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Oct. 27, 2003 Sunday's final Sportsman results from the Third annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The $1.6 million race is the 22nd of 23 in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series: Competition Eliminator -- Dean Carter, Dragster, 7.420, 144.58 def. Clint Sallee, Dragster, foul. Super Stock -- Bill Leber Jr., Chevy S-10, 9.486, 140.74 def. Jeff Lane, Pontiac Grand Am, 9.083, 149.22. Stock Eliminator -- Jody Lang, Chevy Malibu, 12.811, 101.83 def. Eric Waldo, Ford Mustang, 10.960, 121.85. Super Comp -- Ed Cooper, Dragster, 9.060, 168.62 def. Jerry Denton Jr, Dragster, 9.044, 164.09. Super Gas -- Randy Bowers, Chevy Camaro, 10.070, 134.46 def. Don Narten Jr, Camaro, 10.040, 151.83. Super Street -- Gerry Epp, Ford Mustang, 11.076, 133.35 def. Steve Cox, Chevy Camaro, 11.036, 109.08.
Oct. 24, 2003 NHRA Chassis Rules in depth, including the new changes in effect Jan. 1, 2004. Courtesy Dave Shaffel Div. 6 tech director
2004 NHRA Rule Book Chassis Specs Changes: Other 2004 NHRA Rule Book Changes: " "For E.T. Motorcycle, an OEM ignition shutoff is permitted in place of a lanyard." This refers to the OEM switch on late model fuel injected motorcycles
that automatically shuts off the engine when the motorcycle is tipped
over. It does not refer to the on/off switch located on the handlebar
controls.
Sept. 29, 2003 Edmonton's Park Park Season finale. (thanks to Sheryl Ogonoski for the great shots)
Troy is following in his bro's footsteps. Apparently he had the wheels 1.5 feet in the air. Aunt Sheryl missed the big wheelie
Ed Verenka ran a 5.433/254 and a 5.485/248.00
Randy Bykowsky licencing in a TF Funny Car. Bernie Fedderly's nephew (Niel) is the crew chief Sept. 17, 2003 The Indy Files "The Indy Files" Part I (story and photos by Pat Harden) Thoughts and Observations from "The Big Go". When Bobby Russell penned the lyrics "….it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime" for the song "Little Green Apples", I doubt very much he could have anticipated the deluge of biblical proportions that first interrupted, then washed out, the 49th running of the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park. For one of the very few times in its long and storied history, the bulk of the event was pushed over to the following weekend, leaving thousands of drag racing refugees, myself and Jamie Clerf included, to sit out the Labour Day weekend in the driving rains. But, it wasn't all bad. What we saw made up in quality for what we missed in quantity; we returned from our adventure in America's heartland with a truckload of great memories, and I'd like to share some of our experiences with you here. This will be a two-part story - even with the event being cut short, there's too much to tell in one writing. Monday, August 25th. The alarm jars me awake at 3:45am, which seems obscenely early after just having spent four long days at MRP for the Lucas Oil "Summer Nationals," running the Top Comp car with Brian Barling. A quick shower to remove the gravel from my eyes and I'm on my way to the airport, where I meet up with the aforementioned Jamie Clerf. We board a United Airlines flight to Chicago, and I run into nostalgia racer and sometimes Top Comp competitor Mike Pawlik, who's on his way to Myrtle Beach on business. Myrtle Beach is a nice place, but Mike would understandably prefer to be headed where we're going! An uneventful five hours later, and we've connected on to Indianapolis and are picking up our rental car. The agent tries the old "Can I interest you gentlemen in an upgrade?" trick, but we don't go for it. Not surprisingly, she then tells us that she's upgrading us anyway, as she has no economy cars left, and we get a Dodge minivan at no extra charge. With our SpeedZone shirts hanging neatly on hangers in the back, Jamie comments that the whole package is "very media-like," and we're on our way to the hotel. The Super 8 turns out to be located in a zone that resembles a bombed out area of East L.A., and is sandwiched between a collection of the world's largest truck stops and a dubious looking strip joint called the "Classy Chassis", but it's clean enough. This will be home for the next eight nights.
Tuesday, August 26th. Still today to go before any cars start running down the track, so we get up a little later and head out to the town of Speedway for some breakfast. Following an obscenely large meal at the Waffle House, we backtrack down the street to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where we visit the Indianapolis 500 museum, and take the bus tour around the 2.5-mile oval. I've been here a couple of times before, but am still awed by the history and sheer size of this place.
