British Columbia’s Mike Shannon will make a return to the Jegs All Star event in Chicago next month and if his recent success is any indication…..

Mike Shannon is well-known to fans and racers in NHRA Northwest Division 6, the Kelowna, B.C. racer having won the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Seattle last year, and being a perennial contender in Super Gas.

Mike Shannon won in both Super Comp and Super Gas during the recent NHRA LODRS race held at Mission BC

So, it wasn’t a big surprise to see him emerge victorious once again in his familiar Corvette at the recent Lordco BC Nationals LODRS Regional race at Mission Raceway Park in B.C. But to also drive a brand new Super Comp dragster to the victory at the same event made the Mission race a special one indeed for Shannon. Not that the new car hadn’t already won a race this season, having taken the first Division 6 event at Boise.

“I’m ecstatic,” he admitted afterwards. “My wife is here and she never comes to the races, my daughter is here too, and it’s one of those weekends that is very rare and hard to do. To go ten rounds in one day is pretty spectacular.”

As one might expect in the world of SC and SG racing, he had his close calls with disaster in those ten rounds. Such as, cutting a 0.000 light in the first round of SC. Or, running a 9.900 in the semis of SG. Or, breaking out in SG round one with a 9.865, but not by as much as his opponent.

Mike Shannon’s new S/C dragster

Ironically, the dragster wasn’t acquired with the plan to run in Super Comp. “I just thought this would be a good car that we could step up to Top Dragster with, but by being selected to go to the Jegs All Stars in Chicago, we’re kind of hanging around in Super Comp for the beginning of the season. And we’ve just been lucky enough to win the first two Division 6 races.” So, at the moment, he leads the Division points in both classes.

That leads to questions as to the plans for the rest of the season, whether chasing national championships is in the cards. “We’re looking at what we’re going to do the rest of the season. Obviously, we’re going out to Chicago, and if our entry is accepted for the Norwalk race, too, we’ll go ahead with those two Nationals. As far as chasing national points, we’ll just take it one race at a time.”

One thing is for sure – the element of surprise, with people not paying attention to some Canadian from way out west, won’t be a factor. “You know what? We call it Stud Status, and I’m pretty excited to head into Chicago with some good mojo, and maybe some people will screw up beside you when that happens.”

Mike Shannon’s ultra reliable ’57 Corvette Super Gasser

The way Mike Shannon’s last ten months have gone, with four new Wallys for the mantle, he may not even need to hope for other racers’ misfortune.

Posted by:  Gerry Frechette

Photos by:  Gerry Frechette and Blair Alderton 

(Editor’s Note:  Mike Shannon will in fact be just one of six Canadian drivers who have qualified and will attend the 2015 Jegs All Stars event (July 9-11).  DragRaceCanada will post a complete preview on that – coming soon!)