Franks Race Results
Welcome to the results page. After each race, we will have the
results of each race, the "who made it and who didn't"! Who
struggled and who was on top!
NORMAN NEUTRALIZES SWSC in ABILENE
The final
Southwest Superchargers race of 2007 went off October 24 at
Abilene Dragstrip in Abilene, TX. A well-attended race on the
SWSC's first visit to this West Texas 1/8 mile.
On a beautiful mild Texas autumn
afternoon, qualifying for the SWSC 8-car field began at 1:00 pm.
With the track elevation of 1750 ft., the SWSC index was
established at 4.70. Greg Powell's small block funster put up a
nice 4.73 on the Abilene scoreboards. Jack Bartlett's conventional
dragster ran a sub-index 4.65. Jacob Penner's Seminole-based big
block ran 4.78.
SWSC 2007 Points Champion Julian Moody showed with a new "big
ugly" fuel injection and ran 4.81 off the trailer. Mike Jones
"Voodoo Child" altered made a 4.73. Lubbock native Andy Mears ran
4.92. Bill Norman's Hemi-powered "Flashback" went 4.73. Ken
Reierson's small block slingshot mostly kept its front end down
for a 5.57. Mitch Muse' altered ran 5.57. L.H and Francis Newlin
appeared with a big block (for the first time) and went 5.84. Ray
Stringers first appearance since Hobbs netted a 4.72 in Q-1. Don
David's big block Bantam did another more-than-large-enough
wheelie, 6.42. And Sue Stringer struggled to a 9.20.
Q-2 came up around 2:30 and the action was about to
start. Ray Stringer ruptured a fuel line, big leak, no time. Bill
Norman/Norman Bros./Fat Boys got loose and had to shut off early,
5.06. Mike Jones improved, 4.67. Greg Powell got out of the
groove, crossed the finish line sideways and off the ground with a
slick leaving marks on the retaining wall, no time. (Remember to
say your prayers for the guy who invented concrete walls as
opposed to the old steel rails mounted on posts).
 Jack
Bartlett improved to a 4.68. Jacob Penner did not, 4.87. Julian
Moody improved marginally, 4.800. Andy Mears stepped
up significantly to a 4.68. Ken Reierson's short car hit a cone,
no time. L.H Newlin stepped up with a 5.38. And Don David made a
5.37.
If you had access to all the times and
stats, you'd be amazed at how close qualifying was. Taken out to
the fourth place past the decimal point, the field spread from
quickest to slowest within the 8-car qualified field was a SWSC
record .1142! Also, the difference between qualifying #1 and #2
was .0001, one ten-thousandth of a second! Incredible. Let the
racing begin!
Around 3:00 pm #1 Andy Mears suited up
to meet #8 Julian Moody. Andy said "I can't be unlucky enough to
run Moody in Rd #1". But not only did he but he won - on a
holeshot! R.T of .015 (Mears) and .096 (Moody) allowed Mears' 4.81
to get the stripe ahead of Moody's 4.792, win margin of .062. Next
#10 L.H Newlin (#8 Powell had a potentially damaged tire, #9 David
a leaking slick) met #3 Mike Jones. As is occasionally normal for
the altereds, Jones clipped the half-track cone and was
disqualified sending Newlin to the Semis on his 6.36. #5 Bill
Norman proceeded to Rd 2 on a nice 4.74 when #4 Ray Stringer ran
under the index by .003, 4.697. #7 Jacob Penner moved to the next
round when Jack Bartlett broke.
The first pair in the semi final round
pitted L.H and Francis Newlin's #10 qualified 23t against #7 Jacob
Penner's "Just for Kicks" dragster. Newlin sneezed the blower on
the burnout and Penner singled to a 4.76 win. Francis Newlin said
"Just plain stinkin' luck. My ugly motor went farther than we
expected. We didn't win, the other guys lost ". #1 Andy Mears and
#5 Bill Norman were next. In the closest race of the afternoon
Bill won over Mears 4.7165 to 4.7126; live by the tree, lose by
the tree.
The final was a pair of cars we've seen square off in
the final time and again in the SWSC. #5 Bill Norman (Odessa) and
#7 Jacob Penner (Seminole) was gonna be a thrill. But it was
virtually over when the tree came down due to Bills .002 light
against Penner's tardy .332. Still Bills 4.85 got the stripe
before Penner's 4.79, a finish line margin of .261. 
Good job, SWSC! Great Race! We hope you
were there to enjoy it with us.
Accolades all around to all the SWSC
racers and teams. A spectacular season by any private
organizations standards. More passes, more close runs, more
participation, more fans with fewer broken cars and fewer on-track
problems than any other group we know of. We look forward to an
even greater season in 2008! For drag racing the way it should be,
watch the Southwest Superchargers!
10 races in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and
East and West Texas...and 10 already scheduled for 2008!
We'll see you at the races
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