July 18, 2005

Photos courtesy Shannon MacDonald and Dean Murdoch

Jr. gallery

Top Alcohol gallery

Fuel Altered gallery

Street shootout gallery

Sportsman gallery

 

Lucas Oil Canadian National Open

A great weekend at Mission Raceway Park finally saw fruition Saturday and Sunday as the National Open completed under Sunny Skies and an appreciative crowd. While the Nostalgia AA Fuel Altereds only rated a 7 out of 10 in their overall scorecard, there were a few excellent runs by the 4some. On Saturday, the 'Blue Blazer blazed its way to a career best 6.50 at 208 that showed the potential of these short wheel based cars. Saturday night under the nights, the two pairings did not see a full laps by any of the cars, but there were a few flames and a bit of wall to wall action, particularly by the 'Nanook' who was up on two wheels from 300 to the 700 foot mark. Larry Pfister will have video up on that short filling run early this week.

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, the much anticipated performance potential by Rick Hough in the 'Nanook' bore itself under bright sunny skies, as Hough ripped off a great 6.36 at 225 mph, that really impressed me. On Rick's final run he again got real loose from 400 feet through the 1/4 mile as he sashayed from the centre line back to the guard rail all the way stabbing the loud pedal. I think it was a low 7 second effort but it may have been in the sixes, I was too busy watching the car and not looking at the scoreboard. Brett Hankins in Bob Hankins 'Blue Blazer' laid down a great pedaling 6.85/214 mph lap. On his final run, Hankins had to pedal again and he was loose most of the way down the track. The 'Blazer' did hook up from 800 feet on, and turned in a respectable 7.teen at 218 mph. Ron Hope's 'Rat Trap' really looked like there was something other that nitro in its tank, as they struggled big time in all four runs they bayed down. The best run, in what is the coolest looking Fuel Altered anywhere period, was an anemic 8 something. Most runs had more fuel blowing out of the pipes than burning in the engine. Randy Bradford's cool Fiat turned in a couple eight second run and one seven second effort at a top speed of 180 mph.

The overall impression of the fuel altereds were in order of performance, a '9 out of 10, two thumbs' up by the 'Blue Blazer', due to the three 200 mph laps including Saturday's awesome 6.50, and for the fact I had the least expectations for the relatively unheralded car. For the 'Nanook', Rick Hough gets an '10' on two on his runs, that 6.36/225 shot and the 'two wheel hold on to your berrys' effort Saturday night. He gets an '8' for the final run Sunday, with his only weak one, his first on Saturday, a mediocre rating of '6' that did not really have anything notable happen. Notable for that team was the fact they had two compete engine teardowns over the weekend, as they had camshaft carnage on two different occasions. An overall score of '8.3', gives him two thumbs up. The 'Rat Trap' gets an uninspiring '5' out of 10 and that score was mostly due to its very nostalgic look. The only run that saw an semblance of potential was the last one, when the Rat Trap faced the Nanook. Hope did a very nice long smokey burnout beside Hough. On the run, the car seemed to be on a decent run but slowed after 200 feet and most eyes were on the Nanook's top end antics. The score for the Northwest's Randy Bradford, would be a 7 out of 10. That car is probably the most original of the four, and it is so original I believe it can only have a 7.50 certification (according to one tech official). Randy's car had a good flame show Saturday night during its burnout and while backing up from the burnout. None of the four really lit up the sky on Saturday night, but the flames were clearly visible. Randy was on the loud pedal for pretty much all four of his runs, but under a soft tune-up you really can't get a feel for the potential of the wild looking Fiat.

 

'The Top Alcohol Show'

The annual "A" and "B" Top Alcohol shootouts met most expectations, and there were a few cool highlights and unfortunately lowlights as well. For the highlight reel part, Paul Julien ran a career best 5.59/251 mph on Sunday against Kim Parker. It was in a loosing effort as Kim ran 5.57 to go to the shootout final. The local driver has been trying for that magic number for quite a while and it was nice to see that number come up. It partly makes up for Paul not running the Saturday night qualifying session in front of the big crowd. I do question that decision, particularly with one of his sponsors also being the event sponsor.

