Here is my final photo blog from 2008. It is May 17th
and it is time to gear up for the new season, especially with the Mission
Divisional just around the corner. This blog showcases some of the West
Coasts top alcohol and A/Fuel dragsters at Mission, Seattle and Sonoma.
I hope you enjoy the action as much as I like shooting them. Less than
5 more days of waiting!
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Division 7 standout Randy Eakins towed all the
way from Carson City, Nevada to get a taste of the crisp spring
air at Mission in 2008. These nitro breathing monsters need good
air to perform at their best, and Mission is famous for providing
some of the best conditions anywhere in North America along with
a track surface that can hold the power.
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A second shot of Randy smoking the hides at Infineon Raceway,
Sonoma, California.
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Duane Shields holds the track record of 5.213 seconds at Mission
Raceway Park, set on June 3, 2006. He ran a string of consecutive
5.2 second passes that weekend and was virtually unstoppable.
Seen here on one of his trademark passes at the 2008 MRP divisional.
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Dianne catches a great photo of Duane Shields and Jim Whiteley
on this hard pass at Sonoma. This is a classic pairing of a blown
versus A/Fuel dragster and these are two of the most competitve
cars on the planet
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Jim Whiteley placed second overall in the 2008 TAD points standings.
He is tuned by legendary blown alcohol guru, Norm Grimes. It sure
helps to have that kind of brain power behind you when taking
a run at the championship.
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Joey Severance campaigns one of the toughest blown
alcohol dragsters in the Pacific Northwest. This car always goes
rounds wherever he shows, and has won his fair share of races
over the years.
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Gary Ormsby Jr. ripples the back tires during
a hard launch in the blown top alcohol dragster owned by Mission's
Hugh Ridley.
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An interesting shot of Brittany Force doing her
new, top secret smokeless burnout. I am not sure how you can have
the tires turning this hard and not produce even a puff of smoke,
but I am sure it is all part of the Force camps strategy to go
green. The next thing you know they will find a way to eliminate
nitro fumes.
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Garrett at the 60' marker in Seattle. No doubt that this car is
firing on all 8 on this pass.
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Garrett Bateman also performs a blistering burnout
in his colorful CBM Machine A/Fueler. Garrett, along with Shawn
Cowie are two of the Northwest dragsters that are tuned by the
Northwest Hitter, Bucky Austin. He knows how to make them fly!
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Another strong Division 7 contender, Chris Demke
hooks up perfectly on this qualifying shot at Sonoma. The front
wheels are just setting down at the 60' mark less than a second
after the green light turned on.
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Del Cox Jr. puts on a great show for the fans
at Sonoma during this hard burnout last July.
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Brandon Johnson runs a very competitive A/Fuel
Dragster out of Washington State. The car features a Hadman chassis
with a Brad Anderson 421 cu.in nitro breathing motor.
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Dennis Swearingen of Rolling Hills Estates in
California hikes the wheels up during a launch at Sonoma. The
car shows a Division 6 number on the wing but I don't think it
ever made it's way up to Mission in 2008.
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Justin Davis handles the driving chores for
team Federlin's number 2 in early 2009 (#1 this year) dragster.
Both cars run very competitively, with Steve winning his fair
share of races in Division 6. Look for both Steve and Justin to
be at the MRP Divisional race in May.
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A terrific shot by my wife Dianne from the stands during qualifying
in Sonoma. Shawn looked very strong going in to first round until
a part inside his oil pump sheared off, ending his weekend early.
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Local favorite and rising star Shawn Cowie blisters the hides
at Pacific Raceways in July. Shawn was well known for his high
reving, super hard burnouts in his old Mundies Towing comp dragster.
Judging by the photo, nothing much has changed!
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