Most Recent Update:
1/2/13 6:17 PM |
Major Events 2011 |  |
30th Annual Funny Car Fever
There were no side effects for the fans at Sacramento Raceway’s 30th Annual Funny Car Fever with plenty of action not only from the nitro plastic fantastics, but also from the top fuel dragsters and alcohol funny cars. With both nitro funny cars and top fuel dragsters headlining the show, track management used the opportunity to mix the classes to give the fans an extra treat. In round one, the cars raced within class, but in round two, it was dragster against funny. The big winner in the nitro portion of the event was Brendan Murry’s beautiful “Running Wild” Chevy-powered top fuel dragster. In round one, Murry easily dispatched Mike Fuller’s “Forever Young” dragster, and then returned to end the show with a riveting side-by-side duel against Shawn Nault’s ’70 Cuda nitro funny car. In alcohol funny car, Cory Green, driving his “Battle Born” ’01 Camaro, had the entire field playing catch up with sharp lights and times in the 6.90s. Green beat Andre Pegues in E1 with a 6.927-194.79 before unloading a 6.934 against a bewildered Ken Breneisen in the final round. In doing so, Green won his second consecutive FCF trophy. Also participating at FCF were the Chevy top fuel dragsters of Champion Speed Shop with Larry Gotelli Jr. driving, and Santa Rosa’s Birky Bunch with Mark Malde behind the wheel. Lee Jennings Jr. showed up with his Dickie Harrell “Mr. Chevrolet” tribute car and Jack Wright was there with his “Joker” funny car.
7.0 & 7.60 PRO SLAMMERS San Francisco’s Mike Henry, an individual who has had a lot to do with the development of the “Slammers” class, got his just rewards at FCF by nailing down the 7.0 title. Although he had his beloved ’81 Camaro in the ‘teens, Mike Doushgouian looked like the car to beat with his steady string of 7.0s. However, in the final, Mike D. could not get his potent Nova out of reverse and Mike H. singled for the win. In 7.60 Slammers, it was longtime West Coast Top Sportsman standout Mark Lawson who was the last one standing. He had plenty to worry about with Rick Logsdon and Rob Patten in the field. But, it was Dewey Ford who almost put Mark on the trailer. In E1, Ford drilled Lawson on the tree (a 0.09 advantage), but Dewey spun the tires down track and that allowed Mark to glide by for a win. In the final, it was all Atwater, Calif., as Mark left first on Logsdon, an advantage Rick was not able to overcome.
7.0 PRO Visalia’s Richard Phillips finally got the monkey off his back by winning his first 7.0 Pro title. Phillips drove a ’32 Bantam roadster of his own design to the winner’s circle by knocking off the number one qualifier, Dave Rosenberg, in the final round. Phillips qualified #2, then tamed the 8-car field with a best of 7.071-174.53 (in E1) while taking down Mike Troxel, Mike Cross, and Rosenberg, respectively. It was a commendable effort by Phillips because Rosenberg had qualified at 7.031, then improved to 7.025 against Kin Bates Jr. in E1. In a battle of FEDs in E2, Dave defeated Mike Cross before getting caught in Phillips’ web in the final round.
