 |
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
00 July 14, 2006 The Lucas Oil Canadian Nationals Open is presented here at SpeedZone by .....................
July 20, 2006 .......A huge gallery is here. A Sportsman gallery is here. The first of many galleries is here and here Open results Weekend race notes: What a great weekend at Mission Raceway. That makes three big races in a row, that have been a great success both on the track and for the race fans as well. Good crowds continued this past weekend, and they witnessed a strong evening session of qualifying including a few Floppers and TAD' that did huge wheelstands and a good flame show from the nitro cars as well. .........The Fuel Altereds put on a pretty solid show that was highlighted by Washington's Dave Benjamin who did lane swaps and ran very low 6 second passed. ........The Nitro Harleys really struggled compared to their CMDRA event the weekend before, except.......... for Ron Houniet. He went an amazing and Canadian record 6.49@212 mph. It is the first sub 6.50 pass on Canadian soil by a Canadian. Ron went on to win the race and collect the Wally. What is on his mind now is trying to repeat as CMDRA champion. If he is successful he will be the 11 time defending champion. This could be the toughest season yet for Ron though as there are a number of riders capable of unseating him. .......The Top Alcohol Shoot-out, the longest standing exhibition class at the National Open. It has pitted Dragsters against Funny Cars under a handicap system. The last couple seasons, the Parker family has dominated the "A" portion of the race (for the quickest four qualifiers). Randy has been the big winner both years. The highlights of the Top Alcohol Shoot-out, was Kim Parker wheelstanding big time both Saturday and Sunday. Paul Julien also shone bright with his great but losing 5.43 @ 259 mph. Ken Kraus also had the fans on their feet as he put his Funny Car into the kitty litter after his chute blew off the car after a 249 mph pass. Cal Tebb's first foray into NHRA TAFC racing ended with a huge bang as he broke a crank and kicked out the rods. Locals Bob Haffner and Ken Remple re-debuts Ken's TAD. It has sat in his Shop for the last half decade. The duo will run a few Top Comp Races and will work on a roots combo tune-up. The other two local TAD teams, Leo Grocock and Dudley Clease were absent this year. Dudley has not brought his car this season and is accumulating parts for next year. Leo was in Fort St. John making exhibition passes at their annual event. Rob Murphy also was up North. Leo and Rob built a 'wheelstander' over the winter and they ran it for the first time in front a great crowd. Here are a few shots of the car making check out laps. Mike Kuntz is a the driver. Nathan Sitko started off qualifying with a much improved run compared to the last few outings for the Nemeth Racing Roots blown car..... But the weekend almost didn't happen. The patriarch of the team, Kenny Sitko was hit with a mysterious virus and was in and out of the hospital all weekend long. The team was supposed to head to Seattle this weekend for the NW Nationals as well, but after sticking around on Monday and Tuesdays and seeing more specialists, the diagnosis came in, Kenny a rare infection called "Labyrinthitis". The team headed back home for more extensive tests and an MRI, but it is not expected to be serious. Get well soon Kenny!!! Bill Edwards Jr. had a great weekend despite not visiting the winners circle. After struggling all season long with good first half laps and torched heads or lifted blowers in the back half the team got the tune-up dialed in after the first run where in fact they did lift the blower. All the ducks were in a row, and Bill clocked in a great 5.57 @ 257 mph. He repeated with a 5.59 later in the day. The kicker in those runs is that Bill Sr. has put together an engine combination that no one else anywhere is running in TAD. The heads on the car are very old hemi heads that are close to 15 years old. Trevor Lowe made a surprise appearance in the Alcohol shoot-out this weekend. As one of the strongest running Pro Mods in the class on the West Coast, he did very well, and it helped he had a 1/2 second handicap against the Funny Cars and 3/4's of a second advantage off the starting line against the dragsters. He really was not tested at all in the race, and got a Wally (his first ever) for his effort. While I like the fact the three different cars race each other in this unique setup, I think that the cars not qualifying in the top four (divisional contenders in most cases), that the indexes should be based on their qualifying runs or it should just be a Chicago style event for those bottom half qualifiers. .................Pro Nostalgia, or the IBAA (International Blown Alcohol