Friday's Report
The view from the cheapest seat - Day One
We arrived here with some pre-conceived notions of what to expect on Friday morning, the first day of the Northwest Nationals. I was alternately surprised in a pleasant way, dismayed, and disheartened at other times. The access roads to the facility hadn't changed, but the organization and number of people directing traffic, giving directions and handling requests were more than adequate to deal with the expected crowds over the weekend.
We arrived at the will call trailer, were promptly given our media credentials and in a few minutes found ourselves parking in a reserved lot next to the timing tower and a very short walk to the media centre which was located almost directly behind the starting line. Frankly, we couldn't ask for more.
The conditions inside the media trailers were the same as in past years, but quite adequate for our purposes and the usual amenities were found in abudance. All except for a photovest, but after I recovered from the disappointment of that small setback, it was time for the laptop computer to cough, splutter and die in a blaze of blue and black screens. Hmm, what could go wrong now? Nothing, apparently, except being denied access to anywhere near the head of the staging lanes and other areas of interest.
Putting all that aside and focusing on the positives we can see at Pacific Raceways was the only course of action and it didn't take long to notice the very impressive and still fairly new metal grandstands on the tower side of the track. While the pit side stands are still well past their useful lifespan, the new stands on the tower side are definitely high, wide and handsome. Quite a step up from the seriously unsafe structures of just five years ago.
Before we move on to other topics, it's got to be noted that the stands spent much of the day in a mostly unoccupied condition, with only serious numbers of spectators inhabiting them during the pro sessions in the mid and late afternoon. Even then there were a lot more empty seats that we've witnessed on Friday at previous editions of this event. Reasons for such a situation are many: the economy, lack of advertising, shift of event date(s), and a generally low level of drag racing interest in the area.
While I'm accustomed to seeing virtually no advertising for this race on the north side of the border any longer, I'm wondering just how much pr and marketing money was expended to let potential spectators know that the race was on and two weeks earlier than it's traditional late July date. When you build up an event over a span of two decades plus, then move it to a different date, the word has to be spread far, wide and often to ensure the audience is aware of the change.
The race track was still the same tired stretch of concrete and asphalt that's been beat on for so many years, and this year it had the added burden of dealing with extremely hot conditions. Surface temperatures on the pavement well in excess off 130 F were recorded this afternoon and tomorrow's forecast is only marginally better. Compounding the degrees (pun only slightly intended) of difficulty for the racers were the atmospheric conditions, with air temps in the high 80's and adjusted altitude readings well above 3000 ft. None of these conditions being very conducive to making horsepower and applying it to the track.
Despite all that, some standout performances were recorded in the Comp and Top Alcohol categories, but the good news stopped before reaching the fuel classes, for the most part. The Pro Stock cars dealt with the conditions decently but promised much better numbers in the "evening" session. And that brings up a point that must have been a bit of a sore spot for many spectators, especially later arriving ones as the traditional Friday evening qualifying session which almost always finished with the fuel cars under the lights, turned into a late afternoon affair instead.
The revamped schedule saw the first session of the Pro cars run between 2:00 and 3:30, followed by the second qualifier for the alcohol cars, then almost straight back into the pros, starting again at 4:30 and finishing, or at least scheduled to, at 6:00. With sunset still happening around 9pm, and not a cloud in the sky, the chance to see some header flames this year was absolutely nil. That must have been a major disappointment to some of the serious nitro junkies in the audience.
Only one wrinkle got in the way of the revamped schedule with a 45-minute delay to some timing and/or staging light "issues" around noon and that postponed the second session of Comp qualifying until the end of the day. For one unfortunate North Vancouver competitor it would have been better to be cancelled entirely, as Howie Stevens got airborne in his almost brand-new Mustang C/A, rolled it, hit the guardwall (nearly taking out his opponent Bernie Plourd) and generally messed up the car badly.
Thankfully, Howie emerged from the wreckage with nothing more than a badly bruised wallet. And to show how fickle the gods of drag racing can be, his fellow Vancouverite and close friend, Rob Harrison, came out later in the session and took over the top qualifying spot by a bunch at .65-second under the index. The fickle finger of fate syndrome at work to be sure.
