have photos from Norwalk's Cavalcade of Stars
LODRS this weekend. Don't forget the Eagle Motorplex opens this weekend. Weather
looks good, get on up there! May 11, 2011
A number of teams will invade Castrol Raceway this weekend to get their first laps down the 1/4 mile. New Funny Car teams revamped Funny Car teams and a bunch of other action. John Evanchuk will be out, The New Sitko Flopper, a bunch of Rocky Mountain teams as well. Hopefully the weather is good.
As well the Eagle Motorplex will open this weekend with the new racing surface. Hopefully a bunch of rubber gets layed down as next weekend is their IHRA Pro Am. May 10, 2011 The Visit.... I got a chance to visit the "Miracle Man" today as I spent an hour and a half with Shawn Cowie. Got there around 1:30 pm and talked to him for a half an hour and then his dad Ron arrived as well. It was an exceptional visit with a person that should not be alive. He had lost weight, obviously, since the last time I saw him, but I was impressed with how strong he actually looked. His sense of humour was very evident, and his progress appears to be on track. With both arms he has full mobility, the left one he underwent grafts that went to his right ankle area. He is pretty well immobile in the hip area and is wearing a neck (collar) brace at all times. For a few hours every day (today it was three 1/2 hours) he is in a semi sitting position. Once his hip immobilizing apparatus (forget the name of it) is removed (in anywhere from 2-5 weeks), he will start a much more active rehab. His left leg is in great shape and he moves it around without too much effort, except the pain he feels in it. The right leg is totally immobilized as it required the most extensive surgeries. It is quite swollen but infection does not seem to be an issue at this time. Overall his recovery is amazing. Ron is much more relaxed as well, as most of the concerns (Most I say, certainly not all), are dissipating. Shawn's conviction to M.A.D.D. is very strong at this time, and the family is happy to hear the girl has been charged with vehicular assault with more charges possibly pending. Her blood alcohol level was .19 almost 2 1/2 times the legal limit in Tennessee. Her first court appearance was scheduled for today. There is talk of having M.A.D.D. involved at the divisional with the decals being handed out along with donation to the charitable organization. A very good idea. There could be as many as 1000 or more decals available for the LODRS event the end of May at MRP. Also got to see Taylor and give her a hug and tell her how proud everyone is of her strength. She appeared in good spirits and was a beautiful as ever. Shawn is in an Acute care area of RCH, with nurses and aids attending to his every needs, and the nurse I met was very attentive and quite humorous, giving Shawn the gears whenever she could. His IPod and I Phone play a big role in his every day routine, and he is looking forward to being able to get on a computer. If you want to see Shawn, send a message to Taylor via the Shawn Cowie racing to recovery facebook page and she will set it up. May 9, 2011 As usual, one of the best photographers any where, Blair Alderton's (NitroImage) did a fabulaous job at Boise. Here is the link for his Boise LODRS gallery. It is spectacular! He and Paul Grant are in my opinion, THE two best photographers period. Chris Graves (Max Cackle) and Jason Ellis (Drag Monkey) are close behind, and Bill Jeffery is closing the gap. He is the newest of the group, but has taken the craft to the next level as well. The full time NHRA photogs have become complacent in their artistry (more quantity than quality) and should take a close look at the links to these websites.
May 8, 2011 Hope all the moms had a great MD. MRP was washed out again today, as the early call due to staffing requirements forced the call by 7:30am before the rains had stopped (it stopped within a half hour of the cancellation). Of course the rest of the day was dry, isn't that they way it always goes. Next up for the Lower Mainland track is the BC Lordco Nationals, LODRS event. The biggest NHRA event of the year. TAD, TAFC, Comp and all the other Sportsman classes will invade Division 6's quickest and fastest Divisional track. A big void will be the absence of the Mundie's Towing team and championship contender Shawn Cowie. His horrific accident at the hands of a suspect drunk driver has left a void in most sportsman racers and all the TA fans from year to Australia. Shawn's recovery will take months (but thank god he survived), just when everyone had huge hopes that this could have been THE year for a Canadian team. I guess it is just a reprieve for all the other teams. You all better take advantage of it, because the team will be back with a vengeance. Funny Car will be well represented with he likes of Brian Hough, Clint Thompson, John Evanchuk, Ken Webster, Jeff Ashwell and Dave Germain among others. TAD, will see local owner Hugh Ridley (with James Butler in the seat), Joey Severance, Don St. Arnaud, Greg Sereda, Ashley Bart and others. Comp will be a real battle as two time 2011 winner Rob Harrison will have a target on his back, Bob Marshall, Terry Spargo, Casey Plaizier, Dale Giroux and possibly Howie Stevens (if the car is finished). These half dozen Canadians will be as formidable as the dozen or more Americans heading North. Lots of previews for that event over the next few weeks. Ashcroft's Eagle Motorplex debuts its new surface in six days. Then a week later their big IHRA event, the Division Six Pro-Am. May 7, 2011 Mission Raceway was rained out today. Weather is slightly more promising for Sunday. The ADRL is going to be under a bit of controversy as today's event in Maple Grove event was well into eliminations when the rains ended the day. Extreme and Nitrous were just about to start the 1/4 finals whilePro Stock and 10.5 were going into the semis. Their new 2011 policy states that once a race gets started (eliminations) and can't complete on thae scheduled day, then the race will be considered complete, with purse and points being paid out to that point of the event. No winners points or r/u's, and no winners purse. They won'y ven attempt to finish a race on the vacant Sunday. The kicker is the PA announcer stated the race will be completed at the next event. This will stir it up for sure. Their new policy is perhaps the stupidest in the sport. Imagine the series winner while the guy in second, (a round or two back) had no opportunity to win the race (hypothetically he was in the final four or eight in the race that was rained out). A tough way to loose a championship. Worse yet, say it happened in the final race of the year. While they finally got around to changing the points series rules this year, to have a deal like this makes a mockery of a series that has pretty big dollars up for grabs for its series champions. My guess is they will change it for next year. A Houston
Full NHRA Throttle gallery is
here. May 6, 2011 A short update on Shawn: The family has requested that for fans, friends etc. that want to send cards and best wishes , send them to: Shawn Cowie c/o Mundies Towing 5917 Thorne Ave., Burnaby, B.C., Canada V3N 2T8. It seems the hospital is against having to sort and deliver patient mail so we thought they would be a good solution. Shawn is getting medical attention for a couple minor infections (which is to be expected, and he is responding well). He actually got to sit up in a reclining wheelchair for the first time so that is real good news, and a huge step. The ADRL is on this weekend at Maple Grove and two Extreme Pro Mods ran in the 3.50's at 210. That is the equivalent of a 5,40 pass in the TAFC. Absolutely incredible! An Extreme Nitrous Pro Mod went in the 3.70's and another went 200 mph. Paving is Complete at the' Plex. I can't wait to get up there.
May 2, 2011 NHRA's weekend wrap-up is posted with final round photos.
