Joe Navar Assaults SWSC @ Albuquerque
The Southwest Superchargers traveled to Albuquerque Dragway June 11 for their second race of the young season. Eleven SWSC competitors made the journey for a shot at the high altitude eighth mile. After a short weather related delay (wind, no rain), the track officials and staff decided the weather was going to cooperate after all and began the process of track prep for the SWSC and local
racers in attendance. The SWSC began time trials around 6.00 p.m. with SWSC Top Dog Don David lining up vs. Christian Leffew in Sue Stringers car. On the fresh SWSC index of 4.60, Don went 4.7674/146.15 to Christians quicker 4.6460/148.08. Nice pair to open! Next it was front-motored Ricky Esparza and Jacob Penner. Both were a little off pace vs. the 8000' d.a., Jacob a 4.8645/142.54 to Ricky's 4.8393/136.49. Andy Mears brought his "BANZAI" dragster and met local racer Janna Skinner. Andy made a nice 4.6650/148.32 vs. Janna's 4.8263/151.06. Joe Navar vs. Buck Woolen Jr were the next pair. Buck eeked out a 4.8246/144.00 to Joes better 4.5544/149.55. Finally 2015 SWSC Points Champ Gary Hill went 4.7783/144.18 to Paul Roybals 7.2839/72 in his errant 23t altered.
Q-2 began with Don David and Joe Navar. Both bettered their Q-1 times, Don going 4.6493/149.45 to Joes 4.6316/148.47. Next Jacob Penner met Roybals altered. Roybal again suffered the malady of the short car (handling?), and only made a 5.5572/137.53 to Jacobs 4.8227/143.82. Andy Mears went 4.6379/153.11 with Janna Skinner opposite, 4.5968/152.18 (#1). Christian Leffew turned in a special 4.6054/149.85 vs. Ricky Esparza's 4.9225/146.34. And Gary Hill went 4.7428/142.72 to Buck Woolen Jrs 5.1334/132.59. Rickie Weeaks made the trip from Roswell but upon attempting to start his 400+ inch Ford found a broken distributor drive and missed the event.
After scrounging our calculator from under the race tool box and wiping off last years burned rubber from the display screen, it revealed the ladder to start with Qualifier Janna Skinner (r.e.d., Albuquerque). Janna's best pass was just .0032 under the 4.60 index for the Top Spot. She met #8 Buck Woolen Jr, (r.e.d., Alamogordo) .224 off index. #2 Qualifier was Christian Leffew (r.e.d., Alamogordo). His 4.6054 was just .0054 off, and he met #7 Jacob Penner (r.e.d., Seminole, Tx ,.222 off) in Rd 1. #3 on the ladder was Joe Navar ( r.e.d., Dell City)@ .031 off. His opponent was #6 Gary Hill (T or C), who was .142 off. #4 Andy Mears (Lubbock) ran .037 off and met #5 Don David (Cloudcroft) @ .049 off index. #10 Esparza (Las Cruces) (.239) and #11 Roybal (.957) would miss the qualified 8-car field.
Before E-1, the SWSC had some unfinished business to attend. The SWSC Final in San Antonio had been rained out last month, but we needed a winner and r/u for the points page...and trophies! Joe Navar and Don David made their way to the Albuquerque starting line for that long-postponed match. Don took the winners trophy with his 4.6477/148.96 besting Joes game 4.6706/143.77, another SWSC nail-biting final!
R-1 Eliminations/Albuquerque kicked off with #4 Andy Mears running #5 Don David. Don drew a red bulb start, but a great side-by-side SWSC pass ensued after, Andys 4.6332/152.91 over Dons super competitive 4.6360/148.86. Our kind of supercharged, door-to-door non-electronic heads-up action! Next #3 Joe Navar and #6 Gary Hill met. Gary showed a fair amount of death smoke at the finish line, as Joe took the win 4.6315/143.68 to 4.7978/141.20. #2 Christian Leffew ran #7 Jacob Penner and Christian came out on top, his 4.7199/139.95 over Jacobs 4.7395/146.10. Last pair in the round was #1 Janna Skinner vs. #8 Buck Woolen Jr. After tweaking the knobs on his big block, Buck made a losing effort 4.7637/145.26 to Janna's better 4.6199/137.45.
E-2 saw #2 Leffew meet #3 Navar. Christians valiant 4.6426/148.56 fell short of Joes better4.6399/140.41. MOV .0027! #1 Skinner and #4 Mears next assaulted the eardrums. Janna went red by .067, surrendering a 5.0547/122 to Andys 4.675/136.94.
The SWSC final came out before 11.00 p.m. as #3 Joe Navar met #4 Andy Mears. Andy moved first, but ran an under index illegal 4.5822/154.22 to Joes legal winning 4.6174/146.82. Great job, SWSC! And Congrats to Team Navar! And always happy to see Andy Mears bring out his Banzai dragster to race with us!
Winner Joe Navar and the Navar family!!
Runner Up Andy Mears and his Family
Lets give away some bonus money!
Mears Mazda Winner Joe Navar
Mears Mazda R/U Andy Mears
TR Chassis Progressive Qualifier Jacob Penner
Good Vibrations Quick Light Andy Mears (.010 R-2)
ATI Jet Quick Qualifier Janna Skinner
SWSC Gary Smith Best Pass Joe Navar (4.617 Final)
Gary Hill #1 Qualifier Janna Skinner
Also the SWSC paid the Tate Branch Junior Dragster Winner Bonus to Benjamin Tuck and a R/U Bonus to junior dragster driver Justin Van Ostrand.
Our Congratulations to these two young racers.
OK, SWSC Fans, we're off to our home track, El Paso Motorplex July 9. Come on out, we'll have a big ol' time!
FRiS
Our thanks to all our partners/sponsors! Tate Branch Family of Dealerships, Good Vibrations, ATI Jet, Gary Hill, Gary Smith, TR Chassis, Gary & Mark Jones Racing Engines
