BC boy Cowie takes T/A dragster honors while O'Bannon is King of the Coupe! Another great weekend at Firebird for this fan and budding photog of this very unique motorsport.
Now, in my humble opinion, drag racing has a niche it fits into, and as it tries to climb out of that relatively small market to compete with the likes of the mighty Nascar and meet the masses, but as it does so, it loses a little of it's soul, one which is rooted deep in it's sportsman classes. I mention this because the LODRS Div.7 season opener was a great weekend, no doubt, but the fan count was pretty low and there were, for sure, racers not attending who would normally have done so in previous years. It's something I think the sanctioning body really needs to be a bit more sensitive toward, if a big tree loses its roots, it will fall over. Now I am assuming (yes I am aware of what that does to you and me....), though maybe wrong, that this is related to the economy. Fans would not want to pay for two straight weekends racing and the 'big show' will always win this battle, and as for cars, team Force pulled their T/A D entries due to finances which they want to keep for national events, Dennis Taylor, FC pilot has a nostalgia ride now and I am not sure about a couple of others so I will not surmise any further.
All of the above been said, this weekend's race was great, there were enough cars to fill all fields, there were some new cars out, some older favourites and top names from up and down the left coast. It was great to see representation from my home province of British Columbia in the form of Richmond's Shawn Cowie, who not only showed up, he won the whole darn thing! Also there was great representation of Div.6 regulars, many of which I will look forward to seeing throughout 09 in the Northwest. Western Canada was 'in-da-house', with may runners out of Alberta trying to get away from the cold of winter while burnin' some rubber, and having fun. Couple all of this with smiling faces filling the pits because the long winter away from the track was finally over, the sweet smell of bbq filling the evening air under warm colorful sunsets and awnings stretching out over some very fine machinery. Yes, this is what I understand a drag race to be all about......
As with before, I have put a selection of images together that hopefully show, not only the competition, but also give you a feel for the weekend as a whole. I hope you enjoy. If you would like to view these images and more as a gallery, click here
Old Mustangs don't die, they just go higher and faster.....yah I know it's not that old, but work with me here people.
Super Gas is the class for you if you are a Corvette fan, they come in all shapes and ages, and usually wear some of the best paint out there.
The bright sunshine in Arizona really accentuates some of the cool body lines of these race cars
Hopefully I will be able to get scoop on this story.........
"Hey Dude, I got this itch, d'ya mind"
We got funny cars going in every direction! Here, Swedish import Leif Andreasson, readies himself for a burnout as "The Woz" roles across behind him.
Like many drivers, Shawn Cowie packs his own chutes.
A nice candid shot of Alberta's Joe Delehay. He was running his Promod in Comp Elim this weekend and completely dominated until he withdrew after winning in Rnd 1, siting his 'testing for the next P/M race' was done
Tony Bartone back in his office, get another deal done.
Todd Hoerner with new car, new backing from Sonny's and tons of potential. This weekend he beat himself with a red light in Rnd 1.
Want a cool burnout, come see Top Sportsman. A bunch of nasty door cars gettin' it done.
Sean O'Bannon, no longer with Tequila Patron, but not missing a beat as he wins the T/A Coupe class this weekend with a dominant performance from Friday on. Here you can see his rear tires lifted off the track as the chutes deploy.
Chris Demke launching hard in T/A Dragster.
Keeter Ray smacked the wall pretty hard as he got out of shape off the line trying to get into the show on his final qualifying attempt.
As previously mentioned, Top Sportsman is full of very cool cars, like this ol' Chev driven by Robert Costa.
Jason Rupert burns out under the afternoon sun in Arizona
Jim Whitely had a very strong car on this weekend, it was unfortunate for him he met an even stronger Shawn Cowie in the first round.
Steve Gasperelli leaving hard in Top Alcohol Funny Car
A late model Corvette Super Gasser of Rick Cayes Tx. getting the wheels up at the start.
Mark Niver, a local racer about to go into some tire shake
More wheels up action in Comp, this one by Don Thomas Ab..
