PENNER POUNDS "THE PACK" @ DESERT THUNDER RACEWAY
The Southwest Superchargers traveled to Desert Thunder Raceway June 2 and brought 11 racers to do battle on Dr Hooks eighth mile. The weather was as perfect as the bite and the show got under way with Q-1 @ 6:00 p.m.
Brittny Blakely (r.e.d., 468) lined up with Ricky Esparza (f.e.d., 540) and went 4.7383/151.77 to Ricky's stunning 4.7094/132.16. What a way to start an event! Eddie Tidwell (funster, 434 s.b.c.) attended and met Al Seelig (r.e.d., unk). Al's 5.2496/121.56 trailed Eddies better 4.8951/144.60. Next Bill Norman/Norman Bros/Fat Boys (f.e.d., 433 hemi) met Gary Smith (r.e.d., 525 hemi) and the Mopar fans fell in love (kinda). Bills stellar 4.7135/149.35 outran Gary's 4.9817/140.71. Andy Mears (r.e.d., 540) next met Lyle Byrum (f/c, 524). A nice close pair as Lyle put up a 4.7641/146.91 to Andy's 4.6524/152.08. Next several singles were run, quite by accident, as the SWSC always strives to limit singles to -0-. First was Doyle Story's '68 Camaro (unk) which ran a 5.0590/143.82. Then Jacob Penner (r.e.d, 427) went 4.8445/135.66. Finally Jason Wise (r.e.d., unk) displayed a 5.0243/140.41 for the final pass of Q-1. Some pack of cars, huh?
Q-1 was going to see the pack get as tight as the bark on a tree. Andy Mears started the round beside Gary Smith. Gary picked up to 4.8642/143.72 to Andy's 4.7244/150.60. Doyle Story basketballed the Goodyear's BAD against Brittny Blakely, who ran 4.7873/151.06. Jacob Penner went a superb 4.7057/152.54 vs. Lyle Byrum's close 4.7388/147.88. Al Seelig improved to 4.9137/147.88 against Bill Normans 4.7192/149.20. And Ricky Esparza ran a soft 6.0351/77 vs. Eddie Tidwell's 6.0721/77. Both cars wheelied, drifted and lifted.
The DTR print outs revealed enough numbers and facts to get the pairings to go like this:
#1 Jacob Penner (.0057 off index) would meet #8 Eddie Tidwell (.1952 off). #2 Ricky Esparza (.0094) got to run #7 Gary Smith (.1642). #3 Bill Norman/Norman Bros (.0135) vs. #6 Lyle Byrum (.0388). In the middle of the pack would be #4 Andy Mears (.0244) and #5 Brittny Blakely (.0383). Let the battle begin!
First pair out of the DTR staging lanes was #1 Jacob Penner and #9 Al Seelig, as #8 Eddie Tidwell had broken an input shaft and couldn't make the call for first round. Al put forth his best effort of the night (4.7943/147.30) but Jacob got the stripe with his better 4.7176/149.70. Next was #4 Andy Mears and #5 Brittny Blakely. Brittnys ride slowed by a tenth (4.8453/150.15) and Andy got the win with his 4.8191/141.82. And, by the way, a .006 r.t for Andy. Pair 3 was #2 Ricky Esparza and #7 Gary Smith. Gary bulbed blatantly and had a 4.8441/144.83 to Ricky's soft/save-it pass of 8.6071/63. Finally #3 Bill Norman and #6 Lyle Byrum met in the burnout box. Bill also lit the dreaded red light, wasting a fantastic 4.7053/148.47 to Lyles winning 4.7876/144.97.
The SWSC semi-final round began as the night air cooled off slightly, lending more performance to our blower competitors. #1 Penner and #4 Andy came out swinging and when the dust settled (figuratively) Penner had the win in his lane, 4.7186/146.91 to Andy's 4.8112/149.70. The other half of the round was #2 Ricky vs. #6 Lyle. Now stay with me here. Lyle red lighted by -.0012 (!), and ran an under-index 4.6811/151.01, but Ricky nailed the throttle, wheelied, and crossed the center line! Victory to Lyle Byrum and the funny! Ya just never know.
So the SWSC final came down to #1 Jacob Penner and #6 Lyle Byrum. Lyle is the reigning SWSC Points Champ, Penner has won a whole slew of these events. Couple of tough nuts. But when Lyle again displayed the red light (on a 4.5780/153.53 pass), the win went to Penner's 4.6339/154.32. Excellent! Great pass for the fans! Good job.
Jacob Penner w/ his "bowler" and his hard working team won in Midland!
Lyle Byrum and his team from El Paso took 2nd place in Midland.
A big SWSC Thank You to Jimmy Farmer and the DTR Crew and Staff for inviting us. We hope to return in October!
OK, race fans, it’s off to the Smokin’ Amarillo Raceway Park June 16. Stay with us, the 2012 season’s going real good!
Good Vibrations Quick Light of Elims Andy Mears .0060
Fastest Qualifier sponsored by ATI JET Andy Mears 4.6524
SWSC Closest Pass to Index Bill Norman 4.7053
17 side-by-side heads-up blower passes!
We’ll see you at the races!
