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The latest update as of February 25, 2024


NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series - Division 7

NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series - Division 7 doubleheader and West Regional

We've got a bit of a bonus to post, as our Arizona correspondent and photographic ace, Bob Snyder made the short drive to Firebird Motorsports Park (aka: Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park) for the weekend's first West Region event of the 2024 season. He captured all the alcohol eliminations action, which we are proud to present below. Captions to follow on Tuesday.

Top Alcohol Dragster - Round ONE eliminations

After a day of testing and a full day of qualifying, the 10 dragsters entered in the event were whittled down to the top eight for eliminations. While the bump spot wasn't super stout, at 5.546 (Casey Grisel), the seven cars above him clocked in at 5.388 or better. Leading the way, as he so often does, was Canada's Shawn Cowie, with an awesome 5.181 - 279.96, numbers that held up for low e.t. and top speed of the meet. An interesting sidenote was the parity of the field, with four A/FD's and an equal number of blown alky cars qualified.

Chris Demke (near lane) vs 
Joey Severance (far lane) --- Taylor Vetter (near lane) vs 
Eric Chesleigh (far lane)

(LEFT) The first pair out of the lanes featured a pair of blown cars, with former world champion (2014), Chris Demke in the Jerry Maddern car (near lane) facing four-time champion Joey Severance in the far lane. It was all over very quickly as Demke went up in smoke as soon as he dropped the clutch. Meanwhile, Severance sped down track to his quickest run of the weekend, a 5.314 - 270.27 to advance into the semifinals.

(RIGHT) Up next were a pair of Red Line Oil backed cars, with the injected nitro burner of Eric Chesleigh in the far lane, and the blown alcohol car of Taylor Vetter in the near lane. The picture shows Chesleigh leaving first, but that was due to a major (-.192) redlight. Despite the automatic win, Vetter laid down a very good 5.269-276.35 winning time, crossing the finish line ahead of Chesleigh's losing 5.403 - 264.70 effort.

Johnny Ahten (near lane) vs 
Madison Payne (far lane) --- Casey Grisel (near lane) vs 
Shawn Cowie (far lane)

(LEFT) It was all-nitro matchup next, with Johnny Ahten (near lane) facing Madison Payne (far lane) in the Duane Shields-owned "Muscle Milk" car. There was no supsense when the ambers flashed as Payne roasted the hides instantly, and coasted to an 18-second e.t. Taking full advantage of her plight was Ahten, as he put down his best run of the event, with a solid 5.329 - 270.16 flashing up on the scoreboard.

(RIGHT) The round closed with the top qualifier facing the #8 qualifier. In the near lane it was Casey Grisel in the Jerry Darien-owned and tuned A/fueler, against the always hard running Shawn Cowie in the far lane. The second red light of the round came up on Grisel's side of the tree, wasting his best run of the event, a 5.414 - 270.97. Despite the starting line disadvantage, due to Grisel's redlight, Cowie passed him before half track and motored on to a best of the round 5.208 278.35 to move into the semifinal. Cowie's run also gave him lane choice over arch-rival Joey Severance, while Taylor Vetter earned her choice over Johhny Ahten.


Top Alcohol Funny Car - Round ONE eliminations

With just six cars in the pits, it became an "all-run" affair. But it wasn't a weak field, with the racers closely bunched between low qualifier Madison Gordon leading the way with a 5.433 - 268.76, and at the bottom. Ray Martin with a competitive 5.564 - 259.21 pass. It obviously didn't very long for the third generation Gordon drive, following in the footsteps of father Doug and grandfather Mike, to show that the "BETA Cycles" team hadn't lost any performance in the transition.

Annie Whiteley (near lane) vs 
Will Martin (far lane) --- Madison Payne (near lane) vs 
Ray Martin (far lane)

(LEFT) The first pair had veteran Annie Whiteley (near lane), facing relative newcomer Will Martin, in the far lane. There was less than a tenth of a second gap in their qualifying times, with Whiteley holding lane choice, but Martin took a big early lead with a serious .067 to .148 holeshot. If Martin had been able to match his qualifying e.t. (5.552), it would have been a near photo finish, but he slowed slightly to a 5.604 - 262.49, while Whiteley lit up the scoreboard with a stronger 5.466 - 265.53 winning time.

(RIGHT) In the next match, the #1 and #6 qualifiers met, and it was all over on the starting line, as Ray Martin (far lane) redlighted away a decent 5.734 - 247.93 effort, making Madison Gordon's (near lane) much better 5.496 - 267.80 the winning numbers. With the win, Gordon earned the bye run in the semifinal and an almost automatic final round berth in her debut performance.