When the first session of qualifying started just after 1pm, the track temperature was nudging 120 F and the corrected altitude was reading nearly 3000 feet. With an air temp of almost 90 F, the only plus on the atmospheric ledger was a relatively low 35% humidity reading. Not the best conditions for the blown alcohol cars and definitely not great for the injected nitro dragsters.
Proving the progrnosticators wrong, the alky flopper gang turned on the scoreboard with a vengeance, putting up nine consecutive 5-second times before the second to last pair lit the tires. Following that slight hiccup, the final pair of the session, both second generation racers, Sean O'Bannon and John Lombardo Jr., set the standard with the two quickest laps of the round at 5.72 and 5.68, respectively. Even though there were only 13 cars in the pits, the qualifying list looked pretty good as it neared the top.
With only a dozen cars on the grounds, the Top Alky dragsters were going to be hard-pressed to impress the fans, but the top nine cars clocked 5.60 or better with a blown and injected car at the top of the heap, both in the low 5.30's at around 270 mph. For the record: Chris Demke at 5.32 and 269 mph and Mark Niver's "Billet Bullet" second with a 5.34 at 270. Only two of the 12 cars smoked the tires (both A/Fuelers) and one car, Bill Edwards Jr., made a planned early shutoff. (More on his situation in our pit notes).
With time lost due to the timing system issues earlier, the scheduled comp and super stock sessions were shuffled to the bottom of the deck and the Pro Stocks came out at their appointed time of 2:00 pm. By this point, the sun was doing its worst and the walking wounded of sunburnt, and with the beer gardens going full blast, the just plain burnt were doing the drag zombie dance all over the facility. So many fell victim to the sun and/or beer that the grandstands just didn't fill when the "door stars" came out to entertain.
Only 17 pros came out, but the top 16 clocked in at 6.77 or better, bunched in a relatively tight group separated from bottom to top by barely a tenth of a second. Still, far better performances were expected in the second round, in the late afternoon.
A quick lap or two by the asphalt zamboni and a few more p.a. advertisements and everyone settled in for the first act of the main event as the (blown) fuel cars took center stage. But it only took one actor to trip and spill a bucket of oil on the top end to bring everything to a quick halt. First out of the lanes was Grant Downing, running solo on his first pass of the season, and losing the engine well before the finish line, managing to oil down a substantial amount of real estate in the braking area.
Twenty minutes later the cleanup crew departed the stage and the next pair came out with mediocre results, but thankfully leaving no parts or fluids on the track and this pattern continued until Tim Wilkerson finally broke the string five pairs later with a decent 4.32 e.t. The last three pairs of the round performed to mostly mixed reviews, with only Ashley Force Hood outdoing the "Wilk" at 4.27 - 281.30. To put it all in perspective, hers was the only run in the 4.2's and the only one over 280 mph.
In fairness to the nitro floppers, the conditions were at nearly the zenith of difficulty with the track temp over 130 degrees and the altitude reading nearly 3100 feet. Far from the worst these cars experience on a regular basis, but combined with a tired, old track, not at all conducive to great performances.
Last up for this fuel session were the long skinny cars, 13 of them compared to the 15 fuel coupes that made a pass. To illustrate how far down the scale of greatness this round of qualifying could be ranked, it took until the final pair to see a 3-second lap, and then only barely as Tony Schumacher carded a 3.97 at 299.93 mph. A total of one 3-second pass, no 300 mph speeds, and a bevy of "smoked tires" "dropped cylinders" "pedalled it" could have described virtually every attempt to conquer the tricky traction conditions.
With barely a moment to relax, it was time to get right back into Top Alcohol as the second session began as soon as the tire and piston smoke from the Top Fuel cars had cleared. First up again were the funny cars and their results were mostly hit and miss with only a few cars improving on their earlier efforts. Sean Bellemeur stepped up nearly a tenth and a half, and moved up four spots, from #10 to the six spot on the ladder. Larry Miner, Sean O'Bannon, and Steve Gasparelli both nudged their numbers a couple of hundredths lower, and both picking up a spot or two on the provisional list.
