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EDMONTON, Alb. -- The IHRA's first visit to the Western
Canada proved to be one of the most successful inaugural events in
the history of the sanctioning body. The inaugural Rocky Mountain
Nationals, presented by GM Goodwrench Service, was blessed with perfect
weather and outstanding racing for the thousands of motorsports fans
that converged on Budweiser Motorsports Park, just south of Edmonton
in Alberta, Canada. Racers from five Providence's and 22 states were
represented at the event. The friendly Bud Park track employee's,
enthusiastic spectators, hard working IHRA staff and the exciting
action filled racing combined for one of the most memorable events
in recent IHRA history. The fans also had the pleasure of enjoying
Top Fuel and Pro Stock racing for the first time in the facilities
11 year history. Quain Stott's dominating victory in Edmonton may be the beginning of his run for the Hooters Drag Racing Series world championship. Stott qualified No. 1 in his '63 Corvette with a record setting performance and never ran slower than a 6.40 on race day to earn his first IHRA victory of the season. Stott defeated Rick Destefano in the final round with a 6.352/226.92 to take home the Iron man. "We never raced in this kind of altitude and we were hurting parts all through qualifying, but we kind of expected that," said Stott. "I've raced in this kind of altitude in a nitrous car but never in a blown car so we went through a little bit of a learning curve. We finally found a good combination on Sunday, even though we hurt a couple of pistons in the final. We're tickle to death and glad to be here in Canada. I really enjoyed the people here. I've never felt more welcomed in my life anywhere I've ever been. This win was in memory of B.R. Lee, the founder of LeeBoy, and I wanted to win this for him." Mark Thomas won his first national event of the season by defeating Canadian favorite and No. 1 qualifier, Rob Atchison in the Funny Car final. Thomas drove his Ethanol sponsored Dodge Avenger to a 5.919/240.00 to defeat Atchison's 6.008/237.90. "It feels wonderful to be back in the winner's circle," said an elated Thomas. "We came to this race after Richmond with our tail between our legs after hurting some motors and failing to qualify there. We came here looking to be pretty conservative after Richmond and my crew chief, Jimmy Rector, said don't worry, we'll be okay. It all came together really well. We ran the car pretty conservatively the first three runs and for the final I decided I needed to do my job on the tree and Jimmy said he'd give me a 5.90 and we ran a 5.91. We never had the heads off the car all weekend and never hurt a thing so it was a great race all the way around." The Sunoco Pro Stock final pitted Jason Collins against Rick Jones in a classic Ford versus Dodge match up. Collins left the starting line first and never looked back, recording a 6.720/207.08 to take his first win of the season. "We started out the weekend with some different gearing in the car," said Collins, "and we chased the set up for a couple of rounds of qualifying and then we made a change and after that the car started flying. Pro Stock is so competitive now that anyone can win on any given day. You just got to be on your game on the starting line and get to the other end of the race track. I was shocked everyone ran so well at this altitude. I'd like to thank my wife and my mom and dad, because their the one's that make this all possible." The next event on the 2003 Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series is the inaugural Motor City Nationals at Milan Dragway in Detroit, Michigan, July 11-13. Sunday's final results from the Inaugural Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by GM Goodwrench Service at Budweiser Motorsports Park. The $1.1 million race is the fifth of 12 in the 2003 Hooters IHRA Drag Racing Series: Top Fuel -- Bruce Litton, 4.917 seconds, 299.30 mph def. Clay Millican, 4.877 seconds, 283.64 mph. Pro Modified -- Quain Stott, Chevy Corvette, 6.352, 226.92 def. Rick Distefano, Corvette, 6.400, 214.95. Funny Car -- Mark Thomas, Dodge Avenger, 5.919, 240.00 def. Rob Atchison, Pontiac Firebird, 6.008, 237.90. Pro Stock -- Jason Collins, Mercury Cougar, 6.720, 207.08 def. Rick Jones, Dodge Neon, 6.760, 207.80. Top Sportsman -- Dale Giroux, Chevy Cavalier, 8.035, 153.29 def. Gary Gummow, Pontiac Firebird, 7.722, 177.27. Top Dragster -- Britt Cummings, 7.496, 177.30 def. Ricky Adkins, 7.557, 173.57. Quick Rod -- Eddy Plaizier, Dragster, 9.097, 160.48 def. Garth Giroux, Dragster, 9.067, 164.47. Super Rod -- Dave Archambault, Mercurt Zephyr, 10.041, 130.94 def. Brad Dekker, Chevy Corvette, 10.113, 153.53. Hot Rod -- Randy Modersohn, Chevy Nova, 11.225, 126.68 def. Gerry Brown, Dodge Demon, 11.121, 128.09. Stock -- Ed Matiejewski, Chevy Nova, 12.640, 100.39 def. Tom Skjonsberg, Plymouth Barracuda, 10.795, 124.25. Super Stock -- Byron Setters, Chevy Camaro, 10.935, 96.78 def. Ernie
Penner, Pontiac Firebird, foul.
