Ok guys here's where I try to write a little something about the stuff that stood out for me at the event. I should start by saying that I am terrible with names. I'll remember your face, what injectors you're running, I'll even notice if you got new tires, but I'll almost NEVER remember your name. So that makes it hard to write about what you did or said...but here goes...
Ron Neisler, Steve Murdock, Sean Miles and that other dude from Idaho! Thanks for making the trip! Ron's car always looks good and runs excellent. It always stands out for me because thats my favorite color combo (two tone grey) Steve took home the best reaction time plaque with a .500. I don't recall seeing him drinking a lot of coffee, it must just be clean living aye Steve? Sean Miles is a heck of a nice guy. My fondest memories of Sean was when he won Vegas in 2001 and bought drinks the rest of the night
His car had a lot of nice parts on it, and it was starting to come around as the weekend went on. I think he has since sold it though. Come back with the chassis car next year Sean!
There were a lot of Canadian cars this year! We even had the President of the GNRA Paul Russell on the grounds with his GN. Gurtz Singh was there with his new car. Gurtz is a good friend, if I'm out past midnight at all during the event, you can bet Gurtz is probably there with a beer in his hand. Rob Stariha came back for the second year in a row, and took home a bunch of our struggling American dollars Rob has obviously got some racing talent because we all know how stellar all the other racers were right?! Richard Soon graced us with his presence yet again. If the event is ever cancelled, I don't think I'll tell Richard, I'd hate to miss seeing him at least once over the summer. He is just a hell of a nice guy to hang out with. He's always happy to be here, and he's always ready to race. He finally hurt his motor with a blown gasket. We're all very anxious to see what kind of bullet ends up between the fenders of that GN next year! Clayton Crofton made the trip, brought his car, and then hurt the tranny! I didn't get a chance to talk a lot with Clayton but I hope to do so next year when he's back with a tight trans. Big Al Simpson was on hand and ran his car a fair amount before trailering it in favor of zero breakage. Shawn McCracken sat down with us at dinner on Saturday night, and I tried to keep his mug full. His GN powered S10 Blazer is cool, but I think he had some overheating problems at some point. This was the biggest turnout we have ever had from Canada. We missed having the "defending champion" there Darcy Soon, his wife delivered a baby one week prior to the event and for some reason he couldn't make the trip We hope to see him back next year ripping off those killer 60' times and low 10 second ET's. Larry Braine<spelling? was there also but without his car???!!! I'm sure that I'm forgetting a few folks who made the long trip from Canada....
Len Freeman, I was very flattered that Len would make the tow all the way from Vegas. I've towed my car to Vegas once from Portland and it is a long haul! Len's car is very nicely done. I'm a sucker for those skinny wheels and tires up front! Len ran his best ET/Speed ever at TTIV which should have made the drive home a little sweeter. He posted a 10.40-something at 130 MPH! Hope to see you in Vegas in October Len!
The crazy bunch of people from Washington???!!!! What happened up there in the past year? The greater Seattle area seems to be a hot-bed of turbo Buick activity lately, I see it here on the board weekly. Gene Fleury was on hand (of course) he's one of the biggest event supporters and he even tossed in some cash for the payouts! I was glad to see him win it back when he took the win in Turbo Super Pro. Pat and Wanda Brooks, it was nice to meet you, and I hope to see you back with a Buick next year, if not we will make room for your Syclone for sure. Dan Huffman was kind enough to pick up our dinner tab on Friday night, thanks again Dan. Dan has had good luck in eliminations, he went a few rounds on Saturday. Don't change a thing on that car Dan, it looks great. Dennis Hogan was on hand to show us what a Stage II car can run like in the heat. He ran something like 11 passes and all were in the 9's. at 140-ish MPH. The track was not prepped for cars like Dennis' and he had traction problems for sure. His son Scott was driving his slightly slower 10.70-ish street car. Scott showed dad no mercy in eliminations where he ran a 11.17 to Dad's 10.09. I'll be kind to Dennis and not post the reaction times On the other side of the ET scale was Pat Lippy who was posting times in the 17's. He's a good sport about it, and only asks that people wave as they go by. I thnk I saw a few people swerving next to Pat so maybe they really did?! Chris Cairns was on hand with Mike Dopkins and others from the Spokane area. Chris trailered his street car early, and I didn't hear why. I hope to see him back next year causing trouble with his race car. There were plenty others from the Evergreen state, but this post is getting too long as it is!
The local boys were on hand too. Ryan Guy made us all proud by laying down a 9.96 @ 136.2. I don't think Ryan is still trying to keep the blue bottle in the trunk a secret. Bottle or not, that is a stock block Buick under the hood, and it takes some sizable stones to keep your foot down for a pass like that knowing that a grenade exists inside your engine block. Dan Powell was on the grounds just torturing his stock long-block WE4. He ran a personal best of 11.04 @ 121.5 in 90+ degree heat. I'm guessing that his first 10 is coming soon. Terry Ryan was there with his sleeper turbo mini-van. He helped out many folks with tuning as per his reputation. Scott James was there too, he drives a nicely built Turbo Mustang, the heat was not kind to Scotts car, but he should be picking up his 10 second slip in cooler weather. Stay off the guardrail ok Scott?! Rhett Lee was on hand but his car was running soft so he lost early in eliminations. Rhetts car should be an excellent sleeper with a fresh trans. Lalo showed up but his torque converter didn't so he couldn't bring out his car.
Last but not least, my old buddy Gary Woods ran his first 12 second et. It was a very hard earned accomplishment! Gary put a lot of effort into getting that time slip. Everything all came together on Saturday morning after he found a bad spark plug and his wife and daughters were on hand to see it...all the stars were lined up for that 12.95 pass. I think Gary had a tear in his eye after picking up that timeslip. Way to go man!
