PENNER PERSEVERES in LUBBOCK
Jacob Penner of Seminole, TX. has won the latest gathering
of The Southwest Superchargers held at Lubbock Dragway June
10.
It was obvious early on that the teams were going to need
their warm weather tune-ups as temps roared into the upper
90's. Fortunately a breeze helped keep it almost tolerable for
our SWSC teams and race fans.
Just before 5: pm eleven SWSC cars moved out of the staging
lanes toward the bleach
box. First out was an eager Ray Stringer (Alamogordo,
NM-dragster) and perennial good-natured rival Greg Powell
(Hobbs, NM- funster). Both small-block supercharged cars ran
well, Ray's 7.82/171 to Greg's 7.90/173. Next up came 2005
SWSC Champ Julian Moody (El Paso, TX- dragster) vs. Mike McCoy
Pueblo, Co.- altered). McCoy came to Lubbock with a new
chassis tune-up after clipping the wall in Tucson. Henry "The
Wizard" Keller strapped a 7.92/167 tune-up on Julians
big-block (it was really hot!) as McCoy took an early shut-off
8,05/143 check out run. Eddie Tidwell (Andrews, Tx.- dragster)
pulled up to challenge our Race 1 winner Alex Clements in Gary
Hills dragster from T or C NM. Eddie "Munster" moved first and
put up 7.98/167 to Alexs troubled 8.27/169 from the Max
Wedge.Pair 4 consisted of Jacob Penner (Seminole, TX-
dragster) and Don David (Odessa, Tx- bantam altered). Davids
bantam with its new big block had a trans brake failure, no
time, no tree. Penner displayed a respectable 7.87/175. The
final pair of Q-1 was Mike
 Jones
(Lubbock Tx-altered) and Bill Norman/Norman Bros/The Fabulous
Fat Boys Racing Team (Seminole, Tx- funster). Bill leaves
first (!) but only managed an 8.00/177 to Jones' excellent
7.63/180. Lastly Gilbert Tejeda (LaMesa, Tx-dragster) ended
his long absence with the SWSC. He came off the bench and ran
a fat/soft 8.36/172.
Our second qualifying opportunity began a scant fifty minutes
later. First up was the local favorite Mike Jones vs. Bill
Norman's Hemi. The Fat Boys tuned a 7.90/175 into the
"Flashback", but Mikes altered made a great 7.57/189. Mike
McCoys B-1 next ran a single, a fine 7.66/177. Greg Powell and
Eddie "Munster" Tidwell brought their small block machines
through the box. Tidwell's
shifter balked causing broken rockers and an 11.53/65 as
Powell score board yielded 7.75/175. Soon Alex Clements rolled
in with Jacob Penner. The Clements/Hill "Quick Thrill" worked
its way to an 8.08/166 against Penners near-perfect 7.61/181
(SWSC index of 7.60). Don Davids altered squared off with
Moodys dragster. Dons car improved to an 8.22/17 as Moody ran
7.85/172. Lastly Tejedas big block went 8.07/17 to Ray
Stringers "retarded" 8.72/137.
Rd 1 Elims began after a respectable cool down period "Thank
You" with #8 Tidwell (sbc) linked to #1 Penner (bbc). Tidwell
tripped the tree (foul) 8.07/147, and Penner took advantage
and ran 7.66/180. #4 Powell (sbc) and #5 Stringer (sbc) next
prepped their mounts for the struggle at hand. Rays motor quit
unexpectedly about 3/4 track 8.52/110 as Powell took the
stripe with a 7.72/162. #3 McCoy (B-1 Mopar) ran against #6
Moody (KB Chev). Moody moved to Rd 2 with a 7.76/174 when
McCoy ran under the 7.60 index by the smallest of margins,
7.596/173. OUCH!. Our final pair of Rd 1 was #2 Jones (bbc)
and #7 Norman (Hemi). Bill Norman redeemed himself after his
Tucson performance with a stellar .007 light (7.81/179) only
to lose to Jones' near-perfect 7.609/173. As suited up
alternates, #9 David and #10 Clements/Hill made a
side-by-side. Hills tuning frustration showed 8.00/169 but
Davids altered responded significantly 7.69/182.
The semi-final round was initiated around 9:30 as our four
competitors moved up. #4 Powell was scheduled to run #1
Penner. Fantastic rts for both began what has to be one of the
best passes in the history of the SWSC. Powells .011/7.65/176
LOST to Penners .009/7.61/174! Boys 'n' girls ya hadda be
there! Penner would advance to the final. His opposition was
to be the winner of the #2 Jones vs. #6 Moody match-up. Moody
got the win light (7.73/174) when Jones ran under 7.592/175.
The SWSC final round was decided when Moody/Penner appeared
with crews and lots of
interested fans and SWSC faithful. Instantly Jacob Penner
became the 2006 Lubbock Dragway SWSC winner when Julian Moody
fouled. Moody threw away a 7.68/175 to Penners all-out
7.46/183 winning pass.
Our thanks to Hooters of Lubbock and O'Reillys Auto Parts
stores for our display locations. And to Dennis and the crew
at Lubbock Dragway for a well-prepped well-maintained
facility. We enjoyed it.
Fans of the SWSC, we'll next go off July 1st at Hobbs MSP.
Come see us! And check the updated schedule. We've added
Pueblo MSP, Pueblo, Co. to our calendar Aug 26! Gear up,
Pueblo, The SWSC is coming to town!
In competition 11
8-sec passes 11
7-sec passes 25
Spread (7.62/7.98) .37
Best Performance
Mike Jones
( 7.63, 7.57, 7.60, 7.59)
Closest pass
7.65 to 7.61 Powell vs. Penner
Fuzzy
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