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August 1, 2005 . Good Guys from Seattle coverage is here
A Loafers weekend gallery is here A hugely successful weekend at MRP For their annual Langley Loafers "BC Old Time Drags". The car count was one of the biggest in MRP's history, as over 600 cars including the Show n Shine and race competitors were on hand and welcomed by hot sunny skies and a good crowd.
Barry Wasyluk's '41 Willys (above) won the best of show for the weekend. Speedzone will have a feature on this rod in a future issue of our print publication. The girls are enjoying a Coke beside the cool Willys. I for one, am glad that Coca Cola is back at MRP. The diversity of cars at this event are a testament to the success and popularity of this once a year event. The loafers organization go out of their way to put on a show and treat the racers and car show competitors right, and they keep on coming back. Cars from as far East as Saskatchewan and as far South as Utah and Southern California attend. Sunday did not start off great, as of of the first cars down the track broke the engine depositing a large amount of fluid on the track, and causing over an hour delay to the morning time trials. Once it was cleaned up, the "Gassers" got in the rescheduled final qualifier that was ended due to another oil down at the start of their qualifying session at the end of Saturday's racing. This final session was the best of the weekend for the Oregon based association. With only one 6 second performer out of the "10" cars in competition, is was almost looking like the money and points should just be given to Gary Reniero, who ran 6's in all his qualifiers. Jim Taylor came out and ran a 7.01 that would of been a "6" if his did not wound the engine at 1100 feet. The controversial "Blown Shoebox" 55 Chevy owned and driven by Duane Grosart was next on the list with his rod exiting 7.17 that would have also likely been a "6" if the rear end did not let go causing the high RPM engine carnage. He was surprisingly not on the qualifying order despite the assoc. saying he would be on it. According to a number of racers in the series, they will vote and allow that body style in the series for next year. Why the '55 - 57 Chevys' are not a part of their rules already is beyond me.
This car should be part of the series Brent Harris went 7.256 and Scott White ran a 7.392 to round out the top half of the field. Mitch Chamberlin was in the bottom half, but he also has engine damage and Mike Molea was inserted into the field. Elimination's Advancing to round two were Gary Reniero, Scott White, Brent Harris who banged his blower at 500 feet on a bit of a wild run (it ended his day), and in a huge upset Mike Malea took out #2 qualifier Jim Taylor when Taylor crossed the centre line right in front of Malea. "Mad Mike" moved over to the right a bit and kept his foot in it and ran his best lap of the weekend, a 7.80.
Harris banged the blower on this run after this nice burnout. In the semi finals. Brent Harris broke inround one, giving Reniero his second single, but Dave Thompson ran beside him to make it a side by side race, and Reniro laid down the quickest lap of the weekend a 6.89. In the other semi, Scott White defeated Mike Molea in a close side by side run, White going 6.36 to Molea's game 7.57. The final was to no surprise all Reniero, as he ripped off the second quickest run of the weekend, a 6.906 to White's slowing 8 second et. It was a pretty good show, but not quite what we have seen from the gassers in the past. The series and the fans really missed not having Howard Anderson and Steve Woods as part of the show. Hopefully they can get a few more quicker cars back and also decide to allow, teams like Duane Grosart's (which has the potential to be one of the top ones in the class). The Pro Mods (Trevor Lowe and Glen May split their first two run on Sunday) after a mad thrash Saturday night by Terry Bride to repair the top end rolling assembly on May Ford bullet. But for the rubber match final, Glen and the team found a couple mechanical issue and could not make the call, giving Trevor the single. He laid down a solid 6.53/217 on that lap for the quickest run of the weekend. He got a pretty good tune-up for the Pro Mod event in four weeks.
These two always put on a great show. Notable for these two Pro Mods, is the announcement that both will be taking delivery of new 'RH Race Cars' Pro Mods for the 2006 season. Trevor's will be a Camaro from what I understand and Glen's will be a Ford, likely a 'Stang 9or a rumored Thunderbolt) would be my guess. Mo Davidson's nostalgia Top Fueler made a couple great 6 second laps on Sunday including one side by side against the Island's Phil Rusowksi in his FED. Phil was running 60-80% in his small block and Pete Kaiser in Mo's digger had around 85% in it. Kaiser pedaled his car three times from 600 feet through the 1320 and Phil, was right on his tail. The numbers at the top end were 6.89 - 7.17 for Kaiser. Is was a great run for the two cars. Unfortunately for Rusowski, He lifted the blower right at the finish line and could not come back for a rematch. Kaiser came back and laid down a quicker 6.66 at 227 for the top speed honors for the weekend.
