SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS, Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield, June 9, 2012
Dale VanGundy lights up the night in Quarter Pounder
Last Saturday night drivers on California Highway 99 may have thought UFOs were landing north of Bakersfield as they witnessed bright lights high above the nut and citrus groves. What they were really seeing was Saturday Night Nitro with West Coast Hot Rods (WCHRA) at the Famoso drag strip. The concept of racing nitro cars at the track after sunset was tried last year but met with a fierce storm covering the track with lightning and rain. This year the weather was perfect and Saturday Night Nitro was a great success. The only lick that Mother Nature got in this year was a fire along the side of the northbound I-5 near Castaic on Friday which closed the freeway for seven hours making the drive from the Los Angeles area to Famoso a challenge.
Racing started at Famoso Friday night June 8, 2012 with street legal drags and test and tune. The test and tune allowed many of the teams racing on Saturday to get their cars ready. Both the hot rods and the nitro-burning funny cars ran on Friday night. Racing on Saturday started at 12:00 noon when more than 100 racers from West Coast Hot Rods filled the staging lanes. Ten classes ran through the qualifying rounds until about 6:00 p.m. when eliminations started.
WEST COAST HOT RODS
A wheelstand in Outlaw 8.5 qualifying
WCHRA ran four heads up classes – True 10.5, Street Radial, X275, and Outlaw 8.5. Three of them, True 10.5, X275 and Outlaw 8.5 ran on an 1/8th mile while Street Radial ran the ¼ mile. Rich Hoyle was the number 1 qualifier in True 10.5 with an ET of 4.806 at 152.12 mph. Mike Saiki qualified number 1 in Street Radial with an ET of 9.153 going 160.56 mph. George Ragoza qualified number 1 in X275 with an ET of 4.986 traveling at 145.56 mph. In the Outlaw 8.5 class Gary Brandt was the number 1 qualifier with an ET of 5.396 and a mph of 131.32.
The Index Classes included B Gas, C Gas, D Gas and E Gas. B Gas runs an 8.6 index, C Gas runs on a 9.6 index, D Gas runs on a 10.6 index and E Gas runs on an 11.6 index. All the gassers qualified with times very near the index. The number 1 qualifier in each class was: B Gas – Randy Kersey ran a near perfect 8.602 ET at 159.64 mph. C Gas – Ron Noyes also nearly hit the index with an ET of 9.607 at 139.16 mph. D Gas – Alan Ross nearly nailed the index with an ET of 10.607 at 128.93 mph. E Gas – Jacob King came within .001 of hitting his index with an ET of 11.601 at 109.52 mph.
Sportsman class is a dial-in class which is run on a 5 tenths “full tree” with the number 1 qualifier being the racer with the best reaction time. Andrew King was qualified number 1 in this class.
Open Comp is also a dial-in class which is run on a 4 tenths “pro tree” with the number 1 qualifier being the racer with the best reaction time. Doug Crumlich was the number 1 qualifier.
The winners of each class were:
Outlaw 8.5 – Ron Shaw in an ’84 Mustang with an ET of 5.608 and 126.97 mph took the win. The Low ET in this class was 5.327 and the top speed was 135.52 mph. Tom Daugherty ran the low ET of the race, but was runner up to Ron Shaw when in the final round Shaw had a reaction time of .076 to Daugherty’s .176. Daugherty was No. 1 in the season opener. The Outlaw 8.5 class fielded 13 cars.
X275 – Kevin Young, from Idaho Falls, Idaho in his ’86 Camaro, took the win over George Ragoza. Young had an ET of 4.887 going 153.82 mph to Ragoza’s ET of 4.948 with a mph of 145.64. Young qualified No. 2 to Ragoza’s No. 1.
True 10.5 – Rich Hoyle, winner in the season opener, came out on top again with an ET of 4.827 at 145.22 mph. Hoyle ran against Roger Rydell who broke in the final round.
Street Radial – The winner was Jeff Cagle in a ’72 Datson. Cagle was the only racer in the final round. He had an ET of 20.168 traveling 51.11.
B Gas – The 1996 Corvette driven by Doug Crumlich was the B Gas winner with an ET of 8.602 and 145.70 mph. Randy Kersey was the runner-up with an ET of 8.622 traveling 159.16. Kersey was the season point leader going into this race.
C Gas – Jordan Jahnke ran the ladder taking the win in C Gas with an ET of 9.615 at 133.80 mph. Jason Barta broke out with a 9.553 to become runner-up. Jahnke retains his season points lead.
D Gas – Alan Ross and his ’65 Mustang, the 2011 D Gas champ, lead this 14 car field to take the win over the ’69 Plymouth Valiant, “Valiant Effort”. In the finals, Ross ran a 10.621 at 126.51 mph while Valiant Effort broke out.
E Gas – David Burnitzki in a 1969 GTO took the win with an ET of 11.608 at 111.76 mph. Burnitzki had a reaction time of .039. Runner-up Bill Smith Jr. had a reaction time of .028, but Burnitzki with an ET of 11.608 just nosed out Smith who had an ET of 11.636.
Sportsman – With a field of 18, the finals of this class came down to a competition between two motorcycles. Clayton Howey on a 1400 cc Ninja Kawasaki finished No. 1 and Andrew King on a ’Suzuki GSXR 1000 cc came in second. Howey had an ET of 9.081 going 134.18 mph to King’s ET of 9.684 and 141.45 mph.
Open Comp – Doug Crumlich was the best in this 15 car field. Crumlich driving a ’96 Vette took the win and Scott Hewitt riding a ’95 Suzuki was the runner-up. Crumlich had an ET of 8.612 going 147.94 mph and Hewitt travelled 144.74 mph with an ET of 8.753.
NITRO AT NIGHT
As the sun set the nitro burning funny cars took to the staging lanes. The fuel cars were scheduled to run at 8:00, 10:00 and 12:00 midnight. After qualifying in the first round, Dan Horan led the field of 10 cars with a Low ET of 5.773 and a top speed of 246.53 mph. The second round of funny car racing saw the eight quickest cars face off and the two quickest went to the final round. The final round then pitted Dan Horan against Zane Messenger. Messenger in “Future Flash”, a ’77 Pontiac with a 500 c.i. motor beat Horan to the finish line. Messenger pulled away from Horan at mid-track and won with an ET of 5.768 at 233.20 mph to Horan’s 5.923 at 210.18 mph.
WINNER – Future Flash driven by Zane Messenger
The action was nonstop throughout the day and night with the schedule suffering only when Brendan Murry’s top fuel dragster had a fire at the top end delaying racing for about 45 minutes. Along with the WCHRA racers, which kept the crowd entertained between rounds of the fuel cars, two jet cars ran –Terminal Velocity ran against the MAV Missile. Terminal Velocity turned in a 5.43 ET running at 283 miles per hour. These jet cars are an incredible sight filling the night sky with fire and smoke.
Below are some of the cars that ran exhibition throughout the day and night.
Saturday Night Nitro with West Coast Hot Rods is a perfect way to spend a warm summer day and cool night at Famoso. Don’t miss the next one on July 28 at Famoso Raceway.
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