Post by sportf on Aug 31, 2020 1:55:06 GMT
We all know from the internet that Kevin Miller wins this race and Greg Deaton was runner up, but here is the details that made that happen.
29 Victory Race cars and team members gathered there stuff up and made the trip to Cordova. Friday, 28 August all racers were in attendance to hit the track one time and then get ready to race on Saturday, August 29th.
Drivers meeting information to be covered in a different write up.
Qualifying.
Friday was a rather warm and muggy day and we all knew the weather was to change radically by Saturday morning. And change it did. We knew the pass on Friday would be slow due to the air, but I think everybody did a poor job in estimating how much better the weather was on Saturday.
Saturday Qualifying
During a warm up run prior to a test pass, Dalton Bruemmer and companion were cruising past Dan Beals' pit area when suddenly the car comes to a screeching halt and both occupants jump out and run from the car! Beal and team thought for sure the car had caught fire from the looks of things and were running to assist when it turns out only to be a minor problem. Seems a mouse had found the car to be a great napping place the night before and had had enough of this warm up stuff to want out. And when he ran under the feet of a certain female, she thought it a good time to let him out. Dalton was great on the brakes, and was pretty good on the tree later on in the day.
Most all racers ran too fast on the first pass on Saturday, with some so much so, the thought of dropping to a faster index was there. With the final qualifier, Bob Westhoff got the number one qualifier running right on with a 2.
Kurt Tevault put on a show that impressed everybody who saw it when he made his first qualifying pass. With a wheels up launch as smooth as silk, he carried the front wheels past the 330 foot mark. Shifting gears and setting the fronts down about as graceful as possible coming down from that much air. I will say that is the most impressive wheelie I have EVER personally seen, or ever will see. Kurt said he stayed in it as he didn't want to crush another oil pan and he could see he was going straight, so kept on feeding it fuel. Kurt needs wheelie bars. No one is disputing that. This should show up on the net as somebody got a video of it.
First Round
It turns out drag racing can be kind of a rough sport. For all the effort and cost to get to the track and race, half of us are done after the first round. But its the excitement and friendship that brings us here, and back again, regardless of that first round result. That absolute excitement of the tree coming down and the fuel to the floor feels pretty addictive, and it brings us back time and again. Its better than sitting at home on the porch, and it makes memories. And at some time in our lives, all we will be able to do is remember. I prefer to make some good memories at the race track.
First pair down the track was past Champion Clay Kossuth and Bill Ping. Clay laid a pretty good light on Bill, and despite Bill running right on (11.000), Clay took that win.
Next up Bob Lantero ran Jim Hagenhoff. According to Jim, he was kind of watching Bob go down the track and then thought, maybe I should look at the tree. Well, enough said about that round. That may be a new way to loose, remember that.
Next, mouse proof, Dalton Bruemmer, took on Jim Shelton in the battle of the 65's, Plymouth against Dodge. Both Don Bruemmer and I were in the staging lanes listening to the announcer the best we could at this point. I clearly heard that Dalton had won and with that looked over at Don, hoping he had heard. I wasn't sure if Don did, but I did see him close his door after that. For the fun guy Don is, he gets pretty serious in his race car and he never glanced at me, but I did give him the "thumbs up".
Next race was Greg Deaton against that beautiful Fairlane of Bob Mosher. Bob's car is just period perfect with just the right torque thrust wheels on it to make it look right. But we know at this point, Greg was in the finals. This round, both racers here had nearly identical reaction times and made it a great race right to the stripe, but only one gets the win light.
Next pair of racers were Dick Monaco, also in his very period correct Ford, running away from John Hamer's wedge rocket powered Barracuda. Dick's car was having no problem running the number and that actually was the problem. Dick broke out by a smidgeon giving the win to John. Having been behind John's car before on a launch, its interesting to note his car hit me as leaving like a trans brake car hitting the track with a 5000 RPM hit. But he's foot braking it, just like the rest of us. Its pretty neat racing cars like we have, and doing what we do simply with our feet. It's what we do to have fun.
