Lucrative VP Racing Fuels Payout to Stawicki

By:  Mark Ackert

If Pro Mods are your thing then you were probably in the stands at Grandbend Motorplex this past weekend as 20 plus Pro Mods would take to the track in hopes of taking home the $10,000 grand prize that was up for grabs in the VP Racing Fuels Ultimate Pro Mod Showdown.  (continue reading…)

IHRA River Cree Rocky Mountain Nationals
June 25-27^th, 2010
Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton Embraces New Event Format 

By:  Bruce Biegler

The IHRA brought its new Nitro Jam event format to Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway for the first time ever and that played out to a jam-packed audience over three days.

While the IHRA Pro class car portion of the program was downscaled compared to previous years, the event was once again supplemented aggressively by Castrol Raceway management and the end result of the combined efforts was a rather entertaining weekend of racing.

Canadian drivers starred at pretty well every front.   The biggest event newsmakers were arguably local Funny Car drivers Tim Boychuk and John Evanchuk who both earned well deserved and hard fought event titles.

Boychuk, driver of the Edmonton-based Troy Lee Designs sponsored ‘77 Pontiac Firebird, dominated the IHRA’s Nitro Jam Prostalgia Nitro FC category from the get-go.  

In fact Tim won both days of competition and set both track and IHRA records with a super swift 5.810 secs and 247.38 mph best.   Tim beat St. Albert’s Todd Lesenko in the Saturday evening finale and topped Sherwood Park’s Andy Beauchemin for Sunday afternoon’s title.

“With the Funny Car we seemed to do everything well this weekend,” said Boychuk.  “Roland and Bob had a great tune-up in it and the car was near perfect to drive.  We tried to run “fives” every time because we felt the track would hold it.  To do that well at my home track is humbling – going into this race it was something I felt I just had to do.”

Hometown Hero - Tim Boychuk

Tim’s busy weekend also included running in Top Fuel as his group leased the Paton Racing dragster for the weekend too.   Driving that, Tim did make the Saturday TF final but lost a close 6.063 to 6.075 decision to Spencer Massey.

John Evanchuk’s win in Alcohol Funny Car was the first IHRA win for the veteran Canadian racer.    Driving his Big Eagle-sponsored Red Wolf Racing Pontiac Firebird, Evanchuk ambushed the pre-race favorites to win the title.

John ran a final round time of 5.846 secs at 243.46 mph to upset defending event champion Roger Bateman, who was driving Brian Friesen’s Y-Not Racing Mustang.  Evanchuk had earlier taken the measure of Scott McVey and Ken Webster after qualifying 3^rd for the 8-car field.

“It’s nice to beat such a great racer as Roger (Bateman),” said Evanchuk.  “We’ve both been at this a long time.  I’ve had a lot of bridesmaid finishes here – so it’s nice to finally emerge the winner.”

John Evanchuk Won in AFC

The event included a myriad of other Canadian drag racing highlights and stories, including strong event efforts by other Alberta-based drivers.

Calgary’s Ashley Bart made IHRA history when she won the Saturday evening Nitro Jam Pro Fuel class – becoming the first female, first Canadian and first supercharged TAD driver to accomplish that.  She almost duplicated the feat on Sunday afternoon.  After building huge starting line advantage she had a mechanical failure which handed the win to her opponent, Minnesota’s Jeff Hamelink.

Calgary’s Ricky Distefano placed runner-up in Pro Modified driving his awesome new 1970 Chevy Camaro.  It was Distefano’s 3^rd career final round appearance at the Rocky Mountain Naitonals.

Dean Branham (from Ardrossan AB) thrilled the overflow crowd by winning the Top Sportsman Elite 8 Shootout driving his ultra-cool turbocharged ’69 Barracuda.   Branham ran a career best ET (6.944 secs) and speed (209.69 mph) while doing that.

Just how cool is Dean Branham's Cuda?

Northern Nitro Jam Summary                                                             (By:  Larry Crum)

It was a great day for Canadian race fans and an even better day for Canadian racers during championship Sunday at the River Cree Resort and Casino Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals presented by MOPAR and E3 Spark Plugs at Castrol Raceway.

