SPEEDZONE MAGAZINE ONLINE

August 30, 2011

BD Shootout

Is this year one for a serious run for the Pro Street/Fast Doorcar movement in the NW? While there has been many events at Mission and to a lesser extent at Pacific, for the first time both sides of the border worked together to bring some coin and the best competitors to the table.

The overall rating I would give for the BAD DOG shootout series is a 6.75 out of 10. It would have been an 8 or so if four or five more teams that had stated their intention to show, actually would have. And if there would have been a full field of six second cars the rating would have been higher yet.

The cars in attendnace for both Pro Street and Outlaw were qualifty cars that gave everything they had and there were a few career bests from three Pro Street cars.

Seven Pro Street cars entered the event, but 12 or 13 were pre-entered. I had Steve Nicholson entered in Pro Street but he in fact ran Outlaw 10.5, and is planning on running that class.

The four classes in competition were Pro Street, Outlaw 10.5, Real Street and Open Comp.

It was not the car count organizers were hoping for, but the Pro Street portion of the BAD DOG shoot-out had seven fast quality cars and the eighth guy Steve Nicholson was debuting his brand new 63 Corvette (edit, Steve actually ran 10.5) . Qualifying is led by Garrett Richards in the blown Chevy Pick-up. He actually was one of the only drivers to make a lap on Friday night and he went 6.39/225 to lead all teams. He ran 6.38 on his first run at 4:00pm, and then ripped off a career best 6.31/226 that absolutely rocked.

All weekend starting on Friday the team had been running a bit quicker and faster, picking up 1/100th on almost every run, until the 6:00pm session. When the 6.31/226 came up the team and the great crowd went wild. That gave great expectations for the final round scheduled for 8:00pm. With the usual delays at a race and then waiting around 30 minutes for the sun to get out of the drivers eyes. By the time the qualifying got underway for the final session it was closer to 9:30pm. Garrett's 60 foot (1.01) was his quickest ever but the truck got loose and he was forced to lift early. The big question would be, could the rest of the teams manage a cooling track and the high humidity starting to settle on the surface.

Yvonne Lucas was one of the expected favourites and she did not disappoint, leading qualifying after Saturday's round one. She went 6.36/222 on a straight as an arrow run. For round two, crew chief Mike Lucas and Mike Stevenson turned the knobs, but went the wrong way and Yvonne slowed to a still good 6.41. The big question would be how would she manage the cooling track.

The launch was awesome and both headers had nitrous flames belching out. She looked to be on a great pass, and at 660 feet she was going 4.09, which meant a mid 6.20 pass. But 800 feet she was creeping slightly to the centre line and at 1000 feet she was closer and closer until she was forced to lift. She coasted through with a still very quick 6.67.

Roy Moznik did not run Friday evening and he shook so hard in round one Saturday that the driver's side door opened up at 200 feet.

He skipped the second session and in the third and final Saturday round he launched real hard but got loose and had to abort the run. He ended up #7 on the ladder.

Ken Sihota ended up in the #3 spot on the ladder and he made his best lap in the second Saturday session. On that run, he went 6.750/206. He tried to improve in the final round under the lights but he went into a wheelstand and then unloaded the tires and lost traction, forcing an early shut-off.

Kerry Stone was #4 in qualifying after a career best 214 mph blast. The Kelowna team is getting their ducks in a row. His 4th best in the field ET was a 6.801/214.18.

His brother Darryl ended up #5 in the field after a career best 6.881 elapsed time. His mph was 203.48. Earlier in the day he went 7.02@203.98.

Dale Pedersen struggled to find traction in all four qualifiers. His best was an early shut off 8.27/157. And for that effort he ended up #6. Most of his troubles tended to be from 400 feet on, but he also had a couple runs aborted early.

