 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
June 20, 2003 West Coast Pro Mod Race #4 previews for Glen Kerunsky, Glen May, Danny Rowe, Rick Distefano, Kip DuPuis John Scialpi and Dennis Radford are all on this page. Scroll down to see each one. Glen Kerunsky preview. Glen May Preview Glen May and the Cranberry Connection Pro Mod Racing team make their
2003 competitive debut this weekend at Mission Raceway Park for the
West Coast Pro Mods Pepsi Challenge. Glen and team are no strangers
to Mission Raceway as it is their home track and they have had a lot
of success there. Back in 1991 Glen and rival Bob Davenport were the
first cars to spin the tires on the racing facility that did not open
until the following year. The cement walls were just in the process
of being installed when Glen and Bob did 300 foot smoking burn out on
a virgin track. A lot has changed since 1991 for Glen, as he is now
on his third generation Cranberry car, which is actually a Ford Ranger
Pick-up. He debuted this truck back in 1999 the one and only year he
ran the entire IHRA Pro Mod series. He finished in 10th place in his
rookie season, which showed how good the west coast teams can be. Since
1999 Glen has race only part time, as his family business, 'Cranberry
Farming' has taken up most of his time as well has his automotive specialty
business 'CC Racing'. Danny Rowe Preview. Dennis Radford Preview Dennis Radford must have felt like the West Coast Pro Mod world has
ganged up on him this weekend at Mission Raceway. Pulling into the pits,
he finds himself surrounded by Blower cars. If fact, other than Dan
Vogt from Saskatchewan, Dennis and the 'Poison Viper' is the only nitrous
assisted Pro Mod at this weekends West Coast Pro Mod stop. But, that
has never stopped him before as last year only three or four nitrous
cars ran the series and Dennis dominated it winning by over 1700 pts
to second place John Sciapli. His year it has been a different story
though as he is sorting out the bugs in the Poison Viper II. It has
shown a bunch of potential, as Rickie Smith drove it back East earlier
this year to a 6.25 pass. The first Pro Mod race on the West Coast at
Vegas, Dennis did not compete at due to the fact he was at Rockingham
that weekend. Then at Boise three weeks ago, the track he dominated
at last year he surprisingly failed to qualify, due to what wife Judy
says was being a little greedy in trying to set the world on fire. Last
week, Dennis runner-upped to John Scialpi in the final despite a great
.420 light, but up in the 7500+ feet of corrected air, the blower car
found the power to chase down the 'Viper and get the win. Even with
only collecting round points a one race this year, the parity in the
series has allowed Dennis to sit in 7th place only 2 ½ rounds
out of the top five. John Scialpi Preview. John is hot off a win last weekend at Salt Lake City and he thinks his new car is ready for the sea level sticky track conditions that propelled him to the WCPMA ET record of 6.29 set last September here at Mission Raceway. With the win at Mission, which followed a second round finish at Boise, the 2002 2nd place points finisher moved into third place in the points less than a round back of 1st place Lee Smith. The new Woppado II has proven to be consistent and easy to tune at all the high elevation tracks as he ran a whooping 217 mph at 7500 feet of corrected air at Salt Lake, a whole 4 mph better than last year's best in better air at the Rocky Mountain track. Based on the numbers and the computer calculations, that could potentially compute to a run in the low 6.20's or high 6.10's. But as John said, "you don't race on paper". John as well as all the other competitors know that just qualifying will be a feat in itself. The quality of cars here this weekend is easily the best field ever assembled for a West Coast Pro Mod event. Right after this event he will head to Edmonton for the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals, his first IHRA National event in quite a while. Besides driving and tuning his own car, he is the tuner for Andy Neyer as well and assists quite a few other cars on the West Coast including local Jay Syversten. Go to www.wcpma.com for the schedule for the west coast pro mods and driver profiles Kip DuPuis Preview This is only the second time Kip DuPuis had ventured to the track here at Mission Raceway, and he probably feels that he is at an AMS NHRA National Event when you look at the field. Fourteen cars are at the track already and a couple more are expected. With the likes of Glen Kerunsky, John Scialpi and Danny Rowe here, he knows this will be a tough field. But Kip feels he has a car that can challenge for the event title. He has a good car. It is a Tim McAmis built ride that is quite possibly the most unique in the class as he had built a 1957 Buick Special. When asked why this particular model was picked he stated that he wanted something a little different, and he talking to his father about wanting to build a new car he dad said why not the Buick Special, a car he had owned for a number of year. Building it was no easy task, even though it looks similar to the '57 Chevy, the body when the cars are side by side look a lot different. The paint on the car is also very nice as the Dark Green is so dark in certain light is looks black. The light green trim on the bottom accents the car just right. Kip is well known in Southern California as the 'World's fastest Cop", as he previously drove a 94 Corvette in Southern California the 'cop' moniker comes from the fact he is a 13 yr. reserve officer. He ran 6.70's with the Corvette at the NHRA finals in exhibition back in 1998. The new ride has netted him a best of 6.47 so far, but he knows this weekend will show him the potential of the car. He runs the same motor combination (BAE Hemi) that Rick Distefano and the Stott's run in the IHRA. His aim is to qualify this weekend of course, but to get more laps and data on the car. After this weekends event he to is heading North to Edmonton for the National event. Rick Distefano Preview. Calgarian Rick Distefano is probably feeling like a marked man this
weekend. He has been getting good natured ribbing from a lot of his
peers, being that he is featured in the latest Drag Racer magazine and
is on the cover on SpeedZone Magazine. He has deserved both honors,
as his car is both fast and beautiful. He has the Western Canadian record
of 6.25 at 226.80 set one month ago here at Mission Raceway. But for
as quick as he has run, the two time Pro Mod event winner has had some
low points this year. He ran consistent low 6.30's at Vegas earlier
this year and also went 6.28 in Phoenix at the National event in February.