Canadian racers from across the country walked away with IHRA hardware during the final day of Canada’s biggest and most exciting race as nearly two dozen drivers came away winners, 16 of which were from provinces of Canada.

Headlining the list of winners from championship Sunday was Edmonton native Tim Boychuk who took home two Ironman trophies in front of a second straight packed house at Castrol Raceway. Adding to his big win Saturday night Boychuk walked away from his home track with an incredible two victories, two world records and nearly every track record spread over the Top Fuel and Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car categories.

“Two out of three is just wonderful. It was a fun and very cool weekend,” Boychuk said. “It would have been nice to do it with the other car, but we just weren’t able to pull it off. Still, what a weekend and what a year so far for this group.”

Boychuk produced one of the most captivating weekends of racing ever recorded at Edmonton’s crown jewel. In addition to setting numerous track and Nitro Jam records Boychuk was carted from car to car with only minutes between rounds and still came away victorious in two of three finals.

“There are just so many people to thank working on both cars. Two different crews, two different cars, to get to three finals in one weekend is fantastic,” Boychuk added.

In addition to Boychuk’s victory, Jeff Hamelink claimed his first Ironman of the season in the Pro Fuel category over 21-year-old sensation Ashley Bart and Bobby Lagana Jr. doubled up in Top Fuel.

Lagana (Scarsdale, N.Y.) also doubled up over the weekend in Top Fuel, ending Boychuk’s hopes of winning in two separate categories with his third straight victory.

In the final Lagana ran a surprising 4.951 E.T. at 278.81 mph to get around Boychuk who went up in smoke near halftrack. With the win Lagana takes over the Top Fuel championship lead with an impressive three victories in four finals during Nitro Jam’s “Western Swing.”

“There is a lot of luck involved in this sport and the last few races we have been mixing a lot of luck with some incredible tuning,” Lagana said. “What a job my dad, my brother, Bob Z, Wesley and the whole gang have done. It is very cool.”

“For the fans, that last run was for them. That was a little bit better than expected and to run that and make all these fans happy made my day,” Lagana said. “Overall the car is performing awesome and I have to give some of that credit to this awesome paint job, so Brian Olsen you better read this.”

In Pro Fuel Hamelink (Minneapolis, Minn.) brought home a well-deserved Ironman over Saturday night winner Ashley Bart. Hamelink, the only driver to compete in all five Nitro Jam events so far this season, picked up his first win in 10 tries this season.

“This is a really long time coming. This is event number five and it is the last day, so that is 10 races without a win. You would think somewhere in there we would come out on top,” Hamelink said. “And man it feels good to finally get it done. It wasn’t a pretty pass, but we will take it.”

Hamelink ran a 5.811/254.76 in the final to overtake Bart.

“We just can’t seem to hook to any of these tracks. Now we have it figured down to aerodynamics so we are going to make some changes before Grand Bend and see if we can get it to stick,” Hamelink said. “We have all kinds of power, we just haven’t been able to get it to the track.”

Hamelink is one of only two Americans to come away victorious in Edmonton, towing all the way from Minnesota to be a part of Canada’s biggest race.

In the first round Bart ran a session best 5.608 elapsed time at 258.71 miles-per-hour to get around Sereda and make her second straight final while Hamelink (6.101/243.41) defeated Falconer to set up the Canada versus U.S. Pro Fuel final.

Ashley Bart carved out some IHRA history!

Pro Modified returned to Nitro Jam competition in glorious fashion over the weekend and in that return Tommy Johanns will go down as the big winner. Johanns went three rounds on Sunday in the eight car qualified field, eventually meeting up with and eliminating Rick Distefano in the final.

Johanns, who qualified sixth on Saturday, ran a 6.334/222.99 in an easy win over Distefano who ran into trouble and was forced to shut if off early. Johanns also took down Dan Vogt and Yvonne Lucas to claim the Ironman in one of Nitro Jam’s oldest and most prestigious categories.

In Pro Nostalgia, the alcohol burning cousins to Prostalgia, two separate divisions were on hand competing in index racing.

