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Coverage here at SpeedZone for the Pro Mod Street Car event is presented by RAD Torque Systems
Photos courtesy Dean Murdoch, Bill Jeffery and Robert Hunter. July 1-3, 2011 Mission Raceway Pro Mod/Pro Street/Doorslammer shootout
It was a good weekend at Mission Raceway, as weather for the first time (a small delay Sunday morning from showers in the early am Sunday), did not delay the day's action. The crowd was not quite was hoped for but those that were there saw plenty of exciting action. Doorslammers The Canada West Doorslammers put on the best show by the feature classes, even though there was one unfortunate delay from one competitor due to having the rods exit the block on the burnout. 22 competitors tried to make the field, but three fell short of the 8.70 minimum.
Pro Street The full version....
Qualifying and Eliminations... Qualifying for the CPSA began Friday night, and two Pro Street drivers made six second laps, Dale Pedersen and Garrett Richards. Dale led with a 6.7 early shutoff pass (from my recollection) and Garrett clicked it off early as well. His number was a high six. All the other teams struggled with traction to no surprise.
Saturday saw four teams run 6's and a few teams suffer traction, tune-up and mechanical problems. Pedersen was the best, as he turned in a 6.44@ 224 in the final session. Garrett Richards had lead qualifying after round three with a 6.562/219 and finished #2.
Dale Moznik on 10.5 tires made the most impressive lap in my opinion, a great 6.89 (I believe his quickest at MRP). Brother Roy, who is on the big tire, was on a killer pass in the last session but he started to drift toward the wall so he lifted early to the tune of a 7.09. I am sure it would have been a 6.70 or quicker.
The Stone brothers really struggled on the weekend, as Kerry with the new twin turbos had drive line problems and could not make eliminations or a full pull.
Darryl also struggled, his Nova was on a couple good laps but he has issues with the front end lifting on his best passes.
Dal Shangha also had a couple good early incrementals, but he could not make a full pull, and in his final qualifier, he broke the small block bullet and was done for the weekend. Steve Horne took out the turbo combo, and went back to the blown small block.
The car made good power, but he had chassis issues in qualifying and in the final run, which looked to be his best, a diagonal frame rail broke and the car got real loose.
He managed to keep the car on all four wheels, and made repairs Saturday night. Here is final qualifying.
Eliminations....
With all the breakage in qualifying, six cars made it to the line Sunday morning but only five left the starting line. #2 qualifier Garrett Richards was set to run Steve Horne in round one but he kicked the rods out on his blown big block in the burnout and his day was done. Steve Horne was the beneficiary, and he made his best lap, a 7.529/182.00 mph.
Roy Moznik got a single when Kerry Stone did not make first round, and he broke on the run, a slowing 18 second et and he failed to return to the second round Dale Pedersen, the #1 qualifier, shook the tires on his single and coasted down the track with an 8 second time slip.
Ken Sihota, was the only driver to make a strong pass, and it was his best of the weekend, a 6.608/210 blast. It too was a single due to Dal's breakage in qualifying. The final pairing was…you guessed it, not a pairing…it was a single as well, as Dale Moznik was supposed to be up against Kerry Stone. Dale also shook the tires on the launch, and lifted early coasting to a 13 second time slip. Round two…(which due to breakage ended up being the semi finals).
Pedersen ran Horne and even though, Horne improved throughout qualifying and in round one, his improvement in the semis was only .04 quicker than his round one pass, and when the guy in the other lane is a mid 6 second car, you need him to red light or break. Neither happened, as Pedersen layed down his second best lap of the weekend, 6.556/220mph shot. Horne ran a 7.48/184 but was well back at the stripe.
Ken Sihota ran Dale Moznik and this one had potential, but both cars had problems on the starting line, smoking the tires. Both pedaled their cars, and Sihota was the first to find traction. He ran a 7.479/190. Moznik went 8.49@ 198.
Final round… A turbo car and a nitrous car, much like many of the NHRA GSA final rounds this year. Dale Pedersen, the #1 qualifier up against Ken Sihota. Both cars got a good start, but Sihota lost traction at 80 feet, while Pedersen went right down the groove until 1200 feet when he lifted off the not so loud pedal (turbo remember). His scoreboard lit up a 6.71/215. Sihota, was off the gas early and coasted to a 8.299/112.
The
overall rating of the race was around a 5 out of 10. There were good quality cars
and the potential for a great top eight was certainly within the realms of possibility.
