 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Dec. 2, 2003 (Bill Jeffery photo) Mitch
Myers is proud to announce the addition of tuning guru Steve Boggs
to the team. The Epha sponsored A/Fuel dragster will make a strong
run for a top 10 (maybe a top five) finish in 2004. The addition of
Boggs as a tuning expert will go a long way in putting the Oregon
based team into the upper echelon in the TAD class. Mitch's goal is
to run a full slate (8 - 10) of National events and probably a full
(5 - 8) divisional events. They will hit the trail hard at the beginning
of the year with pre season testing at Phoenix in February and then
run Pomona, Houston, Las Vegas and Topeka to start the National end
of the schedule. Then Mission, Woodburn#1, and Seattle Divisional
events. It is likely they will take the next month To go along with with the changes in the team Mitch is very close to announcing a major sponsor to both his team and possibly to NHRA. It is a new company to motorsports with a product ideally suited to the high octane sport of Drag Racing. More on this in the coming weeks.
Nov.9, 2003 Sunday eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster pretty well went to form in 1/4 final action, with Alan Bradshaw defeating Dave Hirata with 5.20 performance again as Bradshaw went 5.24 to Hirata's 5.41, Shields defeated Thacker despite Marty's great .015 rt. His 5.45 was no match for Duane's 5.36. Morgan Lucas won a close one over David Wells as the A/Fuel pilot ran a .021 rt 5.368 to Well's .043rt 5.390. The final pairing saw Division 6 competitors match-up, with Mike Cofini defeating fellow blown driver Steve Federlin 5.418 to 5.488. The semi finals should have had two great match-ups, but the Lucas/ Bradshaw race was over early, when Bradshaw smoked the tires and dropped cylinders and could only run a 5.87 to Morgan's slightly off pace 5.40. The other pairing had the quick leaving blown car driven by Mike Cofini taking on the new A/Fuel hitter Duane Shields. Mike had a .036 light and ran his second best et ever, a 5.397 and hole shotted Duane's .06 activated 5.387. Shields record in the new car now sits at 5-1. In the final round, Cofini had the surprising lane choice, but could not put it to use, as he was shut off on the starting line with a fuel leak, giving Morgan Lucas a freebie. He put it to good use though, and ran a great 5.29/268 that would have been very tough for Cofini to beat. So the season winds up with A/Fuel cars winning 12 of 16 national events and qualifying #1 at every event this year (BAD's won 4 of 16) . The top ten in the points has four 1/2 fuelers (Shields is the half) and five 1/2 BAD's. I'll compile the complete stats on the class in the next month or so, as well as the early start to the silly season. Congratulations to Division 6 TAD for having 5 in the top 20, the most of any Division.
Top Ten for 2003: 01 Alan Bradshaw 716 7/9 Here is a list of all A/Fuelers in the 5.30's or better. (If there are any ommisions, please let me know. In part courtesy of the Drag List. 1 5.135/260.41 Gary Ormsby Jr Top Hat Cigars 2002 Topeka Here is a list of all the BAD's
in the 5.30's or better 1. 5.263/269.13 Duane Shields Short Line Express Englishtown
2002 TAFC In TAFC, Sunday's match-ups started with the second round of eliminations, and Bucky Austin, Steve Gasparelli, Dennis Taylor and rookie sensation Shawn Jones all advancing to the semi finals, and boy were both races close. Bucky Austin took on Steve Gasparelli in a rematch of the final here last year, a loss that Bucky Austin would like to avenge because it cost him a 5th place standing instead of third place. This year, Bucky got the win with a 6.625 to Gasparelli's 5.675. The .042 hole shot by Gasparelli gave a .0076 margin of victory to the "North West Hitter". The other semi final was possibly the closet Funny Car final ever, as Dennis Taylor took the stripe down to 2/10,000 of a second, less than an inch. His hole shot 5.646 just stayed in front of Shawn Jone's 5.623. Both drivers had decent rt's with Taylor leaving first with a .030 to Jone's .053. That has to win the Motel Six's, "Who got the light award". The final round ended up to be as anti climatic as the TAD final round when Dennis Taylor's crew shut down his car after the burnout due to a mechanical problem. Austin staged and ran his best lap of the weekend to put an exclamation point on the race, a great 5.601/255 lap. With the win his point total ended up to be 797. A year that saw Bucky get eight wins, a runner-up and a semi final result in his ten best results. Hopefully, next year will be as good and competitive as the 2003 season. 01 Frank Manzo 829 7/7 Nov. 8, 2003 The Top Alcohol Dragster class was making its swan song under the current rules, as in 2004 the A/Fuel cars look forward to an added 75-100lbs. How many teams are actually trying the new weight this weekend; Ones that have nothing to prove points wise, would possibly be using this as a test race, but I doubt any would come clean and admit they were heavy. A spy on the wall at the scales could probably make a killing on secret information. A few different cars and different looks for veteran drivers as well as a few announcements were some of the highlights Friday and Saturday. One of Europe's top performers, Dave Wilson, was competing at his second race in a row, and made the cut in the #16 spot on the ladder with a 5.479/262 lap. He has gone mid 5.40's in England as well, so he was looking to run career bests here this weekend. He did in round one as he faced #1 qualifier Alan Bradshaw. Wilson went a great 5.38 but snoozed bug time at the