Final qualifying

1. Garrett Richards 6.311/226.64
2. Yvonne Lucas 6.365/222.66
3. Ken Sihota 6.750/206.46
4. Darryl Stone 6.801/214.18
5. Kerry Stone 6.881/203.98
6. Dale Pedersen 8.271/157.45
7. Roy Moznik 17.370/57.27

Pro Street Eliminations

Garrett Richards, due to his #1 qualifying 6.31 got the round one bye and he got a bit lucky. The team may have been going for a 6.20 though, as He rattled the tires off the line and got real loose just past the tree. He wisely lifted and coasted down track and a 13 second time slip.

Dale Pedersen took on Ken Sihota, and on paper it should have been a real good side by side. It was a pretty good race, and both drivers were within a car length for 800 feet. At around that point Ken got real loose and he had to lease off the loud pedal. Pedersen took the win with a 6.62/219 to Sihota's 6.96/176. Yvonne Lucas ended up with a single in her first round race, as Roy Moznik could not make eliminations. She got a good start, but like Richards, she had traction issues as well. She got close to the centre line and had to get off the throttle and she coasted down with a 9 second time slip.

In the final round one pairing the brothers Stone squared off. They ran each other in the final round a couple years ago, and were back to becoming solid contenders.

Kerry won the round one pairing with a career best 6.636/217 blast that easily eclipsed his best run previous. Darryl ran a strong 6.883/202.11 but could only look at Kerry's tail lights.

Semi finals....Dale Pedersen had the daunting task of facing the 6.2-6.3 potential of Yvonne Lucas, and Kerry Stone had to face the blown beast driven by Garrett Richards.
Dale Pedersen was second off the line against Lucas as the lady had a great .020 rt.

She took a solid lead and held it until 900 feet when she got a little loose and headed right to the centre line. She held it as long as she could but had to lift.

Pedersen was right there, and blew by Lucas for a 6.59/219 victory and a spot in the final round. Richards got a slight holeshot on Stone and he was on his way to another 6.30 pass.

Stone was on another strong pass as well but could only watch Richards turn on the win light with a 6.39/225. Stone ran another low 6.6 run, this time a 6.649 at his best speed ever, a 219.72 blast. It may have been the quickest side by side race in CPSA or NPSA racing. Their first year with the twin turbos look to be starting to come together.

Final round…Blower vs Turbo, like so many races in the GSA and the PSCA.
Dale Pedersen lit up the tree with a stellar .005rt while Richards was real close with a strong .037 reaction time.
Dale's reaction advantage was short lived as the Blown Pick-up charged past at 300 feet and slowly edged further ahead at every incremental. Richards took the win with a 6.478/224 to a very nice 6.696/217 mph.

The semis and the final rounds in the BAD DOG shootout were very good and fast and all the teams put on a great show.

Richards based on his win here and runner-up at Pacific is crowned the BAD DOG for 2011. Yvonne Lucas is the runner-up, with a win and a semi final finish.

Let's hope this builds big time in the future.

Outlaw 10.5

Five drivers were in attendance for the Outlaw 10.5 class. Three had 6 second potential, one was a mid eight second runner and one was a brand new car with its first four laps down the track.

Dale Moznik has been the class of the Outlaw class since its inception in the NW. Kurtis Tamez was a solid contender for a couple years, but he has gotten out of the sport.

Dale's first six second run down the 1320 was late Saturday afternoon. He went 6.91/202. In the final qualifier, he improved on that with a 6.851/202.56.

Paja Agatonovic ended up #2 with a 7.185/195 blast. He was actually in the 7.1-7.2 all weekend long.

He made a couple 7.20 runs and his setup was real soft on the starting line. His car has run in the 6.8's before so he had serious potential.

Mike Hawkins driving an 81 Malibu ran in the eight's all day long and his best was an 8.76.

Steve Nicholson was out for the first time in his 63 Corvette.

Dean Branham in his turbo Cuda ripped of a 7.21 best at 211mph.

The Nitrous powered 750+ cu in hot rod was in check out mode all weekend long and his best was a test run Sunday afternoon, with a 7.68 on motor only. He will make a bunch more runs in September to sort out his combination.