Unfortunately only a couple cars ran up too expectations, (four to be exact and
only Pedersen made runs in the sixes on most of his runs. When you look in the
NW, there are many great cars, they just need a track wanting to put up the money
and have a schedule that fits.
In Hot Street it was James Johnson, Bellingham, 8.74 over Dave Edwards, Arlington, 9.15. Sorry no Open Comp results.
Pro Mod The full version......... Qualifying and Eliminations Pro Mod had an all blown final round, as two Alberta cars faced off. Wade Sjostrom running his career best 6.50 in qualifying defeated Dale Bristow in round one, Mark Wolfe in the semi finals and Joe Delehay in the final round. Delehay broke on the burnout in the final. He defeated Perry Thyr in round one and Terry Spargo in the semi finals. The overall Pro Mod show was not a lot different from the last couple years. The class is flat out struggling in the NW. This year it is even more disconcerting because of the infighting between to the two main types of cars in the class, Nitrous and Blown. Rules are part of the problem and the way the rules were brought about, according to one side. My opinion is that a class that is actually struggling to get the numbers to put on a good show, a show that the tracks in the NW would book in on a regular basis. Until the two sides can reach a compromise and guarantee the tracks they will feature Blown, Nitrous and Turbo combinations; they likely will have trouble getting solid bookings. The class should form their own rules that suit the cars in the NW, they don't need so called legal rules of a major sanctioning body. It is still a very successful class in most parts on North America and none follow the NHRA rules, I wonder why that is? What they should do is adopt their own set of rules that fits the cars in the NW or on the West Coast. And if the rules that are originally set up seem to be slanted towards one type or car then make an adjustment (or possibly run the PSCA rules, which would open up your series to more cars). The goal is not to make one type of car or one driver dominate the class. Ever competitive team in the class should be able to go up and have a chance to win. The competitiveness of the class is what will keep it strong. There is nothing like going to the final couple events with a couple nitrous and a couple turbo cars (when they become a part of the assoc) and a couple blown cars having a chance at the season championship. And lastly have every member vote, regardless if they are at the season ending meeting. Also something else to look, at is not having a driver or owner as the head executive member. They can be on the board, but when a driver is the head honcho, it is only natural to have that person be slanted one way or another, it's called human nature. As far as the show at MRP, Joe Delehay laid down a great opening shot (at 20%) running a 6.22/235.
His second and third qualifiers did not net any improvement.
Mark Wolfe, a late addition to the show ripped of a solid 6.49/222, he failed to improve on that number in the final two sessions.
Wade Sjostrom ran a career best 6.59 in his opening run, improving to an even better 6.50.217 (also at 20% od).
Terry Spargo, another late addition to the show ran a 6.66/209 as he was dialing in his new FI 717 cu.in. Sonny's Hemi. He also did not improve from his first qualifying shot.
Mark Campbell in his turbo 37 Chevy did not get in a good lap until the final session when he ran a decent 6.65/217.
Dale Bristow ran a 6.72/207, a career best in the final session Saturday.
Duane Grosart rounded out the 6 second cars with a on and off the throttle 6.96/201. It was that team's first run of the year. They made one more run and unfortunately suffered some engine damage and could not return for round one.
Rounding out the top eight was Perry Thyr in his big inch nitrous Camaro. He struggled with a 7.2 best.
The car should be well into the mid 6's but he has not found the right tune-up, and electrical and fuel issues have kept that sweet looking ride form reaching its potential. Tom Rathmeyer and Dean Branham both failed to qualify.
Mission Final qualifying Joe
Delehay Calgary AB 6.227/235.41 mph Tom
Rathmeyer Edmonton Ab DNQ Eliminations..... In Round one, Wade Sjostrom took on Dale Bristow and Dale trying to find at least a few hundredths on the tree went way red.
Sjostrom took the automatic win. He pedaled the 57 and ran a 6.68/211 to advance to the semis.
Mark Wolfe got a single when Grosart could not make round one. He launched hard and lifted at 1000 feet coasting to a 7.0 et. Wolfe would face Sjostrom in the semis.
Terry Spargo and Mark Campbell were next and this one should have been the closest race. Spargo was real late but Campbell shook hard at 100 feet. Spargo trucked on by for a 6.79 victory.
