Sportsman – Timing Tower

3rd ANNUAL NMCA WEST STREET CAR NATIONALS

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:59:18 +0000

The NMCA West 3rd Annual Street Car Nationals was held March 28-30, 2014 at the Fontana Dragway. This is the first major event to be held at the Fontana drag strip since it reopened the end of February 2014. Sunday morning the event opened at 8:00 a.m. with Chapel Service with bracket time trials starting at 9:00 a.m. Round 1 of the Index eliminations started about 10:00 a.m. After the opening ceremony which included the invocation and singing of the national anthem, the pro mods took to the lanes to kick off round 1 of eliminations in the heads-up classes. SUNDAY RACING The heads-up classes included Garrett Turbo Pro Mod, Mickey Thompson TT5, Procharger Street Outlaw, Lucas Oil N/A 10.5, and ARP Outlaw. ARP Outlaw is an 8th mile class, all the others are quarter mile. However, while typically a quarter mile class, this week-end the pro mods ran to 1,000 feet to ensure they had enough track to stop before hitting the sand. Garrett Turbo Pro Mod: This class went through two elimination rounds and the finals. Scott Oksas ran the fastest time travelling at 234.61 mph. In the final round the No. 1 qualifier John Mihovetz , sat next to the No. 7 qualifier, Robert Costa. Even though Costa was first off the line with a reaction time of .071 to Mihovetz’ time of .177, Mihovetz crossed the finish line first with an ET of 6.535 going 219.61 mph. Unfortunately, in the second elimination round, Rick Snavely crossed the center line and went head on into the wall. Costa was in the opposite lane when Snavely crossed over and fortunately the two didn’t collide. Snavely appeared to be unhurt. John Mihovetz, above, the Garrett Turbo Pro Mod winner. After crossing the center line Snavely tried to straighten out, but couldn’t. Mickey Thompson TT5: Only 4 cars raced in this class. The No. 1 qualifier Mark Luton ended up in the sand at the end of the track on Saturday, but was back for round 1 of eliminations on Sunday. Luton met Dana Cook in the final round. Cook went red and Luton coasted across the finish line at 111.20 mph. Luton ran 197.94 mph in round 1 and was the fastest and quickest car in this class with his Saturday ET of 6.750 at 219.79 mph. Below Luton is doing a burnout. Procharger Street Outlaw: Only two rounds of elimination and a final were required in this class. James Lawrence went into the sand at the end of the track in Round 1 but came back for round 2. When he left the line in round 2, Lawrence left a coating of sand spread over the first 30+ feet of track. In Round 2 Lawrence was sent home by the ’57 Chevy of Armen Maghdessian. Maghdessian and Kevin Young sat side by side in the final round. Young’s ’86 Camaro was quicker and faster than Maghdessian’s Chevy running an ET of 7.454 at 193.24 mph to Maghdessian’s ET of 8.296 at 179.85 mph. Below Kevin Young is shown leaving the line. Lucas Oil N/A 10.5: This class was decided after 2 rounds of elimination and the finals. The final round was a dual between the ’68 Camaro of “Gypsy Mike” Valentino and the ’68 Camaro of Tony Aneian. Valentino came out on top with an ET of 8.312 at 167.12 mph to Aneian’s ET of 13.284 and 97.93 mph. Aneian couldn’t get off the line posting a reaction time of 1.069. ARP Outlaw 8.5: Again 2 rounds of elimination and the final determined the winner. The No. 1 qualifier George Raygoza and the No. 2 qualifier Dan Hale ran through the ladder and met in the finals. The final round of this race was incredibly close, but Raygoza lost the match-up at the start line with a reaction time of .124 while Hale left with a .094 reaction time. Hale had an ET of 5.271 and Raygoza’s ET was 5.279. Hale’s mph was 142.04 while Raygoza’s was 142.03. A good race. NMCA West Pro Comp: This is an index class running cars in A on a 7.90 index, B on an 8.90 index and C on a 9.90 index. Twenty-one racers took to the lanes for the first round of elimination. After 4 rounds of elimination, Bob Harris in a ’02 Pontiac sat next to Paul Wiechamnn’s ’00 Corvette. Both of these cars ran in C on a 9.90 index. Harris with a reaction time of .017, an ET of 9.914 and mph of 157.80 took the win. Wiechmann had a reaction time of .030, ET of 9.988 and mph of 129.43 mph. Currie Ent. Open Comp: This is another big class requiring 4 rounds of elimination and a final round. Mike Nordahl the No. 1 qualifier met Ryan Chesleigh the No. 21 qualifier in the finals. Nordahl ran on a dial-in of 10.52 and Chesliegh’s dial-in was 9.44. Nordahl took the win with an ET of 10.533 at 127.55 mph and Chesleigh broke out with an ET of 9.436. Granatelli Mustang Madness: 17 Mustangs created the madness in 4 rounds of eliminations plus the finals. Justin Spencer survived the 4 elimination rounds to meet Anna Marciano in the final. Marciano had a bye in round 4. Spencer ran on a dial-in of 9.65 and Marciano posted a dial-in of 10.16. Spencer had an ET of 9.647 and Marciano’s ET was 10.135 – a double break out. Because Spencer ‘broke out less’ he took the win. Justin Spencer in his winning ’00 Mustang is shown below. Hedman Hedders Nostalgia Street Car “NSC”: 32 cars ran in this index class on indexes ranging from 8.5 to 12.0 with AA running on an 8.5 index and H running a 12.0 index. The No. 15 and No. 30 qualifiers made it through 4 rounds of elimination to meet in the finals. In the final round Merle Williams and Paul Geis both running in F on an index of 11.0 were […]