Final qualifying

Dale Moznik 6.851/202.56
Paja Agatonovic 7.185/197.03
Dean Branham 7.219/211
Mike Hawkins 8.764/152.60
Steve Nicholson 13.35/62.62

Outlaw Eliminations

The five cars were all set for eliminations and the pairings were Moznik bye run. Agatonovic Vs Nicholson and Branham vs Hawkins.

Paja Agatonovic defeated Steve Nicholson when Steve went red. But it likely would have been an easy win even if no red light, as Paja ran another low seven, this time a 7.263/192. Steve, who is still sorting out the new car, shook the tires and went right close to the guard rail and he lifted early. (Note: Nicholson did come back later in the day and make his first full pass in the car, on he motor only, and he went 7.8/170. It was a real good start with the new car.)

Dean Branham defeated Mike Hawkins with the identical ET as Paja's, a 7.263, only he went 209 mph.

The final run was supposed to be #1 qualifier Dale Moznik with a bye run, but just after Dale purged the nitrous a small carb fire ensued. The got it out and then cleaned out the system and re-fired the El Camino. It fired and looked okay, then the fire started up again.

The MRP staff extinguished the fire and the team rolled the car back and Dale was out of competition......Wow, what a tough break for the #1 qualifier and easily the favorite. Dale was over 3 tenths quicker than his nearest competitor and the car has been on a string for the last few events.

With Dale's breakage, that left two competitors left and they would run off for the finals. A win by Paja Agatonovic and he would be 'BAD DOG' series champion (actually even a r/u would give him the crown), as Dale who won race one was a round one casualty here at Mission.

In the final, Branham had a great chance to win if he could get off the starting line on time, and if he could repeat his run from round one. Agatonovic, if he stayed running the same as he had the early runs on the weekend, would likely see the win light come on, as he was very sharp on the tree.

The race was all Paja, as he hit a great .010 light and ran another mid 7.2 (7.254/192.8). Dean could not hold the Turbo at the starting line and he went red by 8/100ths.

The top three cars ran real well, but it is evident that Moznik is well ahead of the pack. Unfortunate luck kept him from a sweep of the two races. If Paja can find a bit more power and if Branham can get off the starting line without taking away too much Turbo power they will contend. And when Steve Nicholson gets his Vette sorted out he should be a player as well. Are 4-6 cars enough in the class to be successful, I'm not sure, but it would be cool to see this class grow like I see the Pro Street class growing.

Final qualifying

Hot Street

Jim Johnson 8.785/152.51
Ryan Bell 8.880/158.67
Bart Yates 9.082/148.78
Robert Beattie 9.586/143.56
Randy Johnson 9.603/149.85
Dan Brookes 9.895/139.79
Scott Liedes 10.94/130.66

Final round results

Jim Bell from Washington took on Alberta's Ryan Bell and this was one great final. The #1 and #2 qualifiers were a couple tenths quicker than the rest of the field and they both won their round one and semi final wins due to their performance advantage. Bell got a .031 holeshot and had a slight lead right down until around 1200 feet. Johnson edged past Bell for a .016 victory, around a fender.

Open Comp

Allison Gibson ,013 rt
Ivan Lee .022 rt
Vince Moznik .038 rt
Kevin McNical .048 rt
Mike Stewart .059 rt
Glen Garneau .063 rt
Keith Vahle .083 rt
Wayne Johnson .238 rt
Brett Coupland .348 rt

Jason Gibson's one of the hitters in the Super Pro class, put his wife Allison in their 10 second Mustang earlier this year, and she has not looked back. She took on all the guys and won for the second time this year in the Open Comp Class. She was the #1 qualifier and defeated Kevin McNichol in the final round. The two drivers were within .006 on the tree, but she ran closer to her dial in and took the win.

August 29, 2011

Richards, Agatonovic, Allison Gibson and Jim Johnson are the winners in the four Classes.

