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The latest update as of June 2, 2009
And then there were none....
As reported first on the SpeedZone website, there won't be any "Pro" Stock cars at this year's IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals at Edmonton's Castrol Raceway. There was a virtual boycott by the class at last year's event as ONE non-conforming entry showed up, made a bye run in each qualifying session and closed out the "show" with a single in the first and final round of competition.
At the time IHRA made it clear that a similar fiasco would not be permitted to occur in 2009, and the latest news indicates that NO pro stock cars will be attending the Rockies. I guess it's been somewhat apparent for a while now, as if you look closely at the "event schedule and decode the abbreviations for each class, e.g. TF = Top Fuel, PM = Pro Modified, etc., there is simply no PS (pro stock) class listed.
I've got to wonder how the association will try to "spin" this situation or just where or when the racers in this, or for that matter any class, decide not to attend a national event in the future. And that brings us to the really tough question today: just who runs the International Hot Rod Association? Is it Feld Entertainment (the owners), Aaron Polburn (the president), or the racers? From where I'm sitting and viewing this, it's really not clear who is in charge, despite what the various parties may say.
I've got to ask myself what would be the response if this boycott, or whatever you wish to call it, happened in the NHRA world. Would they sit down and discuss matters with the racers as they did after the fuel funny car boycott at the 1981 Cajun Nationals? Or would they simply inform the racers in the affected class that their participation in NHRA events was no longer required. The answer most likely lies somewhere between those two extremes. But based on the way the senior association has reacted to individual instances of non-conformance in recent years, or their willingness to play hardball with entire categories, I've got to assume that their response wouldn't be of the warm and fuzzy variety.
Now back to the event itself. Just how many classes will be competing at the Rocky's? Since last year's race we've seen nitro and alcohol funny car dropped from the IHRA roster, the Pro Nostalgia (7.50 index) funny cars and nitro bikes have never been an official category, and the PSB (pro Stock Bike?) class is not to be found in the IHRA vocabulary.
While Rob and Kim Reeves have gone waaay out on a limb to bring a great show to Edmonton next month, with a full field of alcohol funny cars and several (not sure how many) nitro floppers, the pro nostalgia gang, the nitro harleys, etc, etc, their event is getting further and further away from the mainstream IHRA promotion and is rapidly taking on a very individual flavour of its own. More credit to them, and based on past attendance figures, this year's edition of the Rocky Mountain Nationals should be a success (weather permitting). But there may come a time where the Reeves's have to ask themselves "Why are we sanctioned by IHRA anymore? Why not just book the cars and promote the entire event ourselves? At this point they've got to be at least wondering about this from time to time.
There's certainly more to come on this issue in the coming weeks, and opinions will be like belly-buttons (ie, everyone's got one) but there really can't be any winners in this fiasco. The fans at Castrol Raceway will miss out on the wild 220-mph cars, the promoters will miss out on the addition to the show, the racers will miss out on a chance to race, their sponsors and all of IHRA's sponsors will be shortchanged, and the sport itself will be diminished, at least somewhat, by their absence. But the pro stock racers have got to ask themselves, especially after last year's no-show, just what are they trying to prove? And when they do figure out the answer, maybe they can pass it along to their sponsors, the folks that pay the bills and allow them to race and presumably contract with them to contest the entire IHRA national event schedule.
While that thought process is going on, possibly IHRA can think of something to tell their series sponsors, the track operators and promoters that signed up for events in good faith expecting representative fields in ALL categories, especially the professional eliminators. Just something for everyone to think about between now and the July 3rd opening round of qualifying at Castrol Raceway.
The latest update as of June 1, 2009
What a difference a week makes
From low e.t. and a new track record at 5.29, three consecutive runs of over 270 mph and an asbolutely dominating event win at the NHRA Division Six LODRS event at Mission Raceway, Shawn Cowie and company appeared at Topeka's Heartland Park Raceway and struggled - along with everyone else in the field - under vastly different conditions last weekend.
