TIDWELL TROUNCES SWSC
SWSC racer Eddie Tidwell, Andrews, TX., walked away
with the top prize at the last race of 2005 for the Southwest
Superchargers held November 12 at Area 51 Dragway, Roswell, NM.
The Southwest Superchargers were invited to be a
part of the Roswell Veterans Day Parade Saturday morning. Eight
SWSC teams, several veterans among them, came to honor veterans
from all wars along with many other organizations from the local
area.
Q-1 began at Area 51 for the SWSC around 3:pm.
Buck Woolen Jr., driving the '77
Corvette funny car of John Harper (Alamogordo, NM/BBC) started
the round along side points leader Julian Moody (El Paso/K-B).
Buck Jr. pushes out a head gasket, 11.076, to Moody's well-under
index 7.32/183. Pair 2 was Gary Hill (T or C/ Max Wedge) vs.
Bill Norman/ Norman Bros./ Fat Boys Racing Team (Seminole, TX.)
Hills dragster took the stripe first, a superlative 7.65/171 to
Normans soft 8.40/137. Next up was newcomer Jack Bartlett
(Odessa/SBC) and Buck Woolen Sr. Buck Sr.s tune-up produced an
8.40/165 to Bartlett's nice 7.69/164. The next two cars from the
SWSC sixteen (!) car field were Sue Stringer (Alamogordo/BBC)
and Greg Powell (Hobbs/SBC). Sue slid and she lifted to
result
in an 8.07/172 as Powell went 7.82/153. Pueblo, Colo. resident
Mike McCoy next came across the box to run Rick Usrey's
slingshot (Ruidoso, NM/BBC). McCoys altered spun off the VHT
application, 10.24/86. Usrey managed an 8.39/149. Eddie Tidwell
(Andrews, TX/SBC) and Garry Coufal (El Paso/SBC) were the next
two to take on the quarter mile. Coufal struggled to a 9.24/111.
Tidwell pushed his car to a spectacular 7.57/178. Pair 7 was
Jacob Penner (Seminole/BBC) and Don Davids Bantam (Odessa/SBC).
Don worked at making an 8.52/147, Penner an 8.19/162.
The final pair of Q-1 was the Schmidt's (Al and Charlotte) in
their Pro Mod style cars, a late model Camaro and her '57 Sedan
Delivery. Als Camaro got seriously out of shape about 400 ft
out, sashayed left and right before hitting the wall in his own
lane and going over. The Camaro creamed the eighth-mile clocks
(6.32/75) on its way down track on its
roof, no additional gymnastics, no fire. As soon as the car
stopped moving, the drivers door opened and Al Schmidt
extricated himself from his once-shiny drag car, no visible
signs of damage on the driver. Charlotte, on the other hand, was
seeing this all unfold in her windshield. Tire smoke began to
boil from beneath her '57 as she jumped all over the brakes to
avoid hitting her husbands Camaro and be there when the Camaro
stopped sliding. After everyone and everything had been
recovered and returned to the Area 51 pits, Charlotte was the
more visibly shaken of the two. but Al was complaining of
stiffness in his neck and shoulders. More on this as it becomes
available. But all appears well as of now, save for some sheet
metal and fiberglass. Special "Thanks" and a "Well Done" to the
Area 51 crew and others who responded to Als incident.
Q-2
was initiated when Julian Moody came out for a solo pass, a
mildly cub-index 7.54/173. Next up was Gary Hill and Bill
Norman. Hill recorded an excellent 7.62/173 but Bill went to the
top of the qualifying sheet with a 7.59/183. Buck Woolen Sr.
finished the adjustments on his tune-up in time to run Jack
Bartlett. Bucks beautiful yellow dragster runs 7.46, misses the
field (sub 7.50 runs will be DQ-ed) vs. Bartlett's 7.52/180.
Greg Powell and Sue Stringer next attempted to better their
positions on the SWSC ladder. Powell's run is thrown out
(744/179), but Sue got in with a nice 7.65/155. Rick Usrey
pulled up lame after his burn out, so Mike McCoy took a single,
7.64.166. Sweet! Garry Coufal ran alone next, 8.51/157. Eddie
Tidwell repeated his Q-1 performance, 7.58/178. Don David and
Jacob Penner were the last pair in Q-2 . Don misses the field
with his 8.77/165 and Penner went WAY under the SWSC 7.60
standard, 7.09/194. Lastly, Usrey got his slingshots timing
reset in time to run and managed an 8.44/141.
The Southwest Superchargers began eliminations for
the qualified 8-car field with #4 Mike McCoy running against #5
Sue Stringer. The auto-start system appeared to come down early
and neither driver was ready. Sues 8.03/164 takes the win light
before Mikes 8.45/123. #3 Gary Hill vs #6 Julian Moody was to be
next. Hill left first and took a side-by-side double break out
decision 7.54/161 to Julian's farther-under 7.53/153. #2
qualifier Eddie Tidwell came up to square off with #7 Jack
Bartlett. At the green Bartlett's dragster blistered the
bolognas brazenly, and Tidwell took the trip to the stripe,
7.63/170 to Bartlett's 13.87.66. #1 Bill Norman ran #8 Greg
Powell as the final pair of Rd 1. In a beautiful race, Powell
got the nod to Rd 2 (7,64/164) when Bill runs under, 7.59/181.
WOW! Seem like lately Powell has been hotter than Hatch valley
chili at harvest time.
The SWSC semi-final round began as Sue Stringer and
Greg Powell moved out of the pits to the lanes. In the extremely
cool night air Sues reluctant ride refused to rotate, Powell
took a "single" win, 7.55/180. His opponent in the final would
be the victor of the Gary Hill/ Eddie Tidwell pair. Another
double break-out decision resulted. Hills 7.50/175 went home
when Tidwell ran 7.54/177.
The two small-block powered entries of Greg Powell
and Eddie Tidwell came out to settle up around 10:pm. Powell's
funster moved first at the green (.050 r.t.) but appeared behind
early in the pass. Tidwell's win light came on as he makes a
nice 7.79/140 to Powell's slower 7.87/166.
SWSC "Congrats" to the Eddie Munster Racing Team,
Andrews, TX. Their hard work on a new car/new combo paid off
well.
"Thanks" to the "Agent Orange" team of Don David
for the "feed". A welcome bite at the right time.
And "kudos" to the Area 51 staff for a well-groomed
well-prepared quarter mile, and on their response to an SWSC
racer in need. Thanks, Chris!
Buck Woolen Sr. was the winner of the Penner
Automotive and Machine Burn Out award. Look-in' Good!
Julian Moody becomes the SWSC Points Champion for
2006 by qualifying at Area 51. Check the updated Points Page for
the final tally. Great job Julian and Henry "The Wizard" Keller,
D.J. and team!
Thanks SWSC fans! Look to this site for future
announcements on dates for races in 2006, news on our banquet to
be held in Alamogordo, racer news, rules changes, etc.
Stay Tuned! We'll see you at the races in 2006!
FRS
attendance 16
7-sec runs 25
8-sec runs 11
runs within 2/10 of index 20!
altereds 2
door cars (Pro mod) 2
slingshots/funsters 3
funny cars 1
dragsters 8
spread (quickest to slowest qualifiers)
.299 (7.528-7.827)