Super Comp were like the poor cousin that got left until last as they run into the evening.
I liked how the light worked on this T/S car of Ted Carli.
Even Funny Cars were getting in on the wheels up action, in this case, Tony Bartone
Jim Whitely dong his burnout in Top Alcohol Dragster.
Some nice cross light on this Dodge truck racer
Anita Olsen debuted the Team Ynot Top Dragster, but lost in Rnd 1 action.
Tom Mettler raced his Dodge pickup truck all the way to the winners circle in Comp Eliminator.
"Okay Gentlemen, let's line 'em up"
Sportsman Motorcycle was well represented with old, new, young and old.
A blown Top Dragster driven by Jimmy Johnson (no not that one!) burns out, this was a fast competitive class.
Lucas Oil are fast becoming the big big sponsor in drag racing, this Super Comp being one of many cars flying the Lucas colors.
Mike Ferderer could only get the Grand Am up to the runner up placing on this weekend.
Some entertainment away from the track in between classes.
Normally running the FIA Championship in Europe, Leif Andreasson is going to run about eight N.American races before packing up and getting back in time for the Euro Season
Clint Thompson warming up the Mighty Monte
This very cool split window Corvette of Ray Martin, Alaska was a winner to kick his season off.
Ed Schmeekle got in the show at #7 but lost first round.
Eddy Plaizier goin' at it in Top Dragster for Alberta's Tean Ace.
Team Cowie ready to claim another victim on the blacktop.
Brian Thiel burns out the funny car in the warm sunshine
Chip Rumis had his T/S Cobalt and his T/D rail here looking fantastic, but niether got him past Rnd 1.
Paul Crifasi's team working on his FC into the evening
Alan Ellis in the beautiful little altered, always compeditive, but not quite good enough this weekend.
A classic Div.6 match up in Div.7, Ken Webster and Clint Thompson, I'm sure we'll see this again a few times this year.
John Patton, a proud Arizonian, shows his patronage with a gorgeous paint job on his T/A FC
Another one of those really pretty Corvettes in S/G
In Top Dragster Tyler Hogan got his new machine all outta shape and ended up on it's side with some fire
Speaking of fire, Ken Tupper had the old twin turbo ford going hard when the engine decided it needed a breather hole in the block, with the hot turbos sitting quite low, naturally a fire ensued.
And she kept burnin' all the way into the shutdown area.
Here he has just come to a halt and you can see how intense the fire was
Late model, older classics, pickup trucks, altereds, sportsman racing has it all....
Frank Nelson, another D6 runner out of Washington, seen here running the Cavalier hard in T/S
And your winner is........ Shawn Cowie doing a burnout
Mike Blogett heatin' the hides on his S/G hot rod.
The Champ in back! Tony Bartone returned to Top Alcohol after some years in Fuel Funny Cars. He is a past Champion in the T/A FC class.
A Plethora of Super Comp cars are a common sight at divisional events.
Dale Carson does a big smokey burnout for maximum traction (and probably max fun as well).
Chaz Mclaws backs up his Firebird FC at Firebird Raceway.
Ah, there's nothing quite like a sunset burnout........as Mike Vattioni shows.
Dean Carter in the very cool slimgshot kicking out some heat
Joe Delehay playing the waiting game.
Brian Thiel's unique family photo album
Justin Lamb's other ride, a very sweet Camaro S/G racer
Cowie's young lady waits to back up her Champ after his burnout.
John Wickmann ready to go!
Dan Partridge warms the rubber while his compeditors look on.
Shawn Cowie smoked all-comers on this weekend.
Clint Thompson made a valiant effort but fell short when the chutes were finally pulled.
Justin Lamb was doing double duty with runs in S/G and Comp, but left empty handed at the end of the day.
The sun sets on another awesome weekend of badass hotrods tearing up the strip.
All good things........As usual please check in at 330 Images for more of my stuff and at Horsepower Heaven for another presentation of this work.
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