June 1, 2003
It was a great day for Canadians in two of the three pro classes. In the fan favorite Pro Mod class, Al Billes romped through the field after qualifying #1 with a 6.19/227.44 best through the four rounds Friday and Saturday. In eliminations he defeated fellow Canadian Mark Nielson and then Dale Brinsfield with back to back 6.22's. In the semis he took on Nitrous competitor Paul Athey, and both had problems as Athey shook hard and got out out of shape and al drove through serious tire shake but pedaled it to the finish line first and then took on heavy hitter Mike Janis in the final. The final was over early as Janis shook real hard and Al drove through with an easy 6.24 - 7.24 victory sending the partisan canuck crowd into a frenzy. Billes is tied for the points lead with Mitch Stott after two events. Here is the points standings after the first two completed races: 1. Al Billes 190 In Alcohol Funny Car it was much the same for Canadian fans, but this one was a dominant win. Ontario Funny Car driver Rob Atchison dominated the race from qualifying in the #2 spot, through eliminations with 5.70 consistency. After qualifying #2 with a stout 5.83 he started off first round with a great 5.727 just a few thou off the national record to dispose of Richard Kraft. In round two, he proved the first round run was no fluke when he went 5.73 to squash Paul Nokes, in the semis it was much of the same for Atchison on his time slip but John Vouros was ready and actually ran quicker with a 5.753 to Rob's 5.759, but Rob had .024 at the tree and held on for a 18/1000th's win. In the final he was up against 2003 series favorite Mark Thomas, but it was not much of a race as Atchison stayed in the 70's with a 5.753/239.29 to Thomas' 6.12 at only 209. With the win Rob moves into 4th place in the standings. Here is the top five after two completed events in the 12 event Hooters series. 1. Mark Thomas 192 Pro Stock had another strong running Canadian in the field, as John
Konigshofer qualified with a 6.62/210 mph. But he was ousted in the
first round on a hole shot by Frank Gugliotta. The race was a historic
one though as Brian Gahm ran the first ever sub 6.50 pass in great
atmospheric conditions in first round when he went 6.485/213 mph to
defeat Charlie Peppers. He did not stop there though, when he went
even quicker in round two with a 6.476/213 to get by John Montecalvo.
Doug Kirk and Carl Baker also make historic sub 6.50 passes as they
went 6.498 and 6.495 respectively in round two also. Gahms runs were
obviously record runs and were also worth a $2500 bonus from Quarter-Max.
In the semis, his string of passes ended as Gahm lost to Baker when
both cars shook hard but Baker recovered first and went on to the
final round against Doug Kirk. The final saw Carl Baker get the win
on a hole shot over Kirk .451rt 6.543/211.36 to a losing .468rt. 6.537/211.76.
Here are the points standings after two events. 1. Brian Gahm 170 Top Fuel was not a good show at Grand Bend. Nine cars were on the grounds but only one ran even close to the 4's in qualifying, as Millican ran a 4.790/311 mph. The Bump was a very bad 9.28 by Bobby Lagana. Eliminations went to form from the Millican camp as they breezed through first round , but it got interesting for him in the second round. He ran Ostrander who made a great 4.81 lap in round one and had lane choice against Millican (who ran 4.83 in round one). It turned into a pedal fest against Jack, and Jack ended up almost a second ahead at half track. By the 1000 foot clocks he was still 6/10ths ahead but had lost power and was coasting and praying. At the stripe, Millican crossed with a 8.07 to Ostranders 8.09. With Millican's hole-shot it was a tenth of a second victory. In the final he ran Grant Flowers who disposed of Litton in round one and John Sipple in round two. His best run to that point including qualifying was a 5.25/245. The final was no contest, as Flowers was over a tenth back on the tree and ran 9 something to Millican's 4.69/310.55. With the win Millican remains undefeated and leads the standings. Here is the standings after Grand Bend. 1. Clay Millican 267
May 30, 2003 Grand Bend Ontario, finally after a couple month's of non activity in the IHRA, there is finally a race to talk about. This is actually the fourth event of the year, but race #2 and 3 were both rained out, so my guess is the teams are hoping that this event gets completed. After two rounds for all the pros except Top Fuel, which had one session Friday, Clay Millican does not lead the small 7 car field. It is led by Roger Dean with a soft 5.21/240 mph effort. Canadian Todd Paton is in second spot after an early shutoff 5.291/230 mph blast. Millican is not in the field so far as his first run was aborted and he was dq'ed. Here is the field so far: 1. Roger Dean Barry Allen Engines Dragster 5.219 241.48
1. Brian Gahm Gahm's Car-Truck Parts Mustan 6.556 211.61 Alcohol Funny Car is led by Canadian Rob Atchison. Rob ran a great 5.837/238.34 mph blast, to lead the field by almost a tenth after Friday's two sessions. 2003 favorite Mark Thomas is second with a run of 5.917/229.29. The field is anchored by Mike Etter so far after he ran 6.275/232.61. 1. Rob Atchison Firebird 5.837 238.34
May IHRA Zone archives
are here
|
June
30, 2003 Rocky Mountain Nationals
June
10, 2003 Dinwiddle,
Virginia, The Pros put on a great show this weekend, particularly
the Top Fuel Class compared with the week before at Grand Bend. Pro
Mod was another close event, but a major disappointment for Canadian
who DNQ'ed with only two qualifying session due to the weather. That
will hurt his point title aspirations. Pro Stock had a huge field
as did the Funny Car Class. This race will be updated on Wednesday
or Thursday, I had a bunch of contract work to finish first. Stay
Tuned!