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Grekul AA/FC Win Highlights Mission Open
Gerry Frechette - July 31, 2008
 Legendary chassis builder and car owner Steve Plueger has certainly taken control of Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car Racing on the West Coast, and that was evident this past weekend when his two team cars met up in the final of the Lucas Oil NHRA National Open at Mission Raceway Park.
It has usually been Austin in his Arrow scoring the victory, but this time, Mike Grekul of Edmonton in the “Plueger & Gyger” Mustang matched him all weekend in performance, and scored the close win in the final round.
 There were nine nitro FCs at Mission, although one of them, the “Pizza Haven” Plymouth of Twig Ziegler that looks just like the car he raced a third of a century ago, would just be licensing. There were two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, one of them late in the evening, and emerging as low qualifier was Austin with a 5.86, closely followed by Grekul at 5.88. Five cars ran in the fives, the last being Terry Capp with a 5.99, expected to be the biggest threat to the Plueger/Austin juggernaut. But, the Bubble-Up team's best engine was sacrificed in the process, with a fist-sized hole in the block, and the spare was missing a crank pulley that no one else there had. So they sat out on Sunday, to everyone's disappointment.
 Grekul and Austin each ran 5.83 in the first round, Mike's 5.830 being the quickest ever for the Nitro FC Association, and the other two five-second cars of Lee Paul Jennings and Kris Krabill advanced, too, so the semis looked to be a real shootout. Austin beat Krabill easily with a 5.88 when the latter spun and shut off with fluid under the tires, while Grekul downed Jennings, 5.87-6.02.
With the two cars within a couple of hundredths of each other all weekend, the final between Austin and Grekul looked to be close, but this one was decided by inches. Both left on .15 lights, both ran 235 mph, and Grekul took the win on a 5.86 to 5.87 count.
This event has long showcased the “low-budget” alcohol teams in this corner of the continent, with a unique format that sees the quickest two qualifiers in each of TAD and TAFC racing in the A-group, with the rest in the B-group, dragsters racing funny cars in all cases, and the floppers getting a .40 head start. With NHRA Wally trophies up for grabs in each group, the action was heated.
 Tim Nemeth's Camaro from Chilliwack and Garrett Bateman's A/Fuel car ran for the A-group laurels, and a good race it was, Nemeth with a slowing 5.90/223 to win, and Bateman almost catching him with a 5.51/246.
In the B-group, Bill Edwards of Sumas, Washington (only a few miles from Mission, so he is a local) got all the breaks, running three singles en route to the win. This 29 year-old car with no computer runs in the 5.60s, so the team didn't back into it.
 The Nitro Harleys were out in force, and emerging the victor was Jason Arkinstall of Surrey, who saved a Low ET 6.46 and Top Speed 211.76 to beat Langley's Jody York in the final.
Completing the feature attractions were the CPSA Pro Street cars, the best entry at Mission in years for this notably fractious group of teams, running cars that no one would really consider to be “street legal.” Having said that, Brian Lane from Washington had a big performance advantage in his Corvette against fellow American Garrett Richards, but threw away a quick 6.47 with a big red light, giving the TPR Chevy truck the win at 6.79.
Other winners included:
CPSA Outlaw 10.5 - Steve Nicholson, Aldergrove BC, nitrous '66 Nova
CPSA Open Comp - Glen Garneau. Delta BC, '70 Camaro
Top Comp - Dave Richardson, Langley BC, '97 Camaro
Stock/Super Stock Combo - Gary Howe Sr., Gig Harbor WA, GT/L '55 Chevy
Super Comp - Cody Scheu, Calgary AB, dragster
Super Gas - Lloyd Flatum, Marysville WA, '02 S-10
Super Street - Craig Bickle, Courtenay BC, '67 Camaro
Sportsman Motorcycle - Jim Sibley, Edmonds WA, '90 Suzuki
Super Pro - Vicki Strell, Mission BC, '71 Demon
Pro ET - Chris Stone, Mission BC, '68 Dart
Sportsman - Phil Marvetz, Bellingham WA, '72 Duster
Jr Lightning - Amanda Bollinger, Burnaby BC
Jr Thunder - Tyson Lowe, Langley BC
((Photos by: Gerry Frechette)
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