Association) as the association is called, rocked Mission Raceway this weekend. The group has not been to MRP in as few years and every time I see any of the members of the group they keep on saying they can't wait to make another appearance. The cars in the group are to say the least, very cool! 57 Chevy's, 55 T'Birds, 37 Chevys and a 72 Nova are just a few of the cars. Don't forget the SuperBird (Sherri Bodnarchuck was not in attendance at MRP) and Gordie Bonin's old Trans Am replica as well. He cars do long smoky burnouts and a few of them launch into huge wheelies as witnessed on this page courtesy Tim Boychuk. Many members of the group want to step up the performance level to a 7.25, which would put most of the cars approaching 200 mph.. A few of the veterans want to leave it alone, but I think it would be a very good idea to improve the performance. ... Top Comp was a great show on this weekend even though a six second car didn't win. There were more blown six and very low seven second race cars than we have seen at Mission, including that very cool dragster from Manitoba that ran the quickest et ever in Top Comp, a 6.38. How about the wheelstand by Neil Lachelt, how about the 6.99 by Brian Barling and the 7.01 by John Evans. Way cool! .......Combo was highlighted by Shawn Kvaas' #1 qualifying effort in his M/SA. He is looking forward to running divisionals knowing he has a chance to be at the top off the heap. .......Super Gas, only one name is worth mentioning and that is Mike Shannon. He won all three Super Gas races this weekend and almost won Super Pro as well. He is on a roll. ........Bike/Sled. Anita Cunningham is one hot rider in the class. Two 'Wallys' on consecutive weekend. Great job. ........We leave you with the Jrs. and Kaetlyn Rice. The Division seven family came North for a stint including Mission and The national event this weekend. The shy quiet girl of the three brings home another trophy for the mantle. Way to go Kate!!!! ......I leave you with
Updated Tuesday July 17, 2006
Stock/Super Stock Combo
Just over 30 cars in Combo with both Stock and Super
Stock racers in attendance
Real Street... much like Pro Street is not having the cars show up like every one was hoping. Alberta's Greg Henschell took the win in his Mustang.
Super Comp
A very tough field at Mission in Super Comp. Last years Open champion Mike Peck got the win over Mark Johnson. Johnson had a great light but could not run the number and Mike Jr. came from behind to get the win.
Super Gas
Mike Shannon is on a roll as he has had what could
only be termed as a career month with four huge wins. First he won
the Rocky mountain Nationals three weeks ago in Edmonton with a
stellar .008 package. Then he won both the Ashcroft rain delay races
here at Mission run on Friday. Then he topped it off with the win
on Sunday over 25 Super Gas competitors. To say he has the lead
in National Open points is an understatement. On Sunday he defeated
buddy Marv Wiebe who took too much stripe. Super Street
Two local drivers wound up in the final round of Super Street. Ron Mackenzie won as he took out Dan Parsons. Both drivers will now head to Seattle for the National Event. W - Ron McKenzie .036/10.918/129.94 Bike/Sled
Anita Cunningham will forever remember the last
month and a half as the being one of ultimate lows and ultimate
highs. After her tough crash just over a month ago and breaking
fingers and bruising other limbs, she vowed to be back for Woodburn.
She was and she won there. Then she came to her home track Mission
with many emotions as it was the site of her crash. She put it in
the back of her mind and went out and beat a strong field of 20
bikes and sleds. In the final she defeated Al Omond who was making
his first final round in a big event in a long time. Super Pro
Larry Miner has been strong all season long in Super
Pro and he took the win her over heavy hitter Fred Hoffman. Of note
Mike Shannon went out in the semi finals in Super Pro to go along
with his other three wins this weekend. Pro ET
Chris Stone is one happy guy as he got his first
ever Wally in a very tough 65 car Pro Bracket field. The win included
a huge bracket purse of over$1000.00 He defeated good friend Bill
Mitchell Sportsman
Steve Adams is another tough a multi time winner
in National Open competition. Here he defeated Rob MacDonald in
the final. Junior Lightning
Kirsta Kooker made it an all girl winners circle
in Jrs. as she took out Edmonton's Craig Olynyk in the final. The
other Jr winner was....... Junior Thunder
..............another one of those Rice girls. This
time it was Kaetlyn Rice getting the Wally. Older sister Ashlyn
has one and now Kate, Guess Matty's time is right around the corner. Monday July 16, 2006 What a weekend at Mission Raceway!........ ........as witnessed by these couple pictures.