PRO GAS B/G: Winner: Kevin Riley; ’67 Cuda--0.029 8.621 147.09 C/G
D/G
E/G
F/G
RESULTS
|
 |
Event T-shirts still available in limited sizes. Email for availability. |
| The “Mike & Mike Show” At the Famous Foxhunt | |
 Mike Doushgonian has a comfortable120 point lead with one event left on the schedule—he will just need to qualify at the Governor’s Cup in September to all but wrap up the 2011 PSDCA title. |
PRO SLAMMERS Mike Doushgonian has really found his stride of late, winning his third Pro Slammer Door Car Association (PSDCA) event in a row. The points leader now has been in five straight finals going back to Funny Car Fever in April. With only one event remaining on the schedule, second place Mike Henry and his Custom Coffins-sponsored ’81 Camaro will need something special at the Governor’s Cup to overtake Doushgonian’s potent ’67 Nova. Henry, slotted into the #3 qualifying position, did not do himself any favors when Ralph Willis unceremoniously knocked him off in E1. In contrast, Doushgonian, by virtue of his number one qualifying position, received a bye into the next round. From there, Mike D. just took the ball and ran, eliminating Mark Gordon in E2 with a sweet 7.035. In the final round, he ran an unopposed 6.942 when Willis was not able to make the call. In 7.60 Slammers, it has been a yearlong duel between Atwater’s Mark Lawson and Tracy’s Rob Patten. Coming into the Famous Foxhunt, each racer had two wins under his belt with Lawson holding on to the points lead. Once again, Lawson and Patten looked like the competitors to beat when they put themselves into the first and second qualifying spots, respectively. However, Sacramento’s Karl Whisenhunt had other plans for them. In E1, Patten jumped out on Whisenhunt by 0.020 but Karl coaxed just enough horsepower out of his 604-cid Ford power plant to edge Rob in a near dead heat at 7.655 to 7.678. Subsequently, in the final, Lawson broke out with a 7.586 attempting to run down the quicker Whisenhunt. |
7.O PRO It has been a while since a FED has won a 7.0 Pro race at Sacramento Raceway. Not since Dave Rosenberg’s win at the 2010 Famous Foxhunt has a slingshot made its way back to the winner’s circle. But, this was a day for the FEDs as three out of the top four qualifiers were dragsters. Billy McDevitt led the field with a stout 7.024, but inexplicably released his bottles on the final qualifying run and was not be able to finish the race. McDevitt was followed, in order, by points leader Richard Phillips, Bob Murphy, and Mike Cross. In eliminations, the top qualifiers all advanced, setting up a showdown in E2. In that round, Mike Cross ran low of eliminations with a 7.054 over a troubled Phillips, and Murphy singled at McDevitt’s expense. In the final, Murphy taking a chance on the tree, went red by -0.051 and Cross cruised the 1320 for the automatic win. |
 Mike Cross had to beat all the tough guys to win 7.0 Pro, including the once invincible Richard Phillips and the always dangerous Bob Murphy. |
  Chaysse Trimp had quite a weekend for himself competing in both 7.0 Pro and E/G. Chaysse lost to Bob Murphy in the first round of 7.0 Pro, but made it all the way to the final of E/G. Apparently, thosethrills were not enough, so he decided to race Jeff Atamian’s jet dragster, “The Beast”—twice! Jeff Atamian was a busy guy, too. After his jet vs. altered roadster joust withTrimp, he towed over to the circle track and burned down a pair of motorhomes--the EPA would have frowned. We told the guy to move it, but he just wouldn’t listen, so…… |
|
 B/G Tarii Moorhead finally got the monkey off his back at FH. After being runner up at FCF and a semi-finalist at NNF, Tarii got to savor the “thrill of victory” at FH when Cliff Boyles broke his transmission on the burnout. Winner: Tarrii Moorhead ’65 Valiant; 8.607-156.29 |
 C/G Jim Finn had the karma going at FH, cutting masterful lights, the worst of which was an .024 against Beeman in the final. Prior to that, his leaves were: .013/.002/ and .018. Winner: Jim Finn ’74 Vega; 9.604-131.36 RU: Tim Beeman ’32 Bantam; 9.602-132.32 |
 D/G Dan Fournier won D/G despite breaking out three times in eliminations. In E1, Dan dodged a bullet with a double breakout win over Joe Coppola, survived Alden Conway’s RL in E2, and finally, prevailed over Dan Stanley’s index-busting 10.560 in E3. Winner: Dan Fournier ’48 Anglia; 10.617-123.87 RU: Rick Fitzsimmons ’37 Chevy 2 Dr ; 10.578-123.73 (BO) |