Shawn qualified in the middle of the field (#8) with a pair of 5.4-second passes, and improved to an event best (for him) 5.39 - 267 in a close second round loss to eventual runner-up Tom Conway. While the team adjusted as well as anyone in the blown alcohol brigade to the change in atmospheric conditions from Mission - from 1000 - 1500 feet of corrected altitude to 3500 - 4000 feet at Topeka, and track temperatures of nearly 130 degrees, they were simply outmatched against a veteran racer and A/Fuel expert like Tom Conway. Expect the Mundie's Towing group to bounce back strong at Spokane and Seattle in the next few weeks.
The latest update as of May 26, 2009
Here's some great photos taken by our friend, ace photog Gerry Frechette. Enjoy them while I keep working on the stories of the race weekend. Please note that these images are copyrighted and all rights are protected.
Leo Grocock (left) came into this race with high hopes of carding a career-best on the new top-end asphalt and great weather conditions, but unfortunately came away with an engine diaper full of grenaded rods and pieces of block. It might be a while before we see this car out again. Meeting with a fate not much better was one-shot qualifier Kim Parker (right) who laid down a decent first pass of the season that placed her on the bubble, but dropped out of the field when a spun main bearing was discovered after her run.
Two cars that did record career bests, Ashley Bart, the young phenom from Edmonton (left) laid down an early shutoff 5.56 at 241 mph during Saturday's first session, while Vancouver, Washington's Doug Hegge (right) nearly cracked into the 5.30's with a 5.405 at nearly 267 mph in a losing cause in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. Both teams went home as first round runnerups, but with some very good performances on their resumes and hope for even better results in the future.
Steve & Patty Federlin's Oregon-based car, driven by Justin Davis (left) qualified solidly in the #4 spot with a strong 5.43, but lost in the first round, despite an even better 5.42, when Dale Carlson ripped off a career best (at the time) 5.46 for car owner High Ridley to take the win. On the right side we've got the first-round pairing of northwest nitro nasties, Brandon Johnson (near side) and Gregg Lawrence (far side). Low qualifier Johnson (at a 5.36) took out the first alternate Lawrence (in for a broken Kim Parker) when Gregg smoked the tires on the launch.
Other first-round pairings included (on the left) Joey Severance (near side) laying down his best of the weekend, a 5.33 at 265 mph to defeat Doug Hegge's (far side) career best 5.40 at a slightly faster 266.94. A really good side-by-side race between two different motivations (injected nitro vs. blown alky) that was much closer than most people imagined it could be. On the right we've got the Justin Davis (near side) against Dale Carlson (far side) match that was another surprise as Carlson's 5.46 took the holeshot win over Davis's 5.43. The margin of victory was barely four feet in a race that got the local fans up on their feet cheering for the locally-owned and tuned car Ridley car.
In what was the most-anticipated matchup of the day, Shawn Cowie (near lane) broke into the 5.20's with a career best 5.290 at 271 mph to down a very game Joey Severance (far lane) who notched a very respectable 5.37 at 264 mph in a losing cause. Until Brandon Johnson crashed the top qualifier party in the final session on Saturday, this matchup was slated to be the final round pairing and it had all the atmosphere of such a match.
The Protz Family brought out their very competitive SynOil car again with new driver Ken Webster in the hot seat (left) and after a pair of somewhat troubled runs, came through with a strong 5.73 at 252 mph in the final qualifying session to slot into the fourth spot, being only bumped down from third by a last pair pass from Oregon's Clint Thompson. On the right is the really beautiful Camaro bodied car of Northern Albeta's Trevor Lebscak, normally an IHRA regular, who struggled all weekend, starting with the Thursday test session and never ran better than an early shutoff 6.20 on Saturday and finished up with a first round blower backfire on Sunday.
Easily the most consistent car on the grounds during qualifying, with three passes within one-hundredth of a second, 5.81, 5.81 and 5.82, Chilliwack's Tim Nemeth "TDN Constructors" car (left) lost the engine and the race in the first round against Clint Thompson. Nemeth has to be happy though with his consistency and if he can just turn the wick a little more, could be looking at winning a round or two this season. And it was nice to see veteran alky tuner Kenny Sitko on a busman's holiday in his Nemeth crew shirt, giving the team a hand and some good advice.
On the right side we've got Rob Atchison in his newly painted "ACE Manufacturing" car making his Division Six debut. He's a three-time IHRA World Champion, but due to the demise of the alky flopper class in IHRA, he's gone over to the dark side and joined the screw blower contingent in NHRA. It's going to take a while to develop a combination but a 5.77 and two runs over 250 mph this weekend was a good start.
