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August 21, 2003
Thursday Test n Tune was a very laid back affair will
what seemed like less than 100 cars making laps down the track. A number
of Top Comp made laps, only three comp cars (Jirka Kaplan BB/AM above,
Don Barton in his new E/SMA and Joe Delehay, left AA/PM).
On the surprise front, it was good to see the Bateman/Reynolds team arrive with the repairs made from Calgary's rod exiting burnout last Saturday night. Also it was nice to see Kim Parker (TAD) and Trevor Lebsack (TAFC) show up, as they were not on the entry list I had from the track or from NHRA. So the fields should e as follows: TAD Mark Hentges, Joey Severance, Mitch Meyers, Mike Cofini,
Steve Federlin
August 17, 2003 Mission Raceway Lucas Oil event preview Over 350 cars are expected for this weekend Div. 6 Lucas Oil event. This event the second Lucas Oil race on Mission Raceway's schedule is the event originally on the calendar for Calgary's Race City, but due to their sanctioning change, the event was given to the best little track on the West Coast. This is the sixth of seventh Divisional races in the Northwest "Land of the Leaders". Due to the seven event schedule this is an "out of Division" event for all competitors except for the Alcohol cars which get this as an "In Division" event due to Boise not hosting the Alky cars. Competition eliminator will be hotly contested much like the first event here in May. 20 Comp cars qualified for the first event including five with blowers. Three Pro Mods a "AA" Altered and "BB" Altered. At this event expect the "AA" Altered of Jirka Kaplan to be in "B" form as he has run with a smaller engine combo since annihilating the record here in the spring. Smithfield in the "BB" car has run real well lately and went to the semis at Seattle's National event. Jeff Lane is leading the points and is a threat at every event. Gary Anderson has be very tough lately as well. Last years Division champ Adam Bowdish is in third place. Here is the top ten in the standings: 01 Jeff Lane 280 Top Comp has seen Jeff Devey leading since the start of the season. Four non-Dragsters are surprisingly in the top ten. Todd Hoerner, while being 41 points back in the standings loves racing at Mission and won here in the spring event. The talk of the class is that the Door cars could get their own class much like Top Sportsman in a couple of the other divisions. That would certainly help the Canada West Doorslammer class grow locally. Here are the top ten: 01 Jeff Devey 270 Super Stock like Comp, is lead by Jeff Lane and he is #2 in the National standings. Sean Cour is only a round and a half back. Local Ray Grossmith had his best result ever here in the spring with a runner-up finish and has home field advantage. He could be one to watch this weekend. With Terry Sherrill make it up here for the first time in two years. His new SS/AM car is fast. Will any of the "Hemi" cars trek North for this event when the Mopar "INDY" Hemi Shootout starts on Wednesday? I doubt it, but who knows. Here is the top ten heading into Mission: 01 Jeff Lane 329 Stock Eliminator is very hotly contested with the top three cars 40 points apart. Team Mates Brad Plourd and Mike Lewis are chasing Jody Lang, as everyone seems to do every year. The three racers had won four of the five division 6 races so far, with the only other win (Seattle) going to Jody's brother Toby. I don't see any one else really stepping up to challenge for the division other that the top three. As far as the Mission event, I still will pick one (or both) of the "Doctor Injector" cars going into the late rounds and possibly The "Worm Don Elgin or local Bruce Flodin going into the late rounds. Here is the top ten in Division 6 Stock Eliminator: 01 Jody Lang 373 01 Anthony Castillo 299 6 Super Gas is the bright spot for Canadians, as Abbotsford driver Stefan Kondolay leads the points and has been a around past the first round in every event so far. He has done well in both the Super Gas events and won a Super Pro race last week in preparation for this weekend's event. While I'm not sure he will be in the final round, I'm betting he will be there in the 3rd or 4th round, he has proven to be a pretty good strategist in his second year in the seat. The Kondolay's have a new car on its way for next year, so both Stefan and father Bill will be around to play havoc with the competition. Two other Canadians have done well this season, and they are Chad Barclay will the win at Seattle and Mike Shannon who won at Boise. Ken Heard, currently in second place, has a lower round to throw away that Stefan, so he has a bit of an advantage. Here is the point standings heading in this weekend: 01 Stefan Kondolay 297 6 In Super Street, DJ Jannuzzi is leading the points by staying around into the later rounds on Sunday. He has not gone out in the first or second round yet this season and is a few rounds up on the guys behind him. If Steve Beggerly goes at least four rounds and DJ does not improve on a third round loss, then Steve could take over top spot. Herman Chan is the top Canuck, with a semi final finish and 7th in the standings. Here is the points for Super Street. 01 Dj Jannuzzi 317 5 Kerker Motorcycle would be Medford Oregon's Scott Pollacheck season to lose, as he decided to run Div. 7 this year, and has dominated with three wins and a semi final finish. Up here in Division 6 Steve Miller has a huge lead over Dave LaBlanc, but Dave has three races in hand over Steve. It is not likely that Dave will be at more than two more events though, so he needs to go at least into the third round at two events go have a chance to catch Miller. I'm going with LaBlanc, SpeedZone's Al Omond Steve Collette and Mile Hauer to go to the late rounds this weekend. Here is the standings heading into this weekend. 01 Steve Miller 293 6 Super Pro, the only bracket class competing this weekend will be a big weekend for Jim Behnke and Ron McKenzie. Dave Strell (if he is in the seat this weekend) is a good bet as well, as he does great in Wally races. Martin Rachel and Dave Jung will also be there at the end unless they run in Super Street instead.
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In
Top Alcohol Russ Parker made two hits in Gregg Lawrence's car, the first
a tire smoking shot and the second one, a 5.62 /242 (below) shot
that saw Russ pedal it right at 220 feet and then drive the car like
he was still in a funny car, sashaying from 400-900 feet (it was actually
a little scary) until he lifted and pulled the chutes just as he crossed
the finish line. In Top Comp, Nick Drazyich went 7.1's in the new Grand
Am, Brian Barling went 7.30's (lower left), Dave Jackson in his
sweet Chevy 11 (Nova?) ran low 8's, and a number of other dragsters
ran mid sevens. The only excitement will come in the Alky pits later
tonight and early in the 
morning
when the remaining cars due to arrive (Clint Thompson, Ken Kraus, Robert
Lee, Hank Coolidge, and Dave Germain, Joey Severance, Steve Federlin
and Leo Grocock and find out there are no spots left the the area they
are supposed to be at. The Super Classes and Comp cars seem to think
they can park wherever they feel like. I know when I left Lorna was
pulling out her hair. 
Buff
Kobb ran a best of 8.00
Dave
Jackson's new Top Comp Chevy is real nice!