Canadian Jeff Arend wins his first race since 2009. In Funny Car like Pro Stock, a winner can come from anywhere in the field. (Houston photos courtesy Bill Jeffery, copyrightSpeedZone Magazine) Congrat's to the two winners at Boise from BC, as it sets up great for the Mission LODRS in four weeks. Rob Harrison with his hottest start to a season in Comp and Al Omond in Motorcycle. I talked to Al at the 1st Mission Race and he is very focused this year, wanting to run his bike on a 8.20 index for most of the year. He also won the first two Mission races. That makes him undefeated in 9 or 10 rounds of racing so far. Harrison is 10-1 in rounds won/lost May 1, 2011 9:00pm update I did have a chance to talk to Ron Cowie at length Saturday morning after he had settled in from his trip back from Nashville. The family as well as Bill and Shirleen Moore had a chance to talk to and see Shawn as he is getting settled in at the Hospital. The hospital chosen was due to the Bone Surgeon's reputation there (it will be disclosed very soon so all his supporters can visit). The next few days will be spent going over all the aspects of the injuries, how the surgeries went, what else has to be done, and how Shawn moves forward in his recovery. No word on how long his stay will be in the hospital before his lengthy rehab. The recovery to the right leg is still extensive and not written in stone. Shawn's scars and scrapes and road rash has healed almost 100%. just the back has some healing to go. His neck and back are areas that need time, as they were areas that did not get a lot of attention with all the other injuries. He does have a couple fractured vertebrae in his lower back and one in his neck as well. Of course all of the efforts have been spent on the lower legs and hip area. We will have all the updates throughout the week, and as soon as visitors are allowed we will let you know here first. When he can have visitors will be announced early in the week. The family wants everyone to know how humbled they are from all the support, prayers and best wishes. May 1, 2011
Word has it that the two Jets at the Tradex put on quite the show Saturday Night. I had planned on going over last night but the Hockey game took precedence. Anyway the thrusts from the afterburners literally picked up the 15 tondumpster and flipped it over like a cheap tent. The cops showed up and were wondering what the heck was going on, some sort of invasion. It was to say the least, spectacular! The four cars there (the Fire 4 Hire Jet team) will be putting on a huge show at Mission Raceway the last weekend of August. They may actually be at MRP this coming weekend (Friday is almost a certainty) if you want to check them out a couple months early. They have new drivers and a completely redone Her-A-Cane Dragster (Heather's ride). Edit: May 2 9:00pm. forgot to mention Rob Harrison's win in Comp. The N. Van driver is on a roll so far this year. Congrat's to the Harrison Lougheed team. (He is added below now) Boise is complete. In the Nitro Funny Car final Jason Rupert defeated Mark Hengtes 5,90 to a slowing 6.06. Hentges had been strong all day but the car started to smoke at half track and the engine appeared to go away. Rupert has been very strong all year long. There were two BC winners. Local Al Omond won Motorcycle. His first major win in a long time. Congrat's to Al. In Comp Rob Harrison made it two race wins already in 2011. One National and one Divisional. He took out Aaron Strong in the final of Comp, driving his trusty Escort (sic). Division Seven's Steve Williams won Super Gas. Local Driver Kirk Lanz who was racing in his first ever Divisional event went to round two and lost a real close one as his competitor had a .018 package. He would have won at least three or four other pairings with his .06 package. Justin Bond could not get past his first round match up in Top Dragster with his brand new RED. Other winners include Mick Alley in Stock, Travis Rungguth won Super Street, Jackie Alley won Super Stock for an all family affair in the two Stock classes. Jake Niebauer won Top Sportsman. Medicine Hat's Mike Williams was a semi finalist. Brian Prezzler won Super Comp. Mike Henderson defeated Albertan Garth Giroux in Top Dragster. At Houston, Del Worsham continued his not streak as he won for the third time this year and take a solid lead in the overall points standing Runner-up Larry Dixon (his third r/u this year) puts the Al- Anabi team way out in front in Top Fuel. Jeff Arend got the win in Funny Car with a a double red light final round. Mike Neff left way early and Arend was only a couple hun red, but it did not matter as it was early well before he left the starting line. Vince Nobile was in his second final round in Pro Stock, and this time he got the win. He defeated Roger Brodgon in his home town race. Jim Whiteley won TAD over Mike Manners. Tony Bartone defeated Steve Burck in TAFC. In Pro Stock Motorcycle Andrew Hines took out Michael Phillips. In Pro Mod it was an all Al-Anabi affair much like Top Fuel. Mike Castellana def. Khalid Balooshi, who was in his third final this year.
April
30, 2011 April 30, 2011
The BC Classic and Custom Car Show was rocking last night. 8-10 Nitro Cars in the "Cackle Fest" and two Big Jets, and I mean biigg..... (A Tank and a 4-Trax Tank) lit up the sky (the cops even came when they heard the Tank cannon go off).
One of the best kept secrets in the NW was also on display when SpeedZone's first shot was taken of a very nice McAmis Pro Mod owned by two local guys. The car has one lap on it and the two are trying to figur out is whether to raceit or not.,Will have photos posted Later today or Sunday.
Lots of request to find out more about Shawn and where he is recovering at. I hope to have more info to release today or tomorrow. The first divisional in the NW is on this weekend at Boise. JBS Canada is the sponsor of SpeedZone's coverage. Go here for the results. Houston results (NHRA Full Throttle) are here. April 28, 2011 8:55pm update.....Yahoo!!!!! Shawn Cowie is on his way home!!! After 20 days in Nashville's Vanderbilt University Hospital, Shawn will be back home Friday afteroon. He will be in a local hospital which I will disclose once I get the okay. Everyone's prayers have been answered. But now comes the hard part for Shawn.
Eagle Motorplex important update: Due to paving and upgrades, the Plex will not have their sceduled test n tune this weekend.
A busy weekend coming up as the first Div. 6 Lucas Oil event is up at Boise. Bill Jeffery (photog extraordinaire) in Houston for the O'Reilly Nationals We will have all the action, and David Smith (our other fantastic photog) may head to Indy for their Lucas Oil event. Here we have a Street Legal Friday night at MRP, and the BC Classic and Custom Car show at the Abbotsford Tradex. The final word on IHRA membership for the Pro Am race at the Plex. Memberships or licensing from the IHRA is not mandatory this year. But if you want to collect points for the IHRA Division six point series you need a Membership (double header at Ashcroft and Edmonton and a one single header at Edmonton as well for a five race total.) April 27, 2011 The BC Classic and Custom Car show is up this weekend. Go here for all the info. April 26, 2011 As I posted earlier I expected John Medlen to move to the R2B2 team and in fact he has been signed by Roger Burgess to head up R&D and assist the tuners. I for one would like to see Medlen right that ship. It has nothing to do with In N Out being the best burgers anywhere. Ya right! Note on the IHRA membership. Just waiting for absolute confirmation on the membership requirements. I recieved an email from a racer he got that stated (through the Div 6 IHRA director) that you don't need one THIS YEAR, unless you are chasing points. To be continued. The Eagle MotorPlex Pro Am Race, the Victoria Day long weekend (May 20-23) requires an IHRA Membership. Call the IHRA office to get your membership. NHRA Licensing and Chassis Cert is valid for that race (but you should get that done as soon as you can as well). Donna Harper at (419) 660-4219 is the IHRA membership contact she will expedite the membership. Here email is dharper@feldinc.com Shawn's surgery went well Monday and he is resting. We will have the complete update this evening. April 24, 2011 Happy Easter everyone. Shawn Cowie goes in to what is hoped to be the final major surgery tomorrow morning. They will work on the right leg (primarily the ankle area). He was taken off the respirator again on Friday after a few tough days with an infection of some sort. Antibiotics aided in the recovery and Shawn was in real good spirits today as he watched ESPN2 and the Sportsman coverage from Z-Max. Anyone who things the power of the people don't help in recovery are not paying attention to Shawn and his ordeal. His dedicated Facebook page has done wonders for not only Shawn and the family, but all his friends and fans over the last couple weeks. Well over 600 people are part of his recovery page, and they continue to talk chat and respond, prayers are said hourly, and everyone will be doing that over the next 24hrs for sure. I had a great talk with Wally as he made his way back home after the ordeal. He and Nik drove back home from Nashville starting on Tuesday and they arrived back Friday night. He is tired and mentally exhausted but he like the rest of us is hoping and praying. The recovery for Nick is also of prime importance, as his emotional state is still very fragile. We will offer up more info Monday afternoon when we hear the latest updates. Mission Raceway ran their quickest schedule in recent memory, as they ran their complete program on Easter Sunday and were done by 2:40pm. 10 classes, two hits and into elims. (the breakage bunny was on MRP's side). Doorslammers ran two races on the weekend, one for points and one a cash bash. Jack Springer won the Saturday cash bash and won round one on Sunday to go 10-0 in elimionations dating back to last season's finale. Today's race winner was Terry Langdon Davies. He defeated Rob Charlton who was the runner-up on Saturday. He was also the runner-up at the finale last year. What's that saying, something about a bridesmaid? The bracket winners on Saturday and Sunday are posted in the MRP zone. April 21, 2011 Mike Strasburg is planning to appeal his NHRA suspension. John Medlen is gone from the DSR Funny Car tuning stable. The Napa flopper will be tuned by committee until a full time tuner is found. Maybe the R2B2 team (Melanie Troxel's), and the In-n-Out flopper could use John. She has failed to qualify for all four Full Throttle events so far this year. Is her current crew chief Aaron Brooks job in jeopardy? A 4Wide gallery is posted. A final wrap up from the 4Wide's is posted. SpeedZone's complete weekend Z-Max photo shoot is here. An update on Shawn as the surgery was cancelled yesterday. His is suffering from minor respiratory issues and the doctors want him at full strength before this final round of major surgery takes place. The weather looks good for this weekend's season opener at MRP. Friday test n tune looks good, and Saturday weather is solid as well. Hopefully Sunday is better than the forecast. At the Plex, the machines are grinding up the old pavement this week, and then they will be laying the asphalt next possibly on the weekend. We will try and get photos up of the surface work (the batch that was send to me I could not open. John Evanchuk has a new body and very nice paint as well as some new engine components this year, and his crew Chief Bill Moore came just short of saying the Alberta driver will be in the 5.50's.
