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June 27-29, 2008 Can Am Pro Mod Challenge & RJ Enterprises Canada West Doorslammers Races #5 and #6 (Presented by Pro Stock Performance and RH Race Cars)
Race coverage for this event is sponsored by Jet Equipment and Tools Canada. July 1, 2008 Joe Delehay is declared the winner of the Cam Am Challenge at Mission on the weeknd. Race Director Greg Perrine got IHRA rules clarification from Jim Weinert
June 30, 2008 Can Am Pro Mod challenge The Canada West Doorslammer story follows the Pro Mods A bizarre end to eliminations for the Can Am Pro Mod Challenge....... ....In what only can be deemed a first in my reporting and witnessing first hand of a drag race, the winner will be announced on Monday as both drivers in the final round Joe Delehay and Dan Vogt had rule infractions. Confusing, yes it is, for sure. You see, both drivers had great performances through eliminations and were the most consistent. Joe Delehay the overall class of the blown cars with three runs in the 6.20's heading into the final (including his #1 qualifying shot) and Dan Vogt was the most consistent nitrous car in the field, running three 6.30's (including his #2 qualifying) effort. They met in the final round and the Vogt Brothers knew they needed a great light or a tenth of a second in performance. Dan pulled the trigger a bit too much and went .003 red Giving Joe the win. Joe went 6.29, and Dan kept his foot in it got real loose and very close to the centre line as he did not know he went red. Vogt coasted to a 6.79. Race over right.... Wrong!!!! Delehay Goes over the scales and finds out due to the new IHRA weight rule he is 10 lbs light. Ouch!!! First or worst is the rule of thumb in Drag racing and IHRA race rules apply, but their rule book does not have a designation for light at the scales just bypassing the scales. Yes, it is a very strange deal. The technical department at IHRA will be consulted first thing in the morning and at that time the winner will be determined. My personal feeling is that the weight infraction is considered the more serious infraction and Dan will be determined the winner. But DON'T take that to the bank, we will keep you informed. As far as the rest of the eliminations story......In round one, the pairings changed slightly due to breakage by Vern Mills. He was qualified #3 but broke a rocker and head carnage kept him from continuing on race day. Keith Korecki took his place from the #10 spot in the field. Duane Grosart was the first alternate but he too was broke and could not make it to first round. Korecki's task was to take out Colorado's Tom Johanns in his blown Corvette. Keith gave it a great effort getting a holeshot and running side by side Johanns for the first 450 feet feet. Then at the 2-3 gear change Korecki got real loose and he was forced to let go of the loud pedal. Rod Pearce took on Gary Mason and Mason was a bit of an enigma as he only had one run in qualifying. His car makes as much power as any on the grounds but after his 6.24/234 lap in testing (which just happened to be the quickest and fastest run of the weekend, he had motor issues that kept him down to one lap in qualifying. Both cars left real hard, and Pearce had the wheels way up through 200 feet. With .06 at the tree Pearce was out from with Mason reeling him in. At half track they were side by side, but Mason got loose and had to ease off the throttle before finally giving up the chase. Pearce ran a career best et and mph 6.36/222.mph. #1 Joe Delehay took on Perry Thyr and Thyr knew he needed a hail mary or a faux pa by Delehay to advance. Thyr had 2/10ths at the tree but his bracket like 6.77/211 was still well short of Delehay's 6.25/233. Dan Vogt and Brian Lane were the last pair in round one and looking at the front of the cars you can not tell the difference between the two. Both car red 63 Corvette with identical paint graphics and scoop. They left within .002 of each other and were very close to half track. The experience and extra hp in the Vogt 'Vette pulled ahead in the back half and ran 6.378/221 to a career best by Lane and very game 6.499/215.82 Round two...A nitrous pair and a blown pair guaranteeing and battle of the two engine types in the final round. The Rod Pearce Dan Vogt battle looked to be a real cooker, as the two Corvettes were within a hundredth of a second in the last round. Pearce was continually running quicker all weekend while the Vogts were 6.30 machines. Vogt took off first by just over a hundredth, and both cars had the front wheels in the air. Pearce was a little higher and he got a little loose around half track and fell off by about .05 to half track while Vogt was almost bracket like from his last couple laps. At the finish line Vogt had about a car length on the Granite Bay Ca. driver to take a 6.38 to 6.49 victory. A remarkable feat for the Vogt's to make the final round considering the bad crash they had just a week earlier at Salt Lake. The team thrashed real hard back at their Saskachewan shop Monday - Thursday before heading back out West to Mission for this event. Could their Cinderella story continue to the winners circle two hours later? Joe Delehay was a 6.20 machine while Tom Johanns, was still sorting out air that was not in the 7000 feet range, was a 6.50 bracket car. Again Joe was late at the tree (more a case of having a performance advantage than anything), giving Johanns a .14 advantage but Delehay had caught by half track and drove on through to a relatively easy 6.25/232 to 6.60 218 run by Tom. That set up a final round between the two top qualifiers. The classic nitrous vs blown match-up. The biggest hurdle for the Vogt Bros. was whether or not they could find close to a tenth of a second in performance. The biggest hurdle for Delehay was to repeat all his earlier laps on the hot 133 degree track. Both car did very strong burnouts and looked to be ready for a great match up. They both staged and Dan was off first.Unfortunately he was off first by too much, .003 too much as he went red by the smallest of margins. As stated at the top of the page Joe Delehay also had a rules infraction, which was likely the more major one, being 10 lbs light at the scales. The new rule for 2008 in the IHRA rule book is the blown cars had to weight 25 lbs more than last year, Joe was unaware of the new rule and since the cars were not scaled through qualifying and the earlier rounds of eliminations, he was not made aware until after the final. A very tough break for sure. Confirmation will likely come later today.
