PENNER WINS SWSC
SEASON OPENER
Jacob
Penner (dragster, Seminole, TX) won the Southwest
Superchargers 2009 season opening event Mar 28 in El Paso.
Sixteen cars eagerly appeared Saturday morning for SWSC Tech
inspection and parking. The group was greeted by wonderful
racing weather given the wind and cool temperatures of the
previous two days.
Qualifying began around 2:00 p.m. Doug Meshirer's fresh
small- block powered dragster (Midland, TX) couldn't make
the call after breaking a valve in the warm-up. Andy Mears
spun and netted only a 9.998. Sue Stringer ran a nice
7.711. LH Newlin went 10.813. John Brown's get-acquainted
pass was 16.321. Buck Woolen got a m.p.h. (178) but no e.t.
in Q-1. Jacob Penner logged an officially-ignored
7.326. Greg Powell displayed a sharp 7.653 on the new
scoreboards. Bill Norman received no time. Ray Stringer went
7.554. Gary Hill ran 7.7690 off the trailer. Donnie Powell's
dragster struggled with new car bugs. Don David ran a
sub-qualifying 7.468. Buck Woolen Jr. ran a nice 7.678. And
Julian Moody had a rare major engine disaster.
As a result of Q-2 the
field tightened considerably. Buck Woolen rolled the lights,
no time. Brown improved to 12.448. Gary Hill went closer to
the index, 7.714. LH Newlin's altered stepped up to a 7.955.
Sue ran a consistent 7.713. Don David went a legitimate
7.553. Mears improved to 7.874. Penner's Q-2 time was a
legal 7.645. Greg
Powell
slowed slightly, 7.696. Bill Normans 7.853 got him and the
Fabulous Fat Boys in the field. Ray Stringer ran a #1
Qualifying 7.618. Bucky Jr. spun to a 8.508.
So
Qualifying ended with these results: #1 Ray Stringer
(7.618) #2 J Penner (7.645) #3 Don David (7.553) #4 Greg
Powell (7.653) #5 Buck Woolen, Jr (7.678) #6 Sue Stringer (7.711) #7 G Hill ( 7.714)
#8 B Norman (7.853). On the outside were #9 A Mears (7.874)
.021 out of the field, #10 LH Newlin (7.955) .102 from #8,
#11 J Brown and #12 B. Woolen
As Rd
1 Eliminations began it was obvious the left lane was going
to be almost mandatory for enough traction for a win. #4
Greg Powell out ran #5 Buck Woolen Jr.s tire spinning
dragster for the win. #6 Sue Stringer's tire frying exercise
in the right lane was rewarded with a win when #3 Don David
went sub-index (7.51). #2 Jacob Penner won over a smokey
right lane pass by #7 Gary Hill. And #1 Ray Stringer had
similar success over #8 Bill Norman.
The
Semi-Final round started with Penner taking the left lane
over Sue Stringer with predictable results. Penner's
dragster easily out-distanced Sues traction-plagued 8.784.
Ray Stringer's 7.710 narrowly out-ran Greg Powell's 7.854.
in one of the closest races of the weekend.
In the SWSC final #1
Ray Stringer pulled up in the much-favored left lane against
#2 Jacob Penner. At the green Penner's rear-motored car
moved out smoothly while Ray spun, double-stepped, caught,
and escaped but it was too late. Penner's soft 8.04 took the
stripe over Rays quicker 7.96.
Good
job, and Congratulations Jacob Penner!
A full
house witnessed the first SWSC race of 2009. Our estimate of
the crowd on hand is 2500-3500, a large group for a facility
of this size. Hope you enjoyed the show!
Next
up, Penwell! The SWSC hasn't raced there for quite a number
of years and we're looking forward to returning to this
historic West Texas quarter mile outside Odessa, TX. We'll
see you there April 18!
Jerry Norman
Race Cars Driver Bounty was on 2008 SWSC Champion Julian
Moody. No Bounty Winner
Mears Mazda Oh
So Close Award - to the loser of the closest race of the
day. Finalist Ray Stringer for his loss in the final to
Jacob Penner (7.96 to 8.04--.08 loss)
Sunset Racecraft
Progressive Qualifier Award to #12 Buck Woolen
38 runs down the
1/4 mile
.253 spread of
qualified field