April 20, 2011 Todays' surgery for Shawn had been postponed until early nexy week. No word on why the change, but we will try and get that info to you soon. The paving machinery is at the 'Plex. Here is their 2011 schedule poster. April 18, 2011 Happy Birthday to my sister Debbie. Just finished talking to Bill, and Shawn's surgery was a long one. They got all of the knee work they wanted to do, and it went well. The surgeon was hoping to do the procedure with plates instead of cement and he was able to do that, so he was stoked. The skin, muscle and blood vessel grafts will be done on Wednesday, as the 11.5 hrs today was deemed enough! Wednesday surgery will be around 5 hrs. if they get the O.R. They also adjusted the screws in his hip to give him slightly more mobility (30 degrees upright) that will also allow them to take a closer look at his neck injury. Good news today, but he still has more time in the OR they are well into 20 hrs surgery already. Man, Shawn will have lots to talk about down the road. Get some rest buddy! We will have the final wrap up and more photos from Charlotte Tuesday April 17, 2011
8:30 pm update... Shawn Cowie's 7 day ordeal is posted (so far) with thanks to Ron, Bill and Wally plus a little help from Face Book.
Funny Car final sees Jack Beckman get his first win of the season and the first for a non Force Flopper. (Smith photos) The 4 wide Nationals are complete and again Del Worsham is the big winner in Top Fuel. It is his second win of the year and he extends a pretty solid lead in Top Fuel. Team mate Larry Dixon sits in second place. In Funny Car, Jack Beckman got his first win of the year Bob Tasca was the runner-up. Greg Anderson won Pro Stock in a thriller of a final. Three of the four cars were within a half car length at the finish line. Greg Stanfield was the runer-up and Dave Connolly was third (but technically a semi finalist). Full results here. 11:00 am update... A couple more delays in the Shawn Cowie one week timeline story. Just got off the phone with CC Bill (95 minute chat) and a bunch more to add to the story. To top it off Bob Wilson my journalist Cextraordiare is close to completing his feature on the Cowie race team (concentrating on the ever quiet (ya I got 90 minutes on the Phone with him this morning, amazing) Bill Moore. One of the aspects of the team is who they have quietly gone about getting to the point they have in a relatively short span. In the three years heading into this season they have gone 8, 4, and 3rd in the national standings , not to mention what they are doing this year. A team that has shown their actions speak louder than words. Sometimes much to the chagrin of a media guy like me that loves to expose the world to the exploits of deserving teams like the Cowie's. To prove to you how humble they are, Shawn was apologetic to Bill and others in the team for having the accident, and putting their chase this year on a hiatus. Talk about unselfish! Anyway after the long talk with Bill we will work on the accident time line and what the future (at this time) has in store. The story has taken on legs by itself thanks to social media and all the fans. We at Speedzone will try and give it the justice it deserves. Sundy eliminations are underway at Charlotte with Top Fuel, Funny car, and Pro Stock round one complete. April 15, 2011 7:00pm update....4Wide Nationals final qualifying....Del Worsham, John Force and Jason Line lead final qualifying at the Visityrtlebeach.com Nationals. Worsham went 3.78@325.77 (the 3rd fastest ever and career best et and mph).
Tony Schumacher is #2 with a 3.798/326.71. John Force laid down a very quick 4.056/315.19 just a few ticks quicker than teammate Robert Hight (4.062/313).
Cruz Pedregon is continuing his solid start with a 4.064/307.44. In Pro Stock, Jason Line took the #1 spot (6.562/210.97) away from his teammate Greg Anderson in the final qualifier.
Anderson went 6.566/210.37 and Mike Edwards is #3 with a 6.573/210.80. In TAFC, Frank Manzo was the #1 qualifier with a 5.50 but he llaid down a stellar 5.440/265 in his round one victory. Todd Veney is #2 with a 5.58. A/Fuelers were #'s 1 through 5 with Monroe Guest and Randy Meyer in the 5.20's a 5.276 and 5.295 respectively.
A few of the cars at Xmax carrying the Racing to Recovery decals include Frank Manzo above left, Randy Meyer's A/Fueler includes the Niver decal along side as well. 10:00 am update...... Had a long talk with Ron Cowie in Nashville from morning. The family and Shawn are getting prepared for his marathon surgery Monday. We talked about the accident, the phone call minutes after it happened, the aftermath, the not knowing as they headed down to Nashville last Sunday, the worries, the miracle, the optimism, the strength of Shawn, the positive outlook and what the future holds. We will have the full conversation posted later today.
Jackie Fricke and Dave De Angelis in the Chicken Chokers car. The 4 Wides are up this weekend. Visitmyrtlebeach.com Nationals in Carolina see the return of the oft criticized but certainly unique race where the pro classes qualify and race on Sunday on the widest track in North America. Four lanes and four cars side by side showcased close to 30,000 hp at one time. It is sensory overhaul to the maximum degree. Those that don't like it are likely against anything new like say computers, microwaves, flat screen TVs etc. In reality in order for the sport to advance to the next level, risks have to be made, and thinking outside the box. That is why Bruton Smith (the owner of three of the best drag strips in the NHRA) is so important to the sport of Drag Racing . He takes risks he spends money and he makes the sport more legitimate that any other track owner. SpeedZone Magazine's Myrtle Beach 4 Wides Nationals coverage is here. (Presented by Sonny's Race Engines).
The latest word on Shawn Cowie and his recovery is building more steam and more positive outlook every day. The Facebook page dedicated to his ordeal is huge. Shawn is actually preparing himself for his extensive rehab and wants to get back on the track THIS YEAR, if you can believe it. Check out the page (link above). The decals that Bambee Haddock (Ed Hauter's daughter) and Mindy Hough (the best half of the Hough Racing TAFC team) have designed are very cool and is already showing itself at this weekend's 4 Wide Nationals. Racers have them on their cars showing support for one of the top TAD teams in North America. Shawn is preparing for is next round of surgeries on Monday and it is a big one. 12 hours under the knife to hopefully repair the extensive damage to the right leg from the knee down. April 14, 2011 A huge announcement for a new race series debuting this year. The newly founded "NW Outlaws" have a confirmed four race schedule, with two events at Mission and two at the Plex. The series is proud to announce Summit International has signed on as the series title sponsor for the 2011 season. They will also sponsor a big dollar shoot-out for the August 21-22 event at the Plex in Ashcroft. That race should total close to 5,000.00 for the event. The series will revolve around fast blower and turbocharged cars. They can be Rear Engined dragsters, Front Engined dragster, Altereds/Bantoms/Roadsters, Funny Cars and Pro Mod style race cars. If it runs in the 6's, and has a power adder your are invited to race with us. There will be a points fund at the end of the year for the top 5 (at least) for teams that sign up as members (membership not mandatory) and at least two series bbq's (one at each track). The Canada West Doorslammers assoc is one of the most successful series in the NW and this series is looking for similar success. There is no conflict as the cars in the new class do not run with the 'Slammers and there is a need for a class for fast cars with power adders. Most blowers cars can't be as consistent as the big inch style of bullet prominent in Top Sportsman and Top Dragster. If you have a fast car (we don't care about body style), and want to try a new series, email us here and we will let you know all the details.
April 13 2011 7:55 pm update.....Talked to Bill 20 minutes ago, had a great talk, and he is extremely positive based on his talks with the family today...... Shawn's surgery's went very well today and he is off the ventilator. They may put it back on though as his first comments were, "when can I get out of here"! The major surgery left is next Monday went they do a complete tune up and bearing change to his right leg. Skin grafts, muscle reconstructipn and bone repairs mean it may be a 12 hour session. Most of the news is optimistic (the doctors and the nurses are astounded by his strength) and there is little talk of amputating any more. The family is very humbled by the support shown via facebook and the internet in general, and Shawn was not believing all the hoopla around this deal. He will rest and get strength over the next four days to prepare for the most crtical of operation's to come.
8:00 am update...Shawn is in for surgery again today. They are working on his leg/knee area. Will keep you informed. April 12, 2011 The details of the 'Plex (Ashcroft) Pro Am event the May long weekend (Canadian holiday) is here. Warren Johnson put his Pro Stocker onto its lid testing at Atlanta today. No injuries, but the car is wounded. Hey Bob Koko, you better hide the Grand Am. His first serious accident in way of a decade. Updated from Nik's Facebook 7:15 pm .......Extra Extra read all about it!! Again we are all leaving the hospital with ear to ear smiles on our faces! Tonight in our visit with Shawn, unfortunately he still is requiring some assistance from a ventilator so he is still unable to talk but he was awake, alert and as Mom and Tay were the last in with him they said 'Good Night I Love you' his response 'blink blink blink blink' translation,'I Love you too'. Nik.... Shawn Cowie update 9:45 am...... A long talk with Wally this morning and he reiterated the surgery was a long successful deal yesterday. 7+ hrs and the doctor accomplished more than he thought he would in the first operation. The surgeon did more than expected as Shawn stayed strong. But after that long it was time to give everyone a rest. He is anticipated continuing Wednesday, but it may be delayed based on Shawn's condition tomorrow, and other factors. The main thing right now is Shawn condition is not life threatening which is the most important aspect. They did do a 30 minute procedure this morning to place a filter in his system to keep the blood flowng and to prevent any clotting and that went well. The damage to the lower right leg is massive and the surgeries required to fix the issues in the knee area are extensive. But the surgeon is well aware that Shawn is a race car driver and knows the legs are a pretty important part of driving, he said he has tricks up his sleeve and they will go in with every expectation of saving his leg.