Saturday June 28, 2008 Final qualifying was....HOT HOT HOT!!! Photos Sunday night That is what can sum up Saturday qualifying for the West Coast Pro Mods Saturday at Mission Raceway. Air temps in the high 90's and track temps over 130 kept the cars from running 6.teens or better, but a few layed down decent shots despite almost overwhelming conditions. Joe Delehay leads with a solid 6.26 as he is sorting out the new Darren Mayer fuel system and Kobelco blower. Dan Vogt after a nasty crash a week ago made career best runs, a 6.375 @ 222.mph. Vern Mills made his quickest lap in his new 55 Chevy as well, Gary Mason got in on the last qualifier after being forced to skip the first two due to mechanical issues he layed down top speed so far, a 233 mph blast initiated by a 6.44. Colorado's Tom Johanns turned in a soft 6.52 that is is current career best, but he should drop that by a tenth or more today. Brian lane exiting Pro Street for Pro Mod raced to a career best 6.58 and Perry Thyr ran a 6.72 and he was not happy about his twin 72's. Perry your chutes were deploying at 1200 feet. So today it's Delehay vs Thyr, Vogt Vs Lane, Mills Vs Johanns, and Mason Vs Pearce. Three three non qualifiers were Duane Grosart who was one run away from running a 70 or quicker, as he ran a strong 6.82 in the last session. Both Keith Korecki and Tom Meheden has issues leaving the hot starting line. Joe Delehay 6.269/232.85 Not qualified Friday June 27, 2008 A number of Pro Mods wereouton Friday making test hits throughout the day. The Most were only first gear launches but a few did leg it out through the top end and the best of the day was put in by Gary Mason. He ripped off a very good 6.24/234 to put his name in the hat as oneof the favorites for the weekend. Here are a few shot from Friday. Bill Jeffery apologises for the blue hue in the photos as he had a setting on the camara that wasn't right. He corrected it at the end of the day and Satuday/Sunday photos will be the way we are used to seeing from him.