But for as good as those three races went, he have a disastrous return
to Vegas where he went into the sand, not once, but twice at the first
West Coast Pro Mod event. Then after all the repairs, and running great
at Mission, he DNQ'ed at Boise. On the Sunday of the Boise race he went
out and went and tested and ran low et for the weekend. Talk about a
sport that can humble you. Rick admits he has gone from hero to zero
a couple times, but that has kept him very grounded and even more dedicated
to the tact at hand which is too firstly qualify for the field and then
try and be the first guy in the west to run in the 6.10's. He knows
he has a target on his back, but he likes that, as it means he is one
of the top dogs in the West. He looks forwards to the competition trying
to run faster than he has gone here, because he know he can run quicker
as well. Rick would like to thank his sponsors Rolling Mix Concrete,
Top Gun Coatings and T&S Custom Paint.
.
June 14, 2003 Kent, Wash -- Julien Motorsports Preview Julien
Motorsports has proven to be a team that seems to live by the motto,
“Close but no cigar”, as they failed to qualify at Woodburn
Drag Strip last week by 1/100ths of a second. That is the second race
in a row that they DNQ’ed, and to the same guy even. They know
they missed their best chance in the second session when they were shut
off due to the wheelie bar being loose, in what was the best possible
conditions, as the weather was a lot cooler Saturday at noon then any
other time during the weekend. Paul’s 5.746 did not quite match
up to Mitch Meyers 5.736 final effort (who went on to win the race).
From these experiences the team is learning and getting better. At Seattle
this weekend, they know it won’t be any easier, but they are confident
that they can step into the 5.50’s, a number they feel will be
necessary to make the field by the end of qualifying Saturday afternoon.
With the competitiveness of the Division 6 TAD class, anyone making
the field can win as shown by the #7, and the #8 qualifiers winning
the first two events. “We will do our best to keep on improving,
both on the track and in the pits. We are having a lot of fun out there,
putting the fear into the bigger higher dollar teams in the Division
and those coming up from Division 7. Watch out for this little team
from Mission, we are sneaking up on the top runners”. Paul would
like to thank all his sponsors including Fraser Valley Engine, Pennzoil/Quaker
State Canada, United Rentals, Jet Tools and Equipment Canada, and Maximum
Collision. ....Mitch Meyers Preview KENT, Wash. -- Mitch Meyers and the “Team Epha”
A/ Fuel Top Alcohol Dragster are coming off a big win at Woodburn Drag
Strip, and are looking for similar results at Pacific Raceway this weekend
in Seattle. It’s race #3 in Division 6’s Lucas Oil Drag Race
schedule, and with expected cooler temperatures than last week, Mitch
and crew chief Twig Ziegler feel that their tune-up could net 5.40’s
or 5.30’s. Track manager Jay Livingston will have the track prepped
for optimum traction and could give the A/Fuel cars an advantage. Mitch
was very humble in the win last weekend as he qualified during the last
session and only by 1/100th of a second over rival Paul Julien (the
same guy he out qualified at Mission four weeks ago). “Ya, we know
we dodged a bullet during qualifying, but we were the quickest car in
eliminations, and set low et for the event in round one when we went
5.52 against #1 qualifier Mike Cofini. Mitch and Twig are finding out
that the simpler the better when it comes to tuning his injected nitro
beast. They have taken off most of the timers, and other tuning devices
that a lot of the teams are using, and it is paying dividends. There
is a lot less that can go wrong, and the data they retrieve now is easier
to make adjustments to. Mitch does not want to go into the final round
like the last two events, but if that happens, they know that anyone
that qualifies in the bottom half has a great chance to win. “Just
look at what we did”, he says with a smile and a look that may
put fear into the rest of his competitors. June 4, 2003
You
can visit Erickson on the Web at www.ericksonmanufacturing.com and Atchison
Racing at www.atchisonracing.com . Speedzone Magazine Subscriptions are available for $25 from: Speedzone Magazine or our U.S. address: Box 2923 |
Marine
City, MI, June 3, 2003. Erickson Manufacturing is pleased to announce
expanded participation to become the major sponsor of Rob Atchison's
IHRA Alcohol Funny Car. President Brent Erickson stated we have been
an associate sponsor with Atchison Racing for 2 years and have been
happy to be part of their racing family. I knew Rob and crew were winners
on and off the track from the beginning and their recent victory at
the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals is a stepping stone to success for
both Atchison Racing and Erickson Manufacturing. Erickson Manufacturing
a world leader for over 25 years in Tie Downs and Tow Straps with manufacturing
locations in Thamesville, Ontario, Canada and Marine City, Michigan
employing 90 people. Erickson plans to release a Hi-Performance Product
Line especially suited to racers who appreciate high quality products
at a fair price in 2003. 