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Funny Car and Pro Stock Results

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Pro Stock Final Elimination's:

Sunday eliminations:

Pro Stock was first up on Sunday and the cool temperature made the performance levels almost sea level like. First round of elimination's saw three 6.50 runs and four others that were quicker than the old 6.63 track record. First round also had a couple results that were about as strange as a result could be in Drag Racing. Rick Jones got loose and crossed the centre line , two other pairings were won due to red lights by their competitors and we had the very rare double disqualification when John Nobile left before the tree was activated and then Robert Partrick followed him and he too was DQ'ed. In Round two, Elijah Morton was timed out with the autostart system when he was up against Steve Spiess. By the time it was down to the Semis, John Montecalvo, Brian Gahm, Steve Spiess and Pete Berner. Three of the top four qualifiers were still in. Montecalvo defeated Spiess on both ends of the track with his second 6.50 pass and Brian Gahm Stole one from Pete Berner as he has .057 on the tree and ran 6.627 to Berner's 6.588 for just over a 1/100ths victory. The final again saw a holeshot win for Gahm , as the defending series champion went .021 to Montecalvo's .045 and Brian's 6.625 was more than enough performance compared to John's 6.624. With the win Gahm moved into 2nd place from 4th in the standings behind John Montecalvo. Montecalvo was in second place before this event. John Nobile who lead heading into Edmonton dropped down to 4th place after his first round DQ.

1. John Montecalvo 435
2. Brian Gahm 414
3. Elijah Morton 385
4. John Nobile 378
5. Pete Berner 344

Final Qualifying:

The big motored factory hot rods put on a strong showing despite the fact they were short of last year's car count by one car and two overall short of a full field. The 14 that were at Bud Park were led by the Ford driven by Pete Berner (below) and then surprisingly three Chevy Cavaliers held onto the 2-4 slots.

The top ten were all in the 6.60's the a new track speed record of 210.82 was set by John Montecalvo. Here is the final qualifying set after only two sessions, as both Saturday's, were rained out.

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Funny Car Elimination's

The field for elimination's was 15 car just like in 2003., but the two heavy hitters that have dominated the events so far this season were nowhere to be seen by the time the finals came around. By the time 1st round was complete, Thomas and Atchison were the quick cars, but Jeff Burnett, Terry McMillen, and Scott McVey were right on their butt in performance. Atchison and Thomas both won their second round races , as did McMillen and Aussie Burnett. The two underdogs took it to the point leaders in the semi finals, when McMillen defeated Mark Thomas on both ends of the track, and Jeff Burnett ran 2nd low et of the weekend (5.909) in his upset of Rob Atchison, who shook and lifted. That meant there would be a first time winner in Funny Car. Terry McMillen left first and was on a good run until 600 feet where he started to get loose and had to click it by the 100 foot mark. Jeff Burnett took the win with a solid 6.024/232. His win moved his up to 4th place in the standings. McMillen moved up to 3rd from 5th place.

1. Mark Thomas 552
2. Rob Atchison 414
3. Terry McMillen 316
4. Jeff Burnett 275
5. Ronnie Midyette 270

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Saturday July 3, 2004 Funny Car qualifying

The Alky Floppers were lead by the usual suspects at this year's Rocky Mountain Nationals, and they are Rob Atchison and Mark Thomas. They ran within 2/1000's of each other, with Ontario's Athison getting the # 1 spot and first round bye on Sunday. Rob's 5.929 came Friday night, under the lights just two pairs after Thomas ran his 5.931. The funny cars performance at Bud Park was probably better that expected after seeing what the surface would give the non suspended full bodied race cars. In a word, the track was

Look at the tracks left by the floppers in both lanes. (Jeffery photo)

"BUMPY". Quite possibly the most bumpy facility I have ever seen at a national event. After last year event one of the comments was how smooth the track was after the grinding and IHRA pre-event prep work. This year, the prep was as good, but the Edmonton winter played havoc with the surface from the transition through the finish line. The suspended Pro Stock and Pro Mods were not as noticeable as the funny cars but they too said it was a lot bumpier than last season. I don't think there was a run where on cars did not unload the tires at least four or five times from 400 feet on through the finish well into the shut down area. The surface will definitely have to be ground again before next year's event. Canadian Trevor Lebsack showed his 6.10 at Grand Bend was no fluke when he ran a solid 6.17 to sit in the top half of the 15 car field. Nathan Sitko's first ever National Event results in a #10 6.558 lap that put him in the #10 position and a first round matchup against John Evanchuk. Here is the field after final qualifying: