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Sunday's Report

11:00 AM

Good morning from the control tower at Race City in Calgary. And a very Happy Father's Day to everyone. As reported elsewhere on this website, it's another beautiful day here in Calgary, with a forecast high of mid 20's and nary a cloud in the prairie sky. It really is "big sky country" here with no mountains or anything else taller than a telephone pole to fill the skyline on the south side of the city.

After yesterday's successful show, expectations are good for a repeat performance and possibly even better numbers might be turned as every one of the feature cars has had two shots at the mostly unforgiving track and may have figured out better ways to get down the rough and rugged surface. However, the numbers aren't paramount, instead it's all about putting on a show and performing for the drag racing fans.

It's still pretty early, with the funny cars not scheduled to run their first round for nearly two hours, but the grandstands are looking pretty barren. Maybe everyone's still having brunch, but we'll see. The schedule for today is to have all six Rocky Mountain funny cars run at 1:00 pm, then have them all come back for a second round at 3:00 pm. The only change from yesterday is that the two quickest cars from today's first round will be considered the finalists and run for the event title during the second round.

The other feature cars will include the diesel big rigs again, the biodiesel jet funny car for one more pass at 1:00 pm, after the funny cars, and the blown renegades - if any are left - twice more. In renegade news, the new '63 Corvette of Gary Gummow will be back out today after sorting through some teething troubles yesterday. The cloud of smoke it put out at the finish line was simply an oil line coming loose/off and the car is ready to run something much quicker today.

It's time to head into the pits and catch up on all the overnight news and see what's in store for today, with our next update scheduled to be posted just before the first round of funny cars.


12:40 PM

Just got back from our expedition through the pits. Got to see who's hurt, who's not, and put a few more details into some blank spots. Even found a couple of new renegade cars. First stop: Cory Kincaid pit area, where they were just finishing buttoning up the engine afte installing some new pushrods. Before I forget, many thanks from Cory to crewman Neil who left the pits at 11:30 last night to drive to Edmonton and back (at 6:00 am) to pick up the pushrods.

Their trouble started after the group warmup last night at 5:00. Normal procedure for the team after a warmup is to re-lube the pushrod ends (the rocker end) before making a run. With the shortness of time after the warmup that wasn't possible and they ended up burning at least one pushrod on their first (and last) run of the night. No other damage, and they'll be ready for their two runs today, even if they have to pretend to be warming the car during the fireup show.

Got to spend a few minutes with Kevin Therres and get some more (and much needed) background on the team. Here's what I learned from him: The '07 Corvette that he was driving is powered by a J-60 engine, while the NEW car that's almost finished will be a Mustang II with a J-85. Over the years Kevin has come a very long way from a 22-sec Impala that was only able to smoke the motor (instead of the tires) through a series of faster rides up to his Top Alcohol Funny Car which was sold to make room for the Jet Funny Car operation.

While he still has goals as part of a 5-year plan to eventually move up to Top Fuel or Nitro Funny Car, he's currently putting the finishing touches on a two-car biodiesel jet funny team. With former crewman Ross Crampton very recently licensed and slated to fill the seat of the new Mustang II car, they've got a two-car package deal to offer the race tracks in Western North America.

Crampton, who licensed just two weeks ago at Saskatoon, with Derek Snelson and Therres signing his license, drove the Corvette last night, while Therres himself will be behind the wheel for today's run. This team looks set to really make an impact with their very unique concept of running a biodiesel jet funny car.

Moving into the Rocky Mountain Nostalgia (I keep forgetting to include the "N" word when I describe them - sorry folks) pits, I corner the Sekura brothers and get more of their light-hearted joking about who's driving what, and frankly, I'm not sure who really drove the Camaro or the Trans-Am yesterday. They did promise to have Ron in the '69 Camaro today and Corey shoeing the '82 Trans-Am that he hurt last weekend at Ashcroft. The no-fire situation last night was simply a shorted battery that prevented them from starting the engine.

Seeing Sherrie Bodnarchuk outside her car just before they warm it up, I take the opportunity to ask whether she ever lifts, taking into consideration her wild, almost out of control, runs yesterday. The answer, delivered with a big smile by the way, was unequivocably "NO!". She did say that the track has deteriorated substantially since her last appearance here three years ago. And she isn't going to change her gameplan today.

Finally tracked down the owner of the "unidentified purple dragster" and he's Joe Polito, who went all the way to the semi-finals in King of The Hill last night before losing by a package of .004 second. Ouch! But he's still smiling and got another race to run today.

While Shawn Belechowsky took his broken blown alky Corvette home last night, another renegade showed up to take his place, as Hank Weultjes (Calgary racer) brought out his almost brand new '41 Willys junior Pro Mod to make some test passes and fill a gap in the show. The very first thing that caught my eye were the hemi heads, then I looked closer and saw they were Hot Heads (replacement aluminum heads for 392 Hemis) and an iron early hemi block. Unreal. With an 8-71 blower on top, it's a fairly stout piece that should yield some mid to low 7-second times. Built by Blackstone Race Cars of Boise, Idaho it's a nice and nasty looking hot rod.

Pitted next door is a rear-engine blown alky Pontiac Fiero or something insane like that. There's pics of it on the photo page and you've just got to check it out. Before we get back to the tower, word comes through that Corey Sekura won't be able to run the Trans-Am funny in the first round as the battery situation can't be solved in time. He will trade places with brother Ron and pilot the Camaro in the second round.

Time to head down to the starting line now for the first round of the Rocky Mountain Nostalgia Funny Cars, the Blown Renegades and the Jet Funny Car of Kevin Therres.

Here's the Blown Renegades numbers:

Closing out the round is the jet:

Highlight of the round had to be a new low e.t. for the Rocky Mountain cars, with Sherrie Bodnarchuk bouncing and dancing her way to a 4.827 at a new top speed of 151.66 mph. And seeing and especially, hearing, Hank Weultjes '41 Willys with its 392 Hemi singing beautifully was just great. Brought back a lot of memories from my early hemi days.

While heading over to the concourse in a fruitless search for some lunch, only to find what looked like a 1/4-mile long lineup at the one open concession stand, I stopped and had a nice chat with Rick Bart about the goings-on at Medicine Hat last weekend. He managed to clear up a few misconceptions that I had about their problems at Mission Raceway's Lucas Series event last month, and confirmed what I had already heard about their "lost weekend" at Medicine Hat's Top Alcohol Shootout race last week.

Starting with Mission, Rick explained that a stuck check valve attached to the barrel valve caused the engine to receive way too much fuel at part throttle, causing the engine to load up and slow down when the clutch was dropped, sending the car into instant tire shake and ultimately shearing the blower manifold studs on two consecutive runs. They did also drop a valve just to add to their woes, but the car has rebounded nicely and ran well on a mediocre surface at Medicine Hat last week.

Before I continue, I must add that their next stop is a first for them: running in the"Pro Fuel" category at IHRA's Rocky Mountain Nationals next weekend, as Ashley and fellow Albertan Greg Sereda will be appearing to fill in the numbers in that class. Even though there are two A/FD (aka: Pro Fuel) cars in the Edmonton area, neither will be appearing: Ed Verenka isn't ready to race and Don St. Arnaud was left feeling very used and abused after last year's Rocky Mountain race where he tried to run Top Fuel. But that's another story for another time. Back to the Ashley Bart saga.

As will be reported soon on SpeedZone (won't it Dean?) there were numerous problems at the Medicine Hat Shootout. It all started with a bit of miscommunication in the first round where Ashley staged last against a funny car. Let me mention right now that there was a .35 second handicap headstart given to the floppers to even out the performance disparity versus the dragsters and to keep from having the engine at "high C" too long, Bart was instructed to stage last.

The race went off fine until the two drivers met at the end of the track after exiting their cars and a verbal confrontation was initiated by the funny car driver. I'm not going to mention his name; if you were there you know who it was, but there's nothing to be gained by me throwing him under the bus and firing this up again. After a general exchange of unpleasantries the teams departed to their respective pit areas, but the aggrieved party continued to make his displeasure well known to all and sundry.

Moving on to the next round, there was another pairing betwen Ashley and the aforementioned flopper, who had run off into the sand and damaged the front of the body in his first round pass, which ultimately led to him staging the car with the body instead of the front wheels (as required by the rules). The staging dilemna only came to light when he rolled the lights, triggering the red before leaving the line, and causing a dispute that led to a re-run of the match. It just gets worse, doesn't it?

And that's where I'm going to leave the story, other than to mention that it coincides neatly (badly?) with another display of less than sportsmanlike behaviour on the same weekend down in Fallon, NV. Let's just not get so uptight and serious about all this folks, it's just racing. It's supposed to be fun, not life and death and real money. If the prize money paid to racers is really that important in the big scheme of things, then maybe you've picked the wrong hobby/sport. Just saying, mind you.

Again, thank you to Rick Bart for taking a few minutes out of his leisurely Sunday afternoon to give us some of the details of what went down at the Hat.


3:30 PM

We've just finished running the second (and final) round of the feature cars, with the Rocky Mountain funny cars leading off, followed by the renegades and finishing with the diesel big rigs. No jet funny car this round as Kevin Therres has loaded up and is on his way back to Humboldt, Saskatchewan. And with the many flooded roads on the way, including sections of the Trans-Canada highway, that's going to be no easy task. Good luck guys!

Another car that didn't run this round was the '82 Trans-Am of the Sekura brothers. They had some battery issues yesterday and couldn't fire for the second round last night. They were confident that they'd solved them this morning, but in the end were unable to field the car due to an incompatibility with their other car's starter system. So the decision was made to share the drivin duties today and Ron drove in the first round, while Corey is in the seat for this round.

Here's the Blown Renegades numbers:

And that's it for the feature cars, after the diesel trucks did their thing once more. There's still lots of sportsman and junior dragster racing to take care of, plus one extra special addition to the show that will have to be seen to be believed. Trust me, it's worth waiting for and I know I certainly am. Of course, having an 11:00 pm flight home makes it easier to hang around. Stay tuned for this one.

Highlights of this round were Cal Tebb retaking low e.t. for the weekend with an excellent 4.719 and nearly taking back the top speed, just falling half a mph short of Bodnarchuk's 1st round effort. Weultjes made another consistent shakedown pass in the Willys and Dwayne Treleaven nearly broke into the 4's with a 5.004 in his '23 T Altered. Some great runs to finish the day, but no winner was declared by the nostalgia funny car group as this was a non-points race and everyone was just running for bragging rights. And fun. Lots of that.


5:00 PM

We've just seen a face from the past prove that you don't have to be young to act young. In a very bold move, (insert your own adjective: stupid, insane, dangerous, etc.) Mr. "240" Gordie Bonin suited up (no small feat in itself) and slid into (okay, shoehorned is more accurate) a junior dragster and made a pass. This is the god's honest truth. I witnessed it with my own eyes, took heaps of photos, and will even create a special page to post them on. Stay tuned for that, but in the meantime, check out the Sunday photo page to see the shots. It was quite an experience. Forever young to be sure.....

After the Bonin escapade the final rounds of the sportsman cars ran off before a dwindling audience, that finally left feeling satisfied from their day at the drags. The spectator count today was as good or better than the Calgary Drag Racing Association expected and the results for the weekend are certain to leave them in the black. Official count for today was 1400 paid spectators and 400 for Saturday. Considering the almost complete lack of promotion and media exposure, a very respectable result.


9:00 PM

The race is over, the spectators have departed, most of the racers have loaded up and gone, the trophies and prize money have been handed out and we're sitting in the departure lounge at the airport, waiting to wing our way home late tonight. It looks like we won't be able to have everything posted tonight as I can't find an outlet nearby to plug the laptop into and the battery isn't going to last long enough to finish photoshopping the last 40 or 50 photos before I get home. And I'm certainly not staying up all night just to get it finished. So the finishing touches will have to wait until tomorrow. But tomorrow for sure as I've got to get this report wrapped before we head out to the Rocky Mountain Nationals on Thursday. Another long, actually even longer, weekend shaping up.

Before we close this piece, I've got to start handing out a series of thank yous to everyone involved in putting on this race. I was treated royally from start to finish, and felt that my presence was truly appreciated, instead of merely tolerated like at some other races and tracks.

Big thank yous to Vernon Christy (1320 Motorsport) who became the de facto event manager, Gordie Bonin for his friendship and support, Rick Francescone (Calgary Motorsport Council president) for making me feel so welcome, the announcers, Rome Awde and Jerry Wood for giving me lots of good info and even giving SpeedZone a mention on the P.A. (By the way Rome, my name is Bob, not Brian).

Also, big thanks to Joyce Brown, the tower manager and timing and tech computer operator and Al Bailey. Thanks heaps to all of you fine folks and everybody else at Race City who made this such a memorable experience.

Special thanks go out to Art McKenzie for going fishing and not getting in the way of a good race. And extra special thanks to Troy Moe and the whole gang at AHRA for giving the local association the chance to promote a real drag race, instead of the imaginary ones promoted by the A-team. And I couldn't close without mentioning my editor, Dean Murdoch of SpeedZone who was very busy at Mission Raceway's West Coast Pro Mod Association race.



That's it from Race City; site of the 23rd annual Father's Day Funny Car Classic. It's been quite a weekend, but like all great things, it's finally over.