This one was one of the most exciting races of the weeknd, as Kaiser pedaled the car three times and still ran a 6.89
The car was really on a tear in this run Dal Sangha and Rash Dhaliwal put on a Ford vs Ford Pro Street show, that the local fans are loving. The hot, hot condition meant noether team ran the potential of their 6 second rides, and in the end Rash won a coiuple and Dal won a couple. Rash's final win in the second to last race was a engine smoking 6.91 - 701. He did not return for the final run, giving Dal the single, so it is likely the smoke at the top end was supercharger of engine related. In the single Dal gor real loose just past half track and wiselt lifted early.
Dal gettting sideways on this burnout
Dal won this round............ and Rash won the one below
The Withers racing altered turned in a 6.80 on its last lap of the weekend, pretty well matching the two other blown altereds at MRP. Brent Murray's 6.83 on Saturday and Dan Peterson from Alberta went a 6.77 best on Sunday and went a couple rounds in outlaw.
Withers (yellow altered) went 6.83
Peterson went 6.77 Here are all the winners and r/ups from Sunday elimination's A gallery is here. AA/Supercharged"
"Outlaw"
Street Rod "A"
Street Rod "B"
Street Rod "C"
Street Classic "A"
Street Classic "B"
Street Machine "A"
Street Machine "B" (notable, over 90 cars
in this class)
Street Machine "C"
A Loafers weekend gallery is here
BC Old Time Drags Saturday qualifying July 30, 2005
Bill Fitting (Right Lane) and Brent Harris
(Grosart and Chamberlin) Saturday Qualifying....................The Gassers had 10 cars trying for the eight car bump, and in the end there was a fair bit of carnage to end the day. The final 6 or 7 cars will make a run in the morning as qualifying was called when the final two cars wounded their engines and deposited oil on the track in both lanes. Mitch Chamberlin and Duane Grosart were the two unfortunate drivers, who now will sit outside the field.
Gary Reniero is heads and shoulders above the rest of the cars as he threw down the only 6 second passes of the weekend so far. He ran 6.92 and 6.95. Brent Harris ran a sold 7.27 and Dunae Grosart ran a 7.17 on the engine windowing run. Most of the other cars were in the 7.40's - 7.90's (there may of been another low seven, but sorry I forget). Dave Thompson, Bill Fitting, Jim Taylor, Mike Molea, Ron Nahas and Scott White are the other "Gasser" drivers in competition. Beside Reniero, Brent Murray ran a sold 6.83 in his Fiat to mark the first time he has gone in the 6's congrat's to Brent and Flo.
Dan Peterson went 6.80's twice
Trevor Lowe and Glen May made a great side by side lap as Lowe went 220 mph for the top speed of the weekend so far.
Mo Davidson's AA/FD (below) with the Kaiser clan up for the weekend, and Pete Kaiser in the seat, made a very cool tire smoking lap from half track on.
A few other photo highlights Glen and Lisa Pederson from Langley celebrate the
recent wedding with a cool reception at the track. Ron Nahas
A cool Okanogan panel
Terry McHardy went in the mid 7's twice
Jeff Hill went 170 (works out to at least a high seven) once he gets the starting line figured out)
Saturday Show n Shine winners (below)
Friday notes:............The Pits are almost full already at Mission Raceway for the "BC Old Time Drags". What a diverse selection of cars. There are at least 10 "Gassers" on the grounds and possibly more to come. The Loafer put on a huge BBQ Friday night and it was great The Remax BC Old Time Drag Mission Raceway Park.....
.......are on tap this weekend. The weather looks great and the cars will be awesome! Friday starts the festivities with pit parking and a huge Loafers fun BBQ Friday night open to all racers, show n shine participants and crew. Special exhibition race cars in include the AA/Gassers, Pro Mods and Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragsters. Gates open Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 am. Qualifying for the Gassers
goes at noon, 2:00 and 4:00 pm Saturday, and their first round of eliminations
begins Sunday at noon followed by all the other classes of racing.
Admission on either Saturday or Sunday is only $15.00, including pit pass.