 

 

Kim took on husband Randy Parker in the overall "A" final, and this one had the makings of every husband/wife clique you could muster up. Kim's father Steve was asked who he thought would win, or who he wanted to win. He, in his ever so PC manner told me that a Parker would win the Wally. Kim said, she was going to kick Randy's butt, and he better understand that in every way shape or form. Well with a .25 handicap based on the way the two cars had been running all weekend, Kim should have that race in the bag. Her worst lap was a 5.59 and Randy's best was a 6.13 in the Friday night qualifier. Both cars had similar rt's, but by 300 feet Kim had caught Randy and was easily driving away, until her car shut down at around 950 feet. Randy had to work hard steering his ride away from the left guard rail, and he kept his foot on the loud pedal, and amazingly caught Kim at 1305 feet for a .009 margin of victory. Kim could not believe he had caught her. "When my car died, I pushed in the clutch and was leaning as hard as a could against my seat belt urging my car forward". I guess Randy will be sleeping on the couch with Molly for the next couple days. To Randy's credit, it did look like he may of lifted before the finish line as his car was only going 215 mph at the stripe, when it should of been 225 to 230. The numbers were 6.10 Kim to 6.34 for Randy (add in the .025 handicap for Randy and the even start and you get a .009 finish line victory for Randy).

 

Nathan and the Sitko Family Funny Car was the other "A" Funny Car" and it should of been a great Funny Car final round, as Both Nathan and Randy had run 6 teens in qualifying. Unfortunately for the Sitko's, during routine maintenance, the found a major 'blower' problem and they had no spare. They talked to local favorite Dudley Clease who was unable to run this weekend due to late parts arriving for his TAD. Dudley loaned him his 'blower', which is about 85% as efficient as their own. They had other gear ratios and tranny gear set that would of compensated for the reduced OD, but did not have enough time to make all the necessary changes. They ran 6.38 against Randy who repeated his earlier teen pass. That put Randy into he final against wife Kim.

 

Dudley came to the rescue of another Top Alcohol team and that was the Bill Edwards TAD. Bill hurt his heads in the first qualifier on Saturday and Dudley brought his heads out to Bill to use in time for the final session Saturday night. They did make a run but had troubles again on that 6.73 lap, that kept them from making elimination's on Sunday. Leo Grocock has his troubles as well on Saturday when he torched hi both cylinder heads on his only run. Leo had just got his blower all retrofitted by PSI and the team stepped up the OD as well. They were really looking to run an easy 5.80 and with the refreshed blower it seemed like a shoe-in based on the early shut off 6.0 pass made at the divisional event. It had to be a fuel issue and the new refreshed blower must of needed more fuel than thought. Too bad for that team, as they are qualified for the rerun of the rained out Lucas event in three weeks.

 

Fisticuffs almost broke out on the top end in the Shawn Nault and Brad Hansen semi final. Brad was racing the flopper for the first time in competition and Shawn was still getting acclimated to a flopper as well. He only makes a few events a year, and I believe this was the first one. Bob Haffner and Paul Terasenko getting a little more aggressive on the clutch tune-up and when Shawn brought the rpm's up to stage Brad seemed to take his time getting his car into the stage beams. Shawn finally could not hold it and rolled the beams. Hansen had a troubled run on his side once the light turned green, but got the win due to the red light start by Nault. At the top end apparently words were more than a bit heated and Nault's partner Derek Snelson also got involved. I believe "Big" Paul had to restrain at least one crew member. I had my camera focused on the run so did not get a chance to see the the stage beams and how long it took for Hansen to stage.

 

In the eventual final round of the"B" side, Greg Sereda got an easy win over Hansen as Sereda ran in the low 6's all weekend long. This was his second consecutive win in TA competition, his previous one was at Medicine Hat under a similar format. Six winning rounds in a row for the Sophomore driver is a pretty impressive feat.

 

 

 

 

Shawn Cowie entered the TA wars for the first time in the Mundies' Towing blown dragster and made it all the way to the semi finals, where he faced Sereda. Cowie and the team accounted for themselves very well, and I look forward to them running again with the TAD's. Shawn defeated the 'Beach City'Corvette driven by Leon Cowie in the first round on eliminations. Cowie also ran in Top Comp and went to the third round before red lighting against Mike Seekins.

 

 

 

 

 

In Top Comp, Joe Mura won one for the locals when he defeated Alberta's Scott Taylor in the final round. Mura is driving a dragster after years in the Super Street and Super Gas classes driving Nova's and Camaro's. He spent last year in Super Pro and Super Comp before stepping up the HP and trying out Top Comp. He ran right on his 7.48 dial in in the final round and drove around the .021 starting line advantage Taylor had laid down. 29 cars tried for the 8.19 minimum and 27 got in the field. Terry McHardy was one of the two that failed to qualify as he struggled at the starting line in the first two session before breaking the rear end or drive shaft in the final qualifier. The newly rework Old Timer Cuda looks like to will be a fast ride once owner Bill Visser and driver McHardy get the bugs worked out.

 

In Combo, bracket hitter Chris Brandt was in Frank Jone's "Baron" 'Cuda, and he took it all the way to the winners circle. Chris defeated Tom Skjonsberg in the final round in the 25 car field. In unusual semi finals Brandt had the odd car bye run and Skjonsberg got a freebie when the "Worm" broke his rear end in his 1/4 final win over Brad Potter. Both the semi finalists took the tree and their respective wins and then staged for their final round tilt.