In the Pro Nostalgia A category, running on a 6.90 index, Ron Sekura and his merry band of renegades claimed the victory with a near spot-on 6.994 elapsed time defeating Joey Steckler (6.946) in the final.

In the Pro Nostalgia B category, with a little slower 7.20 index, class veteran Darrell Webb (7.303) took home the Ironman by defeating Cody Anstead (7.243).

Two bike classes were also a part of Sunday’s championship action as Jason Arkinstall won in the nitro-powered Nitro Bike final over Ken Kent and Tony Clizbe defeated Gary Christopher to win the Pro Modified Bike category. Arkinstall ran a 6.672/204.54 in the Nitro Bike win and Clizbe put down a quick 7.364/190.81.

 
Click on photo to view event photo gallery

OK kids here we go!!…..just a teaser for our IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals coverage.  It is now our travel day back — much more will be turned on in stages this week.   

Here is the start of our event photo galley — which will receive some extreme expansion over the next couple of days as we add in more images — so check back.

You can view the event gallery here:  http://www.dragracecanada.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=53954

10th Anniversary OSCA Season — In High Gear!

Story and Photos by: Mark Ackert

Many organizations fail to reach their 10 year anniversary.  It takes so much time and effort that the weak don’t stand a chance.  When your customers become friends, you know you have succeeded.  Entering its 10th year of operation, the Ontario Street Car Association has been called a family more often then a racing organization.  Race #2 of the 2010 was recently held at Toronto Motorsports Park where a large number the OSCA’s faithful racers came out to dance in hopes of taking home the “Big Cheque”. (continue reading…)

Y-Not Form an Alliance?

 By:  Bruce Biegler  

In one of the bigger developments so far this drag racing season, Manitoba-based race car owner Brian Friesen has announced a new direction for his already very formidable TAFC racing team and his driver Roger Bateman. (continue reading…)

Track & Canadian Records Set During GBM All Bike Weekend

By:  Paul Spriet 

 This past weekend both Canadian and Track records were set on Saturday and Sunday during our Hully Gully Summer Sizzler and Rocky’s Fathers Day “Harleys by the Beach” event.

 On Saturday Bud Yoder from Flint Michigan competing in the Canadian Fastest Street Bike Shootout presented by RCC Turbo’s set a new Canadian record of 204.10MPH for a street bike. This was the first 200MPH pass in Canadian history, Bud went on to win the event running   7.905 seconds  at 188.91MPH  in the final to defeat Rob Budgell of Port Huron Michigan who ran 8.093 seconds at 179.67MPH.

 Sunday the Rocky’s Harley by the Beach event featured the largest Nitro Harley race ever held in Eastern Canada featuring 15 Nitro Harleys (11 Top Fuel Harleys and 4 Pro Drag Harleys). The event was won by Jay Turner from Julian North Carolina as he set a new Track MPH record covering the ¼ mile in 6.408 seconds at 228.71MPH in the final to defeat Damian Cowden of Victoria B.C. who had an impressive 6.577second run at 215.56MPH.  The Nitro Shootout for non qualifiers was won by Mike Pelrine from Alberta with a 6.696 second run at 205.33MPH. The Pro Drag race was won by Craig Pelrine.

 In addition to the great racing, close to 1000 Harleys made their way to Grand Bend Motorplex on Sunday to enjoy some music, some socializing, and a perfect summer day. In total there were 14 races held over the weekend, with all the results available at: www.grandbendmotorplex.com

By: Ian Rae

Randy Jewell gunning for the opposition in Canada! 

Former NSCA World Champion Randy Jewell is heading to Canada this weekend on a mission. The RPM Family PowerFest and Media Weekend presented by Lucas Oil Products FEATURING the VP Racing Fuels Ultimate Pro Mod Showdown! will see the Holley, NY based team return to Canada after an absence of two years. Jewell explained, “We ran the PMRA and the Extreme Drag Race Shootout in 2008, we love coming to race in Canada and we are coming back loaded for bear. It will be an interesting weekend, I will have to drive a tactical race but make no mistake our sights are set on going all the way.” Jewell was particularly upbeat about the fact that he plans on unveiling a new marketing partner during the event. He went on, “The people we have aligned ourselves with are the best in the business at what they do, I can’t say too much about who they are but we plan to unveil this thing with a bang on Saturday morning before the show gets on the road.”

