PENNER PUMMELS PUEBLO
The Southwest Superchargers
raced in Colorado July 7 at Pueblo Motorsports Park. A warm
sunshiny Colorado day greeted our SWSC racers when
qualifying started Saturday afternoon. Density altitude
conditions hovering around 8000 ft. were the standard of the
day.
Bill Norman/The Fat Boys funster came out with a
borrowed Hemi and were heard protesting their unknown
combination but led with a 7.635. Points leader Julian
Moody's first pass was 7.700. Greg Powell brought the Black
Viper Energy rear motored car out and ran 7.806. Mike Jones'
"Voodoo Child" altered went 7.788 out of the box. Rick
Schouman in Vann Ivey's AA/A from Las Cruces struggled to an
8.368. Jack Chapman's '27 "The Hoopie" made a nice 7.766.
Local altered driver Mike McCoy was still fighting fuel
system gremlins and only went 12.617. The Denver-based
slingshot of the O'Connell family ran 9.23 on their first
SWSC pass. But Jacob Penner was the standard with his 7.589.
In the second qualifying round Norman Bros. Hemi
slowed slightly with a 7.859. Penner's "Just for Kicks"
dragster also backed off his previous run, 7.715. Moody's
"Pipeliner" ran a consistent 7.729. Powell's "other" car
went 7.882. Chapman & Team could only manage an 8.110.
Jones' '23t worked for its 8.237. Schouman/Ivey's Hemi
improved to 8.168. O'Connell's iron 355 slingshot stepped up
to a nice 7.882. The "Quick Thrill" of Gary Hill ran a
7.793. And local favorite Mike McCoy appeared to have
banished his gremlins on his 7.490. Unfortunately for him
that run was more than 1/10 sec under the SWSC index of 7.60
and was officially discounted.
First Round Eliminations for the SWSC commenced as
#1 Qualifier Jacob Penner lined up with #8 O'Connell. The
Denver slingshot ran a good 7.909/174.48 but were outrun by
Penner's 7.831/157.98. #4 Gary Hills Mopar next ran #5 Jack
Chapman's big block. A tight race was run to the line with
Chapman's 7.743/172.06 winning over Hills 7.796/172.78. #3
Julian Moody and #6 Mike Jones next lined up. Jones' altered
took a holeshot win with .004/7.833/174.46 to Julian's
.078/7.769/172.76. WOW! #2 Bill Norman & The Fabulous Fat
Boys outran #7 Greg Powell 7.762 to Greg's 7.907/172.50. The
#9 altered of Rick Schouman/Vann Ivey decided to make their
"alternate" pass and #10 Mike McCoy joined them for a
"bonus" run for the fans. The pair of Mopar-powered
yellow-painted altereds ran 8.211/156.75 and 7.423/159.08.
The Colorado mountain weather was beginning to
threaten as Rd 2 moved to the staging lanes. #1 Penner vs.
#5 Chapman was the first pass of the round and the result
was the closest race of the day. Chapman's 7.786/174.12
slightly trailed Penner's 7.778/176.37. The other half of
the SWSC semi-final was #2 Bill Norman and #6 Mike Jones.
Bills "bulbed" beginning nullified his 7.740/180.62 opposite
Jones' winning 7.817/175.64.
So around 7:00 p.m. after the weather had gone
around our finalists came out to play. #1 Jacob Penner had
gotten quicker all through eliminations. #6 Qualifier Mike
Jones hadn't been this deep into SWSC elims in a long while.
Both cars finished their burnout routines when the PMP staff
observed a dangerous leak escaping from Jones' big block.
Jones had to watch Penner take a single for the win 7.709/
179/68.
A big SWSC "Thanks" to the Staff of Pueblo
Motorsports Park for having us and for maintaining a great
track. Hope to see you next year!
Also "Thanks" to the new guys who showed, The
O'Connell family from Denver. Three alternating drivers and
a mechanically gifted sister...what a group! Hope to see you
all again!
Another slingshot showed to run with us but
broke on the first qualifier. We didn't get any info for
this article but a good looking small block dragster we hope
attends again soon.
Stay with us as The Southwest Superchargers next
move to Idalou Motorsports Park, Lubbock, Texas July 28!
We'll see you there!
FRiS
Best run 7.589 Jacob Penner
Best mph 180.62 Mike Jones
Closest race 7.778/7.786 (.008) Penner/Chapman
7-sec runs 29
