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August 17, 2003

Brainerd's Lucas Oil Nationals Final results:

Top Fuel -- Doug Kalitta, 4.698 seconds, 311.20 mph def. Tony Schumacher, 4.698 seconds, 304.19 mph.

Funny Car -- Gary Densham, Ford Mustang, 5.009, 298.01 def. Tim Wilkerson, Pontiac Firebird, 5.042, 297.29.

Pro Stock -- Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.917, 200.05 def. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cavalier, 6.930, 198.82.

Pro Stock Bike -- Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.336, 179.47 def. John G. Smith, Kawasaki, 7.362, 180.24.

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Alan Bradshaw, 11.385, 49.06 def. David Wells, foul.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Jay Payne, Chevy Camaro, 5.715, 252.19 def. Kirk Williams, Pontiac Firebird, 5.877, 244.34.

Competition Eliminator -- Clint Sallee, Dragster, 6.866, 196.99 def. Robert Freeman, Chevy Cavalier, 8.844, 152.35.

Super Stock -- Paul Klein, Chevy Nova, 11.552, 108.39 def. Don Duke, Nova, 10.159, 130.35.

Stock Eliminator -- Lance Line, Ford Mustang, 10.706, 109.01 def. Bill Rink Jr, Pontiac GTO, 12.061, 106.63.

Super Comp -- Bob Noyes, Dragster, 8.907, 158.52 def. Lonnie Grim, Dragster, 8.939, 161.59.

Super Gas -- Darren Erickson, Shelby Cobra, 9.876, 138.43 def. Al Gavlovsky, Ford Roadster, 9.875, 134.71.

 

Aug.4, 2003 Sonoma and Seattle National event wrap ups

(story by Dean Murdoch. All photos courtesy Bill Jeffery and are copyright speedzonemagazine.com 2003) Photo page is here

Seattle: The western swing on the POWERade trail is always one of the toughest stretches on the tour, and has had a tendency to either make or break teams in their

quest for the championship. This year's version will probably go down as one of the most dominant and most controversial in some time. The first event at Bandimere was the toughest event on the circuit due to the elevation, but the strong teams rose to the top with Dixon, Force and WJ all getting wins. Then the tour was off to Seattle for race two. For SpeedZone's part, the contraversary started with the US Border at Sumas not allowing me or my publication across the border for that middle event (Seattle) on the swing. The publication is supposed to be duty free because it is distributed free, but they felt I was going to sell it so they did not allow it. From there, the event itself was possibly THE most criticized event since the Gainesville sportsman debacle. The weather was not the problem though. Where do I start?

1. The marginal surface that was over a tenth slower than the last couple years. Only three cars managed to run in the 4.60's in Top Fuel this year, compared to 10 in each of the last two years. And there were no 4.50 passes. Funny Car was equally as bad.

2. The new fire regulations that did not allow as many as 100 sportsman racers from attending due to supposed space and fire restrictions.

3. The turning away of spectators on both Saturday and Sunday, due to the lack of seating.

4. The lack of general admission seating.

5. The canceling of the Top Fuel qualifying session Friday night due to the curfew and the one and a half hour oil clean up after the Brady Kalivoda and Gordie Bonin oil downs.

6. The penalty put forth to the Top Alcohol Funny Car Class. The brass canceled the second Top Alcohol Funny Car session due to too many oil downs in the first session.

7. The corporate call (dive by many) by Don Schumacher and crew chiefs in the Scelzi/Bazemore race.

8. The fact that the left lane only yielded 17 wins out of 75 runs by the Top Alcohol and the Pro teams.

9. The newspaper article quoting track owner Jason Fiorito that the repairs and renovations to the facility won't be completed until 2007 or 08.

10. The media facilities was even worse than normal, as they were well past the finish line, and in a restricted area that some media credentialed personnel were not permitted to entered without going through hoops and barrels.

The list is actually bigger, but you get the picture.

On the positive side, The Top Alcohol Dragster class was pretty good as the field was quick with Alan Bradshaw running 5.20 in round two and going on to win the event. The performance from a few unknown TAFC teams like Ken Kraus and Clint Thompson. Two first time winners and a couple more first time finalists. The three Denver pro winners also won at Seattle, setting up a possible sweep by all three professional classes (that could be good or bad depending on your perspective). The weather was great. There was a couple more permanent washrooms and there was paving from the main spectator gate right through the midway for the foot traffic.

