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Press releases from 9 Pro Mod teams and four teams from other classes.
Pro Mods: Kip DuPuis This is Los Gatos Ca. resident Kip DuPuis' first ever trip to the
Northern city of Edmonton. It will be the first major outing for the
very cool unique '57 "Buick Special" Pro Mod. Never to be
one to do things the normal way, when he decided to go back to racing,
he wanted something a little different, his father suggested the Buick
as it was one of his favorite 50's cars. The sweat and work that builder
Tim McAmis and Kip put into this ride are obvious, as the workmanship
is incredible. And the car is proving to be a contender on the West
Coast. Already running 6.40's in less than a dozen passes, the car
is getting quicker on every run. And the team is learning more ever
run out. They feel if the rains did not hit Mission Raceway last weekend,
they would have easily been in the low 6.30's or even 6.20's. This
weekend at Edmonton's Bud Park is just another testing weekend for
the California team, as their expectations for the season have not
changed, they are out to collect data on every lap, and then take
a serious run in 2004. "Kip's Customs" (home construction
business) is the major sponsor of the car, and the success of the
business affords him the luxury of being able to go out and do what
he likes best; "to go fast". Danny Rowe Danny's season has been like a little bump in the road on the way to bigger and better things. While they have shown both on the dyno and in testing, that they can make big power, they have yet to show the potential on race day. .970 60fts. have become routine and the 330's are very good as well, they are just looking to put the whole package together. This weekend at Bud Park for the Rocky Mountain Nationals is where they think it will happen. With all the teams showing up at Edmonton without the luxury of having been down the new surface, everyone is at a level playing field. Crew Chief Mike 'Showy' Showalter is on the verge of having the Laguna Hills, Ca. driver, have the success he enjoyed in 2000 and 2001 when they won the West Coast Pro Mod Championship (2000) and also won an AMS Pro Mod event (2001) running low 6.20's in St. Louis. Check out all the details on Danny and the team at http://www.dannyrowe.com, and for all the results from this event, go to these web sites. www.speedzonemagazine.com, www.dragracecentral.com, and www.ihra.com. Dennis Radford Dennis Radford from Baker City Oregon really likes the Viper. He
like them so much that he bought his second Dodge Viper Pro Mod and
will race it this weekend at the Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton.
Now with the twins (his wife Judy's moniker for the two pro mods)
in his stable, he will be a formidable opponent for anyone in the
other lane. Most will do a double take as well, when they race the
Radford cars, as both are painted exactly the same, the only difference,
is one is a Charlie Buck nitrous assisted combination and the other
is supercharged with a BAE under the hood. Dennis and Judy have secured
the services of Kirk Kuhns to drive and tune the blown "Snake",
while he and Judy look after standby nitrous ride. Why the two different
combinations, "its obvious says wife Judy, the future really
looks to be leaned toward the blower combination, but we have had
success with the nitrous one and we like to do things a little different
than most of the other West coast guys. Add into the equation that
Kirk was available, and it was a no-brainer to decide to try both.
The Blown car will debut in a matter of weeks, so this weekend they
other teams won't see double, and will only have to deal with one
"strike". Joe Delehay Calgary's Joe Delehay is swimming in uncharted waters for the 2003
season. The long time nitrous powered Pro Mod driver has never done
things the normal way. He loves trucks, and has raced them for well
over a decade. Not just your basic truck either. He had built a 1972
full size Pro Mod pick-up by Bob Davenport Custom Race Cars, and had
the title of world's fastest pick-up and first to reach 200mph when
he over 202 mph back in the mid 90's. He has run sporadically for
the past five years, while establishing one of the largest concrete
pumping businesses in Alberta. The best et's run with the truck in
nitrous form, were 6.80's, but Joe convinced long time crew chief
Ken 'the wiz' Eisler that if they wanted to get serious again in racing
they should go by way of a blower. So they bought one of the most
proven combinations in Pro Mod and 525 cu.in. BAE hemi and went out
and ran 6.44 at over 223 mph on its first full lap on the truck. This
weekend at Edmonton's Rocky Mountain Nationals his goal is to qualify
obviously, but his real goal with the truck is to reclaim the 'World's
fastest and Quickest truck' title, currently held by good friend Glen
May in a "Ford" of all things (according to Joe). So a goal
of a low 6.30 at over 225 mph is just what the doctor has ordered
for the "Dynamic Concrete" 72 Pick-up. Keep up to date on
all the happenings at http://www.joedelehay.com Glen Kerunsky Home field advantage for a national event drag race on the West Coast
is not something you have ever heard in the past. No matter how far
you go back in history! This is something that Glen Kerunsky and the
rest of the competitors from Alberta racing this weekend are looking
forward to. Glen is probably the most prominent or visible Drag Racer
from Calgary Alberta in the last few years. He is famous for driving
the Chevy S-10 Pro Mod Pick-up as both a nitrous truck and then as
a blower truck. He has the national record for the A/PM set two years
ago at Mission raceway and was the first record holder in the class.