Neil Lachelt
Kim Parker
Tim Boychuk
AA/FA
After Saturday's lacklustre two runs for the Fuel Altered's, they got a lot more serious on Sunday. The lone real bright spot on Saturday was Dave "Nasty" Benjamin's lane swapping 6.98. He was along side Randy Bradford Saturday afternoon, and was on a real good lap until about 300 feet, when he drifted to the right and crossed into the right lane just ahead of Bradford. Both drivers stayed on the loud pedal, and at 1000 feet "Nasty" was tired of Bradford drafting him, so he went back in his own lane and clocked in a 6.98. It was easily worth the price of admission alone. The night session was a bit anti climactic, as an anticipated flame show never really materialized, with the exception of Bradford's Fiat, which was even lighting up the sky on an idle. The "Rat Trap" and "Nanook" did not show much flame either. On Sunday, Benjamin in the 23 Model 'T', showed he still knew how to tune an altered when he blasted off a great 6.14/232 leaving his mark as the second quickest nostalgia fuel altered driver in history. Bradford ran 203 mph in the heat of the day and Nanook and Rat Trap both had troubles. In the final lap Sunday afternoon, Ron Hope in the 'Rat Trap', livened up his weekend when he picked up the front end for the first 80 feet, he had to pedal it to get the short wheelbased handful to drop down to the asphalt, and he stabbed the throttle a few more times on the way to an 8 second lap. Nanook was up against "Nasty" in the final pairing, and both cars left real hard, at 700 feet smoke started coming out of the headers in both cars. Vince Generalao in the 'Nanook' lifted off the gas while Benjamin stayed on it through the 1320 and ran another teen, this time a 6.15/231 backing up his earlier effort. All in all I would give the Fuel Altered show a 6.5 out of 10, but I give 'Nasty' Benjamin a 9 out of 10 for his effort on three of the four runs. He was "Da Bomb"
Top Fuel Harley
In the other nitro class, Ron Houniet got back his Canadian record with a great 6.49/212 mph shot run in the first round on Sunday in the Nitro Harley shoot-out. He went on to win the event over Pro Fuel standout John Breckenridge in a throttle fest.
Top Alcohol "A" and "B"
Randy Parker defeated wife Kim with a 5.80 @238, Randy went boom right at the stripe as his blower Burst Panel and hood hatch went flying at least 100 feet high and 250 feet to the north ending up in the blackberry bushes by the spectator gate. Kim had the better light and likely would have won the race, but like she did in a couple other runs this weekend, went into a big wheelstand. She pedaled the car once and when she went back on the 'LOUD' pedal, the blower belt exited its two pulleys, and all she could do was watch hubby storm to the finish line uncontested.
In the semi final part of the 'A" show, Kim got a huge holeshot on local favorite Paul Julien, and won despite Julien's career and weekend best 5.43/259 shot. Paul went 5.52 Saturday night and lifted early on that run as his speed was only 235 mph. Parker had to abort her Saturday night shot when she wheel stood her dragster for the second run in a row. Her first run on Saturday was awesome, as she lifted the front end about 20 inches and held it there for 200 feet. She pedaled it and still an a 5.60.
Husband Randy was #1 for the floppers as he ran a 5.78/249 to lead the field. Ken Kraus had an exciting run, as on his 5.8 pass, as his chutes flew off the back of the car right when they hit. The car also had its throttle stick, and Kraus did everything he could to get the car stopped. In did not get it slowed in time, and he infact hit the sand trap and right into the safety fence it went, the car turning and then it did a slow side roll into the net. The car went back to its proper position, and Kraus got out uninjured, but upset that he could not stop the car in time.