Race Day was overall better than the qualifying except for the fact it was a one lane race track. The bumps are so bad in the left lane, and with the two oil downs in the left lane on Friday night compounding the problems. Larry Dixon actually won the race from the left lane as he did not have lane choice for the final round, which even more shows the talent of Dick Lahaie. Seeing Bucky Austin dominate the race like he did and lose in the final to his West coast nemesis Steve Gasparelli in Bucky's nephew Pat's old car, must have smarted. on the local front congrat's go out to Steve Lowe who r/upped in Super Street. He is the defending champion from last year, so a repeat final round appearance is very commendable. Here are all the winners from Seattle:

Top Fuel (W) Larry Dixon (Miller Lite Dragster) 0.061 4.672 316.82
(L) Doug Kalitta (MAC Tools Dragster) 0.055 4.739 306.95

Funny Car (W) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.062 5.036 300.80
(L) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.064 5.215 272.28

Pro Stock (W) Greg Anderson (Vegas General Constr Grand Am0.061 6.858 202.09
(L) Larry Morgan (Mopar Parts Stratus R/T) 0.024 6.910 200.14

Top Alcohol Dragster (W) Alan Bradshaw (Back Attack Racing A/FD) 0.038 5.365 249.16
(L) Mike Cofini (Dave Smith Motors B/AD) 0.033 6.191 158.95

Top Alcohol Funny Car (W) Steve Gasparrelli (Prisms Unlimited Firebird0.094 5.702 250.97
(L) Bucky Austin (Bucky's Muffler Firebird) 0.086 5.725 247.75

Comp Eliminator (W) David Rampy A/EA 7.99 0.032 7.413 -0.577
(L) Jim Warter E/SM 9.34 0.026 8.830 -0.510

Super Stock (W) Kyle Seipel SS/BM 9.12 0.017 12.806 3.686
(L) Bob Bales GT/BA 9.76 -0.072(R) 9.834 0.074

Stock (W) Steve Cozakos G/SA 11.53 0.083 11.467 -0.063
(L) Mike Lewis K/SA 12.06 -0.027(R)12.066 0.006

Super Comp (W) Steve Williams S/C 8.90 0.005 8.911 0.011
(L) Rodney Souza S/C 8.90 0.019 8.904 0.004

Super Gas (W) Larry Scarth S/G 9.90 0.018 9.908 0.008
(L) Phillip Gilbert S/G 9.90 -0.012(R) 9.890 -0.010

Super Street (W) Gary Thompson S/ST 10.90 0.027 10.897 -0.003
(L) Steve Lowe S/ST 10.90 0.023 10.874 -0.026

Seattle photo highlights are here

Sonoma: For as bad as Seattle was, Sonoma was the opposite. The Weather was still sunny in wine country but the temperatures were 10 degrees cooler than up at Seattle. Qualifying was over a half second quicker in Top Fuel (a 4.82 bump compared to a 5.48 bump) and 2/10ths quicker in Funny car (a 5.05 bump compared to a 5.21 bump). Pro Stock was similar at both events, as were TAD and TAFC. The three event West Coast sweep became a reality for Larry Dixon as he went on to defeat home town boy David Baca in the Top Fuel final, John Force missed his chance when he lost in the semi final to eventual winner Gary Scelzi and in Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin went to his second final on the Western swing and got the win over two time swing finalist Greg Anderson. The Pro Stock Bike class was in attendance at Sonoma and points leader Geno Scali defeated Andrew Hines. In TAD Alan Bradshaw won for the second race in a row and took over the national points lead as he has turned into the dominant driver in the class. The world's quickest injected nitro car, put in another dominant performance as he went in the 5.20's all race day to defeat rookie Garrett Bateman driving Gregg Lawrence's injected ride. Bucky Austin finally got another national win this season as he defeated Jay Payne. With the win, he pads his lead atop the Alcohol Funny Car standings. Here are all the winners from Sonoma:

Top Fuel (W) Larry Dixon (Miller Lite Dragster) 0.081 4.640 319.67
(L) David Baca (American Racing Dragster) 0.084 4.805 298.47

Funny Car (W) Gary Scelzi (Oakley Stratus) 0.063 4.958 312.21
(L) Dean Skuza (Cornwell Tools Firebird) 0.084 4.966 306.74

Pro Stock (W) Jeg Coughlin (Jeg's Mail Order Cavalier) 0.019 6.839 201.07
(L) Greg Anderson (Vegas General Constr Grand Am0.070 6.798 203.37

Pro Stock Bike (W) Geno Scali (Trim-Tex Suzuki) 0.013 7.177 189.68
(L) Andrew Hines (Screamin' Eagle Harley) 0.010 7.264 180.48

TAD (W) Alan Bradshaw (Back Attack Racing A/FD) 0.032 5.304 259.46
(L) Garrett Bateman (TA/D) 0.091 5.399 259.01

TAFC (W) Bucky Austin (Bucky's Muffler Firebird) 0.075 5.665 254.42
(L) Jay Payne (Valvoline Camaro) 0.041 5.729 251.34

Comp (W) Gary Anderson G/A 9.05 0.051 8.575 -0.475
(L) Mark Lelchook B/ED 7.51 -0.052(R) 7.095 -0.415

Super Stock (W) Terry Anderson SS/H 10.21 0.016 10.198 -0.012
(L) Joe Kohorst GT/AA 9.68 0.063 9.666 -0.014

Stock (W) David Rampy F/SA 11.39 0.030 11.339 -0.051
(L) Clark Holroyd B/SA 10.73 -0.029(R)10.669 -0.061