Saving the best for last, Brian Hough made a serious move forward, picking up two tenths from his early shutoff in the first session, moving into the top spot with a 5.67 at nearly 253 mph. That had to be a good omen for the alky and nitro dragsters as they came out of the wings to put on their second act. The first five cars kept up the beat as they pasted a group of 5.30 and 5.40 laps on the board before the final pair smoked the tires and broke.
Best performances of the alky diggers were Division Six rivals Shawn Cowie and Joey Severance running side-by-side 5.30's with Cowie jumping into the #2 spot (behind only Chris Demke) with a great 5.33 - 267 to overshadow Joey's excellent 5.38 - 264 effort. On the down side, while there were some great passes, only seven cars came out to take a chance on the track. 12 cars in the pits is bad enough, but only 7 in the staging lanes is even worse.
After that, the Pro Stock cars came out for their second installment, in improving conditions as the sun sank lower in the sky dipping behind some of the tall evergreens surrounding the track, and the track temperature extremes started to abate. Predictions of serious improvements throughout the field were bandied about and they did come to fruition for the most part, as many competitors picked up roughly half a tenth of a second in e.t.
However, the number of broken (ie., early shutoff) runs increased from only one in the early session to four this time around as a number of the racers tried to extract a little more than the track was willing to allow them to take. No time for an intermission after the Pro cars as the fuelers were stamping around in the lanes more than ready to take their acts down the track.
As per the program, the long skinny cars came out first, with the track temp all the way down to 118 F, but air temp readings still above 90 F and corrected altitude readings over 3100 feet. Conditions weren't great but the nitro boys stepped up almost en masse, with two of the first three pairings producing 3-second times, until they really hit their groove with the last five e.t.'s being initiated with a three. Taking all the bows for the best time of the round, and only 3.8 clocking so far, was Doug Kalitta, also holder of top speed at over 313 mph.
The funny cars kept up the beat with only a couple of early shutoff runs and every car making a 4-second pass. In a dramatic conclusion to the performance, defending world champion Robert Hight broke into the teens with the quickest of the day, 4.19 at a top speed of 291.57 mph. Hardest to believe though is that only one car managed to go over 290 mph after two qualifying sessions. It was definitely not the best of days for the floppers.
With all the professional cars finished at 6:00 pm, there was plenty of time left for the missed qualifiers for comp and super stock to be made up. But as in all things planned by man, anything and everything can go wrong. And wrong they went in the first pair of the Comp session, as Howie Stevens crashed and nearly took out Bernie Plourd in the other lane in a dramatic crash.
We were unable to track him after the incident and his pitmate, Rob Harrison, told us it "just suddenly took off and changed lanes with no warning". While Howie was fine physically, other than a little bruised and sore, the new car has definitely had the "shiny" worn off it big-time. No word on just how bad it is at this point, or when he'll be back in competition. Let's certainly hope it's not the last we see of this car and driver.
After the excitement of the Stevens crash, the balance of the comp round went without any further drama, but was highlighted by an even quicker top qualifying pass by Harrison, as "Igor" blasted out a 7.67 at over 175 mph. That is really moving for a six-cylinder fuel-injected gasoline-burning doorslammer.
Summing up the first day of the Norhwest Nationals, we were alternately impressed and depressed. There were some great performances and good side-by-side runs, but for every high point there was an equal low point, led by the Stevens crash. Following that nadir, the small fields, the small-ish spectator count, the general lack of buzz in the pits surrounding the event all combined to bring down the general mood of this observer.
While I'm sure the second day of the nationals will be an improvement in almost every area, the odds for a "race to remember" have got to be very high. Anyone wanna bet? What, no takers?
FRIDAY PIT NOTES:
Early in our first round of the pits we wandered into the Bill Edwards (Sr. & Jr.) compound and were impressed by a collage of pictures and captions from the "55 Years and Counting" that they've been racing. More than half a century of dragster racing, almost as long as the (organized) sport of drag racing has been in existence. And for a history buff of Northwest drag racing, it was quite a trip down memory lane.