Dustin Christensen was up against Phil Berens in a race of the 1966 Plymouths. Phil hit the gas a little too early in that hemi powered car, but it just wasn't Phil's day anyway, as that hit broke the throttle cable. They pushed his car off the track as Dustin shot down the track to take the win.
Shaun Johnston was up next against the Fairlane of Kevin Czasjkouski in a race that was probably the closest of all in the first round. With decent nearly identical reaction times the race was to be decided at the other end of the track. With both racers running just lightly over their index, Shaun took the win by less than inches. Kevin went home, Shaun would race on. That is the tough part about racing friends.
Next out of the staging lanes comes Don Bruemmer and this writer. Don, running 9.75, comes flying by me (10.75) at the top end at a very fast closing rate, which is hard to judge. I stayed on the right pedal hard but didn't know who crossed the line first. I find out later he was on the brakes approaching me. But I had a little bit better light at the other end of the track, breaking out, but less than Don. But, neither of us knew who won, or who took the stripe until we got to the time slip both. Great race Don.
Jay Freihage in his trunkless Barracuda, faced Jim Kroeger's clean 64 Dodge in this next round. It may have been the sight of the Barracuda's trunk hinges sticking in the air that gave Jim the willies, but he red bulbed on the launch, and in this rough sport, ended his afternoon early. (Jay's trunk lid was severely wrinkled in a trailer "kickout" accident in the pits, just prior to Friday's qualifier. This happened as another racer pulled into an opposing pit spot.)
Brad Whetland faced up against long time Nostalgia racer Steve Stahlschmidt in the next pair. Steve cut an almost perfect light in this round, but just on the wrong side of perfect. Brad would go on to several more rounds as the day wore on.
The Berens racing gang came with 3 race cars and 3 drivers and we know from above that Phil doesn't get to go to the second round. And now also in this first round it turns out father Russ and son Jason have to line up in this round against each other. Doesn't seem fair, but as I said, drag racing can be rough on you. Russ was hitting the tree with absolute killer lights all through qualifying and this did not go unnoticed by the rest of us. So as Jason and his dad lined up, we knew this was going to be tough on Jason. But Jason goes and cuts a respectable .038 light against his dad. But, and here is another rough fact, hitting the tree with a bunch of double oh's sometimes leads to a red bulb. And that is what happened, and Jason goes on.
Next up is Kevin Miller against Kurt Tevault's hemi Dodge wagon. Since we found out Kurt doesn't have a pilot's license, we requested of him to cut out the front end flying. Kevin cut a little better light than Kurt, and although Kurt ran right on, his afternoon of racing was done. It can be tough racing friends.
Lastly, Bob Westhoff gets the bye as number one qualifier. I must say this guy had been running the number every pass, even in that Friday night heat. This pass he ran it out and ran a smidgeon over his 12.25 index. He would run almost EXACTLY the same number next round.
Round 2
Greg Deaton and Jay Freihage line up in this round. In staging lane banter, Greg said he would protest this round if he lost by a trunk lid. He didn't have to protest. Jay ran faster than his 9.75 catching Greg at the stripe, and Jay became a round 3 spectator.
In the next pair, John Hamer and support team of wife and (good luck charm) daughter faced this writer, as the evening sun was just over the tops of the river side trees. With my index of 10.75 and John's 10.25 I knew he was going to be on my tail before I got out of first gear, and that was exactly where he was. As I worked through my gears and got into 3d I looked over and saw we were coming up on the 1000 foot mark, and he was closing fast enough that he was going to take the stripe by a good margin. This make you feel a little helpless at that point, but then, he dropped out of sight and I coasted through to the finish line. Turns out, when I got the time slip, he had red bulbed, and I didn't know it.
In the next pair, a couple of Mopars are going at it with the 65 Dodge of Jason Berens running Shaun Johnston's 66 Plymouth. With a pair of rather close reaction times, Shaun has another tight race on his hands. With Shaun's slightly better light, Jason runs under trying to stay ahead of Shaun, and Shaun goes on to race another round.
Out of the lanes now comes Dalton Bruemmer and Dustin Christensen to line up in an even 11.50 index race. Dalton puts a .008 light on Dustin, and Dustin breaks out trying to take the stripe. Mouse proof Dalton moves on.