New York's Randy Jewell heads to GBM this weekend...

Ian Rae
www.HeadsUpRacer.com

FORCE REGAINS LEAD WITH RECORD 130^th WIN

(By: NHRA Communications)

Drag racing icon John Force reclaimed the overall NHRA FC points lead with his NHRA-record 130^th career win Sunday at the 10^th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

The other winners at the 12^th race in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Series season were Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

After qualifying sixth, Force defeated Paul Lee, Matt Hagan and Bob Tasca to reach his 207^th career final round where he easily defeated Tim Wilkerson with a 4.317-second pass at 285.59 mph to Wilkerson’s stumbling 12.365 at 31.80.

“To get this win is really great. I’ll be honest, I was jacked up on so much Full Throttle I thought I was going to explode … oxygen, everything I could take just to keep up with the kids,” said the 61-year old Force, who left Bristol with a 58-point lead over teammate Robert Hight as he seeks to win his NHRA-record 15th championship. “I’m going to stay young and thank the fans who keep screaming and giving me the energy.”

Force, who drives the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, had led the point standings after the first nine races before ceding the lead momentarily to Hight for Races 10 and 11.

Wilkerson, meanwhile, wasn’t able to gain any positions in the point standings – he remained in ninth – but he and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford team did move 111 points clear of 11^th-place Jeff Arend with five races left in the Countdown to 10 regular season.

Schumacher and the U.S. Army team also qualified sixth and seemed fated for a second-round match up with rival and points-leader Larry Dixon and the Al-Anabi team in the second round, but No. 14 qualifier Morgan Lucas put that to rest with his upset of Dixon in the first round.

So Schumacher didn’t meet a higher qualified racer until the semis when he dispatched of No. 2 qualifier Cory McClenathan and the FRAM dragster team, and then he secured his fourth win of 2010 and 65^th of his career with a 3.982 at 306.53 in the final-round win over No. 4 qualifier Brandon Bernstein and the Copart/Lucas Oil team (4.054 at 272.56).

This was also Schumacher’s 100^th career final round.

“That was an amazing deal, me, Dixon (98) and (Joe) Amato were all at 99 (final rounds) and only one guy’s getting to 100 first. To be the first to go to 100 finals in Top Fuel is just awesome,” said Schumacher, who became the second Top Fuel driver and third overall to clinch his berth in the Countdown to 1.

In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards captured his NHRA-best eighth win before hitting second gear in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP as final-round opponent Rickie Jones red-lighted.

“Bristol Dragway is probably my favorite place to come race, just an awesome place. The fans … they’re just race fans, no matter what kind of racing it is, they’re race fans,”

Edwards said. “It is my second time winning here and with so much heritage and tradition around here, this track and that big track over there, it’s just a real honor to come here and run good and win this race.”

SMITH WINS THIRD STRAIGHT NHRA GSA PRO MOD EVENT

Von Smith won his second straight NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series race in his Barwa/Al-Anabi Racing ’68 Camaro to take command of the points lead.

In the finals, Smith gave up 12-hundredths to Jay Payne at the tree, but he tracked him down with a 5.994 at 241.54 to Payne’s 6.039 at 240.36 in his new Ford Mustang. He now leads second-place Danny Rowe by 92 points.

Smith qualified fifth, but because of a series upsets on his half of the ladder he didn’t meet a higher-qualified driver until the final when he was matched up against No. 2 qualifier Payne.

En route to the final, Smith defeated No. 12 qualifier Tony Pontieri, No. 13 Rick Stivers and No. 8 Ray Commisso.

John Force’s FC win was his record 130th NHRA victory
(Bruce Biegler Photo)

Story & Photos by:  Gerry Frechette

Incredible Conditions at Mission — Produce Flurry of Personal Bests!

There were many story lines at the West Coast Pro Mod Challenge at Mission Raceway Park, but who would have thought that the racing conditions being almost too good would be one of them? (continue reading…)