Whats left to say except....damn it was hot!
Ron Neisler, Steve Murdock, Sean Miles and that other dude from Idaho! Thanks for making the trip! Ron's car always looks good and runs excellent. It always stands out for me because thats my favorite color combo (two tone grey) Steve took home the best reaction time plaque with a .500. I don't recall seeing him drinking a lot of coffee, it must just be clean living aye Steve? Sean Miles is a heck of a nice guy. My fondest memories of Sean was when he won Vegas in 2001 and bought drinks the rest of the night
His car had a lot of nice parts on it, and it was starting to come around as the weekend went on. I think he has since sold it though. Come back with the chassis car next year Sean!There were a lot of Canadian cars this year! We even had the President of the GNRA Paul Russell on the grounds with his GN. Gurtz Singh was there with his new car. Gurtz is a good friend, if I'm out past midnight at all during the event, you can bet Gurtz is probably there with a beer in his hand. Rob Stariha came back for the second year in a row, and took home a bunch of our struggling American dollars
Rob has obviously got some racing talent because we all know how stellar all the other racers were right?! Richard Soon graced us with his presence yet again. If the event is ever cancelled, I don't think I'll tell Richard, I'd hate to miss seeing him at least once over the summer. He is just a hell of a nice guy to hang out with. He's always happy to be here, and he's always ready to race. He finally hurt his motor with a blown gasket. We're all very anxious to see what kind of bullet ends up between the fenders of that GN next year! Clayton Crofton made the trip, brought his car, and then hurt the tranny! I didn't get a chance to talk a lot with Clayton but I hope to do so next year when he's back with a tight trans. Big Al Simpson was on hand and ran his car a fair amount before trailering it in favor of zero breakage. Shawn McCracken sat down with us at dinner on Saturday night, and I tried to keep his mug full. His GN powered S10 Blazer is cool, but I think he had some overheating problems at some point. This was the biggest turnout we have ever had from Canada. We missed having the "defending champion" there Darcy Soon, his wife delivered a baby one week prior to the event and for some reason he couldn't make the trip We hope to see him back next year ripping off those killer 60' times and low 10 second ET's. Larry Braine<spelling? was there also but without his car???!!! I'm sure that I'm forgetting a few folks who made the long trip from Canada....Len Freeman, I was very flattered that Len would make the tow all the way from Vegas. I've towed my car to Vegas once from Portland and it is a long haul! Len's car is very nicely done. I'm a sucker for those skinny wheels and tires up front! Len ran his best ET/Speed ever at TTIV which should have made the drive home a little sweeter. He posted a 10.40-something at 130 MPH! Hope to see you in Vegas in October Len!
The crazy bunch of people from Washington???!!!! What happened up there in the past year? The greater Seattle area seems to be a hot-bed of turbo Buick activity lately, I see it here on the board weekly. Gene Fleury was on hand (of course) he's one of the biggest event supporters and he even tossed in some cash for the payouts! I was glad to see him win it back when he took the win in Turbo Super Pro. Pat and Wanda Brooks, it was nice to meet you, and I hope to see you back with a Buick next year, if not we will make room for your Syclone for sure. Dan Huffman was kind enough to pick up our dinner tab on Friday night, thanks again Dan. Dan has had good luck in eliminations, he went a few rounds on Saturday. Don't change a thing on that car Dan, it looks great. Dennis Hogan was on hand to show us what a Stage II car can run like in the heat. He ran something like 11 passes and all were in the 9's. at 140-ish MPH. The track was not prepped for cars like Dennis' and he had traction problems for sure. His son Scott was driving his slightly slower 10.70-ish street car. Scott showed dad no mercy in eliminations where he ran a 11.17 to Dad's 10.09. I'll be kind to Dennis and not post the reaction times
On the other side of the ET scale was Pat Lippy who was posting times in the 17's. He's a good sport about it, and only asks that people wave as they go by. I thnk I saw a few people swerving next to Pat so maybe they really did?! Chris Cairns was on hand with Mike Dopkins and others from the Spokane area. Chris trailered his street car early, and I didn't hear why. I hope to see him back next year causing trouble with his race car. There were plenty others from the Evergreen state, but this post is getting too long as it is! The local boys were on hand too. Ryan Guy made us all proud by laying down a 9.96 @ 136.2. I don't think Ryan is still trying to keep the blue bottle in the trunk a secret. Bottle or not, that is a stock block Buick under the hood, and it takes some sizable stones to keep your foot down for a pass like that knowing that a grenade exists inside your engine block. Dan Powell was on the grounds just torturing his stock long-block WE4. He ran a personal best of 11.04 @ 121.5 in 90+ degree heat. I'm guessing that his first 10 is coming soon. Terry Ryan was there with his sleeper turbo mini-van. He helped out many folks with tuning as per his reputation. Scott James was there too, he drives a nicely built Turbo Mustang, the heat was not kind to Scotts car, but he should be picking up his 10 second slip in cooler weather. Stay off the guardrail ok Scott?! Rhett Lee was on hand but his car was running soft so he lost early in eliminations. Rhetts car should be an excellent sleeper with a fresh trans. Lalo showed up but his torque converter didn't so he couldn't bring out his car.
Last but not least, my old buddy Gary Woods ran his first 12 second et. It was a very hard earned accomplishment! Gary put a lot of effort into getting that time slip. Everything all came together on Saturday morning after he found a bad spark plug and his wife and daughters were on hand to see it...all the stars were lined up for that 12.95 pass. I think Gary had a tear in his eye after picking up that timeslip. Way to go man!
Whats left to say except....damn it was hot!