Brian Hough (near lane) vs 
Hunter Jones (far lane)

The first round of eliminations closed with Brian Hough (near lane), the #3 qualifier, improving on his very good 5.491 qualifying pass, recording a 5.481 - 264.96 to take a very close win over young Hunter Jones (far lane). Jones launched first by .001 second, then made his best run of the weekend, stopping the clocks with a 5.513 - 262.64 in a less than car length loss against the perennial national contender.


Top Alcohol Dragster - Round TWO eliminations

Taylor Vetter (near lane) vs 
Johnny Ahten (far lane) --- Joey Severance (near lane) vs 
Shawn Cowie (far lane)

(LEFT) Coming into the round with lane choice, Taylor Vetter (near lane) left the starting line a few hundredths in front of the A/FD of Johnny Ahten, (far lane) and held the lead over the cylinder dropping fueler, before she lost traction and slowed to a losing 5.998 - 184.17 time. Ahten struggled but took the lead before the 1000' mark, and crossed the finish line with a winning 5.562 - 254.09 clocking. It was good enough to advance to the final, but doubtful that it would be good enough for lane choice.

(RIGHT) The other blown alky cars met for what must be the umpteenth time over the nearly two decades that they have battled for supremacy on the west coast. As can clearly be seen in the photo, Joey Severance (near lane) got off the line by a solid margin, .022 to .095, before shaking the tires hard from the 60' mark until he shut off to a 7.751 - 108.59. Taking full advantage of his plight was Shawn Cowie (far lane), who blasted out another 5.2 pass, with a 5.270 - 276.58 lighting up the scoreboard. The e.t. was more than good enough to take lane choice over Johnny Ahten in the final round.


Top Alcohol Funny Car - Round TWO eliminations


Annie Whiteley (near lane) vs 
Brian Hough (far lane) --- Madison Gordon

(LEFT) Despite holding lane choice, Annie Whiteley (near lane) gave up the advantage with a late launch (.107 to Brian Hough's .036 reaction time). Whiteley tried hard, staying in the 5.40's as she turned a great 5.480 - 267.06. However, Brian Hough (far lane) got to the finish line first with a quicker reaction time and quicker e.t., as his 5.475 - 265.85 turned on the win light.

(RIGHT) With a free pass to the final, it was test time for the Gordon gang, and young Maddi made the best of it, nearly matching her qualifying e.t. and setting a new top speed of the meet with a 5.434 - 269.56 timeslip. That earned her lane choice over Brian Hough for the final round.


Top Alcohol Dragster - Final Round


Shawn Cowie --- Shawn Cowie (near lane) vs 
Johnny Ahten (far lane)

(LEFT) Laying down another of his patented "High C" burnouts, Shawn Cowie prepped for the final after running roughshod through the field throughout qualifying and in the first two rounds of eliminations. He set low e.t. of the meet in qualifying at 5.181 - 279.96 and stayed in the low 5.20's during eliminations.

(RIGHT) Facing Cowie was the darkhorse entry of Johnny Ahten (far lane), who squeezed into the field in the final qualifying session with a solid 5.388 pass.

Scoreboards

The odds changed quickly when the lights flashed, as Cowie chattered the tires early, pedalled, got out of shape and took out the finish line timing blocks in a vain attempt to catch the fleeing Ahten. As you can see in the photo, it was a decisive victory for L.A.-based A/Fuel team, taking out last year's #3 car in the category.


Top Alcohol Funny Car - Final Round


Madison Gordon --- Madison Gordon (near lane) vs 
Brian Hough (far lane)

(LEFT) Burning out before the final round in her first race in the Gordon family's BETA Cycles entry, young Madison Gordon was pumped and ready. Besides setting low e.t. and top speed of the meet, she also held lane choice.

(RIGHT) Both cars left together, with Gordon (near lane) leaving first by just .001 second ahead of Brian Hough. But the lead evaporated before the 60' clocks, as Hough took a half car length lead to half track before Gordon closed the gap as they ran side-by-side to the finish line.

Scoreboards

The scoreboards show the result, with Hough taking the win light by a margin of just seven thousandths of a second, in a very close finish. Despite the loss, it appears that the Gordon car is as competitive as ever, and young Madison (Maddi) is well on her way to a great career in the alky Funny Car ranks.