 

 

 

 

Brandt almost doubled up, as he took his car to the final round against Sean Kennedy. In the same scenario as in Combo, both Kennedy and Brandt had byes and singles due to breakage. Elgin was also slated to run in the semis in Sportsman, but due to his breakage he could not make the call, so Brandt had the single. Kennedy had the odd car bye and both cars did the same routine as what went down in Combo. In the final round, the two cars both had burnout problems, (probably due to the hot weather and the water evaporating quickly) they both had to make two attempts. Sean looks to be a very excitable young guy, and looked rattled during the burnout deal. But he shook it off and left .005 before Brandt did and took the stripe by .021. Sean tracked me down on the weekend and gave me a hard time when I reported on a race last year when he defeated Cory Thompson on a final round and I spent more time talking about Cory than him. I told him that if he won this weekend I would give him his moment in the limelight. Well Sean here it is and congrat's on making it to the final round and winning for the seocnd time here at MRP.

You deserve your 15 minutes of fame.

 

The rest of the final round photos Tuesday morning

 

In Super Pro , Al Quigley took his unassuming 'Stang to the winners circle as he defeated David Chun Jr. in his seven second Dragster. Chun red lit away his chance for victory, with a .011 red. Quigley had a solid .027 light, but Chun's .012 package would have been tough to beat if it wasn't combined with a .011 red light.

In Pro Bracket, Rick Eastman (near lane) took his '67 Nova to the final round and defeated Ted Miller in his '70 Nova. Miller tried to take the stripe but broke out by .009. Eastman had .04 advantage at the starting line and ran right on his 11.10 dial.

Cunningham is in the far lane

Super Comp almost became the Dan Benham show for the second National Open final round in a row. After winning the completed Bremerton final round on Saturday over Mike Peck, he advanced to the final round against Earl Cunningham. Cunningham had a big .029 starting line, but allowed Benham to take the stripe by .012 too much causing the breakout win. Benham should have the point lead in the National Open standings.

In Super Gas, Vancouver Island's Dean Peterson (far lane above) got the Canadian cars back in the winner's circle as he defeated Oregon's Tom Horsley in the final. He had a huge .058 starting line advantage forcing Horsley to break out at the finish line. Horsley went to the final on Saturday in the Bremerton Open race (I think).

In Super Street, the trophy went to the Island as well, as Courtney's Craig Bickle (far lane above) got the Wally and the winners cheque in a battle of Camaros. His .004 light was too much for Washington's Brian Engleking. Bickle went 10.94 to Engleking's 10.938.

In Bike, Chilliwack BC's Dan Temple got the win over Mission's Stewart Kienas. Both riders had great lights (a .004 for Tempel and a .018 for Kienas). Tempel ran a 8.93 on a 8.92 and Kienas went 11.22 on a 11.18 dial in.

For the Jr. classes, Gig Harbour Washington's Gary Howe Jr. won Sunday's event in Jr. Lightning. He defeated Mission's Hope Allen. Hope had a slight (.016) starting line advantage but took way to much stripe and broke out giving Howe the win light. Krista Kooker won the Glold Crown event on Saturday in Jr. Lightning. In Jr. Thunder on Sunday, Everson Washington's Kayla Allen defeated Mission's Rachel Lowe. Lowe had a huge advantage (.107) advantage but her ride was way too quick, handing the win to Allen.

The three 'Street car shootouts' saw Jeremy Devier defeat Dal Sangha in a battle of nitrous and turbo. Dal was way late at the tree, as he dropped the rpm's down just as the tree turned green and Jeremy was out to a .187 starting line advantage. Dal was catching up but fell .045 short at the finish line. These two cars seem to be the most consistent of the five six second rides in the Northwest. Brian Lane made one 6.85 run Saturday night, but used up the engine on that run. Rash Dhaliwal did not compete on the weekend, and Garrett Richards did not go quicker than an eight second time slip all weekend.

In Real Street, Greg Henshell took off the nitrous after the huge wheelstands on Saturday, and still defeated all comers. His final round opponent was Randy Johnson.

Rod Pickett dominated Outlaw Street and defeated Leland Burridge in the final round. Burridge ran his quickest lap ever in his unique turbo charged '63 Chevy II, but his 8.51 was not match for Pickett's 7.66

The overall grade for the weekend would be an 8 out of 10, as the crowd as big as MRP has had in the last three or four years. The weather which started lousy turned great for a rating of a 7.5. The car count was a 7.5 rating with 321 cars in competion for the weekend.

The racing rated a 9 out of 10, as 15 Canadians and 13 Americans went to the final rounds including a number of upsets.