Now he has one of the quickest 57 Chevy's in the world, running a
best ET of 6.26 @ 224 mph. This weekend, at Bud Park, he is hoping
that having the event in his home province will help propel him and
the team to the late rounds on Sunday. Crew Chief Terry Morrow and
the able crew have proved they can make the power, now they have to
put it to race day consistency. With one win this year in the West
Coast Pro Mod series, they know what it takes to win. Glen and Cindy
would like to thank all the crew for their hard work and their sponsor
Breckenridge Excavating in Calgary. Glen May Richmond BC's Glen May is one of the few Pro Mod pilots on the west coast that has taken a serious run at IHRA Pro Mod racing. Back in 1999, the "Cranberry Connection" team decided to take a run at the series and ran all 12 races. In that, his rookie and only full time season on the series he garnered a 10th place finish on the tour including one final round and a couple semi finals along the way, all while debuting his current ride a 99 Ford Ranger Pick-up partly through the season. Quite an accomplishment, for a team that had never raced in a national event before. For the current season Glen, and co-crew chiefs Grant Husdon and Terry Bride have done extensive R&D on the entire truck, from the chassis to the fuel system and unique motor combination. They run a 525 Boss Hemi, and have developed their own fuel flow bench to fine tune the big "Boss". So far this year they have run back to back 6.41 and 6.42 passes at over 222 mph in only their second and third passes this year. "The tune-up is so safe; we feel we can run another tenth or more without really leaning on it. This should bode well for their foray to Bud Park and the "Rocky Mountain Nationals" at Edmonton this weekend. As far as their friendly rivalry with that Chevy Pro Mod truck driven by Joe Delehay, the Ford guys say, "bring it on, and we hope you have lots of spares". Check out http://www.dragracecentral and http://www.speedzonemagazine.com for all the action this weekend. The Cranberry Connection team's web site is www.cc-racing.com Rick Distefano One of the nicest Pro Mods on the planet will make its IHRA debut
this weekend at the Rocky Mountain Nationals at Budweiser Park in
Edmonton. Calgary's Rick Distefano always manages a flair for the
dramatic, as witnessed by anyone who has seen his 1953 Corvette built
by Tim McAmis Race Cars with graphics by Stu Wotypka at Intelligent
Development. Rick is proud to introduce his new major sponsor this
weekend, "Shaganappi Chevrolet" in Calgary. Gary Sartorio
owner of Shaganappi sponsored his prior two rides, a Camaro Pro Mod
from the mid 90's that qualified at his only other IHRA National event,
and his Pro Stock truck which competed only sporadically back in 2000.
This season he has stepped back into the drag racing in a serious
way, with the new ride. He tested extensively early this year at Las
Vegas and Phoenix where he ran 6.20's and 6.30's like clock work.