Winners circle at Phoenix Last night, Shawn did respond to Ron and Mary Anne (mom) and to Taylor (fiance) as well, and that is a good sign for no head trama, that is such a relief, as his motorcycle helmet was badly damaged. His stay at this hospital will likely be a lengthy one., It is a very good hospital with many of the best surgeons available. The family went to the site of the accident yesterday and saw the whole scenario, it was scary, how far he fell and how close it was to being on concrete. He did fall in some bushes and it was Nik who found Shawn. He is so fortunate that the was not killed. Nik had said that the car that hit Shawn, was within an arms length (Nik said he could of touched the car) of doing the same to him, and it was travelling very fast. He is suffering (mentally) as much as Shawn is suffering physically, and he too needs our prayers. The plan is for Wally and Jordy (Nik's brother) and Shawn's Brother in-law, and possibly Nik to head back West with the rig this weekend. More later today April 11, 2011 8:30 Update.... sorry I didn't post this at 6:30, but I was away from the computer for two hours. Anyway, I talked to Bill around 6:30 and after 6+ hours of surgery Shawn is resting and has pins in his pelvis, ankle, and femur. He will get a day of rest and the surgery will continue on Wednesday. The lead surgeon is very concerned about the damage to the bones around the knee. It's extensive damage; the worst he has ever seen. He is trying to figure out a plane to fix it. According to Ron (through Bill), the surgeon is very forthright and honest which is hard but also good to know up front. The knee damage is very bad and the leg is not out of the woods yet. If everything goes well he will be confined to a wheelchair for 3-4 months at least. 6:00 Update.... (This is off of Nik's FaceBook Page) "Big relief... Shawn is out of surgery everything went better then could have been expected. Tay and Fam are doing very good as well!! still a lot of bumps in the road ahead to over come but headed in the right direction!". Great news for sure 5:30 Update... Talked to Bill Moore, and Shawn's surgery has been extended twice. That is a good sign. More information when we have it. 12:00 noon update.... Talked to crew chief Bill Moore and his report is guarded but optimistic as the surgery continues. When he hears more he wll let me know, and I in turn will keep you informed. He stated the nurses were calm and positive while the doctors were playing their reserved strategy. Support has come in from BAE's Brad Anderson as he has contacts from some of the best ortho surgeons in the country, Steve Federlin through Shawn's fiance's father offered the family support and the list goes on. The ITA message board is amazing in response to the support for Shawn. Go here for all the comments prayers and support. Shawn just went into surgery at Vanderbuilt 9:00 am pacific time, and according to Wally, the longer the surgery the better. Time to pray. Get well cards and wishes can be sent to : Shawn Cowie Vanderbuilt University Hospital 10th floor 1161 21st Ave. S. Nashville TN 37232 (no flowers) April 10, 2011 5:50 pm update.... Just got off the phone with both Shawn's dad (Ron) and Nick's dad (Wally) in Dallas waiting for their connection to Nashville. Shawn is steadily improving according to Ron and Wally. Nick who is at Shawn's side is constantly calling to update both fathers on the current condition. Nick was not injured the car that hit Shawn just missed Nick (luckily). Shawn's strength is what is helping him to fight off the injuries. The internal bleeding was a major concern and that has been stopped with very little seeping. Everyone is much more optimistic compared to 8 hours ago, and for that I am grateful. I am selfish a bit in this as I was so stoked on the team's performance so far this year. But after thinking about that my mind goes to Shawn's health and welfare and it is more optimistic than earlier. Keep Shawn and Nick in your thoughts and prayers. 2:00 PM UPDATE.... Just had a chance to get word from Bill Moore and he said Shawn is doing much better now then the first report, but the leg is still in question This one is bad.... Have been trying to come to grips on this and trying to get info to be accurate, but according to Bill Moore the crew chief for Shawn Cowie and the Mundies Towing TAD, Shawn was in a serious motocycle accident last night in Nashville TN. The team was scheduled to race next weekend at the 4 Wide Nationals in Carolina. Shawn and Brother in Law Nick Duperon (Wally's son) were struck from behind by by a car on Interstate 40 at 10:30 pm. Shawn is in critical condition with a serious leg injury and there is a chance Shawn may loose a leg. This from the wkrn news NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A professional drag racer remains hospitalized after his motorcycle was struck by a car on Interstate 40 overnight. The accident occurred around 10:30 p.m. near the Rosa Park exit. Police have identified the driver of the motorcycle as professional drag racer Shawn Cowie, 29. Police told Nashville's News 2 Cowie was thrown from his motorcycle and over the edge of the overpass after being struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Analisa Rameirez, 20. Shawn fell 27 feet over the overpass railing and landed on shrubbery on 21st ave. below Authorities said after Rameirez's vehicle struck the motorcycle, she lost control of her car before sliding into a guardrail and being ejected from her vehicle. Both victims sustained serious injuries and were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Cowie and Rameirez both remain hospitalized. Officers reported that Ramirez was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and that she smelled of alcohol at the time of their arrival. A blood sample was taken for analysis. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. April 8, 2011 Latest news......... The latest Cowie blog is posted. Great news from the Eagle Motorplex is the track resurfacing will start April 18. Hopefully with weather cooperating it will be completed in two or three days. The facility will also see a bunch of new pro style pits and improve return road paving. A bunch of things on the go for the desert facility as it debuts as an IHRA track. Their IHRA Pro Am event (like an NHRA Open series) is May 22-23. On the West Coast, MRP was forced to cancel this weekend's opening drag racing event racing due to cool temperatures and a lot of rain this past week. The pits are saturated and the temperature (track and air) is just too cool for the surface to be sticky. They will try again next weekend for the Friday night street legal and then the following weekend will be the new opener.
April 4, 2011
Steve Gasparelli's early departure from the Vegas National last Thursday to be with his father who was on his last days, was well thought out. Father Lou passed away this morning. A true pioneer of drag racing and one of the most respected Top Alcohol owners, drivers and tuners. He will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Steve and the entire family. April 3, 2011 Robert Hight, Antron Brown Mike Edwards, Khalid Balooshi, Shawn Cowie and Tony Bartone are all winners at Vegas. Sportsman winners include the brothers Lang from Washington State, Dan Fletcher, Justin Morgan and Dallas Glenn. Eliminations coverage here. April 2, 2011 According to Vegas sources Mike Strasburg has been suspended by the NHRA for failing to comply to the NHRA drug testing within the required 24 hr time span. Automatic suspension is one year, but it is open to appeal. Dixon, Force, Edwards, Burgess, Cowie and Bartone lead final qualifying at Vegas in their respective classes. Mark Sanders clocks a 5.69/240 in round one Saturday at San Antonio. Hope the IHRA finds nothing wrong with the run.
Larry Dixon, Cruz Pedregon and Mike Edwards lead Friday's Pro qualifying in super hot no barometor conditions. Friday's Vegas results are posted. At San Antonio, the Nitro Jam saw Peter Gallen took the win in Friday's second round with another 5.7 pass at over 252 mph. Bruce Litton won both Top Fuel runs runnong a best of 4.77. Mike Manners won the Pro Fuel rounds and Jeff Bennett won the AA/FA battles. In Nitro Harley Jay Turner ripped off a 6.49 to take the Harley battle. Results are here. April 1, 2011 Have a safe day and watch out!!! Remember it is April fools day. A great preview to this weekend's Summitracing.com Nationals by Bob Wilson. March 31, 2011 A bit of bad news from Vegas as the Gasparelli team arrived at Vegas and was preparing to unload for this weekend's race, when word came that team leader Lou Gasparelli was released from hospital to spend his remaining days with his family. Speedzone prayers go out to Lou and the entire Gasparelli family. Div 6 photographer Rich Carlson is going to miss the Vegas National for the first time as he recovers from LABYRINTHITIS - it is a "inner ear" disorder and renders one dizzy and out of sorts. Get well Rich!