tree and was finished before he even left the starting line. Bradshaw would have had to run slower than 5.50 to lose this race, but he didn't, in fact he went 5.240 to crush Wilson in the opening round. Still a good showing for Dave 'Grumpy' Wilson. Other news from the weekend so far included a big announcement by Steve Federlin that he was teaming up with Jack O'Bannon for 2004, in an all out assault for the 2004 championship. Will the Santos clan come along with their expertise, as it is rumored that Norm Grimes with be an A/Fuel tuner with the new Lucas Oil owned team. This one will be interesting. Federlin made the field and won his first round match-up against John Haley. Other Division 6 cars that made the field included Mike Cofini won won in round one as well, as he got by one of those bad A/Fuelers, when Bill Reichert went up in smoke before the 400 foot mark. Cofini's 5.53 will have to be stepped up on big time if he wants to get past Federlin in round two. Mitch Myers also qualified, but had to race Morgan Lucas in round one and his 5.50 was no match for Morgan's 5.34. And finally Joey Severance (the 2003 Div.6 champion), faced Dave Hirata on Saturday, but his 5.41 was no match for a career best 5.29 by Hirata. Running a low 5.40 and losing is tough to take but, Wilson went in the 5.30's and lost as did Larry Meirsch, who went 5.38 but red lit by 4/100ths throwing away his career best. David Wells was the beneficiary of the red light, but he went a great 5.36 and would have probably won anyway. The other news involves Duane Shields and him taking ownership of the ex-Tony Bartone A/Fueler that was in its first national event win Duane in the seat. He ran flawlessly there on his way to a win, and continued his strong showing with a #3 effort and a first round win over Don Hudson. Marty Thacker was the final driver to advance to the second round as he made another great lap, a 5.35 in victory over Darren Nicholson's 5.55. The second round pairings are: Bradshaw vs Hirata Wells vs Lucas Shields vs Thacker Federlin vs Cofini In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Jay Payne was the only guy in the the 5.50's in qualifying, as he went 5.599, but that was not enough to guarantee a first round win in the quickest field in history. The #16 guy, rookie Shawn Jones rant a tenth quickest than he had ever gone before and defeated Payne 5.63 to 5.67. The margin of victory was .007 Father Lawren Jones, must be a very proud papa. Marc White was in Randy Goodwin's flopper this weekend and he made the most of it, as he qualified #10 and defeated Doug Gordon in the first round. The Goodwin/White team is a probable combination for 2004. Division six had five cars trying to make the field, but only Bucky Austin did and he advanced to round two as he defeated Mert Littlefield in round one. Hank Coolidge, Clint Thompson, John Knox, and Forrest LeBlanc did not make the field. The biggest surprise in the class, was seeing Cy Chesterman not make the field, as he shook in one session and broke in another. He did not run in the final qualifying round. The match-ups for round two: Austin vs White Steve Gasparelli vs John Weaver Tate Branch vs Dennis Taylor Mark Woznichak vs Shawn Jones
Final Lucas Oil Divisional race of the season (pictures courtesy David Allio and Lyle Greenberg)
A huge lead for Marty Thacker evaporated when he had to pedal after this 700 foot wheelstand. Unreal!!!!! In TAD Duane Shields makes his debut in an A/Fuel car a memorable one as he defeats Marty Thacker in a close BAD vs A/Fuel final round. Thacker left on Shields, and had the lead for over 800 foot despite a huge 700 foot wheel stand. At the stripe Shields was out in front with a 5.40 to a losing 5.48 Great final round for both the Shields team and the Thacker team. A fitting victory for the final as the Shields family's Short Line Express is the event sponsor.
First round results for TAD: 11:45 am Duane Shields takes out John Haley as Haley snoozes big time 5.39 to a 5.43. There was room on the tree as Shields had a .080 light, but Haley's unheard of .496 (WHAT!) was the end for Haley.
Wells defeated Joey Severance when he pulled the trigger to quick with a -.015 red Wells ran a great 5.42 to advance.
Marty Thacker got the win with a very strong 5.40 over Robert Perkins 5.57. The second round has Thacker and Federlin, and I am going with the Illinios based team on this one. The Federlin car is a tenth back in power, and being killer on the tree is not going help here, as Thacker is also great in that department. Wells and Shields is the other one and is probably the closest of the two. Shields is really just an owner/driver in this weekend and I think his four to five hundredths performance advantage will not be overcome by Wells . It will be close but the edge goes to Shields. First round for TAFC: Gasparelli and Robert Lee. Lee makes this very close
and he run his best pass this weekend a 5.67. But Gasparelli unfortunately
for Lee went 5.64 and goes to round two. Bucky Austin
Nov. 2, 2003 10:40 am. The first round match-ups are: Gasparelli taking on Robert Lee. I don't see Lee upsetting Gasparelli in this one, even with Randy Anderson in his corner. Cy Chesterman and Brett Williamson matchup and this one should also go to the higher qualifier. Chesterman has too much power for Williamson. Tate Branch and Dennis Taylor is a good one. Branch has a quicker car but I think Taylor might be a better pick based on home division advantage. Bucky Austin and Mark Woznichak should be a win for the "North West Hitter". While out of the championship chase, he still wants to win every race.