At Mission Raceway earlier this year, he ran a 6.25 to be the quickest
Pro Mod in Western Canada. With tuning assistance from alcohol guru
Les Davenport and his crew Chief Andy MacIntosh calling the shots,
Rick feels they have a legitimate shot at qualifying near the top
and going some rounds this weekend. Rick would like to thank all his
sponsors include Shaganappi above and his new tool supplier Jet Tools
and Equipment Canada. As well, he thanks Top Gun Coatings Rolls Right
Concrete and the team that supplied the award winning paint T &
S Custom Paint. John Scialpi The West Covina Ca. owner/driver made a statement with his all new Woppado '57 Chevy last weekend, when he qualified #1 at the West Coast Pro Mod Event at Mission Raceway. Unfortunately, the rains washed out eliminations, but the 6.35 John ran, gave him and crew Chief Doug Stewart a good base line for this weekend's IHRA "Rocky Mountain Nationals" at Edmonton's Bud Park. John, an innovator in the class, built all aspects of his car from the chassis to the engine and everything in between. He is so successful that a number of West Coast drivers including Danny Rowe and Andy Neyer secured his services for their rides. The new Woppado has made improvements at every event so far this year, culminating with a win at the high altitude Pro Mod event at Salt Lake City just two weeks ago. The altitude here at Edmonton 2400+ could play into his hands as he looks to challenge for the 'Iron Man' in Sunday's eliminations. John would like to thank all his sponsors including Red Line Oil, Tom's Differentials and K & N Filters. His associates include Santhuff Shocks, Rodriguez Contracting, JE Pistons, XRP, EastWest Engineering Performance Clutches, Ralph Gorr, Schneider Valve Train, Childs and Albert and Jaz Products. Check out all the action from this weekend at www.dragracecentral and www.speedzonemagazine.com Jay Syvertsen B.C. pro Mood rookie Jay Syvertsen will make his debut at the Rocky
Mountain Nationals this weekend in Edmonton. Jay has possibly the
most unique designed Pro Mod around, a 1955 Cameo Pick-up. An Alan
Johnson all aluminum 525 cu.in. bullet, sits between the Vanishing
Point chassis. The body was designed and built by Glen Freeman, and
features an all carbon fiber composite shell. So far this year Jay
has been in testing mode, and he feels the team is real close to getting
a handle on the tune-up and the chassis setup. Jay would like to thank
his sponsors Mopac Automotive, Jet Tools and Equipment, RJ Enterprises/VP
Fuels and Spirit Race Cars. Look for Jay and the team in the pits
at Edmonton and say hi. Go to www.speedzonemagazine.com and www.dragracecentral
for all the drag racing action. Check out Jays race site @ www.jaysracing.com
Funny Car Mike Brown Alcohol Funny Car pilot Mike Brown from Everett Wa. is looking forward to his first IHRA National event this weekend at the "Rocky Mountain Nationals" in Edmonton, Alberta. The Match racing veteran is looking forward to get ing back in the saddle after a year off racing. His combination is ideally suited for the IHRA, as he runs the standard roots style blower exclusively. He brings with him plenty of experience, including a win at the Canadian National Open back in 2001. He feels that his combination will run in the 6.10 - 6.30 range which should put him in solidly in the 16 car field. Assisting Mike and wife Pam this weekend will be sponsor Darryl Thiessen from Thiessen Performance, Performance Polishing and the "Up in Flames Clothing Company". After this event Mike will compete at the National Open at Mission in three weeks and then run at the Lucas Oil event at Mission in August. Go to www.speedzonemagazine.com and www.dragracecentral.com for all the weekends race results.
Top Dragster / Quick Rod John Evans John Evans makes his National Event debut with his new blown rear engined Top Dragster this weekend at Bud Park in Edmonton. The "SpeedZone Magazine" / G&M Trailers dragster has run a number of Divisional events in the NHRA this year and has run a best of 7.70 @ 175 mph. As well as the Top Dragster, John is bringing up his Quick Rod /Super Comp dragster for his new hired gun Cory Thompson. Thompson was the NHRA Div. 6 Bracket racer of the year back in 2000, so he brings with him solid credentials for his first ever IHRA National Event. John has over 25 years drag racing experience, including a couple years of full sponsorship in the from the Rock Band "Loverboy". John is really looking forward to running this IHRA National event and he knows the fans up in Edmonton will embrace this event, and he is looking forward to seeing all his friends up there. Go to www.dragracecentral.com and www.speedzonemagazine.com for the results from this and every race weekend Top Sportsman Terry Spargo Terry Spargo is one excited Doorslammer competitor. This will be his first national event with his 7 second 68 Camaro. The DoorSlammer that run here on the West Coast cater only to the Divisional series in the Top Comp class. With the running of Top Sportsman on the IHRA National Event tour, he feels his car is perfectly suited for the class. His is one of the most consistent runners in the Canada West Doorslammer Association, and he feels his experience in that class will help him at the national event level. He and Crew Chief Jake, have the car dialed in to run 7.65 - 7.85 so making the field will be no problem in Edmonton. He would like to thank all the companies that have helped him to run in the sevens and they include Spirit Race Cars, Brian Kikel Engines, Pro Stock Performance in Edmonton, Ron Parr Racing Engines for the all new Aluminum Rods designed by Ron, and South Hill Electric. To find all the results from this weekend, go to www.dragracecentral.com and www.speedzonemagazine.com |