High Stakes High Drama Doorslammers!
Where to begin with the recent Doorwarz event at Mission Raceway Park? Maybe a bit of history is in order first……
The annual Pro Mod event at Mission used to be one of the most eagerly anticipated ones of the season, when it drew all the big names from B.C. and Alberta, and many from farther afield. But then, “legal” Pro Mod racing in the West went through some political turmoil and a split between the blown and nitrous camps, and Mission’s race was one of the victims, with the 2010 and 2011 events in particular being something less than stellar affairs. Last year, the decision was made to go with the growing U.S.-based West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association, and while the numbers of their members attending weren’t great (three, if memory serves), they put on a good enough show, with Mike Maggio in particular ripping off 260-mph runs in the fives.
Still, with “Outlaw” Pro Mod growing in the Western USA and Canada, it was felt that the time was right to put on a big-money event, and Doorwarz was put on the 2013 schedule, with several doorcar classes, led by Outlaw Pro Mod with a 32-car field and just about any engine combination imaginable, and a $20,000 cheque to the winner. Even the runner-up would get $5,000. Now that was sure to draw entries from far and wide.
And it did, for the most part, and if they had all shown up, there would have been more than 32 cars attempting to qualify. But they didn’t all show up, and 26 cars made runs in qualifying, led by California’s Rod Burbage in his ’69 Camaro, at 6.00 / 246. There was a definite drop-off in times after the top eight, who were all under 6.20, and the winner would likely come from that group. He did, as number three qualifier (at 6.12) John Scialpi from California, no stranger to Mission but who hadn’t raced here in some ten years, drove his nearly stock-dimensioned blown ’57 Chevy to the win and the big payout.
John Scialpi
The road from qualifying to victory lane was a long one, and Round One was certainly a good example of this, as we’d exceed the capacity of this website if we tried to describe all that happened in the 13 match-ups. Let’s just say that it was a microcosm of everything that is possible with drag racing, for better or worse, and that there were few races that ended up with the two cars very near each other at the finish line. Many weren’t even close at the starting line, if you get the drift. Maybe it would be best to pick out a few highlights (or lowlights) surrounding the top eight, and go from there.
Tony Moretto
Rod Burbage was unable to reverse from his burnout, remarkably the same problem he had in the third of four qualifying rounds (he didn’t run the fourth one, so this was twice in a row.) Given he was on a single, that meant he didn’t stage the car, and didn’t advance despite the guaranteed victory. Joe Delehay was pulling ahead of Tim Vogt and on a good run when the car went silent at half track, and Vogt got on the nitrous Corvette hard after his own issues, and just barely beat him to the finish line. Scialpi shook and shut off, but luckily, for him, he was on a single. In the good news department, Mission’s Jay Syvertsen wheeled his swoopy screw-blown ’57 Chevy to a good 6.14 / 239, Tony Moretto from Spruce Grove ran a good 6.26 / 230 in his new nitrous ’55 Chevy, and Saskatoon’s Mike Gondziola put down perhaps the pass of the event in the cool Saturday night air, a 6.10 / 238 in his pretty ’68 Camaro, thought to be his best ever, and the quickest nitrous-car run ever at Mission.
Mike Gondziola
And on it went from there, with no end to the wild and crazy happenings in the rest of the rounds on Sunday. Come the semi-finals, Round Four, all four cars had been in the “teens” or better, so it was wide open. Dawson Creek’s Dale Pedersen (turbo Monte Carlo) took on Syvertsen, left early and ran it through, which caused Syvertsen to do the same because he didn’t see the red light (big blower plus small windshield), and he seriously damaged the engine in his car in the process. In the other run, Washington’s Garrett Richards, last seen wheeling a fast full-size blown pickup, and now debuting his gorgeous new Mustang (powered by the unique Walt Austin blown Ford engine that NHRA wouldn’t allow into TAFC a few years ago, leading to the retirement of Pat Austin,) took on Scialpi, and left the starting line before the tree was activated.
So, Syvertsen borrowed a PSI Hemi from Jeremy Hanger for the final, but it wasn’t a straight drop-in transplant, requiring extensive front-end body modifications by car builder RH Race Cars, to the point where the Chevy had to be started “naked” in the burnout box before the front end could be attached. After all that work, a fluid leak was discovered after the burnout, the car was shut off, and Scialpi got his fourth(!) single in five rounds for the victory. When it’s your event, it’s your event. A 6.12 qualifier, two elimination runs in the 6.20s (including the final single), three shakers, and $20,000 richer!
Jay Syvertsen
What a race. While not in the tradition of “big numbers” and close racing at Mission, it was surely an upgrade over the previous few attempts at a Pro Mod race at Mission. All credit should go to track operators B.C. Custom Car Association and Dean Murdoch of Speedzone Magazine who worked long hours on promoting the event. That it didn’t quite turn out to be a full field of 32 cars running mostly side-by-side, breakage-free runs without incident was no fault of theirs, but it has to be said that this was not your “normal” drag racing event, and leave it at that. But John Scialpi had nothing to complain about, we know that much!
Photos and Posting by: Gerry Frechette
