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SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS

admin — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 22:03:58 +0000

SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS, Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield, June 9, 2012 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 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 […]

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WEST COAST HOT ROD ASSOC. SPRING NATIONALS

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:11:44 +0000

WEST COAST HOT ROD ASSOC. SPRING NATIONALS MAY 5-6, 2012, Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield, CA Although Sat. May 5 saw a “super moon rising” (closest, brightest of 2012), the moon paled against the super racing which took place throughout the weekend. Once again, the racers of West Coast Hot Rod Assoc. (WCHRA) put on a terrific show. The week-end kicked off on Friday with a test ‘n tune session, with qualifying on Saturday and eliminations on Sunday. The week-end was perfect for racing and close to 140 WCHRA racers filled the pits. The two-day format allowed time for three qualifying rounds. Saturday after the racing was over a band entertained the folks in the pits. While some listened or sang along with the band, others were busy getting their car ready for racing on Sunday. Sunday morning started with a chapel service at 8:30 a.m. and eliminations started at 9:45 a.m. The elimination rounds were finished by about 3:30 p.m. and the awards ceremony started around 4:00 p.m. The racing throughout the week-end was awesome. It was a safe week-end and thankfully no one was hurt, however, a couple of cars hit the wall. The winners were: True 10.5: Rich Hoyle the No. 2 qualifier, driving a ’63 Nova took the win with an ET of 4.838 going 150.60 mph. The runner up, Roger Rydell in his ’67 Chevelle, was the No. 1 qualifier and had low ET of the race at 4.826. Rydell came in second with an ET of 4.874 going 154.90 mph. Hoyle with a reaction time of .035 to Rydell’s .056 Street Radial: No. 2 qualifier, Jeff Cagel in a ‘72 Datson, ran 152.28 mph with an ET of 9.385 beating the No. 1 qualifier, Ron Shaw, and his ’84 Mustang which ran an ET of 9.541 traveling at 159.93. Although Shaw had the hole shot, Cagle powered past him to take the win. Shaw had a reaction time of .114 to Cagle’s .183. X275: The ’86 Camaro driven by Kevin Young beat last season’s points winner, Artis Houston, in the finals. Young, the No. 2 qualifier, had an ET of 4.880 and ran the top speed of the class at 153.26mph. Although Houston’s reaction time of .044 put him first off the line, his ’71 Nova didn’t have the horsepower to keep the lead. Houston finished with an ET of 5.840 going 130.82 mph. Outlaw 8.5: Tom Daugherty in a ’90 Mustang ran the ladder to finish in the top spot with an ET of 5.434 and 131.33 MPH. Gary Brandt in an ’86 Mustang beat Daugherty off the line with a reaction time of .080 (Daugherty’s reaction time was .137). However, Daugherty’s 510 ci engine overpowered Brandt’s 407 ci motor. Outlaw class had an elimination field of 20 cars. Mark Washington, who was the No. 1 qualifier, held low ET and top speed of the race, but went out in the second round of eliminations. A Gas: Al White’s 1965 Pontiac GTO, was both the No. 1 qualifier and class winner. White won the finals at the start line with a reaction time of .024 to Perkins .103. White finished with an ET of 7.651 and 185.28 mph while Perkins broke out with an ET of 7.573 going 182.40 mph. White ran the numbers to take top ET of the race with a 7.609. B Gas: This class had a 17 car field in the eliminations and Randy Kersey in a ’95 Olds finished on top. Kersey took the win with a reaction time of .010, an ET of 8.617 at 154.44. Runner up, Brandon Stalnaker, of Brandon’s Transmissions, sponsor of the Sportsman class, ran an ET of 8.616 traveling at 157.71 mph with a reaction time of .054. Kersey qualified at #9 and Stalnaker at #17. In Round 2 of the eliminations Stalnaker had a near perfect reaction time of .008 with a perfect .000 in round 4. The #1 qualifier, Doug Crumlich went out in Round 2 of the eliminations. C Gas: The No. 1 qualifier, Ron Noyes, came in second to No. 5 qualifier, Jordan Jahnke. Jahnke in a ’67 Nova ran an ET of 9.634 at 134.52 mph and Noyes in a ’67 Camaro ran a 9.608 at 139.69. Jahnke won this race on the line with a reaction time of .035 to Noyes .077. D Gas: Brett Bell in a ’79 Malibu took the win over Wesley Eisenga driving the ’69 Plymouth “Valiant Effort”. Although this was Bell’s first time racing WCHRA and D Gas, he took the top spot with an ET of 10.619 going 129.64 mph to best Eisenga who had an ET of 10.673 traveling at 129.24. Bell was the #3 qualifier while Eisenga qualified at #2. Eisenga had a reaction time of .045 to Bell’s .078, but Bell crossed the finish line ahead of the “Valiant Effort”. The #1 qualifier Michael Boner went out in Round 2 of the eliminations. E Gas: This race ended with a double break-out of the 11.60 index. Matt Miyashiro ran his ’72 Chevelle to a first place win with a reaction time of .028, an ET of 11.505 and mph of 100.58. James Brown’s ’64 Chevy Wagon was runner up with a reaction time of .025, an ET of 11.498 and mph of 120.50. Although, Miyashiro did break out, his ET was closer to the index. Sportsman: This race was won by second grade teacher Joy Linehan in her ’65 Chevelle. Linehan prevailed over Terry Rollin riding a 1400 cc ’06 Kawasaki. Linehan had a dial in of 11.55 and ran 11.596 while Rollin had a dial in of 9.54 and ran a 9.592. Linehan was looking forward to taking her trophy to school on Monday for show-and-tell. Last year she took her class on a field trip to the Winternationals… a new generation of drag racers is on the way. Open Comp: Mark ‘da’ Miyashio in a ’27 T took first place in a […]

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