Amazingly enough, there was not to much damage, and the team along with Joey Steckler (Joeys Place restoration and Randy Parker) helped the team get back to race day trim (with a little added fiberglass and duck tape). Kraus went out and ran a solid but loosing 5.91 in round one Sunday. Bill Edwards Jr. ran his career best numbers on Sunday when he turned in a 5.57 at 257 mph. A good job for the Napa Auto Parts team. Bob Haffner was out in Ken Remple's TAD (in Top Comp trim) and he went 6.65 at 215 mph. Top Alcohol "A" Randy Parker def Kim Parker 5.91/238 to a slowing 7.50 pass. Kim left first with a .102 light to Randy's .115 rt. In the "B" final Trevor Lowe took the win in his Pro Mod. He had a HUGE .5 second handicap against John Evanchuk, and John just could not made up that much difference on this day, He would have had to run his best ever lap if he wanted any chance in the final.
Top Alcohol "B" Final Qualifying "A" Dragster "A" Funny Car Top Alcohol "B" 1. Mark Hentges 5.68 The Pro Nostalgia Funny Cars from Alberta made their first appearance in a few years, and that group put on a great show. This diversified group has some of the coolest pipe and body styles anywhere, including Corvette, a 37 Chevy, a Nova, a 55 T-'Bird, a couple Vegas and a replica "240 Gordie" '72 Trans Am.
Tim Boychuk stole the show on Saturday with two huge wheel standing runs (one shown above). Unfortunately for him and the fans, his second one under the lights Saturday night results in broken steering rods and a wall scraping finale that ended his weekend. Jay Mageau won the race, his second in a row (including the Rocky Mountain three weeks ago). Tony Kupris in the 55 T-Bird was his victim Sunday. IBHA 7.50 Pro Nostalgia Funny Cars
Top Comp Top Comp had a great field of 32 cars and a bunch of new cars were out. A very cool RED from Manitoba ran a great 6.38 to lead the field. Perennial #1 Shawn Cowie struggled to a 6.9 best. Neil Lachelt was #2 with a 6.40 and then he went for the stars and wheel stood his dragster big time a sequence is here. In the end, the six second rides took a back seat to the mid seven second dragsters as Joe Mura took the win for the second year in a row. Dave "No Reaction" Jackson was the runner-up. A number of personal bests were achieved in the class including Bob Kokotailo who ran a great 7.23 in the "Superman" Firebird. Terry Spargo ran 197 mph in his Cutlass, Lachelt went 6.40/213 mph. In a historic run, Brian Barling would have made Pat Harden (who past away last week) proud, when he ran his first ever "6", a 6.99 that will long be remembered and will be dedicated to Harden. John Evans came oh so close, with a 7.01. Mark Campbell was another driver knocking on the "6" door, as he went 7.03 Final round Top Comp
W - Joe Mura .016/7.501/177.37
Pro Street.... finally a good side by side final round race in Pro Street. (Note) a prelude to this weekend's Pro Street final
This has unfortunately become a class (or take it one step further an association), that has struggled in the last few years. Car counts have dwindled to minuscule numbers. The sad thing about that is the cars who do show up are very high quality race cars. The car numbers have become so bad that comments on message boards got out of hand on payouts etc, that lawsuits were threatened. With two street car series happening locally and neither really on the same page, it is hard to have consistency and a chance for growth. This weekend, six Pro Street cars started the weekend, but only five made it to eliminations. Jay Syvertsen, Rash Dhaliwal and Brian Lane all set personal best marks and Syvertsen ran the fastest ever lap at MRP in Street Legal trim. His 6.66 @ 210 mph set the new standard. Dhaliwal ran a career best 6.72/208 and Lane went 6.77 in his nitrous 55 chevy. The final pitted Syvertsen and Dhaliwal, and both were on their "A" game all day long. The final was very close. Dhaliwal got the hole shot and lead for the first 500 feet. The John Scialpi tuned 55 Cameo driven by "Big Jay", took over the leadin the back half and held on for a 6.72 - 6.83 victory. If we could see more side by side battles like that one, the Pro Street deal would be much better in the long run, and the "WAMBUANCE" would not have to be called.
The rest of the classes and photos on Tuesday
The first of many galleries is here and here
Feature classes include The IBAA Th Nitro Harleys Top Alcohol Shootout Fuel Altereds Pro Street Shootout Plus all the sportsman classes will compete starting Friday.
|
|
Everything on this site is
copyright © Speedzone Magazine 2003/2004/2005. All rights reserved.
Nothing can be reproduced in any way without written consent of the
publisher and/or the individual copyright holders of images and/or text.
|