|
|
|
Nostalgia Reunion
|
|
Sacramento Raceway’s Nostalgia Reunion (formerly the WCTA/Fremont Reunion) was the place to be July 15 and 16 when it hosted Group 1 and Group 2 NHRA Heritage Series drag racers. On a perfect Northern California weekend (temperatures were only in the high 70s), the air, the track, and the vibe all combined to give the racers an ideal set of conditions for what turned out to be a thrilling and compelling drag race. With only one event left on the schedule for Group 2 racers and just two for Group 1, the Nostalgia Reunion was a pivotal race for those competitors hoping to grab a Heritage Series championship. However, many of the point leaders would find it tough going at the Nostalgia Reunion. Of the eleven Wallys up for grabs, only two of the point leaders would find their way to the winner’s circle. Moreover, none of the defending champions from last year’s event were able to defend their titles. And, with such a tense atmosphere, several of the final rounds were decided by fouls or double breakouts. |
|
 Shawn Cobari’s return to the drag strip was a successful one for the San Jose drag racer. Cobari took his ’10 Stirling car all the way to the winner’s circle at the Nostalgia Reunion. |
A/Fuel This class appears to be alive and well as ten dragsters entered the Nostalgia Reunion--a total that did not include number four in points Darrell Waters. Even without Waters, there was drama galore in the A/F class. For starters, 2010 NR A/F winner, Jirka Kaplan, was unable to break into the tough 8-car field. When Jirka left early in Q2, DQing the run, he would find himself on the bubble with track record holder Kin Bates (6.17) still to run. Kin had been having problems smoking the tires, and his final qualifying run was no different. Nevertheless, he stubbornly stayed on the throttle and just squeaked in with a tire-hazing 6.947. This is not to say all the competitors had problems negotiating the track. Bill Wayne ran a superb 6.462-213.42 to lead the pack followed closely by points leader Jerry Kumre Jr. in Dennis Murphy’s mount at 6.522-206.35. Overlooked in all this commotion was San Jose’s Shawn Cobari, who quietly ducked into the #3 qualifying spot. However, Cobari would end up making plenty of noise in eliminations. Jerry Kumre Jr. came into the Nostalgia Reunion with one point lead over Wayne. As the number one and two qualifiers, there was a good chance these two racers would meet up in the finals. However, that all went out the window when Kumre Jr. went red against John Harless (Tulsa, OK.) in |
E1. Both Bill Wayne and Shawn Cobari won their first round matches with a 6.514 and 6.544, respectively. In E2, Wayne continued his 6.5 onslaught with a comfortable win over Bobby Evans. Cobari prevailed over a troubled Harless, but his 6.985 paled in comparison to Wayne’s 6.585. In the final, Wayne took the preferred right lane. For his part, Cobari dealt with the situation superbly. He jumped out to a 0.033 lead at the start, and in a tight and riveting duel, just managed to hold off a hard charging Wayne despite making a sizeable contribution to the aluminum piston gods. With his runner up finish, Bill Wayne is the new points leader in A/F dragster. |
|
 |
 |
Cobari got the jump on Wayne (0.062-0.095) off the line and then made his best run of the event to win A/F dragster. Winner: Shawn Cobari; 6.506-189.73 |
|
Jr/Fuel The Junior Fuel class may need resuscitation as only four cars competed at the Nostalgia Reunion. These slick, high tech cars have seen their class downsized and now seem headed for extinction if something is not done to revive it. Nonetheless, with the exception of Dean Carter, the cream of the class, including number two in points Bud Hammer and number three Fred Notzka, were on hand to duke it out. Hammer, the energetic septuagenarian from Oxnard, led qualifying with a perky 7.029, followed by Notzka at 7.065, and Sebastopol’s Bob Lander at 7.105. Lurking close by was the always tough Don Enriquez at 7.212. In eliminations, Hammer lost a little of his mojo, but still had enough game to win the race. In E1, he received a free pass to the final when Enriquez went red, and then beat a troubled Notzka in the final round |
