July 28-29, 2007

Re/Max Old Time Drags, Mission Raceway Park.

(photos courtesy Bill Jeffery and Dean Murdoch)

Weekend gallery is here (includes all exhibition classes)

Sunday Elimination's

Class "superstar" Howard Anderson overcomes a disastrous Saturday to take on all comers Sunday and come out on top.....

.... in a dominating performance Howard Anderson bracket raced his 200 mph 37 Chevy to win the AA/Supercharged event at the "Re/Max" Langley Loafers race at Mission Raceway Park.

After kicking the rods out on Saturday, the team thrashed into the early evening put in a new bullet and came out kicking Sunday afternoon to take the trophy in what was essentially a freebie final.

With only one pass on Saturday, Howard ended up as the #6 qualifier and took on multi-time series champion Gary Reinero. He dispatched Reinero with his first of three low 6.80's( 6.82/200). Reinero actually went red on his 7/066 lap. Mitch Chamberlin defeated Ron Nahas with a 7.169 but had oil pressure issues for the second consecutive day, and he decided to bow out for the semis. Scott White got a single in round one as his opponent Brent Harris could not get repairs done after Saturday's fire. Scott shook and lifted early in round one. David Inglis upset Mike Molea when Molea went for a wild ride crossing the centre line at the 400 foot mark. Inglis lifted early to the tune of a 7.49 at only 100 mph.

Round two got really strange, as Inglis got the single against a broke Chamberlin, But Inglis has his own issues and struggled to stage the car. Since he fired the car to make his run he did get the win, contrary to what I thought the rules were (he did not stage the car). Anderson took on White and it was a great 6 second battle. Anderson got the jump by .05 and ripped off low et of the weekend so far, a 6.81/201. White was game with a strong 6.975/198, but Anderson did take a t2/10ths stripe.

Inglis continued having his mechanical issues (mostly oil pressure related) in the pits between rounds and decided he did not want to risk further damage, so Anderson was awarded the win without even having to make a run. He decided to run and "Baja" Bob White and son Scott said they would take on the California hitter.

 

The final was over right off the starting line as White broke the rear end in the family's awesome 41 Willys. Anderson was on a bracket like mission all day Sunday as he turned in his third low '80 of the day this time the low et 6.805 and top speed of the event (202.29).

A truly amazing performance by the Anderson team, after their forgettable Saturday.

Pit notes:

----"Mad Mike" Molea went out after this trouble run in the opening round and ripped off a great 6.88/199. That team went home much happier than they were after the round one loss."I don't know why the car moved so hard to the centre line in round one, but that exhibition lap helped out a lot and we got good tuning data with our back-up hemi".

----Oiling and push rod problems seem to be plaguing this class much like similar problems with the Top Alcohol and Pro Mod classes.

---Brent Harris was looking to turn the corner in his awesome Willys this year. He finally went away form the lenco drive and installed and two disk clutch in hopes of getting into the 6's. But the freak fire due to a split fuel cell, was just another unfortunate issue this season. Three weeks ago, he torched a head at the "Rocky's when he had a plugged nozzle. He stated he had never had that happen before.

----For the second feature event in a row the main attraction did not really fulfill what I perceive as their commitment to field an eight car field for elimination's. The Funny Cars had a small field two weeks ago and the "Gassers" were light as well. In my opinion the associations out there who get invited to compete should have pride in giving the fans full fields on Sunday. Both shows were good performance wise, but the responsibility factor does not seem to be a priority. Many different classes of exhibition cars are crying the blues because they can't get booked, and they even have rules issues amongst their own, which makes the class itself segregated.

 

It is something I don't get, and it is something I think should be taken more seriously. There is many different groups looking for bookings and I think tracks should look hard at their contracts with these groups ensuring full fields on Sunday.

Saturday July 28, 2007 AA/GS Qualifying

Eight Gassers entered this weekend at MRP and it was a day of extreme carnage for the Supercharged contingent.

Only the first session had all eight cars attempt runs and the best was a proverbial shot in the dark by one of the dark horses, Mitch Chamberlin. The team is using a seldom used AJ 481-x wedge combination, and had been in the 6.90 a few times. They ripped off a very impressive 6.85/201 to leave the rest of the field in the wake. "Mad" Mike Molea was #2 in the first round with his baby bullet a 4.31 cu in BAE. He ran a solid 6.96. That # would end up being the third best on the day.

