|
Transition Victory for Paul Noakes
Bruce Biegler - July 24, 2008
 London Ontario's Paul Noakes may have enjoyed his finest hour in the sport of drag racing last weekend after capturing his 5th career IHRA national event victory during the 8th Annual IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex.
The victory marked a career milestone for Noakes -- it was his first as the driver for Terry McMillen's Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team. Noakes, who had been an independent Canadian racer for over a decade, was pegged as McMillen's Alcohol Funny Car team driver earlier this season.
 At Grand Bend, Paul won the Mopar Canadian Nationals for the 2nd year in a row when he scored in an exciting final round dash over fellow Canadian driver Larry Dobbs. Noakes moved first in the Amalie Oil-sponsored "Instigator" Dodge Avenger and ultimately took a 5.869 secs 238.55 mph to 5.934 secs 237.75 mph win-light.
Noakes had entered Sunday's final eliminations qualified 5th and he beat the very formidable cars campaigned by Tom Carter and Robbie Atchison in earlier competition.
 "This was always a competitive car but we now seem to have been able to take it to the next level," said Noakes. "I have to thank everyone on our team for that, from our crew chief Les Mellows down. Everyone on this team has a place to be and things to do -- and they all did it exactly right."
"To win at Grand Bend in front of our home fans and parallel to Terry's win in Top Fuel is about as perfect as it could be," he added. "I've had this dream for a long time -- now it is turning into a passion. This is our third final in a row and we plan to keep this up. If we can keep plugging away and make our own success -- maybe we can close the gap on Laurie Cannister (current IHRA AFC points leader).
Noakes' event win on Sunday was preceded by a special presentation on Friday night during which he and his crew chief Les Mellows received their NitroMoose sculptures signifying their elections as the Pro Driver and Crew Chief of the year for 2007. That result was a selection by Canadian fans during DragRaceCanada's on-line pole last winter.
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
| 