Now it's back to IRP to see if we can grab our credentials. We arrive
just as the "Will Call" office opens up, and get our complimentary
tickets and parking pass for the next six days. Back in the van, and
we drive around to the pit entrance - as we pass the staging lanes
we see Shawn just finishing up at tech. After a brief walk around
the grounds in the sweltering heat, we decide that it's time to head
out and find a grocery store and Next, it's off to lunch at the Union Jack Pub in Speedway, a very popular spot with the racers and fans from all the big races in NASCAR, F1, and NHRA that make the stop in Indianapolis each year. Emerging well fed and watered from the cool, dark onfines of the pub a couple of hours later, it's got to be well over 100 degrees with the humidex factored in. It's brutal, so we head back to the Super 8 to hide out in the A/C and drink a few more beers - sure hope that it cools off some as the week goes by. 6:00pm - I decide it's time to subject Jamie to one of the more objectionable Indy traditions, a visit to a White Castle burger joint. We make a hazardous pedestrian journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape to the other side of I-465, and order the two bacon-cheeseburger meal combo. I order mine with cream soda, just to be sure that it's as bad as it can be. White Castles have been around since 1921, and call themselves "hamburger specialists." They make these little burgers called "sliders", which are steamed, not fried or grilled. The patties resemble tiny grey beer coasters, and may or may not contain any actual meat - if they do, I believe it to be from some species of rodent, perhaps mole or something like that. They are topped with what might be dehydrated onions and bacon bits, and the whole mess goes into a tiny, plain bun that functions highly effectively as a grease sponge. The net result is completely disgusting, but Indianans have been eating them by the bagful for decades. At any rate, I take great enjoyment in watching Jamie take tentative little bites, keeping the food at the front of his mouth, all the while shaking his head and saying "Man. Oh, man." He does not finish his meal. Back to the hotel, and the TV weather forecast calls for a cool front to move in later in the week, bringing temperatures closer to normal but not threatening with any significant precipitation. Little did we know…. Wednesday, August 27th. A rocking and rolling thunderstorm blows through the city in the early morning hours. High winds, heavy rain and lightning delay the scheduled 10:30am start to the day's activities. The run order is also switched - first up will be Super Comp. Stock was supposed to kick things off, but lightning took out the scales, so they'll have to run the Super classes until that can be fixed. We meet up with Larry & Debby Thompson, Indianapolis natives who I met when I first came down to this race in '88. They're running in Super Comp, and I drop off a couple of Canadian flag decals for Debby to put on the rear wing, to replace the ones she lost when the car rolled in the lights a few months ago, taking out the wing in the process.
5:00pm - back into Stock after dodging some very nasty looking weather that slips by just to the north of the facility. It may sound monotonous by now, but it's even hotter than earlier, as whatever breeze was blowing has disappeared completely. Shawn runs again at 6:10pm, but the car falls off radically to a 12.73, just .22 under and definitely not headed in the right direction.
A quick stop on the way back to the motel for groceries, a fresh load of Rolling Rock, ice, and a Mickey D's "choke 'n puke" dinner, and we are done, back at the hotel by 10:30pm with a 6:15am wake-up call to come. We're asleep by 11:30, then at midnight the phone jars us awake. It's Dean Murdoch, looking for an update, and providing instructions for the day to come. Jeez, Dean, ever hear of a time change?!! He wants to know why the hemis didn't run quicker - 95 degrees, 98% humidity - do the math!! It's going to be a short sleep…. Next instalment: The alcohol cars come out to play, and the weather gets downright dangerous. See ya then. --Pat Harden (fatbastardracing@allstream.net)
Sept. 15, 2003 Photo highlights from the exhibition cars at the Bike Drags
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A
great send off for the 2003 season this past weekend at Bud Park.
A bunch of Top Alcohol cars as well as a Nitro coupe. Ed Verenka (left)
was there in his A/Fueler and ran a couple of very stout 5.40 passes.
Including a best of 5.433/254. They are the quickest TAD runs ever
in Canada by a Canadian. Troy Sitko (Nathan's brother, below) made
a few check out runs in the family TAD and proved himself to be very
capable. The families goal is to field both a funny car and dragster
in 2004. Troy and Nathan will have to work real hard on getting some
sponsor bucks for next year. Dad and Grandpa can't foot the entire
bill boys. Serge Dion made a pedalling 6.14 pass in his TAD and Alan
Tarapaski mde a few more laps in his Alky Funny Car. The actual final
event for the year at Bud Park is the Power 92 Street shootout October
5.