Paja and Garrett are the points champions in the Bad Dog portion

August 26, 2011

10:00pm update:

A quick note from Friday's test n tune. Garrett Richards showed the Tacoma team is serious as they ran three 6.39-6.45 passes at over 224 mph. All the other PS and Outlaw teams struggled. Trevor Lowe will not be racing the 57 Chevy this weekend. They were tentatively planning on racing in the fall, but the car is not back together yet.

Weekend Preview

What to expect this weekend at the BAD DOG shootout is, in a nut shell, the best door-car race ever in the NW.

You always know when there is an entry list for a big event, there are hopes and prayers that all the teams listed will be in attendance. That never happens…. And I don't expect this race to be any different. Most teams have the best intentions but out of control issues always crop up.
That being said even with the 16 cars on the list, likely 12 or 13 will appear.

If by some miracle every racer keeps their word and shows, the top 8 will be the quickest 8 ever in the NW for a Street car event.
You will see the top "8" with ets of 6.70 or better, and a dozen will be in the six second zone.

Only one car on the list has not run in the 6's, and he, one of SpeedZone's favourites, Steve Horne is rumoured to not attend due to not having the car freshened up in time.
Steve Nicholson will debut his new 63 Corvette this weekend, so he is an unknown, but he did buy a very strong 700+ inch nitrous combo that easily has 6.50 power.

All the others have been quicker than 6.70 on numerous occasions, and at least
Five of them have been sub 6.40's.

Yvonne Lucas won the first BAD DOG race two weeks ago at Pacific, and Garrett Richards was the runner-up. Those two are cars you can count on running hard and being in the top half of the field. It is rumoured that Trevor Lowe will be out for the first time this year and he flat out dominated the Pro Street race in the fall last year. He ran 6.teens and 20's all weekend.Lucas will likely run career bests this weekend which would put her in the 6.20's. Dale Pedersen wants to find some consistency with his high hp turbo Monte Carlo, as he ran 6.30's with ease at Vegas, but the hp he produces here at a sea level facility has been hard to harness.
Barry Daniluk has flat out flown this year in his naturally aspirated automatic Camaro. 6.30's have been routine at close to 220 mph.

Sihota has run in the 6.50's in year's earlier and want to get at least in that zone this weekend. Scott Blake has a fast GPX, and has run in the 6.50's as well. Will Mark Campbell show up with his 38 Chevy? It is another 6.50 car.
After Roy Moznik's weird engine issue at Seattle, he is looking to get back on track and run what that 800in Foulton power plant can. Kerry Stone will try and harness the power that turbocharged Camaro produces. The Brothers out of Kelowna have been inconsistent since both Kerry and Darryl went to the final round last year at the National Open. Darryl is going to run Outlaw 10.5 according to sources. Craig Cawte has run real well in his Camaro and has gone in the 6.50's. He went 6.63 at a race earlier in Mission.
What does all this mean? Well unless the racing gods decide they don't want fast door-car events to succeed in the NW, this will be a race that everyone talks about.

Favourites (based on the entry list provided)

Trevor Lowe 3-1

Yvonne Lucas 4-1

Barry Daniluk 5-1

Dale Pedersen 6-1

Garrett Richards 7-1

Ken Sihota 8-1

The rest of the field 8-1

Four cars will be running in the late rounds in Outlaw 10.5 and they are race one winner Dale Moznik driving his El Camino, Dean Branham from Edmonton in his turbo Cuda, Darryl Stone in his Nova and Paja Agatonovic in his Camaro. All four have run from 6.7-7.0 and in the conditions this weekend, especially in qualifying in the cooler evening sessions, they should fly.

Odds

Dale Moznik 2-2

Dean Branham 3-1

Darryl Stone 4-1

Paja Agatonovic 6-1

Rest of the field 10-1

This success of this event could be a precursor to a much larger race that is in the exploratory stages for 2012. Can you say Street Car SN North??
More details on this potential race over the next couple months, but I for one think it will happen and it will be huge!