Klamath Falls, Oregon's Clint Thompson ran well all weekend, qualifying with a strong 5.70, then getting a bunch better on Sunday with a first round 5.64 and followed up with an even better 5.63 in the semifinal. Unfortunately, a very late light (.144) cost him a holeshot loss to John Evanchuk (see on the right side). John also ran very well all weekend, with five great runs, mostly in the 5.70's and four passes over 250 mph in a great showing for the Canadian team. Even if he hadn't redlighted in the final round, the outcome was not really going to be in doubt unless lightning struck and with sunny skies that eventuality wasn't a viable option.
Bringing out a brand-new and obviously unpainted body, Junction City, Oregon's Brian Hough (left side) dominated the event from start to finish, leading qualifying from the first session to last, running the low e.t. in two out of three elimination rounds, setting low e.t. and top speed of the event in the first round on Sunday at 5.622 seconds - 257.87 mph, and winning the race over a red-lighting John Evanchuk. Altogether, a great performance after a slow and mostly forgettable start to the season.
On the right side we've got an all-Alberta first round race between John Evanchuk (nearlane) and Trevor Lebsack (far side) that was over pretty much on the starting line as Lebsack first smoked the tires, then banged the blower when he tried to pedal the errant flopper. While this mayhem was happening, Evanchuk cruised to an easy 5.75 - 250 pass to advance to his semifinal match vs. Clint Thompson.
Making his Mission Raceway and Division Six debut, London, Ontario's Rob Atchison showed he's starting to get a handle on an NHRA screw blower tuneup, running a best of 5.77 at 253 mph enroute to a semifinal finish, unfortunately redlighting on another 5.7 - 250-plus lap. Western Canadian race fans will get their next chance to see Atchison at the Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton next month, then a return to Mission for the National Open later in July. By then this team could be looking on the bright side of the 5.60 barrier. Remember that he didn't win three world championships in IHRA just by showing up and looking good.
On the left we've got a pair of Top Fuel Harley's, but even after quite a search through a number of websites, we're still not able to nail down just who's who, what they ran or when they ran. In any event, they're loud, smoky, and fast and lots of fun to watch. On the right side, is the Competition Eliminator final, with North Vancouver's Rob Harrison in his '05 Cavalier J/Altered (near lane) taking the very popular win over Brandon Huhtala's Washington state '97 Cutlass C/Altered (far lane).
After barely getting down the track in three qualifying attempts and slotting into the bottom of the field with a not even remotely stellar 16.05 best, Harrison and partner Al Lougheed exorcised all the gremlins; possibly with some help from Igor, the team shot into the 7's with a pair of 7.8's, a 7.9 and finished off their run with a 7.79 at an early shutoff 153 mph in the final. With all the new electrical gear on the car after their troubleshooting efforts, these guys should be in good shape for the rest of the season.
Final round time and we start with the funny car match on the left, with Brian Hough in the near lane and John Evanchuk on the far side. Competing in his first-ever final round (in NHRA or IHRA major events), Evanchuk tried just a little too hard and red-lighted in his gorgeous "Red Wolf" entry, throwing away a respectable 5.82 pass after dipping into the 5.60's in the previous round. Taking the win was the truly evil looking "Black Mariah" of Oregon's Brian Hough who made his third consecutive pass in the 5.60's at over 250 mph to take the well-deserved win.
In a real David vs. Goliath battle of Canadian cars (on the right), Shawn Cowie (near lane) took out Dale Carlson (far lane) by three car lengths after giving up a sizeable holeshot (.003 to .090). But the Bill Moore-tuned "Mundie's Towing" dragster simply had too much for the tire-shaking and pedalling Hugh Ridley-onwed and Jeff Johnsen-tuned car. According to Mr. Zone hisself, this was the first-ever all-Canadian matchup in an NHRA final round ever, at least in the top alcohol ranks. A bit of an anticlimax after two great semi-final battles, but truly some history in the making and a great way to end this photo essay.
To see Sunday's pictures click here
To see Saturday's pictures click here
To see Friday's pictures click here
To see updates/rants/blogs from March click here.