 Bud Hammer duplicated his 2009 triumph at Sacramento Raceway with a Nostalgia Reunion Wally. |
 Paul “Pete” Peterson did something no one else has done in 2011--he beat Richard Phillips (far side). |
7.0 Pro It has been quite a year for Visalia’s Richard Phillips in 7.0 Pro. Undefeated at Sacramento Raceway in 2011 (he won both Funny Car Fever and Nitro Night of Fire), the points leader looked poised to win another event after he qualified #1 at 7.015. But, this is 7.0 Pro and no victory comes easily in this class. Rick High, only two points behind Phillips in the standings, made the long tow from Lake Havasu City, Az, in an effort to overtake Richard. Also in the house was Trabuco Canyon’s Paul Peterson, the ex-CIFCA ace, and no stranger to the winner’s circle. Eliminations played out with Phillips and Peterson trading blows every round in their attempt to gain the upper hand. Paul ran quicker in E1 (7.041-7.221), but Richard one-upped him in E2 (7.075-7.089), only to have Peterson return the favor in the semis (7.036-7.060). With the final looming, the performance and psychological edge seemed to favor Phillips. Peterson had to be thinking about last year’s red light against Dan Maciel in that final. But, for whatever reason, it was the steady and steely Richard Phillips, not Peterson, who fouled by a ton and tossed away a brilliant 7.023 that probably would have been enough for a win. |
Nostalgia Eliminator 1 As always with the nostalgia eliminators, the racing was tight and intense. In NE1, Dale Taros improved from his runner-up finish last year to grab the Wally this year. With the top four qualifiers all bunched together between Bruce McDowell’s perfect run and 2009 winner Tony Wimer at 7.606, the outcome should have been constantly in doubt. But, Taros was not seriously challenged all evening with competitors either fouling out or not showing up. Number one qualifier McDowell was eliminated by 2010 Nostalgia Reunion champion Kevin Sarginson, and number two qualifier Frank Miller decided to test his engine’s outer limits with a 7.442 blast against Dan Whiteman in E2. Speaking of Whiteman, he probably should have been in the final against Taros, but wasted a fine 7.609 in the semis against Don Taros with a red light. With brother Don a no-show in the final, Dale Taros made a run worthy of a champion with an edgy 7.599-160.76 pass. NE 1 Winner: Dale Taros; 7.599-160.76 (BO)
|
|
 Danny See beat Dick Krieger, Rick Nordness, and Jay Huckleberry to win the NE2 Wally. |
Nostalgia Eliminator 2 There were similar gratuities for Danny See in NE2. In E1 and E2, both Dick Krieger and Rick Nordness fouled out. But, Danny had to show his worth in the next round when he was paired against Todd Maas. See left on Maas with a wicked 0.026 RT and his 8.653 was enough to close out Todd by 0.042 seconds. In the final, See cast his spell over his antagonists once again with his victim being the usually steady Jay Huckleberry who left before the tree was activated. Winner: Danny See; 8.574-151.33(BO) Runner Up: Jay Huckleberry; 0.000-0.000 (F) #1 Qualifier: Bud Wanbaugh; 8.600-150.27 |
| Nostalgia Eliminator 3 In NE3, the women triumphed once again. Last year, it was Karen Gillispie who hoisted the Wally and this year that honor went to Lindsey Lister. Lindsey was pitted against William Kennedy in the final, the same competitor who had faced off against Karen in 2010. And, like last year, it was Kennedy on the losing end of the deal, breaking out once again in his attempt to run down Lister. Winner: Lindsey Lister; 9.592-134.88 (BO) Runner Up: William Kennedy; 9.547-137.35 (BO) #1 Qualifier: Tim Beeman ; 9.600-131.88 |
 |
Gassers and Hot Rod The gasser guys must have thought the slogan of the day was “stand on the gas” because in three out of the five finals, either both racers broke out or fouled and broke out. Only Al White and Rafael Quiroga in A/G and Steve Tremper and Ken Parks in HR ran finals devoid of any sanctions. In A/G, Chris Beanes appeared to be the one to beat, but he lost a thriller to Quiroga in E2 ( 7.634-7.645) and defending champion Terry Newton went out to White in the same round. In B/G, it was Eric Bush strutting his stuff with some excellent RTs none of which was slower than a 0.025. Then, inexplicably, in the final, he got antsy and left early (-.202), wasting a fine 8.631 against John Saliani. C/G and D/G saw identical scenarios where the competitor who left first won the race. In D/G, Larry Cordone was so determined to catch Josh Conrad that he ran 10.529 despite hitting the brakes in an attempt not to break out. |