Children 12 and under are free.
April 22, 2005 --SONOMA, Calif. Nitro Nationals--
Former NHRA Top Fuel standout Frank Bradley of Santa Rosa and Sacramento custom car icon Dick Bertolucci will be honored by Goodguys/VRA as the 17th Nitro Nationals official "Hot Rod Heroes." Both men will be presented with special awards and introduced to the crowd Sunday morning during pre-race ceremonies. They will also be signing autographs in the Infineon Raceway Winner's Circle Sunday at Noon. Professional qualifying is scheduled for 10:00am and 1:30pm Saturday. First round eliminations for the 16-car Top Fuel field is also set for Saturday, with a 4:30pm blast off time. Final eliminations are set for Sunday at 10am. April 7, 2005 With our semi final finish at the 46th Goodguys March Meet the 2005 racing season is officially under way. Although we were hoping for an unprecedented fifth March Meet win, we still ran well and learned some valuable lessons that should serve us well the remainder of the year. Speaking of 2005, it is said that the only constant is change and WW2 Racing has done a lot of that over the winter. Most noticeable is the departure of OSH as our major sponsor. After a very amicable four year relationship with OSH, their black and yellow paint scheme has been replaced with a predominately green design by Kenny Youngblood. We have also made some significant crew changes and added some new associate sponsors. We even changed the look of our website. In short we embrace these changes and plan to make the best of them in the months to come. Our next event is the 17th Goodguys Nitro Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. on April 23-24. We have been doing a lot of testing since the March Meet and are looking for a big win at our home track. We invite our sponsors and fans to stop by the WW2 Racing pit and have a close look at our operation. Media Note: The Goodguys 46th March Meet will broadcast three times on Speed Channel under the banner of "Lucas Oil on the Edge". This will be the first televised coverage of a nostalgia drag race and feature some great camera work including an onboard "lipstick cam" atop the roll cage of the WW2 Racing dragster. The air times for the show on Speed Channel are as follows: Check out our updated website and full March Meet coverage at: http://ww2racing.com March 12, 2005 (Results courtesy Drag Race Central. Go there for all the other classes, and scroll down to drag news). Nostalgia Top Fuel 1 7917 Brad Thompson, Visalia CA, Uyehara-Donovan
5.891 245.76 245.76 ------------ Not Qualified ------------ 17 532 Scott Mason, Syracuse UT, N&P-Chevy 6.431
198.32 198.32 Nitro Funny Car 1 736 Dan Horan Jr, Sylmar CA, '66 Mustang 6.631 208.47
208.47 A/Fuel 1 672 Mike Austin, Medford OR, Comstock-Donovan 6.509
214.03 214.03 AA/GS 1 7595 Chris Abbey, Clovis CA, '63 Vette 6.836 205.01
205.01 ------------ Not Qualified ------------ 9 778 TK Krupa, Leona Valley CA, '40 Willys 7.515
136.67 136.67 JR. Fuel (A) 1 720 J.D. Zink, Chico CA, Uyehara-Chevy 6.964 191.04
191.04 March 11, 2005 46th March Meet has record # of entries Bakersfield, CA - Anticipation is at an all time high for The Goodguys 46th March Meet presented by Clay Smith Cams, March 11-13 at Famoso Raceway just north of Bakersfield. As of Friday, March 4th, an event-record of pre-entries in fourteen classes have entered prompting Goodguys/VRA officials to freeze entries in all 5 Sportsman classes. After months of torrential rainfall, the Western US forecast is calling for a major drying and warming trend heading into the week of the race and a quick glance at Weather.com shows a dry week ahead with temperatures in the low 70s for the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Professional qualifying gets underway on Friday, March 11th at 3pm. All classes from Top Fuel to Hot Rod Eliminator will receive two qualifying passes prior to final eliminations according to Goodguys/VRA Director Larry Westervelt. Final eliminations in Top Fuel, Nostalgia Eliminator, C/Gas and D/GAS will begin at approximately 3pm on Saturday, March 12th. Top fuel will feature a 16-car field while N/E, C/GAS and D/GAS will be qualified 32-car fields. “With so many entries, we’ll only have time for two qualifying runs,” said Westervelt. “We want to be fair to everyone and this will insure all entries get the same number of runs prior to eliminations.” Final eliminations for all other classes will be held Sunday, March 13th. Several exhibition vehicles will be on display throughout the weekend including the 1983 NHRA Top Fuel Championship winning dragster driven by Gary Beck. Former Beck crewman Henry Walther recently restored the dragster which now resides in the Justice Bros. Museum in Duarte, CA. Beck and Fresno hot rodding pioneer Blackie Gejeian will be honored as the event’s “Hot Rod Heroes” and both men will be on hand to sign autographs and meet and greet fans. Dave West’s restoration of the 1969 “Beebee & Mulligan” Top Fuel dragster will be on hand as will the wildly popular “Winged Express” Fuel Altered, owned by Al “Mousie Marcellus” and driven by Mike Boyd. The Beebee & Mulligan dragster and Winged Express are scheduled for exhibition runs Sunday, March 13th. In addition to the racing action, the 46th March Meet will include a rod & custom show & shine for pre-’73 vehicles, a manufacturer’s midway filled with exhibits and a used auto and racing parts swap meet. Event gates open at 8am daily. General admission is $25 Friday, $30 Saturday and $30 Sunday. A three day weekend pass is available for $75. Kids 7-12 $10 per day. Spectator Parking is free. Tickets are available at the event only. For additional event information,