The team's present isn't quite as glamorous though as the financial reality of trying to run a Top Alcohol Dragster in 2010 is weighing heavily on the Edwards clan. While they can't really afford to do it anymore, they soldier on keeping up a family tradition and racing and working together as only they know how to do.
Bill Sr. admitted that they really don't belong here this weekend, as they've got seven pistons and one ashtray in the engine and can't safely run the car past the 300 or 400 foot mark without risking more damage to the car. "We've been having a problem getting the wheelspeed up to keep the shake away" admitted Bill Sr. And that shake caused some serious damage at the recent Woodburn Lucas series event, breaking the rear end and hurting the bottom end of the rotating assembly.
Their plan is to make one "squirt" today, then rest the car until the first round of eliminations on Saturday afternoon. Even if the car is leading early, Bill Jr. will shut off before half track, saving parts for their next race in Spokane at the end of the month.
"After we change the piston rings, we'll re-gap the plugs and change the oil too." While the aforementioned quote is somewhat fictional, Top Alcohol Funny Car John Evanchuk did admit that it had been a very long time since they'd changed the rings in their engine. How long? "oh, about sixty or seventy passes. Since the middle of last season. I think..." he continued.
Confirming the need to change the rings, tuning consultant Bill Moore added "When we warmed it up after the first session today, the leakdown on two cylinders was pretty bad. No, it doesn't get any better when it's warm either." Despite two good laps today, at 5.76 and 5.78, the consensus is that the sub-250 mph speeds indicate it's past time to change the rings and give the engine a thorough going-over.
The impetus, other than to be ready for eliminations starting tomorrow, is for the match against Brian Hough during the final qualifying session tomorrow morning. That will be the final round of the rained-out Mission Raceway Lucas series event from May. While John stated, "We need more horsepower to take on Hough", I'm sure that Bill Moore will mute John's enthusiasm somewhat and put in a sensible tuneup and instruct John to just run his race and let the chips fall where they may. Good luck to the entire "Red Wolf" funny car team tomorrow.
We bumped into Grant Downing while he had a spare moment in his pit area before the first qualifying session and got to ask a couple of questions. He related that this appearance in Seattle was his first since the AAA Finals at Pomona last November. With very little budget to allow the "Silver Fern" to compete on the NHRA circuit, he has to carefully choose his race dates.
"If we don't do anything stupid or bad to the engine here we'll be at Sonoma next weekend" Grant said. He also expressed the wish to make all four qualifying sessions to get some valuable seat time and test the changes he's made to the car since last season. The veteran chassis builder (Parallax Race Cars) hopes to still be smiling come Sunday afternoon.
Update: The following description summed up his first attempt of the season (courtesy of Drag Race Central): Downing's car was a little soft off the line and then the engine goes way sour. He continues to flog it down track and it finally gives up near the 1000 foot lights.... and we are down for oil. Looks like a Big Bagger to boot.
Footnote: Downing doesn't appear for the second session and with only 16 cars having made a lap, he's still in the field. However, there is a 17th car in the pits and Grant's position could be in jeopardy.
Had a short visit with Californian Larry Miersch and found out the connection between him and Kyle Rizzoli. Larry's been running for a few years now and has moved up the ranks to contender status. He purchased a second car as part of a package deal and got together with Jim (Kyle's father) Rizzoli (long-time alcohol dragster racer) and put the second car together for Kyle to drive.
So far it's working out well with Kyle, who's been licensed for a few years and is thankful for the chance to get some laps in an A/Fuel dragster. For Miersch's part he's interested in showcasing the car for a possible sale, but it's a win-win for both parties.
And they ran well, not great, but well with a 5.51 by Kyle in the first session, at a big 266 mph and a 5.60 at 251 mph by Larry. They didn't appear in the later round, preferring to save parts and fuel with the short (read: very short) field in Top Alcohol Dragster.
That's it from Pacific Raceways for the first day of qualifying from the NHRA Northwest Nationals