|
 Al White won A/G, literally, all by himself. With the exception of a driver for the tow vehicle, he made up the team. Al even recruited the HS photographer to back him up. A/G Winner: Al White; 7.744-179.70 Runner Up: Rafael Quiroga; 7.711-173.00 #1 Qualifier: Chris Beanes; 7.612-177.21 |
 John Saliani had to go a whooping five rounds before he would claim his second NR Wally in three years.B/G Winner: John Saliani; 8.549-158.07(BO) Runner Up: Eric Bush; 8.631-156.60(F) #1 Qualifier: Eric Bush; 8.603-157.54 |
| C/G Winner: Roy Castagnetto; 9.593-132.53 (BO) Runner Up: Scott Morgan; 9.572-137.58 (BO) #1 Qualifier: Joseph Westervelt; 9.602-138.52 D/G Winner: Josh Conrad; 10.584-122.73 (BO) Runner Up: Larry Cordero; 10.529-114.79 (BO) #1 Qualifier: Jason Evans; 10.613-124.5 |
 Steve Tremper also had to go five rounds in order to win Hot Rod, including a super close .016 win over Chaysse Trimp in E3. HR Winner: Steve Tremper; 10.239-128.17 (on 10.23) Runner Up: Ken Parks; 11.722-98.05 (on 11.69) |
 Mike Leonard, far side, was the cream of the crop for the AA/Gs—here pictured against Mark Gordon. |
AA/Gas Exhibition Even though this 8-car field included “hitters” like Woods-Moore and Turlock’s Rich Roberts, this was simply “The Mike Leonard Show.” Leonard had no difficulty negotiating either lane, running consistent 6.6s, and was never seriously challenged. Worthy of mention was the appearance of Mark Gordon driving a ’67 Mustang previously campaigned by Cecil Matthews. Gordon looked very comfortable in the car and recorded a best of 6.984 in an E1 win over Ralph Willis.
Winner: Mike Leonard; 6.705-198.80 |
|
|
     
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  |
|
Dale Taros strengthened his first place position by going two rounds further than second place
Jim Murphy and WW II Racing clawed their way back into the Heritage Series championship hunt with a determined and deserving win at the 42th Annual Governor’s Cup contested at Sacramento Raceway Park. Murphy’s hard working team wasted little time after setting up their pit, making two runs during the test-n-tune session prior to the Friday qualifying sessions. Jim’s early shut off 6.020-206.12 on the second run would be a precursor of things to come. On an unseasonably cool night for the Sacramento Valley in September, seven teams searched for that magic that would propel one of them to the top of the ladder. Testing turned out to be a fortuitous decision for the WWII Racing team as Jim coaxed a fine 5.908-237.31 out of his ’09 Thornhill racer to lead all qualifiers. Murphy was closely followed by points leader Brett Harris at 5.922 and a resurgent Terry Cox at 5.988. In addition, with the eight car field short by one competitor, that also meant that Murphy would get a gratuitous pass into E2 with a single run. Qualifiers • Jim Murphy: 5.908-237.31
Coming into The Governor’s Cup, the 2011 championship chase looked to be down to just two teams—Brett Harris driving “Nitro Thunder” from Keysville, Utah, and Rick White and Chuck Neal from San Diego. White trailed Harris by 20 points (one round of racing), but Rick had been to the last four Governor’s Cup finals, winning in 2009. Harris, on the other hand, had not won a Governor’s Cup since 2004. If the “blue car” performed like it had in the past, the “red car” could find itself trailing White-Neal going into the final event at Famoso Raceway. However, Rick never got untracked in qualifying and ended up the seventh and last qualifier. The bigger ramification of this slip up was that it set up a colossal showdown between the two contenders in round one. In that race, White left first (.078 to .120), but this drag race was all Harris. Brett maneuvered down the Sacramento Raceway asphalt with a masterful brake-grabbing wild ride, setting low e.t. in the process with a 5.785.