New comer Brad Whetland then lines up against Bob Lantero's A body. Brad put a light on Bob, and both break out trying to "out stripe" each other at the big end. Brad breaks out less, and goes on to the first money round.
As the afternoon fades into the evening, Bob Westhoff lines up against Clay Kossuth. With close reaction times and close index numbers I'm not sure how Bob pulled off this win, but he did. And now Bob goes on to the first money round.
Round 3
First out of the gate is this writer and Brad Whetland. With reaction times within .004 of each other it was a race to the stripe. But, Brad ran the stripe perfectly, where as I didn't, and he goes onto the semi finals.
Next Kevin Miller takes on Bob Westhoff. Westhoff hits Miller with a .029 light and Miller hits back with a .020 light. Both break out fighting each other with Miller breaking out less. We know Miller goes on to win, and that is how he does it, just like that.
Next pair is Shaun Johnston running Dalton Bruemmer in an all Plymouth race. Dalton stays ahead of Shaun, but breaks out in doing so. At this point, Shaun agrees he is having a pretty good day.
Greg Deaton gets the bye run into the semi's and runs it out in a slightly under test pass.
Round 4 Semi Finals
Greg Deaton runs Shaun Johnston. With reaction times again separated by only .004, Greg takes the win in a tight top end battle. New member Greg goes to the finals.
Kevin Miller takes on Brad Whetland. Kevin wins when Brad breaks out by .003 and Miller runs on with a 6. That is tight racing right there.
Finals
,
Well, we know who one already, and now for the little details. These racers were called up to run, then only to be pushed back in the staging lanes waiting for the pro show to finish up. This took quite some time, nearing an hour wait. Kevin had to re-warm his car up just prior to pulling out of the staging lanes. Maybe that made the difference. With both cars staged, Kevin launches, driving down the track on his 11.75 a full second plus, before Greg launches on his 10.75. Notice I said a full second plus. Greg's slower light cost him, but he did run right on with a 6. Of course, if you can make it to the finals, you've had a pretty good day, and everybody reading this will agree to that. With pictures of these two winners taken, we called it an end to a great day of racing.
29 Victory Race cars and team members gathered there stuff up and made the trip to Cordova. Friday, 28 August all racers were in attendance to hit the track one time and then get ready to race on Saturday, August 29th.
Drivers meeting information to be covered in a different write up.
Qualifying.
Friday was a rather warm and muggy day and we all knew the weather was to change radically by Saturday morning. And change it did. We knew the pass on Friday would be slow due to the air, but I think everybody did a poor job in estimating how much better the weather was on Saturday.
Saturday Qualifying
During a warm up run prior to a test pass, Dalton Bruemmer and companion were cruising past Dan Beals' pit area when suddenly the car comes to a screeching halt and both occupants jump out and run from the car! Beal and team thought for sure the car had caught fire from the looks of things and were running to assist when it turns out only to be a minor problem. Seems a mouse had found the car to be a great napping place the night before and had had enough of this warm up stuff to want out. And when he ran under the feet of a certain female, she thought it a good time to let him out. Dalton was great on the brakes, and was pretty good on the tree later on in the day.
Most all racers ran too fast on the first pass on Saturday, with some so much so, the thought of dropping to a faster index was there. With the final qualifier, Bob Westhoff got the number one qualifier running right on with a 2.
Kurt Tevault put on a show that impressed everybody who saw it when he made his first qualifying pass. With a wheels up launch as smooth as silk, he carried the front wheels past the 330 foot mark. Shifting gears and setting the fronts down about as graceful as possible coming down from that much air. I will say that is the most impressive wheelie I have EVER personally seen, or ever will see. Kurt said he stayed in it as he didn't want to crush another oil pan and he could see he was going straight, so kept on feeding it fuel. Kurt needs wheelie bars. No one is disputing that. This should show up on the net as somebody got a video of it.