August 24, 2011

Here is the most updated list of competitors.

Pro Street:

Roy Moznik
Yvonne Lucas
Garrett Richards
Dale Pederson
Dal Sanga (just finishing up repairs, so likely he will be here)
Trevor Lowe
Kerry Stone
Barry Daniluk
Ken Sihota
Steve Horne
Craig Cawte
Scott Blake
Joe Loch
2 Blower Pro Mods (to be named)
Steve Nicholson

Outlaw 10.5

Dale Moznik, Paja Agatonovic, Pat Hermanson, Dean Branham, more to come.

The contender pages (work in progress)

Pro Street

Outlaw 10.5

Race one results

(courtesy Yvonne Lucas exclusive ESPN4 reporter)

WOW! What an event we had at Pacific Raceways this weekend!! The only issue with doing this event coverage is trying to find a place to start! So I will just jump right in with the racing and go from there….

Real Street
Sean Butler took his ’72 Nova to the Number One Qualifying spot in Friday night action with a stellar 12.033 at 111 mph on the 12.00 Index for this class. John Eldridge and his gorgeous ’66 Chevelle was a breath away in the Number Two spot with a 12.039. Round out the field in the #3 spot was Daniel Holt at 12.059 at 111mph. First round pairing was arch rivals and best friends with a 12.022 for Daniel which looked like a winner to John’s 12.053 until the reaction time was factored in. John’s psychic .023 was just the edge he needed to squeeze past Holt and win the round. Butler runs a 12.099 at 111mph on a Bye into the Final. Eldridge takes the win light and trophy home with a incredible 12.000 on a 12.00 index to a losing breakout effort by Butler of 11.92!

Mod Street
Wally Friedlander secures the Number One Qualifying spot with a 10.55 at 127 mph and earns the Bye in First Round of eliminations. Number Two Qualifyer Glen Losey takes on son, Derek and wins with a 10.56 at 125 to Derek’s 10.58 at 123. Last pairing was Craig Castagno against Evan Herzberg. Craig’s put his ’72 Chevelle in the Number Three spot in qualifying and lays down a stellar 10.509 against Herzberg 10.64 effort. Round Two saw Wally taking on Al Mangold in his ’82 Mustang. Wally runs another awesome 10.52 to Al’s too quick 9.01 at 150mph! Looks like Mangold may have temporarily forgotten the 10.50 index. In a double break out performance Castagno breaks out the least and wins it against Losey Sr 10.44 to a 10.40. And Final Round was Frielander’s ’67 Nova surprise 10.51 to Craig’s outstanding 10.503 (again!) but you guess it folks… reaction time stole the gold from Craig with Wally .076 RT to Craig’s .091. Talk about close!

Double Index
Don Paine wheels the ’72 Luv to to Number One with a 9.65 at 135 mph on Friday night. Rick Krier runs 9.72 at 137 mph for the ’54 Austin and Number Three was Phil Rohr at 10.36/131mph in the Chehalis resident’s ’91 Mustang. Kyle Dungey thrilled fans with an awesome save in qualifying when his Camaro made several hard moves and was up on two wheels but luckily the car came through without a scratch. Unfortunately, despite his driving efforts, Kyle did not make First Round of eliminations due to tranny breakage. In First Round pairings, Paine takes the win light on a single with a 9.65 on his 9.60 index. Rohr and Krier battle it out in a double break out effort of 9.549 to Krier’s 9.548! Final Round it was Don Paine of Sumner taking the win over Rohr. Paine’s awesome .013 and 9.609 run was a combination too tough to beat by Rohr.

Hot Street
Small on car number but big on heart was Greg Shampine who brought out his beautiful ’78 Regal to provide sole representation for Hot Street. Greg is currently working with a new set of slicks which is a change-over from the drag radials he’s used to. Running 10.075 at 131mph in his only round of competition gave the Fife native some more data for next time out!

