“Raging Bull” is Regional Champ!
In what was truly was a remarkable story for Canadian drag racing in 2012, a Manitoba-based NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team has landed a major NHRA championship title….
Owned by Clif Bakx, and competing in only their 1st full season with their injected-nitro machine, the team which calls their car “The Bull” was exactly that. Bakx and his very versatile driver Gord Gingles have muscled their way to the NHRA Lucas Oil Central Region TAD points championship.
Gord Gingles, a former accomplished motorcycle and snowmobile racer, had won two events in 2012 (at Cordova IL and Earlville Iowa) this season. Earlier in September they clinched the over all title during the final divisional race held in Noble Oklahoma.
The Manitoba-based TAD team owned by Clif Bakx won twice this season to ultimately prevail for NHRA’s Central Regional Championship title.
That title is not only big for Canada; it is also one of the most unexpected developments of the season anywhere within NHRA’s very tough Top Alcohol Dragster ranks.
“When we entered the last race of the season we did control our own destiny” explained Gingles. “But when we lost out in round one and had to wait to see what our nearest opponent Randy Meyer did. Then Randy came up short of winning the event – so the Regional points championship was ours.”
“It (the title) is pretty amazing to all of us,” Gord reflected. “When we entered into this season we really never had that thought (because our team was so new). So we are a bit overwhelmed where we actually ended up.”
Clif’s team and car were impressive pretty much all season. That includes hitting a best time of 5.348 secs (at Cordova) and topping 270 mph (at Mission) – both marks are significant math anywhere within the class category.
Driver Gord Gingles hit a truly impressive 270.81 mph at Mission early this season.
“Clif is one of the most dedicated people I have ever met and the entire crew worked really long hard hours,” Gord added. “Because we were so new to this we really didn’t try to shoot for the moon at any point. We made no big tuning changes and had no big swings in performance. The fact that we never did spin the tires during competition at any point this season — I think is impressive.”
In 2012 the team raced a Dave Uyherea-chassied car that was originally built for Shelly Anderson in Top Fuel. Along their path they did benefit from expert tuning guidance which came from California’s Larry Miersch and also from fellow Canadian’s Les Davenport and Doug Doucette.
While the team has concluded it’s racing activities for 2012 – it’s a safe bet they will be force to be reckoned with in 2013. While their plans for next year are still TBA – we can confirm that a 2nd new injected nitro car will be built and tested and select NHRA national event level appearances are likely.
Posting by: Bruce Biegler
Photos by: Carol Vermeer & Gerry Frechette