First Round
It turns out drag racing can be kind of a rough sport. For all the effort and cost to get to the track and race, half of us are done after the first round. But its the excitement and friendship that brings us here, and back again, regardless of that first round result. That absolute excitement of the tree coming down and the fuel to the floor feels pretty addictive, and it brings us back time and again. Its better than sitting at home on the porch, and it makes memories. And at some time in our lives, all we will be able to do is remember. I prefer to make some good memories at the race track.
First pair down the track was past Champion Clay Kossuth and Bill Ping. Clay laid a pretty good light on Bill, and despite Bill running right on (11.000), Clay took that win.
Next up Bob Lantero ran Jim Hagenhoff. According to Jim, he was kind of watching Bob go down the track and then thought, maybe I should look at the tree. Well, enough said about that round. That may be a new way to loose, remember that.
Next, mouse proof, Dalton Bruemmer, took on Jim Shelton in the battle of the 65's, Plymouth against Dodge. Both Don Bruemmer and I were in the staging lanes listening to the announcer the best we could at this point. I clearly heard that Dalton had won and with that looked over at Don, hoping he had heard. I wasn't sure if Don did, but I did see him close his door after that. For the fun guy Don is, he gets pretty serious in his race car and he never glanced at me, but I did give him the "thumbs up".
Next race was Greg Deaton against that beautiful Fairlane of Bob Mosher. Bob's car is just period perfect with just the right torque thrust wheels on it to make it look right. But we know at this point, Greg was in the finals. This round, both racers here had nearly identical reaction times and made it a great race right to the stripe, but only one gets the win light.
Next pair of racers were Dick Monaco, also in his very period correct Ford, running away from John Hamer's wedge rocket powered Barracuda. Dick's car was having no problem running the number and that actually was the problem. Dick broke out by a smidgeon giving the win to John. Having been behind John's car before on a launch, its interesting to note his car hit me as leaving like a trans brake car hitting the track with a 5000 RPM hit. But he's foot braking it, just like the rest of us. Its pretty neat racing cars like we have, and doing what we do simply with our feet. It's what we do to have fun.
Dustin Christensen was up against Phil Berens in a race of the 1966 Plymouths. Phil hit the gas a little too early in that hemi powered car, but it just wasn't Phil's day anyway, as that hit broke the throttle cable. They pushed his car off the track as Dustin shot down the track to take the win.
Shaun Johnston was up next against the Fairlane of Kevin Czasjkouski in a race that was probably the closest of all in the first round. With decent nearly identical reaction times the race was to be decided at the other end of the track. With both racers running just lightly over their index, Shaun took the win by less than inches. Kevin went home, Shaun would race on. That is the tough part about racing friends.
Next out of the staging lanes comes Don Bruemmer and this writer. Don, running 9.75, comes flying by me (10.75) at the top end at a very fast closing rate, which is hard to judge. I stayed on the right pedal hard but didn't know who crossed the line first. I find out later he was on the brakes approaching me. But I had a little bit better light at the other end of the track, breaking out, but less than Don. But, neither of us knew who won, or who took the stripe until we got to the time slip both. Great race Don.
Jay Freihage in his trunkless Barracuda, faced Jim Kroeger's clean 64 Dodge in this next round. It may have been the sight of the Barracuda's trunk hinges sticking in the air that gave Jim the willies, but he red bulbed on the launch, and in this rough sport, ended his afternoon early. (Jay's trunk lid was severely wrinkled in a trailer "kickout" accident in the pits, just prior to Friday's qualifier. This happened as another racer pulled into an opposing pit spot.)
Brad Whetland faced up against long time Nostalgia racer Steve Stahlschmidt in the next pair. Steve cut an almost perfect light in this round, but just on the wrong side of perfect. Brad would go on to several more rounds as the day wore on.
The Berens racing gang came with 3 race cars and 3 drivers and we know from above that Phil doesn't get to go to the second round. And now also in this first round it turns out father Russ and son Jason have to line up in this round against each other. Doesn't seem fair, but as I said, drag racing can be rough on you. Russ was hitting the tree with absolute killer lights all through qualifying and this did not go unnoticed by the rest of us. So as Jason and his dad lined up, we knew this was going to be tough on Jason. But Jason goes and cuts a respectable .038 light against his dad. But, and here is another rough fact, hitting the tree with a bunch of double oh's sometimes leads to a red bulb. And that is what happened, and Jason goes on.
