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WEST COAST HOT ROD FINALS AND NITRO NIGHT

WEST COAST HOT ROD ASSOC. FINALS  and NITRO NIGHT, Famoso Raceway, September 9, thru 11, 2011

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.  Trying again is what it took at Famoso Raceway on September 9-11, 2011 when West Coast Hot Rods had to struggle to complete its series finals.  The nitro burning cars scheduled to put on a fiery show under the lights were also brought to a halt. Once again Mother Nature reeked havoc on Famoso Raceway. 

On Friday night a test and tune was scheduled from dusk to midnight.  However, rain, wind and lightening caused a two hour delay.  Once the track was cleaned off and dried the racing started again with the midnight finish pushed back to around 2:00 a.m.  Besides some sleep-deprived folks, the main casualty of the Friday night storm was the score board in the Budweiser Lane which seems to have taken a direct hit by lightening leaving the board dark for the remainder of the week-end.     

Racing got underway again mid-day on Saturday – a gray, but thankfully dry day — so far.  WCHR began its qualifying rounds at noon with elimination rounds scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m.  The WCHR  racers provided a lot of action on Saturday with their smoky burnouts and wheels up launches.

                                      

Although a few of the nitro cars pulled into the staging lanes during the day, they were scheduled for Chicago style racing under the lights at 8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m. and midnight.   Saturday we watched as a top fuel dragster, a couple funny cars and the legendary AA/FA Nanook completed early passes. 

                                                                                                

                                      

 

Nanook was built back about 1968 by Dave Hough and is still owned by Dave and Linda Hough.  Since its inception, Nanook has gone through several transformations.  Dave Hough was the original driver, his son Rick took over and now Rick’s son Kyle drives Nanook.  Kyle is 18 years old and managed to wow the crowd this week-end with a pass of 6.41@228 mph.

As the track lights came on Saturday night the stands quickly filled with spectators anticipating fire and thunder from the nitro burning cars.  Not to be outdone, Mother Nature stepped in about 6:30 covering Famoso Raceway with her own version of fire and thunder.  The wind and rain first emptied the grandstands, and around 7:15 the track lights went dark, followed by the lights in the timing tower.  Rain, lightening and thunder continued for a couple of hours.  When the rain let up around 8:15 p.m., it was announced that the track would be dried and racing would start again in about an hour.  However, it wasn’t to be.  The rain picked up again and at 9:30 p.m., the race was called and rescheduled for Sunday morning with the first run at 11:00 a.m.  While nitro cars would have been more impressive, Mother Nature put on a pretty good show. 

 

Just Before The Lights Went Out

  

This Pretty Well Sums Things Up

Sunday WCHR completed its eliminations between passes of the nitro burning cars running at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. with a few exhibition runs thrown in – one notably by the jet car Terminal Velocity.      

The photos below demonstrate that drag racing is a team sport:

                                                  

ALL OF THE PHOTOS ABOVE, AND MORE, ARE AVAILABLE BY CLICKING ON THE SMUGMUG LINK ABOVE  IN THE RIGHT SIDE PANEL.

THE RACE RESULTS:

Nitro F/C:

Champion Michael Halsted – 6.003 at 242.06 driving McCain’s Nitro Angel;  Runner-up Jack Wright – 7:50 at 135.02 driving the Joker

Extreme 10.5:

Champion Scott Slott -4.89 at 146.59;    Runner-up Rob Barrios – 5:08 at 137.75

True 10.5: 

Champion Roger Rydell – 4.833 at 157.10;    Runner-up Roger Holder – 4:848 at 160.65

Limited 10.5:

Champion Mike Orban – 8.46 at 156.86;   Runner-up Ben Davidow –  8:62 at 166.79

X275:

Champion Jeff Kyle – 5.134 at 149.07;    Runner-up Kelly Henry – 5.244 at 144.72

Outlaw 8.5:

Champion Mark Washington – 5.597 at 130.33;   Runner-up Mike Saiki – 5.734 at 127.02

B/Gas: 

Champion Casey Treur – 8.834at 129.92;    Runner-up Roger Stalnaker – 11.689 at 97.55

C/Gas: 

Champion Larry Burnitzki – 9.577 at 128.81;     Runner-up Andrea Whiteside – 9.552 at 143.35

D/Gas:

Champion Mark Kirby – 10.631 at 109.27;   Runner-up Josh Conrad – 10.664 at 119.98

E/Gas:

Champion James Brown – 11. 637 at 111.71;    Runner-up Dustin Lee – 11.637 at 111.97

Sportsman: 

Champion Bill Smith Jr – 10.568 on a 10.55 dial with a .012 r/t;    Runnerup Matt Miyashiro – 11.594 on a 11.50 dial with a .000 r/t

Open Comp:  

Champion Michael Boss – 9.611 at 129.92;    Runner-up Andrea Whiteside – 9.773 at 119.64

Another great week-end of racing at Famoso Raceway, even if it took an extra day.  Racing will continue at Famoso Raceway:  September 24-25 Summit Racing, October 7-9  ANRA series finals, October 15-16 Nostalgia Fall Championships (part of the Hot Rod Heritage Series) and October 21-23 California Hot Rod Reunion (the final race of the Hot Rod Heritage Series).

 

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