Brian Lane
Tom Meheden (the next three)
Perry Thyr
Vern Mills
Ross Hogenson (tweo very aggressive launches with his new Bickel ride and 800 cu in. He he hooks through 300 feet he will fly
Mission Can Am Challenge Pro Mod entry List
June 27-29, 2008 RJ Enterprises VP Fuels Canada West Doorslammers Races #5 and #6.... Race #6..... After the scorching day Saturday you sort of prayed for a bit cooler temps on Sunday..... But it did not happen. If anything it was a bit hotter. The good thing was the action was no less exciting. Drivers were doing double duty on Saturday as they ran off the rained out event form Ashcroft and also qualified for the Sunday race presented by RH Race Cars. Usual top qualifier Terry Spargo struggled on Saturday with the blazing temperatures, and did not make a good lap until the final qualifier Sunday morning. Then he ripped off a solid 6.76 to edge past Craig Donaldson who ran a great 6.89/201 in the Pro Stock legal, B/A weighted Grand AM. Shane Wangler also waited until the the final qualifier until making the field with a last ditch 8.40. There were a couple tough breaks in qualifiying as well. Mike Bedsworth is struggling a bit with his usual 7.20 Cutlass. the car has fallen off by 2/10ths or more in the last two races and he has yet to source the problem. Tim Myers wishes he did not have that last beer on Saturday night as he fell .004 short of making the field with a best of 8.714. Randy Arlitt also fell just short of making the field with a 8.740 best. Greg MacKenzie broke on his second lap and fell short with a 8.89 best. In total, 19 cars made the 8.70 bump spot. Here is final qualifying Terry Spargo 6.76 DNQ Tim Myers 8.71 Eliminations Spargo got the odd car bye and he went 6.81, well short of his 6.74 dial in. Craig Donaldson had a great .038 light in his no electronics stick car but could not run his number (a 6.92 and he fell to Grant Howell who was just .02 off his dial. Dean Woods defeated Greg Anderson who was a tenth late at the tree. Mike Bedsworth failed to fire his Cutlass and Layne Wooley was the recipient of Mike's misfortune. Ray Kirton took out hitter Stefan Kondolay. Kondolay had electronic issues and went under his dial. Shane Wangler defeated Terry Langdon Davis when TDL went red. Sophomore driver Ken Kruger went to round two in back to back races with a win over the "Burnout King" Klaas Reitsma. Rob Charlton was sharp on the tree in a victory over Kevin Lance. And Zak Clarke won his sixth round in a row with a victory over Tom Montgomery. In Round two, five pairs faced off Clarke defeated a broke Shane Wangler, Dean Woods got a win over a too fast Layne Wooley, Howell and Spargo left with the same rt's but Howell ran closer to his dial. Ray Kirton got by a too fast Rob Charlton and Ken Kruger had his second third round appearance in two races with a win over Glen Norman. The 1/4 finals had a single (Ray Kirton) a red light. Ken Kruger pulled the trigger too quick against Zak Clarke and Grant Howell had .06 at the tree and took out Dean Woods.
Zak Clarke in the bottom half of the ladder got his second consecutive semi final bye run and he coasted down the track. Grant Howell won a very close race against Ray Kirton The margin was .001 at the finish line. About three inches. In the final, You expected Clarke to be in the teens or 20's at the tree and he was. You also though Howell who has been winless in the last couple years (mostly due to new engine combo woes), would be very focused. He was, as he went .004 at the tree and ran only .006 off his dial for a awesome 10/1000 package. With the .021 light by Clarke, he did not have a chance. Congrat's to Grant Howell for the big win. Combine that with the semi final finish on Saturday and he picked up 173 points in the two races and is the new guy at the top of the totem pole. Clarke is 40 points back. Greg Anderson and Rob Charlton round out the top four. The next race is in two weeks at the Eagle motorplex. It is a night race on the Saturday, So the class will run evening qualifying Saturday and a cash bash Saturday Night. There will be one qualifier Sunday morning and then eliminations. Make sure you book your hotel asap
Race #5.........is finally in the books after having to re-schdule the event due to rain at the 'Plex, making the foolowing race this past weekend at Mission a very busy one. The rescheduled race presented by Pro Stock Performance was finished on Saturday to go along with qualifying for Race #6 presented by RH Race Cars.Qualifying was set with 21 cars making the field. Darryl Stone, Kerry Stone, Dave Richardson, Phil Davis, Lloyd Flatum, Geeg Kilmartin, Dallas Wagner and Mike Munden were absent from the Ashcroft event giving a number of team singles and even one pairing that both competitors were away. Here was final qualifying Terry Spargo Dean Woods Glen Norman DNQ Eliminations Terry Spargo who ran so well at the 'Plex, had a first round bye but he struggled at Mission until Sunday. He was out in round #2 as Ray Kirton took him out. Dean Woods lost in round 1 to Ray Kirton, and Kirton went all the way to the 1/4's where he lost to Grant Howell. Howell took out Layne Wooley in the second round after a first round single. Howell faced Rob Charlton in the semis, who got through Kevin Lance and Dave Warren in rds. one and two. Rob had a 1/4 fianl single and then defeated Howell in the semi finals. Zak Clarke dominated the bottom half of the field defeating Langdon Davis, Klaas Reitsma and Ken Kruger (his his first race in the series) in the first three rounds. He got the lucky semi final bye run and then took on Rob Charlton in the final round. This one was close. The lights were within .003 of each other on the tree, and Charlton who had to play catch-up to Clarke was reeling him in and at 1200 feet got him. At that point he eased off the throttle a hair touched the brakes to back into Clarke (not wanting to take too much stripe), but it wound up to be too much as Zak eased past him but .0016 at the stripe. Approximately a four inch victory for Zak Clarke and his first win of the season.
Canada West Doorslammers Saturday/Sunday entry list for Race #6 Greg Anderson |
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