The final pair saw Joe Delehay take out Perry Thyr. Thry again had either ignition, electrical or fuel system issues and he laboured to a mid 7 second et. Delehay ran an on and off the throttle 6.74/234 and had to come from behind. The win for Delehay advanced the Calgary driver and a date against Spargo. Semi Finals.... Wade Sjostrom got the win in round two against Wolfe,
when Wolfe had his limiter stay on after the burnout, so his car stayed on the low RPM chip. It ran its best ever 60ft., a sub 1.0 (that is what the top Turbo cars need to run a low six or high five). Sjostrom almost equaled his best qual effort, as he went 6.51/215 to reach his first ever final round. Delehay had to pedal again for the second run in a row as he defeated Spargo.
The naturally aspirated Sonny's Hemi between the frame rails of Spargo's car continued to give him electrical or fuel system woes. His car should easily be in the low 6.50 zone or high 6.40's. Joe went 6.70 to Spargo's 6.84. Final round....Two blown cars, one a veteran of final rounds and the other in his first ever. Unfortunately we did not get a side by side as Delehay broke on the burnout giving a single to Sjostrom. Lucky for Sjostrom, as he hopped up his car, and he boiled the tires on the starting line, coast down track. But because of Joe's problems, he got the win.
While it was not the final the fans were hoping for, the show itself was about what we (speedZone) expected. With 5-7 missing nitrous cars, the Pro Mod class is in deep trouble unless they can come to mutual understanding that both types of cars are needed. That being said I would like to thank Mark Wolfe and Terry Spargo for coming to the race to help shore it up. Both ran in the middle of the field and went to the semis. Thanks Guys.... The overall rating of the Pr Mods was a 4 out of 10, simply because of the lack of quick cars. Luckily two high quality Comp cars were convinced to come out and play, as if they weren't there, there would have been only six cars for round one. If you look at the Edmonton race that featured all the Nitrous cars their results were eerily similar. Lacking cars and a so/so field. Below is the Edmonton Pro Mod field Edmonton final qualifying 1 6966 Gary Urlacher,
Spruce Grove AB, '63 Corvette 6.378 216.13 216.13 ------------ Not Qualified ------------ 9 6889 Yvonne Lucas, Maple Valley WA, '68 Camaro 13.186 60.59 60.59
Weekend Bracket results are here Saturday qualifying July 2, 2011 10 Pro Mods and 9 Pro Street cars attempted to qualify Saturday for the MRP Doorcar Shootout. 22 Doorslammers also trying to qualifying for their 8.70 minimum. Pro Mod Joe Delehay leads Pro
Mod with a 6.22/235 and Mark Wolfe is #2 with a 6.49. Pro
Street
Doorslammer final qualifying 1. Greg Anderson 7.01/205 The Biggest Doorcar event in Western Canada is up this weekend at Mission Raceway. This weekend's race has been an annual event for a decade and the fan's
who like door-cars, make sure they head to Mission Raceway. Three classes of very
fast door-cars are competing for close to $25,000.00 in prize money. Both classes have cars with mountain size engines up to 900 cubic inches, engines with turbo chargers, nitrous assisted engines and engines with superchargers. The Pro Mods will be represented by four time West Coast Pro Mod series champion Joe Delehay. Joe has cut back his schedule this year, but he wanted to make sure Mission was one event on the schedule. Besides trying to win the race his goal is to run an elusive 5 second ET Other cars entered for this weekend are Mark Campbell from Edmonton in his new turbo charged 37 Chevy, Duane Grosart and his always popular supercharged 55 Chevy, Edmonton's Wade Sjostrom driving his new 57 Chevy. It used to be owned by East Coast heavy hitter Carl Spiering. Drayton Valley Alberta's Perry Thyr who raced in Edmonton last weekend will compete in his #1 car (he has two), a nitrous equipped 2002 Camaro. Four or five other cars are also entered for the NW Pro Mod's portion this weekend. The Pro Street series will possibly
have their best ever field this weekend. Mission Raceway has hosted the Pro Street
racers longer than any other race track in the North West. Racers entered for
this weekend include the who's who from the West Coast. Dale Moznik winner of
the biggest Pro Street race in North America and his brother Roy will run their
nitrous equipped El Camino's. Dale Pedersen form Dawson Creek in his awesome turbocharged
Monte Carlo is one of the favorites. Dal Sangha from Langley in his turbocharged
Mustang has always done well at Mission. Seattle's Garrett Richards with one of
the quickest Pick-ups in the world will also be here. Ken Sihota from Richmond
has a very fast nitrous powered Firebird. Two other brothers from Kelowna, Kerry
and Darryl Stone will be bringing out their turbocharged 68 Camaro and Chevy II.
Steve Nicholson is set to debut his new nitrous powered 63 Corvette.
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