The final wrap up from Tucson's Nitro Jam is posted. A busy weekend as the NHRA is in Vegas baby! Fan fests and autograph sessions are on tonight at 'New York-New York' and the 'World of Coca Cola'. Go to NHRA.com for more info. SpeedZone will have their page (sponsored by Sonny's) up for Vegas Thursday night. Tony Pedregon has signed the Armored group (Armor All) and STP to a multi year deal. This deal goes along with the sponsorship Tony secured with American Racing Wheels and Wix Filters earlier this year. Is this the wave of the future as the US ecomony is still trying to rebound. Gary Beck is the honored legend for the NHRA 60th celebration at the NW Nationals in Seatle the first weekend of August. The IHRA is at San Antonio this weekend for their fourth race of the year. Based on the nine race schedule the season is almost half way through. I was thinking they would add a race to Memphis, but not yet. March 28, 2011 Two feature stories on a couple of THE top running NFC's in North America, Peter Gallen and Tim Boychuk. A belated One on One Interview with John "Bodie" Smith. A Tucson gallery is here. A March Meet Sportsman gallery is here. Las Vegas Divisional wrap up is here. Congrat's To Joey Severance on his win at Vegas. Fuur of the top seven toughest Blown cars in the counrty competed and he got the win over Chris Demke in the final. Severance was lucky to get out of round one as he actually lost the race but was reinstated when his competitor Don St. Arnaud was disqualifed for failing fuel check. Likely a smidgen over the % limit. Tough luck for the Sophomore Driver from Edmonton. Don is going to be a serious player on the West Coast. Jay Payne won TAFC over John Lombardo Jr. He got the win from the #1 qualifying spot. NW Div 6 2010 champ Brandon Huthala won Comp and perennial champion Jody Lang won Stock. All the winners are here.... March 26, 2011 The quickest and fastest TAFC Driver's of all time are now listed. Kris Krabill won the re-scheduled March Meet on a giant holeshot over #1 qualifier Jason Rupert. 5.90-5.82. Rick White defeated Brett Harris 5.70 - 5.78. Peter Gallen kicked more ass again in the IHRA with a great 5.77 to 5.80 for Mike McIntire. Bobby Lagana won again (race 2 today). Boychuk went 5.83, Day went 5.89, Mike Savage went 5.86, Roger Garten went 5.99, Sanders went 6.10 and Adams went 6.31. One of the best rounds ever in IHRA NFC racing. Jeff Bennett won AA/FA and Steve Dorn won Fuel Harley. Winners circle photos are here. Shawn Cowie remained the #1 qualifier in TAD. He made three 5.30 laps. Joey Severance is #2 with a 5.38. Jay Payne is #1 in TAFC. Craig Olson brushed the wall with his new 68 Camaro. After a couple 6.3's with his 938 Sonny's Bullet, he got loose in the final qualifer. The car is already on its way to Jerry Bickel's shop. His new Top Sportsman Camaro is simply awesome. Thanks to Todd Hoerner for the pictures.
938 cubes is substantial. Hey Frank Tamez you have major competition buddy. 6.37/218 right up there as one of the quickest naturally aspirated convertor runs.
March 25, 2011 Tucson Friday coverage is here. A pretty good night at Tucson with their biggest crowd possibly ever, James Day in the War Eagle car dominated both runs Friday with two 5.80's wins. Peter Gallen who was not one of the quickest two in round one went low in the second round with a 5.86. Bobby Lagana wins both TF runs, Ron Maroney hit the wall in the Super Nanook, He was okay but the team did not make it back for round two.... but a bit of controversy around the tower as track manager Bernie Longjohn was let go Friday... we'll try and get more on this story. At Vegas, Shawn Cowie sits #1 in TAD with the only 5.30 lap (a 5.36/268). Jay Payne leads TAFC with a 5.59. Craig Olson leads TS with an unreal 6.37/218. Not sure if it is with the 1005 cu in monster will confirm the bullet tomorrow. TD leader is Denny Hills with a 6.14/224. March 25, 2011 This a busy weekend in South West USA as the IHRA in Tucson competes against the NHRA in Las Vegas. Having the IHRA debut in the desert States on the same weekend as the NHRA hosts a large Sportsman event is certainly going to strain the car counts. What the IHRA did was limit the classes to the Brackets, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman and Jrs. to go along with the usual feature nitro classes. These IHRA events (Nitro Jams are all about the evening shows). Having the opportunity to host a large feature event is something that was too big for a mid size track like Tucson to pass up, so the hope is that the fans will come out and support the event. The NHRA Las Vegas Divisional comes a week before their Summit National event so the Sportsman teams can make the NHRA duo and 10-12 day affair, giving a fairly large car count for both, at the expense of the car count for the Nitro Jam in Tucson. March 23, 2011 We have updated the Top Alcohol Dragster lists for the quickest and fastest of all time! For the A/Fuelers the list is for all drivers who have gone quicker than 5.309. For the Blown contingent, it is for drivers that have gone 5.399 and quicker (I will make both lists the same as far as the minimum goes in the next week or so). Back in 2006 when the list was last done, 30 BAD drivers had gone quicker than 5.399, now the list has 54 names on it, including Canadian Shawn Cowie who is the quickest BAD of all time. (the top 30 is .047 quicker than in 2006). How long will Cowie's et hold? The last time the quickest of all time was run was in 2006 by another Canadian, Ken Perry (5.255). For the A/Fuelers, the stats show 56 drivers have gone quicker than 5.301. When the list was last done, there were 50 drivers who had gone quicker than 5.399. Only 23 drivers had gone 5.300 when the list was last done in 2006. Now the top 23 are quicker than 5.230 (a .07 improvement) That despite the more restrictive rules with % (changed in 2008) and the non chilled fuel. Both types of TAD's have made strides in both performance and consistency. TAFC will be list in the next few days. March 21, 2011 Great and well deserved accolades to A/Fuel owner/driver Don St. Arnaud on the recognition by Bob Frey at Drag Race Central. Have a read and congrats to the Edmontonian. March 20, 2011 The March Meet was again affected by weather as a major storm is in the area Sunday. The event has been postponed until next weekend (the same weekend at the Tucson Nitro Jam where a few of the Funny Car teams are entered). The Saturday results and round one of eliminations are posted. Photos and round details are included. Tim Nemeth ran his career best 5.850 to qualify #7. He lost in round one. Other Canadianshad mixed results. Boychuk ended up #3 with a 5.79. He won his round one match-up and has to decide on Tucson or coming back for the completion of this event. Claude Lavoie and Todd Lesenko both failed to qualify. Jeef Arend a Canadian from back East is in the Dale Pulde car this weeekend and he won his round one matchup as well, but the War Eagle car also has to decide on Tucson or Bakersfield next weekend. The "All Star" Blue Max team consisting of Ron Capps and the Worsham's won their round oen match-up but blew the body off the car when the fuel system went lean. March 18, 2011
Thursday test n tune and photos are posted. March 16, 2011 Should have a few photos from the March Meet up later today. Click on the logo (above) for the preview. The final wrap up from Gainesville is posted with photos
Gallerys: Pits and legends and cackle fest. Pro Mod, Pros, Sportsman and TA.
This weekend is the March Meet and we have two photogs and journalists there giving you the most extensive coverage for the March Meet on the West Coast.
March 13, 2011 2:30 update... Del Worsham wins his first Top Fuel title. He defeats Tony Schumacher. Mike Neff is solid in his return to piloting a nitro flopper, as he defeats a resurging Cruz Pedregon. Jason Line is undefeated in Pro Stock as he defeats his teammate Greg Anderson in the final. Karen Stoffer goes red in PSM and loses to Eddie Krawiec. Chris Demke wins TAD with a 5.29 over a 5.30 by Randy Meyers. Micky Ferro gets a holeshot win in TAFC 5.57 over a quicker 5.54 by Paul Gill. Khalid Balooshi wins Pro Mod (after defeating Canadian Kenny Lang in the semis) in his nitrous equipped Camaro over Californian Danny Rowe. 2:00pm update..Check out this final in Gainesville in Super Comp...wow!
Finals are just underway. No real upsets in any of the seven pro classes except and this is a big except.... Frank Manzo after hitting all the high notes in TAFC qualifying and a round one win, loses to Paul Gill in round two. March 12, 2011 Qualifying is complete at the Gators, and the non blower Pro classes are the most notable. Pro Stock and PS Motorcycle have new et and mph records. TAFC also has a new record with the "Ace" Frank Manzo going 5.432/268 in his round one win Saturday night. Click on the logo for the SpeedZone coverage.