please visit www.good-guys.com or call (925) 838-9876. To reach Famoso
Raceway, please call (661) 399-2210
Mar. 11, 2005 Lil Nate Nitro Funny Car preview for GG March Meet event this weekend. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 9, 2005 The process of birthing a new 'nostalgia' nitro funny car is unique indeed. It begins as an idea, then as parts are located, the dream takes shape and as much as the metamorphosis is to metal and fiberglass, Bugsy's 'East Side Gang' crew has been building and growing stronger as they prepare to RULE the funny car 'hood. Coming off their second place season finish in 2004, for the Lil Nate team, the process began in earnest last November. Since then the team has been modifying a Murf McKinney chassis to fit the team driver, 'Lil Nate Bugg and meet the rules and requirements for Goodguys Nitro funny car class and also the stringent NHRA chassis certification rules. The team also spent countless hours fabricating and installing the 'plumbing' necessary to feed a 3000 horsepower Hemi motor and get it down the quarter mile safely. All the while, in the back of everyone's minds was, "how can we make this beast easier to work on?" The team's shop in Orange, CA became a gathering place all winter long to design and mold the gang's newest member and also do some bench racing. Helpers came from all over Southern California to work, offer advice and witness the process. But the animal within is only half of the challenge. The team also had a body to fit. It was decided to use a '76 Monza body, but again modifications were necessary to update and transform it into something worthy of ruling the class. As any parent would attest, there are always unforseen challenges. The incessant rain during the last few months kept progress on the fiberglass to a minimum, all the while pushing back the paint schedule. In the week prior to the season opening 46th Annual March Meet, during the final work on the rear end, it was discovered that we had been shipped the wrong parts. The right parts had to be located and shipped overnight for Saturday delivery. Word went out in the racing family and the 'East Side Gang' grew to accomplish the last minute push. The body has been finished but will appear, at least for the March Meet, cloaked in black primer. Bugsy reports that he is still in negotiation for a major sponsor and he is hoping to incorporate them into the new paint scheme. In fact, the gang will be finalizing the new identity and renderings while at the race. Work schedules have been adjusted, team uniforms have been updated and cleaned, the trailer is loaded and look out Bakersfield - the 'East Side Gang' is on their way ! Joining Bugsy and his 'East Side Gang' for the 2005 season as an associate sponsor is Mickey Thompson Tires. Mickey Thompson Performance Tires is known worldwide as a leader in high performance tires and wheels for use on the track and in off road racing. Since it's founding in 1963 by racing legend Mickey Thompson, the company has championed many firsts in the tire industry, from wide low profile street tires to rugged, aggressive-tread off road tires. Designing and producing innovative tread patterns and compounds to build the best performance tires in the world was their focus then and is still their focus today. The Lil Nate nitro funny car is proud to be associated with such a respected industry leader. The 46th annual Goodguys March Meet thunders into Bakersfield's Famoso
Raceway on March 11 - 13th. Witness the rebirth of the Lil Nate Nitro
Funny Car, fielded by Bugsy and his 'East Side Gang' crew - Diesel,
Clutch Girl and Big Ray, as driver 'Lil Nate guides the Monza on its
first steps on the track and join us and over 500 racers at one of
the tracks where the legends of drag racing are born - "Big Daddy"
Don Garlits won this event over 40 years ago. Racing starts at 8 am
each morning and continues 'til it's dark. Feb. 20, 2005 March Meet right around the corner BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The weather forecast in Bakersfield, California is calling for thunder. The thunder generated by close 500 vintage drag racers as they get set to pound the pavement at central California's hot rodding holyland.Bakersfield's Famoso Raceway. The Goodguys 46th March Meet presented by Clay Smith Cams March 11-13 officially kicks off the 5-race 2005 Goodguys VRA West Coast Championship Series. Competition will be held in Top Fuel, Funny Car, A/Fuel, Pro Supercharged, Jr. Fuel, Nostalgia Eliminator and many other distinctive categories. Competition is restricted to 1972 and earlier drag racing machines.