Next up is Kevin Miller against Kurt Tevault's hemi Dodge wagon. Since we found out Kurt doesn't have a pilot's license, we requested of him to cut out the front end flying. Kevin cut a little better light than Kurt, and although Kurt ran right on, his afternoon of racing was done. It can be tough racing friends.
Lastly, Bob Westhoff gets the bye as number one qualifier. I must say this guy had been running the number every pass, even in that Friday night heat. This pass he ran it out and ran a smidgeon over his 12.25 index. He would run almost EXACTLY the same number next round.
Round 2
Greg Deaton and Jay Freihage line up in this round. In staging lane banter, Greg said he would protest this round if he lost by a trunk lid. He didn't have to protest. Jay ran faster than his 9.75 catching Greg at the stripe, and Jay became a round 3 spectator.
In the next pair, John Hamer and support team of wife and (good luck charm) daughter faced this writer, as the evening sun was just over the tops of the river side trees. With my index of 10.75 and John's 10.25 I knew he was going to be on my tail before I got out of first gear, and that was exactly where he was. As I worked through my gears and got into 3d I looked over and saw we were coming up on the 1000 foot mark, and he was closing fast enough that he was going to take the stripe by a good margin. This make you feel a little helpless at that point, but then, he dropped out of sight and I coasted through to the finish line. Turns out, when I got the time slip, he had red bulbed, and I didn't know it.
In the next pair, a couple of Mopars are going at it with the 65 Dodge of Jason Berens running Shaun Johnston's 66 Plymouth. With a pair of rather close reaction times, Shaun has another tight race on his hands. With Shaun's slightly better light, Jason runs under trying to stay ahead of Shaun, and Shaun goes on to race another round.
Out of the lanes now comes Dalton Bruemmer and Dustin Christensen to line up in an even 11.50 index race. Dalton puts a .008 light on Dustin, and Dustin breaks out trying to take the stripe. Mouse proof Dalton moves on.
New comer Brad Whetland then lines up against Bob Lantero's A body. Brad put a light on Bob, and both break out trying to "out stripe" each other at the big end. Brad breaks out less, and goes on to the first money round.
As the afternoon fades into the evening, Bob Westhoff lines up against Clay Kossuth. With close reaction times and close index numbers I'm not sure how Bob pulled off this win, but he did. And now Bob goes on to the first money round.
Round 3
First out of the gate is this writer and Brad Whetland. With reaction times within .004 of each other it was a race to the stripe. But, Brad ran the stripe perfectly, where as I didn't, and he goes onto the semi finals.
Next Kevin Miller takes on Bob Westhoff. Westhoff hits Miller with a .029 light and Miller hits back with a .020 light. Both break out fighting each other with Miller breaking out less. We know Miller goes on to win, and that is how he does it, just like that.
Next pair is Shaun Johnston running Dalton Bruemmer in an all Plymouth race. Dalton stays ahead of Shaun, but breaks out in doing so. At this point, Shaun agrees he is having a pretty good day.
Greg Deaton gets the bye run into the semi's and runs it out in a slightly under test pass.
Round 4 Semi Finals
Greg Deaton runs Shaun Johnston. With reaction times again separated by only .004, Greg takes the win in a tight top end battle. New member Greg goes to the finals.
Kevin Miller takes on Brad Whetland. Kevin wins when Brad breaks out by .003 and Miller runs on with a 6. That is tight racing right there.
Finals
,
Well, we know who one already, and now for the little details. These racers were called up to run, then only to be pushed back in the staging lanes waiting for the pro show to finish up. This took quite some time, nearing an hour wait. Kevin had to re-warm his car up just prior to pulling out of the staging lanes. Maybe that made the difference. With both cars staged, Kevin launches, driving down the track on his 11.75 a full second plus, before Greg launches on his 10.75. Notice I said a full second plus. Greg's slower light cost him, but he did run right on with a 6. Of course, if you can make it to the finals, you've had a pretty good day, and everybody reading this will agree to that. With pictures of these two winners taken, we called it an end to a great day of racing.