Meanwhile, Murphy was making a little bit of noise of his own, running a solo 5.846 in E1 just to let the Utah posse know that he would not be going away peaceably. In round two, Murphy dispatched Mike McLennan with a fine 5.948, sending Jim back to a Governor’s Cup final for the first time since 2008. Overlooked in this commotion was the Dale Adams-tuned “Cheetah IV” driven by Terry Cox. Since its debut in 2008, the Sacramento based team has struggled to find the consistency needed to be a winner in nostalgia top fuel dragster. But, the Wilson-Cox-Ninnis team may have turned the corner with its impressive performance at the Governor’s Cup. In E1, Cox dominated the brand new, and yet unpainted, “Nitro Fever” car with a 5.984-252.02. Then, in E2, the big cat roared once again with a magnificent 5.957-251.54 run to upset Brett Harris who was seemingly on his way to another win but had to lift at the top end and slowed to 5.993-195.50. The final was a tightly fought race with Murphy winning by .018 (5.982-6.008) over the hard charging Cox. With his win, Jim moved past White into second place. Harris, with 291 points, is still in the driver’s seat, and possibly on the verge of winning his second Heritage Series championship. However, as Murphy (247 pts.) and White (246 pts.) are still within striking distance of Harris, the last race at the California Hot Rod Reunion in October should make for a compelling and exciting finale to the season.
In other classes, the West Coast Pro Gas Association was out in full force with 70 cars entered in five divisions. This was sportsman drag racing at its best and the results showed it with two tense and tight double breakout finals. In F/G, number one qualifier Randi Rodoni, not only broke out, but also went -.026 under the index trying to run down a quicker leaving Chuck Adams who also dipped under 12.60. The C/G final featured #5 Kent Coomes against #11 Greg Bagwell, and Greg lost to Kent by virtue of his 9.565 being slightly quicker than his opponent’s 9.577.
The Pro Slammer Door Car Association (PSDCA) completed their season crowning new champions in both 7.0 Slammer and 7.60 Slammer. San Martin’s Mike Doushgounian won the title in 7.0 Slammer but saw his streak of five consecutive final round appearances stopped by Mike Henry Jr. In a classic nitrous vs. supercharged confrontation in E1, Henry out muscled Doushgounian’s blown ’67 Nova with a 7.061 to a losing 7.092. In the final round, Henry had a less than spunky start with a .216 r.t., but recovered nicely to run down a laboring Ken Christiansen Jr. for the win with a 7.18-181.55 time slip. Tony Jurado won 7.60 Slammer, becoming the fifth different driver to win a race this year. Jurado, the #5 qualifier, beat Fox Hunt winner Karl Whisenhunt in E1, got a single in E2, and then eased into the winner’s circle when Bret Pichler went red in the final.
In 7.0 Pro, a familiar face returned to the winner’s circle. Although Richard Phillips had not won at Sacramento since Nitro Night of Fire in May, the Visalia resident made it three-out-of-five at his home track this year. In addition, he had to go through some tough hombres to get the win. In E1, Phillips got the jump on Bob Murphy, who in full pursuit, broke out with a 6.962. In the next round, Lake Havasu City’s Rick High ran a near perfect 7.001 but left -.005 early to let Phillips off the hook. After a solo in the semis, Richard worked his way past a quick leaving Chaysse Trimp to trip the beams first with a 7.041-177.24 pass.
> |