All the other cars struggled in round one partly due to a massive oil down just a few pairs of car prior to them running. Gary Reinero was the only other driver to navigate a decent lap in round one, and that was a 7.13. Howard Anderson had a rod fail on his run and that forced that team to do a complete engine swap, which they got done at by 8:30 Pm. They did test fire the car to the applause of the fans who stuck around they will be ready to play Sunday. His run was a 7.49

In round two, five cars came out to run but only four reached the 1320. And all four of those were unfortunately not impressive. Molea went on a very loose 7.92 while Reinero, White and Brent Harris were troubled. Harris had a bit of a fright, when he shredded the blower belt at 600 feet and then the fuel cell split dumping fuel all over the engine causing a fairly large fire while Brent was trying to get the car shut off. The damaged ended up being relatively minor, but he likely will not have the Willys fixed for elimination's. Doug Inglis was shut off on the starting line when his Oil pressure gauge read under 40 lbs.

Round three was not any better with regards to cars making a hit, but three of the four who did run ran very well. Ron Nahas went a 7.05194. Beside him Mitch Chamberlin was .06 quicker to 660 but he lifted at 950 feet and coasted to a 7.36.

Gary Reinero and Scott White saved the best for last, as they ran the only side by side 6 second run, and both were glued together as the scoreboards lit up to identical 6.96?197 mph runs. Reinero was quicker by .009 and that # was quick enough to give him the #2 spot in the field for Sunday elimination's.

 

Here is the final order.

1. Mitch Chamberlin Orting Wa. 6.853/201.43
2. Gary Reinero Merced Ca 6.960/197.54
3. Mike Molea Grants Pass Or 6.967/195.43
4. Scott White Seaside Or. 6.969/197.36
5. Ron Nahas Reno Nev 7.057/194.23
6. Howard Anderson Applegate Ca 7.492/146.91
7. David Inglis Bend Or 7.498/178.07
8. Brent Harris Edmonton Ab 9.303/94.41

Claude Lavioe put on a spectacular show in his nitro front engined dragster and he turned in the fastest two laps in the history of the class. He went 6.20 twice with the fastest one exceeding the old record by 5 mph. He went 6.20 @ 231.77 mph. His second run was a tire smoking 6.20 @ 229.47 mph. What a couple awesome runs. Wife Lisa struggled with her dragster as she shook at the top of first gear on all three of her attempts. The team is very perplexed by the way that car is shaking the tires. Duane Grosart and Jeff Hill faced off one time Saturday in the battle of the 55's. The chilliwack duo act saw round one go to Jeff when Duane clicked it early after getting loose at 700 feet.

Alberta's Duane Robertson, in his ultra quick blown altered, hit the wall on his third lap of the day. Earlier, he ran a career best 6.61 and on his first lap, he went 6.66 at a career best 211 mph. VAncouver Island's Brent Murray raced his Fiat to a solid 6.83 @ 196 mph.

Photos will be posted Sunday morning.

Friday July 27, 2007

AA/Gasser line up for this weekend.

Scott White all new car this year. Father Bob has tuned it to three finals this year and a best of 6.83

Ron Nahas has run a best of 6.99. Looking for another tenth this weekend.

"Mad Mike" Molea had become one of the hitters in the class and 6.7's are his best numbers. Has his #2 bullet in the car this weekend though as he wounded his top piece.

Howard Anderson is one of the best the class has ever seen. A 6.61 is his best and he has gone 6.66 at MRP. Look for him to be hear the top.

Brent Harris has a clutch and Lenco this year and a re-done chassis thanks to RH Race Cars. The car could see its first ever 6 second et this weekend.

Gary Reinero is one of the legends of the class. He has many series championships and has run in the 6.8's and 6.7's on numerous occasions.

Dave Inglis is in tough this weekend. He needs to find the sweet spot to run his first ever 6. Career best #'s are 7.0's. @ 195

Mitch Chamberlin is in his third year in the AA/ Supercharged class. His car has a lot of history as it was owned previously by Wayne Harry. He is looking for the magic 6 second et slip.

'Wild" Bill Fitting may make the trek North. He has been here before and is hoping to round out the field. Low 7's are his best runs.