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WEST COAST HOT RODS & SUMMIT RACING Sept. 14-15, 2013

admin — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 18:39:37 +0000

WEST COAST HOT RODS – FINAL RACE OF THE SEASON. With the West Coast Hot Rod Association/Summit season finale off to a good start, gremlins suddenly struck the track computers mid-afternoon Saturday and shut down the 1/8th mile timing lights in the AutoClub lane. While this is an inconvenience to quarter mile racers it makes racing impossible for the three classes of cars that run heads-up for an 1/8th mile. After repeated attempts to exorcise the gremlins and a 1-1/2 hour delay, the decision was made to run 1/8th mile classes down the Budweiser lane and determine qualifying based on times. Unfortunately the shutdown occurred as a large contingent of heads-up cars were in the lanes and the delay and subsequent rearrangements pushed racing well into Saturday night. By Sunday the Famoso crew had repaired the computers and with the gremlins sent elsewhere the event finished nearly on time Sunday afternoon. West Coast Hot Rods raced three heads-up classes on the 1/8th mile: Outlaw 8.5, True 10.5 and Limited 10.5; with quarter mile classes running in Open Comp (a dial-in class) and B, C, D, and E Gas, (index classes). For the first time a Top Doorslammer class was added running on dial-ins of 6:60 to 7:59 with qualifying on reaction time. The heads-up, Open Comp and the Top Doorslammer classes ran qualifying on Saturday and finals on Sunday. The Gassers ran qualifying and eliminations both days. B and C Gas classes were combined and D and E classes were combined. Summit ran dial-in classes: Sportsman, Pro, Super Pro and Motorcycle. Summit ran qualifying and eliminations both days. On Saturday WCHRA racer Mike Williams took home the trophy in B/C Gas and Sabrina Capps was the runner up; and, in D/E Gas Steve Barta finished first with Josh Conrad in second. Summit Sportsman racers Pam Hulse and CW Hoefer went to the finals with Hulse winning; in Super Pro Steve White the #1 qualifer won over Greg Tremain the #6 qualifier; in Pro James Kirkman took the win after James Alexander red-lighted; on the Motorcycles Anthony Delatorre came in ahead of Terry Rollin. Sunday started with an early morning non-denominational service and the cars began filling the lanes at 8:30 a.m. About 200 racers were in the pits racing in 11 classes including the new Top Doorslammer class fielding 10 cars. Below are all the Sunday winners. SUNDAY FINALS – West Coast Hot Rods: B/C Gas: Two B Gas Camaros met in the final round which pitted #3 qualifier Ashley Deuschle against #2 qualifier Tom Fowler. Fowler had a reaction time of .003 to Deuschle’s reaction time of .015 but, Deuschle took the win when Fowler ran