A busy weekend for SpeedZone Magazine's Pat Welsh. Pat takes the time to talk to three pro drivers. Double
duty driver Melanie Troxel's Interview is here. Early cool weather made the Top Alky teams very aggressive and a number of TAFC's made career runs. Cassie Simonton, (new crew chief Randy Anderson), John Bojec, Mark Billington, Swede Ulf Leanders and Alexis DeJoria (again this time a 5.447/267.91). Frank Manzo unfortunately smoked the tires (What would have he ran?). In TAD, the big hitters, Chris Demke (went hard to the tree), Shields slowed to a 5.43, but his run was the final of the Division 2 event from last week that got postponed. He defeated Randy Meyer so now has two wins on the season. Bill Reichert went a 5.37, so no improvements. With 550 feet of corrected air the Pro Stock and the Pro Stock Motorcycles should fly. We have an exclusive interview with Canadian Kenny Lang (from Speedzone scribe Pat Welsh) as he debuts his new Pro Mod Camaro in the GSA Pro Mod series. He currently sits in the #3 spot with a 5.89. We will post that interview later today. March 11, 2011
Apparently the Gators are fast.... Three Pro Stocks in the 6.40's and as couple Pro Stock Motorcycles in the 6.7's. New records for Hector Arana and Roger Brogdon. In TAFC, Alexa De Joria ran a career best 5.488@266 but Frank Manzo took the et record away form Tony Bartone with an unreal 5.437@268. He was too fast for the MPH record. (his earlier 264 is not fast enough fo a backup). The Fuel classes are not real quick yet (3.81 TF and 4.03 for FC), likely some overpowering issues. Duane Shields went 5.207, Bill Reichert went 5.24 and Chris Demke went 5.255. Click on the gators logo above for SpeedZone coverage. March 10, 2011 The photo highlight blog from the lens of Bill Jeffery is posted. It is based on the highlights of the 2010 season. Give yourself a minute and take a look. Some of the best action photography period! Click on the logo for SpeedZone Magazine coverage of the Gatornationals. Coverage here is presented by Sonny's Engines. Day one incluing qualifying for the sportsman classes, The weekend forecast is decent but there are threats of moisture. Team Press releases and event preview are posted, as well as Stock, Super Stock and Comp qualifying.
March 7, 2011 The Mission Raceway 2011 poster is here. March 7, 2011 The final wrap up and photos from the Winternationals is posted. March 6, 2011 Sonny's Racing Engine's has come up with a new ....... A couple divisionals were run this past weekend including the third Division 2 event in Georgia and the first in Division 4 at Houston. Drag Race Central has the full story. Division 2 results are here. Divison 4 results are here. Final Pomona wrap up will be posted Monday evening. March 1, 2011 Shawn Cowie blog is posted. The Full Throttle Pro class wrap-ups from Pomona are posted. More photos and galleries will be posted later this week. February 28, 2011
Congrat's to Rob Harrison for his win in Comp Eliminator over legend David Rampy
The
Winternationals finally get done and the Sportsman classes had a strong N.W. spin
to them. Comp Eliminator saw Division 6's Rob Harrison from North Vancouver BC
get his first ever National win. He took out legend David Rampy in the final.
Harrison lost a tenth and a half on the index in eliminations, including a .14
hit in round one, but Harrison's J/A class has very few competitors and that is
the reason the Harrison/Lougheed team has stuck with the unique inline six cylinder
engine called 'Igor' for a decade. Including the Top Alcohol class, the Canadians and Division 6 had perhaps their best ever National weekend. Shawn Cowie in TAD ran the quickest blown pass in TAD history with a 5.243 (he went red in the semis). Don St. Arnaud went to his first ever final in TAD in this, his third National event. Hugh Ridley from Chilliwack hired a new driver James Butler from Arizona and he qualified in his first time in TAD. Rob Harrison won for the first time in Comp with his unique and one off inline '6' dubbed 'Igor'. Div. 6's Jody Lang won Stock. Division 6's Jim Glenn won Super Comp, Division 6 rival Tom Pappas was the runner-up and finally Division 6's Jackie Alley lost in the semi finals in Super Stock. More results and photos on the Winternationals page late Monday and Tuesday. . February 27, 2011
Pro finals..... A huge surprise in Top Fuel as the Team Lucas duo act makes it to the final round and Morgan Lucas gets the win over Shawn Langdon, 3.83 - 4.04. What an awesome start for the most disappointing and disappointed (Morgan anyway) team in 2010. New Crew Chief Dickie Venables earns his keep right off the bat. Robert Hight takes out 2010 series runner-up Matt Hagan on a holeshot, 4.04 to 4.02 (is that the quickest side by side in the class?) Greg Stanfield got the hole shot in Pro Stock, but the Greg Anderson/Jason Line HP overcame the .021 disadvantage at the tree for a career best 6.529 - 6.595 victory for Jason Line. In TAD, long shot Canadian Don St. Arnaud did not find an extra tenth in the final, but he gave it a game effort, with a .028 holeshot on Duane Shields. Shield ran in the 20's again, with a 5.277 to a respectable 5.385. Congrat's to the Edmonton driver who has never had a round win in National event competition before today. It was Shields' 16th win in TAD. Tony Bartone kept his best runs for the semi final and final, as he went 5.452 to defeat Doug Gordon in the final round. Gordon stayed in the 50's with a 5.579. In the semis Bartone ran the first 5.40 of the year, a great 5.460 to defeat Steve Gasparelli. Gordon took out the "Woz" Mark Woznichak in his semi final round. Comp Eliminator got round one in today, and they tried for Super Comp, but the track was too loose for the throttle stop dragsters. All the Sportsman classes will run on Monday. Pro Results are here. Photos later tonight. A quick note to say the galleries from the Phoenix Divisional are below and the results with photos are up. Friday gallery, Saturday gallery, Sunday and Monday gallery 4:45 update... Shawn Cowie goes 5.26 in the 1/4s to advance and then a great 5.25 in the semis but goes red. But the bigger story is Albertan Don St. Arnaud goes to the final, running consistent 5.3's all weekend long. Congrat's. He faces Duane Shields in the final. Shields has been 5.20's all weekend, so St. Arnaud will have a huge hurdle on his hands. Wow, what a day for the Canucks. He is now the quickest A/Fuel TAD car on the West Coast, and Shawn is the quickest Blown TAD in the WORLD. His red light run was actually quicker to half track by .005, and faster by .07 mph. Did he look up and see the win in the other lane. All I know is based on the semi incrementals the car was on a 5.23 pass. 1:15pm.... Pomona update the biggest upset of the day was Larry Dixon shaking and smoking the tires in a loss against Terry McMillen. But.... and this is a big but, Shawn Cowie just went 5.243/273 to make the quickest ever pass in TAD blown history. Incrementals: 60ft-0.938 sec., 330ft-2.338, 660ft-3.460/219.54 mph, 1,000ft-4.423, 1320 ft 5.243/273.66. Weather looks okay this morning (sunny but very cool with highs in the 50's) in Pomona so the day should get off without a hitch. Likely a number of sportsman classes will run into Monday though as very little elimination classes started. They are starting this morning with the completion of TAFC and TAD. I did a little checking on Top Fuel national records in the current 1000 ft era and prior to that with the real length. Shockingly I found that the 1000 foot et record set yesterday by Dixon is not as quick to 1000 feet as the Tony Schumacher 4.428 record in 2006 or the all time quickest pass of 4.420 run set by Doug Kalitta run in 2004. Schumacher went 3.759 and Doug went 3.758. The 660 ets were also quicker back then, by almost .02. I am amazed by these stats. February 26, 2011
5:30 pm.... Well the long draw out wet Friday and Winter like conditions this morning was worth the wait as Top Fuel and Funny Car were spectacular. Larry Dixon set the new TF et record with a 4.770/323 while Antron Brown 4.788 and Tony Schumacher went 3.789. The bump spot is held down by Terry McMillen with a 3.931. Funny Car saw Cruz Pedregon rip off a stellar 4.015/313. Johnny Gray is #2 with a 4.049. Tony Pedregon is #16 with a 4.191. Pro Stock only got two rounds in total as they cancelled their final round due to cool temperatures on the track surface. In TAD four cars are in the 5.20's including Duane Shields on top with a 5.23/271. The next three are blown cars, with Chris Demke leading with a 5.258/271, Jim Whiteley is #3 with a 5.261 and Shawn Cowie is #4 with a 5.281. All three blown cars are over 270. Shawn is top speed with a 271.84. Results are here.... 10:30 am....They were wronggggg... Hail just hit the track as drying was close to being completed. A 12:00-12:30 start is now scheduled. Fuel Funny Car first. 8:40 am... Just got off the phone with my photo/journalist in Pomona and he said weather looks way more promising than the forecast says. So Racing should be 'Full Throttle' all day long. "Jaren
Mott will drive Fire4Hire's Peacekeeper Jet Tank for 2011. Jaren is a February 25, 2011 Weather kept all the classes off the track Friday. Weather for today does not look good at Pomona, but we will keep you updated with all the latest news. February 24, 2011