Super Comp (W) Rick Beckstrom S/C 8.90 0.002 8.906 0.006
(L) George Scott S/C 8.90 0.029 8.888 -0.012

Super Gas (W) Ray Connolly S/G 9.90 0.012 9.904 0.004
(L) Brian Smith S/G 9.90 0.027 9.872 -0.028

The Point standings to August 3rd are:

Top Fuel

01 Larry Dixon Jr 1462 * McKinney
02 Doug Kalitta 1152 -310 McKinney
03 Darrell Russell 880 -582 Hadman
04 Cory Mc Clenathan 778 -684 McKinney
05 Tony Schumacher 773 -689 McKinney
06 David Baca 731 -731 McKinney
07 John Smith 685 -777 McKinney
08 Doug Herbert 682 -780 McKinney
09 Brandon Bernstein 629 -833 McKinney
10 Rhonda Hartman-Smith 620 -842 McKinney

Funny Car

01 Tony Pedregon 1210 *
02 Whit Bazemore 1166 -44
03 John Force 1011 -199
04 Del Worsham 944 -266
05 Gary Densham 836 -374
06 Ron Capps 830 -380
07 Tommy Johnson Jr 780 -430
08 Gary Scelzi 718 -492
09 Cruz Pedregon 706 -504
10 Johnny Gray 689 -521

Pro Stock

01 Greg Anderson 1337 *
02 Kurt Johnson 1198 -139
03 Jeg Coughlin Jr 982 -355
04 Warren Johnson 978 -359
05 Allen Johnson 707 -630
06 Ron Krisher 671 -666
07 Mike Edwards 649 -688
08 Scott Geoffrion 638 -699
09 Bruce Allen 579 -758
10 Greg Stanfield 540 -797

 

Pro Stock Bike

01 Geno Scali 784 *
02 Angelle Savoie 596 -188
03 Shawn Gann 567 -217
04 Craig Treble 503 -281
05 Antron Brown 500 -284
06 Reggie Showers 482 -302
07 Mike Berry 455 -329
08 Andrew Hines 455 -329
09 Fred Collis 451 -333
10 Karen Stoffer 436 -348

TAD

01 Alan Bradshaw 599 4/6
02 Tony Bartone 579 6/5
02 Morgan Lucas 579 6/6
04 David Wells 470 4/5
05 Marty Thacker 454 4/5
06 Bill Reichert 453 3/6
07 Duane Shields 450 6/6
08 Shelly Howard 418 4/5
09 Mark Hentges 398 3/6
10 Doug Foley 396 4/5

TAFC

01 Bucky Austin 729 5/5
02 Jay Payne 607 6/5
03 Frank Manzo 551 4/4
04 Bob Newberry 550 5/3
05 James Sickles 507 4/5
06 Doug Gordon 494 4/5
07 Steve Gasparrelli 486 6/5
08 Cy Chesterman 458 4/3
09 Tate Branch 441 3/5
10 Chuck Cheeseman 414 3/4

Comp

01 David Rampy 507 14/4
02 Brian Self 468 4/5
03 Joe Mozeris 458 5/5
04 Johnny Treadwell 446 4/6
05 Frank Aragona Jr 439 7/5
06 Ed Sigmon 429 4/4
07 Dean Carter 415 4/5
08 Gary Anderson 407 2/6
09 Steve Wilmoth 406 3/6
10 Doug Engels 393 4/4

Super Stock

01 Peter Biondo 684 5/6
02 Jeff Lane 612 5/7
03 John Coughlin 511 4/5
04 Tim Worner 480 6/6
05 Dan Fletcher 475 11/4
06 Tony De Frank 473 3/6
07 Kyle Seipel 463 4/5
08 Tibor Kadar 453 1/5
09 Terry Anderson 443 6/5
10 Jimmy De Frank 442 3/5

Stock

01 Jody Lang 580 6/7
02 Lee Zane 572 5/5
03 Keith Lynch 563 7/6
04 Peter Biondo 558 6/6
05 Mike Lewis 528 5/6
06 Kevin Helms 527 9/3
07 Brad Plourd 505 4/6
08 George Tamasi Jr 490 4/6
09 Jim Meador 481 6/5
10 Steven Wann 467 4/6

Super Comp

01 Michael Henderson 537 5/6
02 Mike Coughlin 536 5/5
03 Shane Carr 522 5/5
04 Robert Naber 517 6/5
05 Thomas Bayer 500 5/5
06 Steve Cohen 494 6/6
06 Gary Stinnett 494 4/4
08 Roger Warren 477 3/5
09 Michael Miller 471 3/5
10 Shawn Langdon 467 7/5

Super Gas

01 Bryan Robinson 558 4/4
02 Mike Ferderer 551 9/6
03 Larry Scarth 502 5/5
04 Greg Carrillo 490 4/4
05 Ron Erks 477 4/5
06 Steve Cohen 469 6/6
06 Mike Coughlin 469 5/5
08 Mark Horton 467 6/4
09 John Steffen 459 4/5
10 Bill Leber Jr 456 6/5

 

 

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