Santa Rosa's Jim Murphy, a 30-year professional drag racing veteran, is the man to beat in Top Fuel competition. Driving his 4,000 horsepower "WW2 racing" front engine top fuel dragster, Murphy is gunning for an unprecedented 5th Goodguys March Meet title. He first won the race in 1999 as a driver just two weeks after the death of "WW 2" team owner Jim Herbert of Sacramento. Shortly after that event, Murphy bought the entire WW2 team and again returned to the March Meet winner's circle in 2002. He has yet to lose the race since - landing in the winner's circle three straight times. Not only is he the event's winningest Top Fuel pilot, he's also the quickest. At the 2003 Goodguys Fuel & Gas Finals event, also held in Bakersfield, Murphy guided the WW2 dragster to the sports quickest run ever - blasting through the finish line lights with a time of 5.719 seconds. No other racer has since come close to that run, which Murphy described as "the perfect run - everything that had to go right on that pass did. It was like driving a dart," he said. Twenty-five nitromethane guzzling front engined top fuel dragsters are expected to compete against Murphy for the 46th March Meet top fuel title. San Diego's Randy Walls will look to defend the first-ever Goodguys/VRA Funny Car Championship from behind the wheel of his 1970 "Super Nova" as an 8-car field of nostalgia Funny Cars gets set for battle. The 2004 season marked the debut of the Goodguys Nostalgia Funny Car class - giving fans of the nitro burning plastic bodied race cars a full dose of wild, smoke filled, wall to wall competition. With all the horsepower available as the Goodguys Top Fuel class, the Goodguys Nostalgia Funny Cars feature a much shorter wheelbase with a fiberglass body covering the chassis - resulting in race cars that are exciting and extremely unpredictable! The pull of the March Meet, vintage drag racing's signature event, is otherworldly. Racers will come from as far away as the east coast! Pat Kraus, a sportsman racer from Fallston, Maryland will tow 2,752 miles just for the chance to compete at Famoso Raceway. Defending Goodguys Junior Fuel Champion Scott Parks competes at every West Coast Championship Series event from his home base of Burlingame, Kansas - some 1,641 miles. The Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing Association took over the March Meet eleven years ago in 1994 after the event had floundered in the late 80's and early 90's. The popularity of the event has exploded since then under Goodguys sanction, sending spectator attendance past the 50,000 mark. More of the same is expected this year. Last year, cars parked a mile and a half from the Raceway entrance on old Famoso/Woody Rd. just to get a glimpse of this drag racing time capsule. Goodguys will honor two time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion Gary Beck of Laguna Niguel, CA and Fresno Autorama founder Blackie Gejeian as the event's "Hot Rod Heroes." Beck and Gejeian will be introduced to the crowd and presented with special awards prior to Sunday's eliminations. In addition to the weekend's racing action, a colorful rod & custom "show & shine" will be held for 1972 & earlier hot rodders in the Famoso Grove area. A large manufacturer's midway will feature speed parts' manufacturer & supplier exhibits and further down the raceway pits will be an automotive swap meet featuring hundreds of vendors offering used auto and racing parts. General admission is $25 Friday, $30 Saturday, $30 Sunday. Kids 7-12 $10 per day. A weekend pass is available for $75. Tickets are available at the event gates only. Even hours are 8am to 6pm all three days. For additional information, contact Goodguys at (661) 399-2210 or visit www.good-guys.com
2003 archves below
March through May Nostalgia archives here
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