Next
it's off to IRP to see if we can hook up with Shawn Kvaas, who's towed
here over the past four days from Maple Ridge with his pal Bill Edgeworth,
to compete in his K/SA '78 Firebird. Arriving at the track reveals
a marathon line-up of rigs waiting to get parked in the immense Sportsman
pits - how are we to find anyone in this mess? Lo and behold, within
about two minutes of walking through the gates, I spy a familiar silver
fender visible on an open trailer between a couple of generic white
rigs, and there they are. While Shawn and Bill get settled, Jamie
and I borrow their minibikes and buzz around the facility. Even at
this early 
point
in the week, there are several hundred racers on site, and final preparations
are being made on and off the track. We buzz out to the starting line
and sit on the guardrail, taking it all in - this place is huge, and
the history and spirit of Indy is almost palpable. It's also very
hot - well over 90 degrees, with humidity to match. We rejoin Shawn
and Bill, and head out for dinner near their hotel in Plainfield.
When we emerge from the restaurant just after 7:30pm, it's already
almost completely dark. The nighttime Pro sessions later in the week
should be awesome.
buy
a Styrofoam cooler and a good supply of bottled water and Rolling
Rock beer.
While
the throttle stop classes are ploughing through their seemingly never-ending
sessions, we cruise the facility yet again, now noting some serious
flooding in the alcohol pits, with emergency pumps up and running
at a number of places around the track. It's now high noon - the sun
is out in full force, and once again it is disgustingly humid. Fortunately,
there is some shade to be found in the west side grandstands, beneath
the new sponsor suites, and we take refuge up there as Stock and Super
Stock take to the track. As things get underway, I note the new high
tech scoreboards at the top end - they are in red LED format, and
the ET readouts go to the 1/1000th. This will certainly make it easier
to follow the results of qualifying, but they are a little harder
to read in direct sunlight than the old incandescent lights. Maybe
it's just my old eyes. 
The
first Stock Eliminator cars take to the track at 12:15pm, and in the
first pair is a truly traditional car for us old timers - a U/SA '60
Chevy wagon with a 283 - a real blast from the past, just like the
old "Junior Stockers" that ran way back in the 1960s. A
little way into the session, and Shawn comes out and runs a 12.284
on the K/SA index of 12.95. Not a bad way to kick things off in this
unfamiliar and downright hostile air.
Stock
winds down just before 2:00pm - it takes that long to run through
some 80+ pairs of cars. Super Comp re-emerges, and we grab the opportunity
to head back to the van, which is parked right across the road from
the staging lanes. It's so hot by now that sweat is stinging my eyes,
and making my sunglasses slide down my nose about every five seconds.
Time to crank up the A/C and have a cold drink and a bite to eat.
One of the deli sandwiches has committed suicide by drowning itself
in the melted ice at the bottom of the cooler, but there's still some
cold chicken and Doritos left, so we do all right. By 3:00pm, we're
back in the stands watching Super Stock, once again huddled beneath
the suites. I'm not going to comment much on either Stock or Super
Stock, as Jamie will be doing 
the
honours in his own articles. Suffice it to say that in Super Stock,
the appearance of 26 SS/AA cars for the "Mopar Hemi Challenge",
and the ability of anyone in either Stock or Super Stock to run close
to or more than a second under their indexes in these conditions is
nothing short of miraculous. And literally hundreds of cars are attempting
to do just that - 162 in Stock, and an even more mind boggling 180+
in Super Stock. That's more cars in just those two categories than
show up to run in all categories (including the "Super"
classes) at many LODRS races. Unreal.
We
take another A/C and drink break, then wander the pits until it's
time for Super Stock once more. As we wind our way back towards the
stands, the "Hemi Challenge" participants are gathering
in the staging lanes for a photo opportunity as the sun sets. Very
cool. Super Stock kicks off under the lights at 7:30pm - it's cooler,
but still humid. 172 cars make runs in this session - 86 pairs on
a sultry Indiana evening. With one relatively short oildown along
the way, it takes a full 90 minutes to run the session. Wheels up,
bang 'em down, smoke the front tires on landing, then run it out the
back door - this is what old style drag racing action is all about.
There aren't a whole lot of people in the stands on this Wednesday
night, but those who are there know why they came. The real bonus
is that the SS/AA cars run as a group at the very end of the evening.
Almost 2 dozen of them take a shot at the track, and Jerry Jenkins
brings things to a close with a great 8.89 hit - a full tenth ahead
of the rest of the field.
Joe Delehay
Ray
Kirton 
Leo
Grocock 
