Robert Overholser in the California Hustler on his way to winning
A hot Saturday produced a track temperature of 152 degrees and hinted at the sizzling night of racing to come. Friday night test and tune had affirmed that points leader Dan Horan, Jr.’s Patriot Mustang was the car to beat, but the hot action started at around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night when 13 nitro funny cars pulled into the staging lanes — their teams thinking upset.
On Friday night Dan Horan, Jr. ran a 5.80 ET in testing.
The first pair at the line were Rian Konno in the Kazanjian-Lemon-Konno car and Chris Bennet in Pure Heaven. Konno took the win with an ET of 5.894 at 238.76 mph making him the #4 qualifier. Next up was Dennis La Charite in Back in Black and Ed Dougan in the Fighting Irish. Dougan prevailed with an ET of 6.139 at 199.64 mph. Dougan was the #9 qualifier and first alternate for the final eight. Then came War Horse driven by Roger Garten sitting next to Bob Godfrey’s Burn ‘N Money. War Horse was the first to cross the finish line with an ET of 6.115 at 233.72. Next at the line was Darkside with Rick Rogers at the wheel side by side with Quarter Pounder driven by Dale Van Gundy. Van Gundy turned in an ET of 5.962 at 241.20 mph to advance to the finals as the #7 qualifier. When California Hustler met the Pedaler, California Hustler driven by Robert Overholser became the #3 qualifier when it took the win over James Day in the Pedaler. Day became the #5 qualifier. Overholser had an ET of 5.885 at 238.51 mph. The final pair to face off was Dan Horan in his Patriot Mustang, the current Blitz points leader, and Dennis Taylor in Evil, Wicked, Mean and Nasty. Horan ran an ET of 5.809 to qualify at the #2 position and Taylor ran an ET of 5.958 making him the #6 qualifier. Devery Howard in Bays and Ruppert Black Plague had a bye running an ET of 5.780 at 246.30 to become the #1 qualifier.
The final field of 8 cars was set: Howard #1, Horan #2, Overholser #3, Konno #4, Day #5, Taylor #6, Garten #7 and Dougan #8 (Dougan in Fighting Irish moved into the #8 spot when Van Gundy in Quarter Pounder couldn’t make the final call.)
The second round of funny car racing got underway around 11:00 p.m. Rian Konno and James Day were first up. Konno turned up the heat by running an ET of 5.753, which at that point was the quickest time of the night. Konno easily beat James Day in the Pedaler. The second pair at the line was Overholser in California Hustler and Dennis Taylor in Evil Wicked, Mean and Nasty. Overholser got the action sizzling with an ET of 5.720 at 246.84 mph. Taylor turned in an ET of 6.859 at 115.64 mph. Next up was Dan Horan, Jr. who ran a smokin’ ET of 5.764 at 253.66 mph. While Horan was faster than Overholser, he wasn’t quicker. Horan ran against Ed Dougan in the Fighting Irish. Dougan started the race in the Budweiser lane, broke past the half-track mark sending him into the Auto Club lane behind Horan. The last pair at the line was Roger Garten in War Horse and Devery Howard in Black Plague. Howard red lighted giving Garten the win with an ET of 6.385 at 161.52. After crossing the finish line War Horse hit the wall. Garten was uninjured.
A Blitz race is won by the quickest running winning car. At the end of the night Robert Overholser in the California Hustler finished in the No. 1 spot with an ET of 5.720; Rian Konno finished at No. 2 with an ET of 5.753; and, Dan Horan, Jr. ended up at No. 3 with an ET of 5.764. The Boise/Bakersfield Blitz now moves to Boise for race number 4 of the Blitz. That race will be held August 8-11. The top eight points holders of the four race Blitz series will face off in a special race to be held at The March Meet in 2014.
California Hustler in the Winners’ Circle
Before, between and after rounds of Funny Cars, other nitro burners kept the action going. Rick White in the top fuel car Neal and White along with top fueler Circuit Breaker made runs. Mike Sullivan and son Jeremy fielded a supercharged nitromethane burning Hemi Fiat AA/FA turning in an ET of 6.37 at 202 mph. Also making 8 second passes were the nitro Harley’s.
The two jet cars, MAV Missile and Terminal Velocity, made two runs during the evening – once at the end of the first round of funny cars and once at the end of the funny car racing. These two cars put on quite a show with billowing smoke, popping fuel, and shooting fire.
West Coast Hot Rod Assoc. heads up classes, True 10.5, Outlaw 8.5 and Limited 10.5, also raced Saturday evening. These three classes race on an 1/8th mile track. Below are some of the West Coast Hot Rods running this week-end. All photos posted on this page can be ordered from www.timingtower.smugmug.com or you can contact us directly at timingtower@gmail.com.
After the first round in Limited 10.5 Mike Salki was the #1 qualifier, Gary Brandt qualified at #2 and Allen Gadberry was the #3 qualifier. The final race was between Mike Salki in a ’67 Nova and Gary Brandt in an ’86 Mustang. Although Salki and Brandt had close reaction times (.068 and .071), Salki was quicker and faster and took the win with an ET of 5.306 at 133.14.
The Outlaw 8.5 class ran 3 rounds of eliminations and the finals. The final race found Ryan “Toaster” Jones in a ’65 Nova next to Matt Sendejas in an ’83 Mustang. The Nova crossed the finish line first with an ET of 4.854 at 158.86 mph. Sendejas turned in an ET of 5.642 at 132.04 mph. Jones left the line just a little quicker with a reaction time of .124 to Sendejas reaction time of .132.
True 10.5 also ran 3 rounds of eliminations and the finals. The final round pitted #6 qualifier Norman Chang in an ’88 Mustang against the #1 qualifier Rich Hoyle in a ’63 Nova. Hoyle took the win with a hole shot. Hoyle’s reaction time was .040 to Chang’s .274. Hoyle ran an ET of 4.766 at 150.75 mph.
Rich Hoyle in his ’63 Nova winning the final round of True 10.5
On September 14-15, 2013 West Coast Hot Rods will race again at Famoso Raceway. All classes of West Coast Hot Rods will race with Summit, Pro Slammers and Super Eliminators. This will be a great week-end of non-stop racing.
There were a lot of nice cars doing some testing throughout the week-end.
A number of bikes were running on Saturday and Sunday.
This turbocharged BRZ Subaru was in the pits on Saturday ready to do some testing. Driver Ali Afshar and his crew intends to run in the seven second range and are hoping to get into the sixes.
The final Saturday Night Nitro of the year will be held at Famoso Raceway on September 7, 2013. There is no better way to spend a warm summer evening than watching nitro burners shoot flames and burn up the track under the lights.
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