July 31, 2006

"Loafers Old Time Drags presented by ReMax"

Saturday Photo gallery is here

Sunday's is here

(Photos courtesy Bob Wilson and Dean Murdoch)

A great weekend ...again... at MRP, with close to 500 race cars and show cars, and a decent crowd as well. The weather was for the first time in a few events, a bit iffy as threatening skies surrounded Mission Raceway Park on Saturday and they opened up Saturday night and carried through into Sunday morning. Sunday included a few showers.

On Saturday, The AA?Gassers had three qualifying runs and Howard Anderson stole the show. He is one of the top "Gassers" in North America and is the record holder in the GoodGuys assoc.

He is one of the few drivers to run in the 6.60's, and he managed that feat this weekend at MRP with a stellar 6.668/206 to lead qualifying. Scott White ran his first ever "6 second pass", with a 6.99/197. Gary Reinero could not get out of the low 7's and ran a 7.014 to wind up third. He has been one of the most consistent drivers here at MRP for the last few years, running numerous 6 second laps. Ron Nahas did not have the qualifying efforts he was hoping for, but he did have an exciting run in the second qualifier as he shook real hard and the chute popped out at the 300 foot mark.

Final qualifying

Howard Anderson Applogate Ca 6.668/206.51
Scott White Seaside OR. 6.995/197.15
Gary Reinero Merced Ca. 7.014/197.04
Ron Nahas Reno NV 7.221/192.34
Brent Harris Edm0nton AB 7.250/ 191.34
Dave Inglis Bend Or. 7.311/187.14
Mike Molea Grants Pass Or. 7.436/ 176.02
Mitch Chamberlin Orting Wa. 7.993/124.27

In first round of eliminations, Anderson defeated Brent Harris, Scott White took out Dave Inglis in a great side by side race. Inglis ran a weekend best 7.23, but White's 7.20 gave him a very close win. Gary Reinero defeated "Mad" Mike Molea, despite Mike's best lap of the weekend in his new 33 Willy's. Reinero ran another 7.0 to Molea's 7.35. In the final pairing Ron Nahas ran his career best lap, a great 7.03/195 to take out a game Mitch Chamberlin who made his best lap of the weekend, a solid 7.28/181.96.

In the semis, Anderson got the shock of his weekend as he was upset by Reinero. Anderson shook and got real loose, crossing into Reinero's lane. Reinero ran a 7.04 in the win. The other semis saw White come oh so close to another "6", with a 7.01 victory over Nahas.

The final round was all Reinero and he finally found the '6's' for a 6.94 to a early tire shaking 7.55 for Scott White.

Final round numbers.

W - Gary Reinero, Merced CA, '48 Austin .068/6.948/197.62
RU - Scott White, Seaside OR, '41 Willys .127/7.556/192.63
#1 Qualifier, Top Speed, Low ET - Howard Anderson, Applegate CA '38 Chev 6.66//206.51

In the other classes, Duncan's Dean Woods defeated Terry Langdon Davies in Outlaw despite Davies' almost perfect .004 rt.

Outlaw
W - Dean Woods, Duncan BC, '66 Nova .015/8.57/8.782/164.62
RU - Terry Langdon-Davies, Yarrow BC, '41 Willys .004/8.61/9.495/103.93

Dwayne Newman brought out his very cool 41 Willy's Pick-up and took the Street Rod "A" title over Ted McCallum.

Street Rod A
W - Dwayne Newman, Abbotsford, BC, '41 Willys PU, .095/9.36/9.359/136.59
RU - Ted McCallum, Langley, BC, '33 Willys foul -.083/9.18/9.185/142.97

MRP regular Bill Clifford won in Street Rod "B"

Street Rod B
W - Bill Clifford, Chilliwack, BC, '27 Ford, .012/11.02/11.090/105.41
RU - Greg Irwin, Custer, WA, '30 Ford .013/11.50/11.541/113.42

Other final round results.

Street Rod C
W - Gerry Baron, Langley, BC, '38 Pontiac .093/14.98/15.039/88.21
RU - Toni Bellavance, Langley, BC, '36 Ford, .347/14.34/14.474/90.23

Street Classic A
W - Robert Webb, Portland, OR, '64 Plymouth, .086/10.59/10.609/117.27
RU - Darrell Albert, Mission BC, '63 Nova SS. .072/10.52/10.642/128.20

Street Classic B
W - Darrell Stobbe, Abbotsford, BC, '64 Chevelle, .187/11.48/11.570/105.27
RU - Daren Kampf, Abbotsford, BC, '64 Falcon .318/15.60/15.756/84.80

Street Machine A
W - Richard Trickey, Creswell, OR, '57 Chev .036/9.62/9.555/142.60
RU - Allen Toetly, Greshem OR, '70 Dodge, foul -.034/9.79/9.797/134.71

Street Machine B
W - Brian Horn, Kent, WA, '70 Challenger, .025/10.44/10.466/126.68
RU - Ray Roman, North Vancouver, BC, '66 Rambler American, .081/11.22/11.132/118.35

Street Machine C
W - Shawn Blair, Lynden WA, '68 Barracuda, .049/12.14/12.205/99.60
RU - Jason Schuss, Aldergrove, BC, '68 Camaro .218/12.10/12.144/110.76

In the other exhibition classes, Glen May took two out of three against Trevor Lowe who had tire shake problems on most of his runs. He is trying to get dialed in for Boise's Nightfire Nationals in two weeks.