A pretty solid day for for the three pro classes and Top Alcohol and Comp Eliminator. Erica Enders made the most noise as she has her first ever provisional #1 qualifying effort. In the lone qualifier, she ripped off her best ever run a great 6.552@211 mph. Top Fuel sees all three DSR dragsters run identical ets, 3.804's to lead the pack, and Johnny Gray also made some noise in his return to Funny Car. A great 4.07 leads the field of 19 cars. Thursday results are posted. Photos Friday. The Funny Car season preview and Top Fuel are posted. NHRA Full Throttle preview is here (Top Fuel is posted. Funny Car and the other two pro classes later Thursday) Coverage of the Winters is here. February 23, 2011
A few photo highlights of last year Winternationals from the Blog belonging to Bill Jeffery. A preview to the Winternationals is here...... A few Wednesday photos are up. Lots of new looks. All Speedzone Full Throttle coverage is presented by Sonnys Engines. February 22, 2011 IHRA Baton Rouge weekend wrap up....... February 21, 2011 The Phoenix Divisional did get completed today and the "Pride of Canada" Shawn Cowie defeated Jim Whiteley in the final of TAD. Shawn ran 5.33/272 in the final. Whiteley shook and ran a 5.42/269. Cowie went 5.284 in the semis for low et of the weekend. Those number translate to mid 5.20's at Pomona this coming weekend. The three or four top blown cars look very strong. Whiteley ran an awesome 274.00 in round one . Duane Shields ran 5.29/274 in his final qualifier to give the A/Fuelers solid representation for Pomona as well. TAD rookie James Butler in High Ridley's TAD defeated Duane Shields in round one. Butler went 5.54 to upset the #2 qualifier. The Jeff Johnsen tuned TAD could not return for round two though. Weekend wrap up is here. In TAFC, Shawn O'Bannon defeated Jay Payne with a 5.60. He made a couple 5.5 laps in eliminations and Payne went as quick as 5.54. But he took out the half track cones handing the win to O'Bannon. Ken Webster was there as the lone Div 6 TAFC representative and he lost in the semis after getting the win over #1 qualifier Tony Bartone in round one. In the Sportsman classes, Craig Olson went to the semi finals and Alaskan Ray Martins is in the final round. No other Division 6 competitors made the late rounds. Todd Barton (Super Comp), Art Hoover (Top Dragster), Tom Bayer (Super Gas), Ryan McClanahan (Stock, Justin Lamb (Comp), John Bycroft (Super Street), and Mike Cotton (Stock) were the winners. Our coverage of this weekend's NHRA Full Throttle Winternationals is presented by Sonny's Engines. They are the presenting sponsor of all the NHRA Full Throttle coverage this year at SpeedZone Magazine. Coverage begins here Wednesday with all the team press releases and track facts. West Coast NFC hitter Mark Sanders struggled on the weekend at Baton Rouge with a 6.001 best. He got the short end of a controversial call by the IHRA when Peter Gallen was awarded a shot in the final despite not getting a 1/4 mile et. Gallen's earlier numbers were a bit stronger than Sanders 6.001 pass, but the fact there was no real et for the 1/4 timers for Gallen (both cars were within .02 of each other), should have given the Maple Valley based team a shot in the final.
February 15, 2011 The NHRA Full Throttle TV Schedule is here.... Sorry for the downed site the last three days. The particular Super Web Host server used for SpeedZone had gone through technical upgrades and did not key in all the sites that were part of its system. So we got screwed for a couple days. Hopefully better communication will take place next time. Anyway, this weekend is the first West Coast NHRA event with the Firebird (Phoenix) divisional race. A number of NW teams will be running down there and then the Winternationals at Pomona. Chilliwack's Hugh Ridley has new driver James Butler licensed (Butler went 5.80 and 5.50 at SpeedWorld Arizona early this week), Shawn Cowie will be down there as well. Likely Joey Severance and Mike Austin in the Federlin TAD will also hit the Sunny South. Just about finished the MRP schedule pamphlet and poster, and then will be working on Eagle's and possibly Thunder Mountain. The 'Rollin Thunder' Jet Car will have veteran shoe Steve Cooke behind the wheel as owner Brad Janishewski in still in recovery mode from his health issues. The four car Fire 4 Hire team also have on board a real rookie as Jaren Mott signs on as one of the team drivers. The IHRA is back for race two as they are at the Mardi Gras Nitro Jam in Baton Rouge Louisiana. The NW's Mr Explosive NFC team will be there looking for at least one more win in the two race weekend. Peter Gallen and Steve Nichols will have a lot to say about that though. February 11, 2011 New stuff in press releases February 10, 2011 2011 Calendars are now on sale. Hemi, Funny Car and Top Sportsman..$7.95. Pro Mod/Pro Street...$5.95. Go here to order.
The Plex has a double Header IHRA Pro-Am scheduled for May 21-23, 2011 These events are similar to an NHRA National Open and include the Super (or Rod classes), Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, and brackets including Jr. A Stock class as well, and Super Stock (or combo). Edmonton wil have three Pro Ams including a double header in June (3-5) and during the Rocky Mountain Nationals (June 23-25). They have a new logo for this the Border Bandits Divison 6. A Christmas tree with an Canuck and American flag. Will post the image in a couple days. A few emails from interested parties for the new Outlaw Class, keep them coming. ....A quick note to say that the Eagle Motorplex has also signed up for 1320 live timing. So both MRP and the plex are on board. A couple pretty cool announcements in the NHRA. Don Prudhomme proves that Drag Racing is in fact mainstream as he is named as one of the coolest 50 Athletes in Southern California. He was chosen as #9 on the list which includes the likes of Magic Johnson Nolan Ryan, Sandy Kaufax and Deacon Jones. Here is the link to the LA Times story. Tony Pedregon has a new assoc and primary sponsor in American Racing Wheels. The new graphics are some of the coolest I have seen in a Funny Car. Here is the story. The overall make up of the economy in the U.S. must be on the upswing as there are a few National events getting long term title sponsorships deals. Bristol and Ready are the latest to receive backing just a month after Seattle and Chicago get title right sponsors. Go to NHRA.com for more news. Locally, Mission Raceway will be one of the first tracks in the NW to have 1320 live timing in 2011. A very cool deal and it is another step to keep the NINE time Division Six track of the year on top of the Division. They rebuilt one of the best starting lines on the West Coast as well, as they felt the first 100 feet were not as good as it could be. The Left lane was not perfect (according to a few exec's), but they wanted the racers to have 100% equal lanes so they tore up the Right one as well, and made both identical. Still in the NW, Hugh Ridley will have a new driver behind the wheel of his top running TAD. Veteran driver James Butler from Arizona has signed on for 2011. The team just headed South for an extensive test session in Butler's home state. If Butler's pedigree turns into fruition in the TAD class, other Division Six teams will have their hands full, mindful of the fact that Ridley has not made the decision on whether or not to run Division Six or Seven. They will compete at the Phoenix Division Seven event in eight days and then run the Winternationals the week after. The West Coast Pro Mod assoc turns 20 this year, making it one of the oldest independent racing series' on the West Coast and oldest Pro Mod series anywhere. Now if only they would run their own or outlaw rules to open the class up for many other fast door cars to run in. Their adopted NHRA GSA rules are really for high dollar teams and will keep a few of the West Coast teams away in my opinion. SpeedZone is still working on a new Outlaw Blown series for the NW. Quicker than 7.00 and running a blower is all the requirements we have. I have four tracks very interested and hope to have a schedule in the next few weeks. There are 8-10 teams expressing interest so far but I also know there is at least 6-10 others who could be a part of this. The main decision to make is whether or not to make it an index class (IE 6.50 or 6.75), and dial in class or a straight heads up class. We want your input, so send off an email to tell us what you think. The Division Six certifications will be posted later tonight. Ron and Corey Sekura have a new Chevy II body to replace the Trans Am they ran last year.
February 8, 2011 The Palm Beach Winter Full Throttle test story and photos are posted. Highlights include Courtney Force making a test lap, Roger Burgess doing the same. Allen Johnson went 6.498 yesterday in Pro Stock (first ever sub 6.5 run in NHRA Pro Stock history) and a number of sub 3.80 laps were made in Top Fuel. There were more 4.0 runs in Nitro Funny Car than at any event last year. Nice to have sea level conditions. More here....... February 6, 2011 The first look at Todd Lesenko's Full Throttle Flopper.