Outlaw 10.5

Outlaw racers had they best showing so far this year with seven cars making the trek to Pacific from across two borders! In a blistering run, Dale Moznik secures the Number One Qualifying spot on Friday with a 6.853 at 202 mph! The British Columbia resident and his ’68 El Camino is laying down some big numbers having just ran 6.77 at 211 last month in Mission and would be hard to beat. First round saw Barry Hobson taking on Bryan McDonald of Marysville, WA. Hobson’s ’06 Grand Am runs a great 7.11 pass at 192 taking the win over McDonald’s 8.81 at 129 mph. Paja Agatonovic qualified in the Number Three spot at 7.21 and backed it up in Round one of eliminations with a 7.22 at 190 mph against Sandi Wold of Camas, WA and her gorgeous turbo-powered “00 Mustang at 7.74/183mph. Ron Pease and Pat Hermanson were scheduled to run but Pease’s ’70 Nova breaks on the starting line and Hermanson goes on to run a 8.62 at 152mph. Ron and crew went on to make another run later but their troubles did not improve and it was back to the drawing board. In Second Round Hobson leaks fuel at the launch and gets loose giving the win light to Paja who runs a 7.39 at 156. Moznik coasts through to his win at 7.13 when Hermanson went Red at the hit. Final Round looked to be the closest match up all night until Paja’s loose fuel fitting spewed fuel before the burnout began and he had to be pushed back allowing Dale of Merritt, BC to take the trophy at 7.85/189mph. Dale Moznik Winner of the Bad Dog Shootout and Paja Agatonivic Runner Up!

Pro Street
Pro Street racers struggled in Friday night qualifying some but things began to come around as Garrett Richards snags the Number One spot at 6.60/211mph. Roy Moznik and his gorgeous black El Camino takes Number Two at 6.81 202mph. But in what’s got to be the most bizarre event this season, Moznik’s engine ingests some track debris while en route to the finish line flipped into his scoop by another competitor’s tire and the big explosion does huge damage in Round Two of qualifying. Later inspection and tear down of the engine, the Moznik crews finds an old nitrous injector (not theirs) almost two inches long that made its way into the scoop, down the carb, through the intake and hangs up an valve sending the engine into chaos! A billion to one chances of that kind of thing happening in my mind! Moznik does not return for eliminations nor does Jeff Dungey’s Corvette which broke the rearend in qualifying and parts could not be located in time. Yvonne Lucas, who had experienced tire shake in qualifying, gets it sorted out and flies to a 6.319 at 223.54 in a first round Bye and a career best for Lucas! Joe Loch takes on Garrett Richards in the blown ’06 Silverado. Loch runs also runs a career best of 6.84 at 202.21 but could not hold off the thundering blown power of Richard’s 6.57 at 221 mph. With final round burnouts complete, all eyes were on Richards and Lucas as the cars were inching to the beams. Unfortunately, the truck shoots a flame out the passenger side pipe that ignites some fuel in the exhaust and causes a good size fireball. A lean condition is attributed to this event and can not be corrected and Lucas makes a single pass for the Final backing up her earlier number with an astonishingly similar 6.315 at 223.14 to take the Bad Dog Shootout Pro Street Win and setting a new NPSA Pro Street ET Record! The Total Performance Racing team takes the Runner Up!

Fan Fest BBQ
Lots and lots of fans participated in our 2nd Annual Fan Fest and all kinds of fun was had. A special thanks to Flirting With Smoke owner Mikel Bader and family for providing the awesome pulled pork feast! Thanks to all the families that also contributed to the potluck as well! Finishing up with chocolate cake, nobody went away hungry! Lots of prizes were given away in several drawings held all Saturday night! Many walked away with free goodies all donated by NPSA and sponsors!

Bad Dog Shootout
A special thanks to all the racers who made a huge effort in bringing their cars out for the Shootout Race #1 and we will follow up the action with Race #2 in Mission, BC. An awesome foundation was laid for future Shootout events and new friends and racing rivals were made! The future looks awesome for next year and we will only grow this event bigger and bigger!!