Oh yeah, one last thing, Coca Cola is back on board as the official soft drink at the track, and that is worthy of a 10.

 

A couple downers includes the leaving of the Rice family from Division six, will leave a void for many, including myself. It has been a pleasure to work with Mike, and get to know his family including three of the greatest kids around, Ashlyn, Kaitlyn and Matty, we will miss you. Jon Adams has big shoes to fill, but my guess is he will be able to do that. A couple glitches on Sunday were minor overall, and Jonathan has the knowledge and determination to get the job done.

Cory Thompson wounding the engine in the Stocker was another downer. The team staged and got on the qualifying ladder, and will thrash to try and get ready for Seattle.

John Evans has had throttle woes in elimination's at his last couple races. It could possibly be the injectors freezing up or an ignition issue, that can hopefully be addressed for Seattle.

The Street Legal classes have to be run under one umbrella and not have two different series at MRP. The 'Street Car Shootouts' should be a part of the CPSA, and not a separate entity. Richard S. should not have these events under his umbrella and should look at the bigger picture. They got the best three dates for these events and so far the first two have had horrible turnouts. Race one was less than 20 cars and this weekends race saw 14 I believe.

The last big question I have is why were there 2 assoc races (SC and SG) on Saturday, which basically kept the other classes from having three sessions on that day and many driver in those two classes getting as many as seven runs (counting their laps from the Bremerton event)

 

Sunday final rounds.

Top Alky "A"

Randy Parker defeated Kim Parker 6.34 - 6.10 (Randy had .025 handicap at the tree)

Top Alky "B"

Greg Sereda defeated Brad Hansen 6.22 - 6.70 (Brad had .025 handicap)

Top Comp: Joe Mura def. Scott Taylor 7.48 (7.48 di) - 7.58 (7.55 di)

Super Comp: Earl Cunningham def Dan Benham 8.929 - 8.888

Super Gas: Dean Peterson def. Tom Horsley 9.910 - 9.869

Super Street: Craig Bickle Brian Engleking 10.940 - 10.939

Combo: Chris Brandt def. Tom Skjonsberg 11.897 - 10.266

Super Pro: Al Quigley def. David Chun Jr. 10.725 - 7.859

Pro: Rick Eastman def. Ted Miller 11.105 - 11.631

Sportsman: Sean Kennedy def. Chris Brandt: 14.602 - 13.458

Bike: Dan Temple def. Stewart Kienas 8.933 - 11.228

Jr. Lightning: Gary Howe Jr. def. Hope Allen 8.072 - 8.331

Jr. Thunder: Kayla Allen def. Rachel Lowe 11.076 - 11.418

Street Legal:

Real Street: Greg Henshell def Randy Johnson 9.750 - 9.851

Outlaw Street: Rod Pickett def. Leland Burridge 7.662 - 8.515

Pro Street: Jeremy Devier def. Dal Sangha 7.059 - 6.920

 

Saturday July 16, 2005

Saturday Photo Highlights

Nanook and the Fuel altereds struggled Saturday Night, but all four put in a game effort pedalling mutiple time to try and get down the track. But the Blue Blazer blazed his way to a great 6.50 Saturday afternoon. That cars best lap by over a half second, and he had no chutes on the top end. He luckily got the car stopped.

Leo Grocock had a pass he wants to forget, as he torched both heads on his first round run. Notice the fire at the back of the car on both shots.

Top Alcohol fields

"A" TAFC

1. Randy Parker 6.13
2. Nathan Sitko 6.19

"A" TAD

1. Kim Parker 5.57
2. Paul Julien 5.63

"B" TAD/TAFC

1. Greg Sereda 6.02
2. Bill Edwards 6.14
3. Forrest LeBlanc 6.28
4. Shawn Cowie 6.63
5. Shaun Nault 6.80
6. Leon Aines 7.00
7. Leo Grocock broke

 

The ride of the weekend goes to the real street Mustang above, and the sequence below. Above, he just came down from a three foot wheel stand, and the got back on the throttle below. Bet he wished he didn't.

All in all a great day at MRP with a great crowd as well.

Numbers by memory

Kim Parker leads the TAD's with a 5/57/257, Paul Julien who made only one lap (for unknown reasons) a ran a great 5.63 for the #2 spot. Randy Parker leads the floppers with a 6.13 and Nathan Sitko is #2 with a 6.19

On the "B" side, Greg Sereda is #1 with a 6.02 in his TAD and Forrest LeBlanc is #1 for the floppers with a 6.28. Shawn Cowie added his name to the TAD's on the "B" side as well with a 6.63

In Super Comp, Dan Benham won the Bremerton Open over Mike Peck JR. Sorry did not get the Super Comp winner or the Super Street winner.

The big question was why did they run a SC and SG assoc race. Many drivers were very pissed at that deal.