a 8.598 on an 8.6 index. Deuschle ran 156.84 mph and Fowler topped out at 151.78 mph. D/E Gas: #1 qualifier Josh Conrad and #6 qualifier Steve Barta, both running on the D Gas index of 10.60, staged for the finals. These two were also in the finals on Saturday when Barta prevailed. Sunday, Conrad came out on top with a reaction time of .018 running a near perfect ET of 10.605 at 129.65 mph. Barta broke-out with a too quick 10.573 ET. Top Doorslammer: This first-time-ever WCHRA class qualified on Saturday with Keith Morovich qualifying #1, Brenden Frye #2, Frank Merenda #3, Scott Loomis #4, Steve “Flattop” Faller #5, Jim Data #6, Tom Huggins #7, Gary Wake #8, Tom Mettler #9 and Ray Padgott #10. In the semi-finals on Sunday, Tom Mettler in his 2001 Dakota P/U got the bye while Steve Faller in his 1963 Corvette ran against Keith Morovich in a ’67 Nova. Morovich took the win to meet Metler in the finals. In the finals, Metler took home the money with a reaction time of .026, ET of 7.522 on a 7.45 dial-in going 181.62 mph. Morovich had a reaction time of .059 and ran an ET of 7.601 on a 7.56 dial-in going 174.08 mph. Open Comp: Dustin Lee in a ’53 Ford won the race over Lori Dodes in her 1997 Chevy S10. Lee had a reaction time of .084 to Dodes’ reaction time of .427. Lee ran on a dial-in of 11.60 and an ET of 11.645 going 102.17. Dodes had a dial-in of 10.46 but her ET was 10.446. Limited 10.5: This heads-up class pitted Mike Salki the #3 qualifier against #1 qualifier Allen Gadberry. Salki in a Camaro ran the ladder to sit at the lights in the finals. Salki posted a reaction time of .091, ET of 5.279 and mph of 133.08 to take the win. Gadberry ran an ET of 5.242 and mph of 134.56 on a reaction time of .133. Although he didn’t win the finals Gadberry was the #1 qualifier, had low ET of 4.564 and top speed of 134.56 for the race. Outlaw 8.5: The finals found DJ Reid and Ryan “Toaster” Jones side-by-side at the lights. Reid’s ’68 Camaro crossed the finish line first to take the win. Reid with a reaction time of .097 ran an ET of 5.383 at 133.07 mph. Toaster Jones came in second with a reaction time of .048 an ET of 5.514 at 147.37 mph. Toaster was the #1 qualifier, ran the race low ET of 4.945 and top speed of 155.38 mph. True 10.5: Norman Chang and Jeff Kyle, the #1 and #4 qualifiers respectively, were in the finals. Kyle broke at the line giving Chang the win. Chang had an ET of 9.486 on at reaction time of .256 traveling at 68.85 mph. SUNDAY FINALS – Summit Pro: After 5 rounds of elimination CW Heofer, the #1 qualifier met Mike Beckwith, the #5 qualifier, at the line. Hoefer was first off the line with a reaction time of .027 to Beckwith’s .208. Hoefer running a dial-in of 12.38 ran an ET of 12.509 at 100.08 mph to Beckwith’s 115.51 mph and an ET of 11.708 […]