TAD final qualifying from Vegas Divisional and first round match ups and picks. Duane Shields vs John Haley. This is a big one for Haley as he has a chance to win the Division 2 title. Shields is in the ex Tony Bartone car and and is loving A/Fuel so far I am betting. That car is one of the more consistent A/Fuelers out there, and that being said Haley may pull the trigger a little to quick. I don't think he has the car, to match up with Shields. Marty Thacker and Robert Perkins. Perkins ran a career best in qualifying and Thacker has one of the top two BAD's out there. Marty should have this one by a tenth, if he does not do the big red. Morgan Lucas is the hottest driver in the class and wrapped up the Division 7 title this weekend. He is trying to keep his four race winning streak going including three national wins and the Jeg's allstar win. Steve Federlin is rumored to be heading to A/Fuel next year. Two of the top four leavers in the class are facing off here. Federlin needs to get a green light and run a 5.40 to have a chance. Lucas will need to run in the same numbers he has gone this weekend. He probably will and that will put him into round two. David Wells and Joey Severance. A great one here. Severance is the one of the other top leavers in the class, but has never run a 5.30 before. He needs an .00 light to have any chance against the second quickest BAD car in history. The 2003 Division six champion probably does not have enough car to win, but I am still going with Joey Jr. and Sr.
Mitch Myers was the #2 alternate at Vegas Final TAD qualifying 1 2 B/AD Duane Shields, Las Vegas NV, Hadman-BAE 5.374
270.00 270.00 ------------ Not Qualified ------------ 9 800 TA/D David Wilson, London GB, Hadman-KB 5.518 259.16 259.16 Final TAFC qualifying TAFC Final qualifying from Vegas Divisional 1 2 Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina CA, '03 Pontiac
5.618 255.68 255.68 ------------ Not Qualified ------------ 9 777 John Patton, Peoria AZ, '99 Pontiac Trans Am
5.733 245.40 245.40
|
off
during some of the hotter weather and then return to Seattle for their
National event. Sonoma Nat'l and Indy are possibilities depending
on the weather. They will end off the season with National events
in Chicago, Dallas and Pomona. The schedule is subject to change,
but the team goal is to pick and choose events that they feel will
be the best suited for their A/Fuel dragster. Mitch hopes the entire
team from the 2003 season will return as the chemistry was very good
this past year, he just felt they were one piece short of being a
consistent 5.20 - 5.30 car. The availability of a talent of Steve
Boggs does not come around very often, as he was THE man in Tony Bartone's
camp with both the A/Fuel car and the Blown TAD as well as and the
record setting TAFC from the late 90's. When he became a free agent,
Mitch was quick to pounce. The new 421 engine combination appears
to be the size of choice and with Steve's experience the learning
curve should be slight. 
Nov. 3, 2003. 
4:30
pm The TAFC final round was a
close one, but Iowa's Cy Chesterman proved to be the last one standing
as he defeated Steve Gasparelli with a great .027 light and a 5.72.
Steve went .060 5.74 to trail by .053 at the finish line. The win
puts Chesterman over the 700 point total for the year. The runner-up
by Gasparelli moves him into the top 10 after a very slow start in
2003.
2:15
pm TAD semis. Steve Federlin hole shots Marty Thacker but Marty
passes him at the 1000 foot mark to win by .015. A 5.498 (.043 rt)
defeats a 5.525 (.021rt). The other semi was also close as Duane Shields
defeats David Wells 5.42 to a 5.47. Well left on Shields by .023 but
Shields caught Wells by the 1000 foot mark for a .017 margin of victory.
In
TAFC ,Cy Chesterman and Tate Branch both
have psychic .01 lights but Chesterman has the power to defeat Branch
5.73 to a 5.83. Steve Gasparelli is behind Bucky Austin at the hit,
but passing Bucky by the 200 foot marker as Bucky shakes hard and
has to lift. Steve cruises to a 5.68 win and has lane choice over
Chesterman.
Steve
Federlin shuts down the 15 round winning streak by Morgan Lucas and
he gets an off pace 5.53 - 5.54 win. Federlin had a .030 light to
Morgan's .046. Lucas dropped a cylinder at the top end giving Federlin
the win. 
defeated
the "Woz" 5.70 to 5.74 and gets gasparelli in round two.
Tate Branch defeated alternate John Patton who wa sin for Dennis Taylor.
Patton left on Branch but his 5.68 was too much for Patton's 5.74.
Cy Chesterman went 5.69 and defeated a 5.90 by Williamson. Chesterman
takes on Branch in round two. Chesterman should advance past Branch
and Gasparelli looks a little to strong for Austin this weekend.