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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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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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NITRO NIGHT WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 01:10:31 +0000

NITRO NIGHT WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS July 28, 2012, FAMOSO RACEWAY, BAKERSFIELD, CA Since drag racing will not be a part of the Olympic Games, Famosa Raceway staged a great alternative to the 28th Olympiad this past weekend giving high horsepower fans a chance to watch their sport. FRIDAY NIGHT DRAGS Friday night, July 27 Famoso Raceway started with Friday Night Drags which also served as a test and tune session for the hot rods and nitro cars scheduled to run on Saturday. NITRO NIGHT WITH WEST COAST HOT RODS About 135 West Coast Hot Rod Assoc. (WCHRA) racers took to the lanes on Saturday at about 1:00 p.m., and that evening they were joined by 11 nitro-burning funny cars, 3 top fuel dragsters, a fuel altered and 2 jet cars which added smoke and fire to the night sky. West Coast Hot Rod ran two dial-in classes – Sportsman and Open Comp; four index classes – B Gas, C Gas, D Gas, and E Gas; three heads-up classes – Outlaw 8.5, Xtreme 275 and True 10.5. A group of VW’s from Pro Racing Assoc. joined WCHRA running in Pro Mod Bug and Super Street Bug classes as well as D Gas and E Gas. The hot rods put on quite a show Saturday, through the night and into the wee hours of Sunday morning. HOT ROD RACE RESULTS: Sportsman: Bill Smith, Jr. the No. 1 qualifier in a ’65 Chevelle took home the gold with an ET of 11.545 on a11.45 dial-in traveling at 111.01. Don Forester was runner up. Open Comp: Alan Ross the No. 7 qualifier beat No 1 qualifier Mark Miyashio. Ross in a ’65 Mustang ran an ET of 10.637 going 123.06 mph. B Gas: This class runs on an 8.60 index. The winner, Doug Crumlich, took the win after Brandon Stainaker red-lighted. Crumlich went 98.59 mph with an ET of 9.706. C Gas: This 9.6 index class pitted Larry Burnitzki against Mark Miyashiro. Although Miyashiro turned in a .006 reaction time, he came in second to the 1967 Camaro driven by Burnitzki who had an ET of 9.624 at 130.73 mph. D Gas: Alan Ross red-lighted in the finals of this 10.60 index class giving Trey Sommers and his ’56 Chev the win. Sommers had an ET of 10.574 traveling 125.86 mph. E Gas: The ’64 Chevy Wagon of James Brown beat out the ’72 Chevelle driven by Matt Miyashiro. Brown nearly hit the 11.60 index with an ET of 11.601 with a speed 108.70 mph. Outlaw 8.5: This 1/8th mile class saw Eric Gustafson and Gary Brandt in the finals. Gustafson’s ’69 Camaro turned in an ET of 5.372 at 135.15 to beat Brandt’s ’86 Mustang which had an ET of 5.426. Xtreme 275: X 275 is a heads-up class running on a 1/8th mile track. Ryan Jones took the win with an ET of 4.778 traveling 160.46 mph and DJ Reid came in second with an ET of 4.883 going 151.19 mph. True 10.5: This class pitted Rich Hoyle from Palmdale, CA against Roger Rydell from Lancaster, CA in the finals. Hoyle’s ’63 Chevy Nova took the win after Rydell red-lighted. Hoyle had an ET of 4.706 at a speed of 150.95 mph. After this race, Hoyle maintained his lead in the points. Pro Mod Bug: The ’64 Bug piloted by Shane Constant turned in a ET of 10.087 going 134.39 mph beating out the No. 1 qualified Bobby Miller. Both these Bugs race in the Pro Racing Assoc. Super Street Bug: Roger Crawford and Doug Gonzalez, who also race with Pro Racing Assoc. were pitted against each other in the finals. Crawford in a ’58 Karmann Ghia came out on top of Gonzalez’ ’63 Bug. Crawford had an ET of 10.095 and went 133.14 mph. Eleven nitro funny cars took to the lanes making their first runs at about 8:30 pm. The first round cars were James Day in the Pedaler; Garrett Bateman in Nitro Pirate; Zane Messenger in Future Flash; Rick Rogers in Dark Side; Jack Wright in the Joker, Kebin Kinsely in Pisano, Alex Milodinovich in Hot for Teacher; Don Hudson in Nitro Angel, Dennis Lacharite in Back in Black; Rian Konno in Kazanjian, Lemon & Konno; and Dale Van Gundy in Quarter Pounder. Of these, 8 cars went to the second round which started about 11:00. After the second round the two quickest funny cars, Zane Messenger in Future Flash and James Day in the Pedaler, were set for the final round. Messenger was the winner of the last Nitro Night but a red light prevented him from repeating his win. Day ‘s final run yielded an ET of 5.918 at 237.63 mph. Day qualified No. 1 with a low ET of 5.846 and top speed of 250.13 mph. A small field of three AA/FD dragsters made two passes. Mendy Fry driving Forever Young, John Rasmussen in Circuit Breaker, and Brendan Murry in Running Wild. Murry took home a “Wally” with a top speed of 203.55 and ET of 6.464. Mendy Fry turned in the low ET of 6.063. The new BDS fuel altered made its first appearance on Saturday night. This altered is being run by Nate Bugg and LilNate racing. The jet cars, Terminal Velocity and MAV TV Missile, made two passes billowing smoke and shooting fire into the night sky. The jet cars are an impressive sight and are capable of quarter mile speeds of 268 mph and 263 mph respectively. The jet dragsters are crowd favorites and have to be seen to be believed. The thunder at Famoso Raceway continued as Saturday turned into Sunday with WCHRA finishing final rounds at 2:30 a.m. The next Nitro Night with West Coast Hot Rods at Famosa Raceway will be Saturday, September 8 with gates opening at 5:00 pm on September 7 for Friday Night Drags. The VW’s from Pro Racing Assoc. will again be racing with WCHRA in September. Tickets are available at […]

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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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