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2013 WEST COAST HOT RODS SPRINGNATIONALS

admin — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:27:06 +0000

To paraphrase legendary rock ‘n roller Chubby Checker “…there was a whole lot of racin’ going on…” March 23-24 was the 2013 the season opener for West Coast Hot Rod Assoc. “WCHRA”. This year at its opener WCHRA raced with Division 7 Summit Series. On Saturday both qualifying and elimination rounds were held in the index and bracket classes. The index and bracket classes completed the first race in both series while the WCHRA heads-up classes ran only qualifying rounds. Likewise on Sunday the index and bracket classes ran qualifying and elimination rounds and completed the second race in both series. The WCHRA heads-up classes ran their elimination rounds on Sunday and completed race #1 of the WCHRA series. This year WCHRA added Super Pro, Pro and ET Motorcycle classes which allowed racers to race in both WCHRA and Summit series this week-end. Some, but not all, racers raced in both series. The winner of each class took home the prize money no matter which series the winner raced in. Every racer who raced both Summit and WCHRA (or only WCHRA) and was a class winner took home not only the prize money but also a WCHRA trophy. Combining the two series at one event made it possible for racers to accumulate points in both series. Many of the cars did impressive wheel stands. A lot of motorcycles raced this week-end. Below is a gallery of photos of many of the bikes at the event. In addition to the Summit and WCHRA cars racing this week-end, the first two races in the Southern California Super Eliminator series were also held. This class runs on a 7.9 index and completed races on both Saturday and Sunday. These above photos are of Chris standing next to his Super E in the pits and behind the wheel on the track. Also joining in the fun this week-end were cars from the Pro Slammer Door Car Association. Two classes of slammers raced – one a heads-up class, the other on a 6.9 index. John Durden, on the right in the ’58 Corvette was the eventual winner in the Pro Slammer class. And just to make sure everyone got their fill of racing, WCHRA ran an open comp class. This class, where all pairs are random, allows all cars, trucks, dragsters, altereds and motorcycles to compete against each other. SUNDAY RACE RESULTS Limited 10.5 – Gary Brandt, the #1 qualifier bested Tom Daughtry. In the finals Brandt had a reaction time of .058 running 132.56 mph on an ET of 5.450. True 10.5 – The #4 qualifier David Singletary took the win over Roger Holder. Singletary in a ’69 Camaro ran an ET of 5.078 at 140.05 mph. Outlaw 8.5 – No. 2 qualifier, DJ Reid, ran the ladder to win this class with an ET of 5.139 at 145.41 mph. Reid met Jason Pyons, the #3 qualifier, in the finals but with a .094 reaction time led the way off the line. B/Gas (8.6 index) – Crumlich beat the #1 qualifier Brian Rogers, in Round 2 of eliminations and bested Casey Truer in the 3rd round by .006 to advance to the final round against Richard Deuschelle. Crumlich’s 8.644 ET and 140.77 mph easily beat Deuschelle who ran an ET of 8.693 at 109.54 mph. C/Gas (9.6 index) – No. 1 qualifier Jason Barta ran through the ladder to meet #9 qualifier Paul Weichmann in the finals. Barta ended in the winners circle posting an ET of 9.624 at 135.58 mph. Barta’s reaction time of .006 gave him the win. Weichmann had a reaction time of .072 and an ET of 9.601 but his mph was 128.05. D/Gas (10.6 index) – CORRECTION: #2 qualifier Lori Dodes met the #1 qualifier Josh Conrad at the line. Conrad took home the winner’s trophy. (Due to incorrect information we previously reported Dodes as the winner.) E/Gas (11.6 index) – Jeff Beck, the runner-up in Saturday’s race, took the winner’s spot on Sunday. Beck won with an ET of 11.679 after Mark Simonian red lighted. Sportsman – CW Hoefer in an ’87 Firebird ran an ET of 12.039 on a dial-in of 12.03 to beat David Dowdell running on a dial-in of 12.90 with an ET of 12.836. Hoefer was the #2 qualifier and Dowdell the #3 qualifier. The #1 qualifier Kevin Tanata redlighted in the quarter finals sending Dowdell to the finals. Motorcycle – Terry Rolin the #6 qualifier came out on top in the final match-up against Scott Hewitt. Rolin left the lights first with a reaction time of .046 to Hewitt’s reaction time of .079. Rolin with a dial-in of 9.42 ran an ET of 9.442 while Hewitt had a dial-in of 8.61 and an ET of 8.646. Pro – The winner, CW Hoefer, who also won the Sportsman class, again ran a dial-in of 12.03 but had an ET of 11.983. Matt Fritts ran on a dial-in of 10.05 but broke out with an ET of 10.003. Super Pro – Kyle Rizzoli, the #2 qualifier, bested Eric Trubey in the finals. Rizzoli with a near perfect reaction time of .001 ran 158.65 mph with an ETof 7.746 on a 7.67 dial in. Trubey got a slower start with a reaction time of .049 and ran an ET of 7.677 on a dial in of 7.62. Crumlich the B gas winner lost to Rizzoli in the semi-finals. Open Comp – Jim Israel and his ’71 Nova bested all comers running a 10.775 on a 10.87 dial-in in the finals. Lori Dodes was at the line next to Israel in the finals but broke giving Israel the win. Super E – The final round ended with a double break-out. Steve Casner ran 7.891 on a 7.9 index to break out in the final round. However. Eddie Fischle also broke out with an ET of 7.863. Casner came closet to the index thus taking the win. Pro Slammers – John Durden in a ’58 […]

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NITRO NIGHT WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS

