CLEMENTS K.O.s the COMPETITION
The Southwest Superchargers engaged in their
first outing of 2006 over the Memorial Day week end at
Southwest International Raceway, Tucson.
Nine SWSC cars made the trek west on I-10 to
SIR. Moderate wind and temps (for Tucson) were the forecast
for Friday night when several cars arrived early and took
advantage of the open track. DragRaceResults.com was
sponsoring "Ultimate Street Wars" night with a car show,
open time trials, stereo contest and more.
Saturday evenings time trials began around 5:30
with Buck Woolen (Alamogordo, NM) and Mike McCoy (Pueblo,
Co) lining up. Buck was responsible for this
appointment of
the SWSC at SIR. Our thanks to Buck for being eager enough
to make the call that opened the door for the SWSC at
Tucson. But in Q-1 Buck rolled the tree, no time. McCoy's
"Flying Dinosaur" B-1 powered altered squirted this way and
that, left then right and earns himself an 8.04/170. Next
the stretched altered of Buck Woolen Jr. (Alamogordo, NM)
comes to the water with Sue Stringer (Alamogordo). BW Jr.'s
first pass in the SWSC in his own car netted a 9.72/138 to
Sues off-beat 8.03/173. Gary Hills "Quick Thrill" Max Wedge
Mopar powered dragster shows (with Alex Clements at the
helm) to run Jacob Penner (Seminole, Tx). Clements cut a
near-perfect .004 tree and ran a personal best 7.7/172
to Penner's 8.06/169. The "funster" of Greg Powell (Hobbs,
NM) next prepared to go down the SIR quarter vs. Julian
Moody, SWSC 2005 repeat Champion. Greg ran a throw-away
7.42/180 as Julian put up a nice 7.68/174.
Under SWSC rules, any runs in time trials more
than 1/10 sec. under the SWSC 7.60 index (7.499 and
quicker) are ignored.
Finally Bill Norman/Norman Bros/Fabulous Fat
Boys Racing (Seminole, TX) made the last pass in the round.
But is was worth the wait as Bill had an .061 r.t., 7.603
e.t.@ 183 for the #1 spot on the ladder.
Q-2 started around 7:00 pm as our SWSC racers
paired up. Julian Moody (El Paso, TX) put up a consistent
7.64/174 against Greg Powell's s.b.c numbers, 7.54/174. Side
by side, no electronics, nuthin' but blowers. How cool is
that!
Penner vs. Clements/Hill were next through the
water. Penner scored a nice close sub-index 7.57/179, but
Alex's mount died at the hit of the pedal, ignition
gremlins.
Pair Three was Buck Jr. and father, Buck Sr.
BW Jr. made a nice consistent 9.63/138 while working on his
tune up, and Dad went 7.91/160 to get in the field.
The next pair in Q-2 was Sue Stringer vs. the
Normans
"Flashback" "funster". Sue moved first and recorded a nice
7.65/174 to Bills 7.54/186.
The last pass of the night in time trials was
Mike McCoy's altered. The 'Flying Dinosaur" turned in a
"discountable" 7.42/184 and the field was set.
Round #1 got together at 9:00 sharp when #4 Sue
Stringer and #5 Greg Powell started their burnouts. Greg's
quicker 7.78 was cancelled by his .013 foul and Sue advanced
on a 7.90/173.
Julian Moody/ Alec Clements were the next pair
up. Owner Gary Hill fixed the ignition gremlins in the
"Thrill" machine and strapped on a tune up to be remembered
on the Max Wedge. Moody's 7.599 eliminated itself while Alex
wheeled the Mopar machine to a superb 7.61/176.
Next through the lanes were Buck Sr. vs. Jacob
Penner. At the green, Bucks trans threw out the low band
(and a quart or so of ATF), he slowed to a 9.51/167 as
Penner took the stripe with a 7.81/151.
After a brief clean-up/freshen-up in the left
lane, Norman Bros/Fat Boys decided they liked the unoiled
right lane and sent McCoy's altered to the left. McCoy's car
soon headed for the wall, more than just kissed it about 300
ft. out. Norman took the round win with a 7.80/ 157.
Buck Jr. had suited as alternate and made the
last run of the round, a decent 8.32 cutting one full second
off their previous best. Coming around, and fast, with a
little help from our friend Ethan Holley, former/future SWSC
racer.
The semi-final round was the next order of
business for the SWSC. 10:30 brought our four competitors to
the lanes to see who would go to the final. First up,
Penner/Clements. Penner's .092 r.t. was second to Clements
.051, and so went the run, Penner's 7.76/162 to Alex's
winning 7.73/161.
The SWSC's only Hemi (Norman Bros) fired to run
Sue Stringer. Sues big block was smoking ominously on the
line but she leaves hard vs. Bills tardy r.t. and moved to
the final on a 7.77/173 as Bill showed a break-out 7.54/177.
The first SWSC final of 2006 featured two
drivers who had never before been seen in this late a round.
As both drivers started their burn-out program, Sues big
block explodes sending iron and aluminum onto the SIR pad.
Cylinder wall, piston parts, cam, rod, yaya, yada, etc.,
etc. Alex Clements took his first ever appearance in a final
to a
win in the SWSC in a Max Wedge dragster owned and tuned
by Gary Hill of Truth or Consequences, NM., from Hill Bros.
Transmissions. And ran a great 7.703! Our warmest
congratulations to Gary and Barb Hill on their latest win
and to Alex Clements on a memorable performance.
Stay tuned for more of the SWSC...our next race
will be June 10 at Lubbock Dragway. Then on to Hobbs
Motorsports Park July !.
We'll see you there!
FRS
Attendance.........................9
Quickest qualifier.............7.54
Slowest qualifier..............8.04
Long distance..................800+ miles (Mike McCoy)
Closest to index................7.603 (003 over) Bill
Norman
Best r.t.................................004 (Alex)
Biggest surprise...............Moody out in Rd 1!