Tim Nemeth (Top photo) was in Moe Davidson's nostalgia TF car and he had a blast at 80 % nitro.

Show N Shine photos

May 26 -27, 2006

Good Guys North West Nostalgia Nationals

 

(photos courtesy Shannon MacDonald)

Friday rain update

RENTON, Wash. - No less than four times this afternoon the 'Goodguys' were ready to turn loose Hot Rod and all the other classes available to them. The problem was that it rained every hour, on the hour and finally they were forced to close out the Friday program. The conditions are supposed to improve all weekend and Hot Rod is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Friday Noon

RENTON, Wash. - As per usual Mother Nature is having her say at the 2nd Annual Northwest Nationals. The temperature is in the high 40s and just about the time the track gets dry it rains a little bit more. This last wetting down is about the worst we've had all day so at best we're two to three hours away from racing.

Event Preview

KENT, Wash.

Nitromethane fuel, thunderous engines and ample tire smoke will fill the air at Pacific Raceways this weekend in Kent, WA as the Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing Association presents the 2nd Northwest Nostalgia Nationals - a full scale vintage drag racing event featuring 300 racing entries in 14 different and unique classes. The event serves as the third stop of the four-race 2006 Goodguys West Coast Championship Points Series - the nation's only points chase for vintage drag racers. With only two events remaining on the schedule, drivers will be jockeying for position, valuable points and the ultimate goal of winning a Goodguys/VRA Championship. This weekend's event will be a pivotal turning point for top contenders.
In the Nostalgia Top Fuel division, a rivalry has rapidly developed between the top two drivers in points - 39 year old Brett Harris of Kayesville, Utah and 35 year old Brad Thompson of Visalia, CA. The two met in a thrilling final round earlier this month at the Goodguys Nitro Nationals in Pomona with Thompson seeking his first-ever Goodguys event victory. At the Christmas tree, Thompson "deep staged" his dragster (pulling far inside the starting light beams to flicker them) in an effort to throw off his competition. The ploy worked as he got a two-car length advantage off the line but lost traction several times during the run, allowing Harris to sneak by for the win at 5.86 seconds at over 258mph. Past the finish line, Thompson's parachute failed to deploy and he wound up crashing into the sand trap at the far end of the dragstrip. "I guess they won't play any more games on the starting line," Harris commented. Harris holds the advantage of being the quicker and faster racer. At the 1st Northwest Nationals here last year, he set the top speed of the event at 258.96mph. He also set the national speed record in Pomona which now officially stands at 260.26mph. The record holder for elapsed time is Santa Rosa, California's Jim Murphy at 5.71 seconds. Both marks could be in jeopardy at Pacific Raceways. Local Northwest top fuel competitors include Jason Howell of Tacoma, Dale Carlson of Olympia and Phil Ruskowski, of Victoria BC.

Thirty year old Kris Krabill of Orange, California is strictly the one to beat in the Nostalgia Funny Car division. Coming off a dominating win in Pomona, his first-ever Goodguys event win, he was quick to defer the spotlight. "I attribute a lot of credit for our Pomona victory to our team. Down to the last guy on the crew - they're all very professional. With Donnie Couch (who tuned top fuel dragsters for Shirley Muldowney) and sprint car legend Ray Porter calling the shots on the engine - we've come up with a real nice combination. Having a car owner like Gary Turner (of GT Bicycles fame) who's been drag racing for 30-plus years helps too. We're all having a blast and can't wait to run in the Northwest," he said. Krabill will be challenged by a field of at least nine to ten other Nostalgia Funny Cars.

Other classes competing at the Goodguys Northwest Nostalgia Nationals include: AA/GAS, A/Fuel, Junior Fuel, Junior Fuel B, A/GAS (7.60), B/GAS (8.60), C/GAS (9.60), D/GAS (10.60), Nostalgia Eliminator (7.60), Nostalgia II (8.60), Nostalgia III (9.60) and Not Rod Eliminator

Goodguys will honor Northwest drag racing icon Walt Austin of Tacoma as the event's official "Hot Rod Hero." Austin, who raced top gas dragsters and early Funny Cars in the Northwest during the 1960s and 1970s went on to own the 4th winningest team in NHRA history when he and his son Pat competed in Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Fuel on the NHRA circuit from 1986 through 2002. Austin and his sons Mike and Pat will be on hand along with some of Walt's early dragsters which have recently been restored including a twin engine gas dragster. His original driver, Rich Rogers will make exhibition runs in the car throughout the weekend. Austin will also sign autographs for fans.

Event hours are Friday through Sunday 8am to 5pm. Professional qualifying is scheduled for Friday and Saturday with final eliminations Sunday. Opening ceremonies including a US Marine Color Guard presentation in honor of fallen war heroes will begin at 9:45am Sunday, May 28th.

General admission is $25 per day, kids 7-12 $10 and kids 6 and under are free. Adult weekend (three day) passes are $65.

For additional event information call Pacific Raceways (253) 639-5927 or visit http://www.good-guys.com.