admin — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 01:16:59 +0000

NITRO NIGHT WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS, SEPTEMBER 8, 2012 FAMOSO RACEWAY, BAKERSFIELD, CA NITRO CARS September 7-8, 2012 was the final of three Nitro Nights held at Famoso Raceway this summer and was the last chance for the nitro burning Funny Cars to run before Hot Rod Reunion. Dan Horan, Jr., let it be known he would be the one to beat at the Reunion. Horan in his Ron Swearingen-tuned car was the quickest and fastest running an ET of 5.752 at 253.95 mph in the final round. [Timingtower.com is giving away 2 full event passes to Hot Rod Reunion. Scroll down to read contest rules.] James Day, winner of the second Nitro Night, in the Pedaler, couldn’t repeat and had to settle for the No. 2 spot with an ET of 5.864 at 246.03 mph. Horan also bested Jason Ruppert, the 2011 Heritage Series points leader, in the Mert Littlefield car. Ruppert ran an ET of 5.843 at 246.30 mph. Brendan Murry was at all three Nitro Nights in his top fuel car, Running Wild, and took home the top fuel trophy at the 2nd Nitro Night in July. Murry has been sorting out his change-over from a big-block Chevy to a Hemi. A couple of A Fuel cars ran this week-end, as did a couple nitro burning motorcycles with one running an amazing 193 mph. Watching the nitro burners run under the lights has proven very popular as the crowds at Famoso Raceway has grown considerably with each event. WEST COAST HOT RODS This week-end was also the finals of the West Coast Hot Rod Assoc. (“WCHRA”) series – three of its races were run with the Nitro Nights. Famoso held Street Legal Drags on Friday night which allowed the WCHRA racers a chance to do some test and tune before qualifying and eliminations started on Saturday. WCHRA ran eight classes – True 10.5, Outlaw 8.5, B-E Gas, Sportsman and Open Comp. Running with the WCHRA racers were several Volkswagens (Bugs and Ghias) from the Professional Racing Assoc. (“PRA”). The Volkswagens raced in D and E Gas, Pro Mod Bug and Super Street Bug. The pits held about 100 WCHRA racers when qualifying started at 1:00 pm on Saturday. Final round results were: Heads-Up Classes: True 10.5 – Al Jimenez in a ’72 Camaro. Jimenez was the #1 qualifier, ran low ET of 4.741 and top speed of 161.88 – in this class. His final round ET was 4.773 at 143.22 mph. Outlaw 8.5 – Thed Dec in a ’69 Camero. The final round found Dec and Mark Washington at the line. Dec with a reaction time of .034 took the win over Washington who had a .117 reaction time. Dec had a final ET of 5.410 at 136.10 mph. While George Raygaze was the #1 qualifier, with low ET of 5.267 and top speed of 142.25, a red light in round 3 put him out of the race. Index Classes: B Gas – Richard Deuschle – Deuschle, the #9 qualifier prevailed over Wes Anderson the #8 qualfier in the final round. Anderson broke but Deuschle ran an ET of 8.657 on the 8.6 index going 112.29 mph. C Gas – Larry Burnitzki – ’67 Camaro. Burnitzki took the win and Mark Miyashiro red lighted in the final round. Burnitzki had an ET of 9.593 on the 9.60 index traveling at 141.09 mph. Ernie Mcallister, the #1 qualifier went out in Round 2 in a match-up with Miyashiro. D Gas – David Roed – ’63 Nova II. Roed advanced to the final round on a break-out by Lori Dodes in Round 2. Roed ran an ET of 10.688 on the 10.60 index at 123.63 mph with a reaction time of .033. Runner-up Steve Barta lost the final at the line with a reaction time of .091. E Gas – James Brown – ’64 Chevy Wagon. In the final round Brown ran an ET of 11.865 on an 11.60 index against #1 qualifier Morgan Wiggers. Brown who was quicker than Wiggers ran 102.93 mph while Wiggers was faster at 105.38 mph. Dial-In Classes: Sportsman – David Dodd, Jr – ’70 Duster. Dodd, the #1 qualifier, ran 11.062 on a 10.08 dial-in racing against David Ochoa on a ’05 1000cc Kawasaki. While Dodd and Ochoa both crossed the finish line at 119.58 mph, Ochoa red-lighted giving Dodd the win. Open Comp – Alan Ross – ’65 Mustang. Ross ran an ET of 10.610 on a dial in of 10.59. With a reaction time of .026 Ross beat Diane Diedrich in a ’65 Chevy II to the finish line. Diedrich broke out with an ET of 10.283 on a dial-in of 10.30. Ross ran 119.47 mph. Volkswagen Classes: Pro Mod Bug – Shane Constant in a ’64 VW was the #1 qualifier came in second to Anthony Heinds in the final round. Heinds in a ’65 VW ran 106.43 with an ET of 13.432 in the final round to best Constant’s ET of 14.651 at 81.13 mph. Super Street Bug – Roger Crawford – ’63 Bug. Crawford, the #2 qualifier, had an ET of 10.101 and traveled at 133.29 mph. The #1 qualifier, Doug Gonzales, didn’t put up a fight with an ET of 25.037. WCHRA racers provided a great summer of racing, showing off with some near vertical wheelstands, smokin’ tires and some wheels up launches. Last year WCHRA raced under the lights at Famoso to beat the heat of summer in California’s Central Valley, but teaming up with Famoso Raceway for Nitro Nights and the Bugs from the PRA provided race fans with a varied format that kept the action going for more than 12 hours on Saturday. The racing lasted until nearly 2:00 a.m. Saturday night and sometimes it’s hard to stay awake. FRIDAY NIGHT DRAGS Famoso Raceway hosted Friday Night Drags and a whole lot of cars, bikes, and jr. dragsters showed up. Along with the fuel cars and WCHRA racers, Friday night was well […]

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