The full Palm Beach NHRA test report and photos Monday. Congrat's to Aaron Rogers and the 'Pack' for their win in the Super Bowl today. A very exciting game for sure. February 4, 2011 Testing has gone on all week at Florida as a number of NHRA teams are getting ready for the start of the 2011 Full Throttle season at the IHRA Pam Beach facility. Team Force, DSR, Al-Anabi/Johnson, Kalitta, Tasca, Wilkerson, McMillen and others are running in sea level conditions. A 3.76/best by DSR's Antron Brown. A couple 320 mph shots and 4.0's for Matt Hagan and John Force. SpeedZone does have a photo/journalist down there and we will have reports and photos starting Saturday. Here are the #'s from Friday Psn------Driver, Home Town, Car Type---------------Qual-ET--Qual-Spd-Top Spd
1 Antron Brown, Pittsboro IN, DSR-TFX 3.765 322.88 317.49 Order
after Friday of testing in Funny Car at the Palm Beach International Raceway Pro
Winter Psn------Driver, Home Town, Car Type---------------Qual-ET--Qual-Spd-Top Spd
1 Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg IN, '10 Solara 4.040 310.48 310.48
A new web site for Pro Street/Pro Mod racer Yvonne Lucas. February 3, 2011 The NW Super Comp asso. schedule is posted. February 2, 2011 Big shocking and sad news out of the Hire 4 Hire four car Jet racing team. Their leader and driver Brad Janish........ A couple new cars for NHRA competition. Read here...... A new Rocky Mountain Funny Car team set to debut in 2011. More here.... February 1, 2011 Final wrap up from Palm Beach Nitro Jam. January 30, 2011 Nitro Jam Saturday. Paul Romine defeats Peter Gallen in the Funny Car final 6.01 to 6.14. Gallen goes 5.72/250 earlier in the day. Sanders loses his first round pairing and does not make the final. He does win his second round match up though. In spectacular fashion, John Dunn blows the NEW Duster body of his NFC. Same thing he did at the last event last year. Bobby Lagana took the win Saturday night in Top Fuel, making his fourth 320 mph lap. Chris Bennett wowed the fans with an awesome 5.930, 235.97 in his Pure Heaven II AA/FA. Possibly the quickest pass for an old style Fuel Altered. In Saturdays first run. Ron Maroney won the Saturday night AA/FA match up though as Bennett broke on his quick lap. Manner won Pro Fuel (A/Fuel) with a couple 5.3 laps. Jay Turner defeated Steve Dorn in Nitro Harley. Full results here.
The NHRA to go along with their 60th Anniversary celebration unveils their top 60 drag racing moments. January 29, 2011
Sanders wins east versus west Prostalgia Funny Car showdown
A Friday gallery is posted. Talked
to Mark Sanders (Mr. Explosive) Saturday morning. He and the team are having a
blast. " A very cool facility that is 100% concrete including the shut
down and event the return road. This place rocks", Sanders told SpeedZone
editor Dean Murdoch Saturday Morning as they were preparing for Saturday nights
two runs. The place was packed Friday and there are more tickets sold for Saturday
according to Sanders. "Its wild, they have over 500 events at this track
in a year, with the drag strip, go carts, road track and motocross. There is even
a moat around the facility with 14 foot gators in it". The saying
is, "if you can cross the moat without getting eaten, then come and
watch the drags", seriously, stated Sanders as he talked a mile a minute,
all the while selling nitro to a bunch of other Fuel racers, and there are a lot
of them at Palm Beach. Eight Floppers, two Top Fuelers, four Fuel Altereds, five
Nitro Harleys and four A/Fuel dragsters (Pro Fuel). He was also busy signing autographs,
with lots of fans in attendance. "The corrected air was -5 feet last night
under the lights, Mark stated as he talked about the lack of fuel on the top end
in both runs. "We sacrificed a few pistons last night. The only place we
get air like that is Mission Raceway. These small 20 gallon pumps are not enough
for this air. Four or five of the teams here run big pumps (28 gallon+)
and huge 14/71 blowers. But we still kicked their butts". The Baton
Rouge Nitro Jam race in a month is at a sea level track as well, we might try
a big fuel system for that race, if we can figure it out then who knows how quick
we can go!!!!! Mark passed the phone over to Jake as he had more nitro to
sell, and Jake confirmed the great air and the fact that in the last 20 laps in
the Nova, they have made over a dozen five second laps and the ones that weren't
were because they over powered the track, smoking the tires. I think they are
dialed in. A 5.82/244 in the first run last evening and a trip to the IHRA Final
Friday (sic) night. There he took on another one of the hitters in the NFC class,
Paul Romine. That final was the best side by side of the day, with both cars leaving
at the same time, and Sanders slowing edged out in front for a 5.88 to a 5.92
victory. The Mr. Explosive team has now raced at five IHRA events (two in Salt
Lake, two at Edmonton and one (so far) at Palm Beach and they have three wins.
Jake even has time to do a couple updates as Mr. Explosive is on facebook.
They look for their fourth win in six starts tonight. The complete recap
is here..... A teaser of some of the new 2011 rides including Kurt Busch's Pro Stocker and local Layne Wooley in the 'Old Timer'.
January 27, 2011
The IHRA is on the docket this weekend as they open the season at Palm Beach International Raceway. An 8 car NFC show, 2 TFs, a couple A/Fuelers, Nitro Harleys and Fuel altereds top the list of the CH3NO2's. Then there is the Jets Wheelstanders and Monster Truck feature. SpeedZone has two photo journalists at the event so we should have great coverage. Go to the IHRA Zone starting Friday evening for all the action. Shawn Cowie off season blog is posted. January 25, 2011
Sneak peak at the new Todd Lesenko Mustang tuned by Steve Plueger. He will be a force in the nostalgia ranks in 2011. THe big show car will be ready for debut soon. An earlier advance tidbit about what we believe is the first 1000+ cu in Drag Racing bullet is now a reality. Go here for more....... Papa John Force will be a Grandpa ....again, as Ashley announces she is pregnant. She will sit out this year and Mike Neff will be back behind the wheel. January 22, 2011 Mission Raceway recieves THE Major Division six award. They are the 2010 Division Six "Track of the Year". This is the 9th such award MRP has received since 1993. A very impressive run for sure. Saskatoon International Raceway is the Division Six summit series "Track of the Year", more on their track and all the Division Six winners here. In the NHRA Pro Stock ranks, Erica Enders is back with Cagnazzi Racing as Cunningham has gone in his different direction, and in the ADRL Extreme Pro Mod class Mike Janis Racing returns after a year in the NHRA GSA series and will be the first to utilize the new Alan Johnson 5300 Hemi powerplant with a screw blower. He will also debut a new Andy McCoy Race Cars Duster. January 21, 2011 NHRA's new oil down policy is going to affect many low budget teams. Likely fields will be thinner than in 2010. More here.... The popular Cable show "How its Made" is featuring Morgan Lucas' Top Fuel team. More here.... Working on MRP's 2011 schedule and poster over the next couple weeks. Will also be doing the same for the 'Plex, and a couple more web sites and hero cards over the next month or so. After three mmonth's of healing after his fall at Pomona, Bob Glidden has left the Cunningham Pro Stock team do to driver issues. As far as Glidden's health and other issues, click here to more info. January 15, 2011 SpeedZone is proud to announce Sonny's Racing Engines has come on board as our title sponsor. They will also be the sponsor of all out NHRA Full Throttle event coverage. Click on their banner to the right to see some of the new engine developements from one of the leading builders in all of motorsports...(more here) The newest NW race team web site is now live.
The Janishewski Family from Drayton Valley Alberta has four Jets and the are ready to rock in 2011.
Todd Hoerner blog is updated. January 12, 2011 Medicine Hat Big Dollar shootout January 8, 2011 As expected (scroll down to my December 4th report) the NITRO JAM event at Tucson has NHRA repercussions, as they lose their sanctioning. It likely will be a independant track for the 2011 season. Will they now get all the sportsman classes as their original announcement only had brackets and Jrs. Nascar star Kurt Busch tests in Allen Johnson's Mopar Pro Stock and runs 6.57/207. NHRA Super Class poll does not change their classes for the 2011 season. Here is the story. A major shift to NHRA tech. Seattle's National event future does appear up in the air based on internet banter and info I have gathered, but they do have a title sponsor for the next couple years. Their future is abound in rumours as there is some excavation work going on at Seattle, as talk of the new direction for the drag strip is in the forefront. The entire staff at the facility is gone except for one marketing employee. This is the second or third time for a complete reshuffling at Pacific. It would be real nice to know the Fiorito's plan without smoke and mirrors! This is year 60 for the NHRA. The fans are an important aspect in its 2011 promotion. Local tracks are feverishly working on their schedules and we hope to have some light on that subject soon. January 2, 2011 2011 Calendar page is here.
The 2011 Pro Mod/Pro Street Calendar is now available. December 31, 2010 Happy New Year to every race fan, Hopefully everyone's 2011 a prosperous one! December 29, 2010 The Newest NFC team from the NW (Alberta of course) is announced.....(more here)
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Murdoch
photo
Top
2, Bill Jeffery photos, bottom Dean Murdoch
It
should be awesome!!!!
This
was after Friday, apparantly Saturday it was much worse. It was absoluteley brand
new looking before the Jets got hold of it. 
Brad
and Heather Janishewski's Jet Tanks
Peter
Blagit & Wayne Darby's secret ride
Nitro
fix winner in Rock 101's contest. 
Todd
Young photo
David
Smith photos
