Penner Punishes SWSC Field @ Hobbs
The Tate Branch Southwest Superchargers held its fourth event of the 2016 race season August 20 @ Hobbs Motorsports Park. The weather was near perfect, the track was great, and Seminole resident Jacob Penner took home the SWSC "Jerry" for his winning effort.
Rd. 1 Qualifying began with Buck Woolen Jr starting his dragster to meet Christian Leffew in Sue Stringers big block powered car. Bucky went a nice 4.7011/147.93 to Christians slightly quicker/faster 
4.6511/149.15. We're off to a great start! Next up was SWSC club head Don David vs. Keith Mauldin in Mike Aton's "Comfortably Numb" dragster. Don nailed the 4.60 index with his 4.5901/149.85 to Keith's 4.8330/144.88. Albuquerque resident Janna Skinner met Joe Navar for the third pair up. Joes 4.6594/145.91 was just a tick behind Janna's 4.6315/151.26. Jacob Penner brought his "Just For Kicks" car through the water to meet Ray Stringer who was driving Wayne Reinert's funny car from Hereford. Rays car surrendered a transmission part along the way, 6.2142/77.51 to Jacobs index-shattering 4.6041/152.18. Nice! Rickey Weeaks took a solo shot at the 1/8 mile with SWSC driver Rodney Ferguson doing the tuning duties. A soft safe but a-to-b 6.2977/103.42 resulted. Also, a long absent Bill Ort (Lovington, N.M.) made a
solo pass in his beautiful Hemi-powered altered. With Charlie Hayes on wrenches, Bill took an easy 5.4200/135.30 pass.
Rd 2 Qualifying saw the entire field eager to move up the SWSC ladder. Janna Skinner went a super 4.6110/151.26 to Don David's consistent 4.6173/148.42. .006 difference! Buck Woolen Jr made a better 4.6885/147.69 vs. Christian Leffew's off-pace 4.7829/149.85. Keith Mauldin ran 4.9657/14544 with Joe Navar running 4.5945/148.17 in the opposite lane. Janna Skinner made a solo 5.1025/131.93. Rickey Weeaks Ford-powered altered still sneaking up on the tune-up, 8.5839/63. Bill Ort went a consistent 5.4299/137.61.
The SWSC nitro-powered nuclear pencil proposed the first round ladder would go #1 Qualifier Jacob Penner (.0041 off index) vs #8 Bill Ort (.820). #2 Joe Navar (.0055) would run #7 Keith Mauldin (.233). #3 Don David (.0099) would get to meet #6 Buck Woolen Jr. (.0885). And in the middle #4 Janna Skinner (.0110) vs. #5 Christian Leffew (.0511). Spread of field .769 sec.
Rd #1 Eliminations began as #1 Qualifier Jacob Penner prepared to run...First alternate Rickey Weeaks! Bill wasn't quite ready for first round, so Rickey got the call. Jacob took the win light with close-to-index 
4.645/131.85 to Rickey's game 5.5783/140.01, his best so far in the Ford-powered altered. Congratulations! Next #3 Don David squared off vs. #6 Buck Woolen Jr. BOTH cars red lighted, but only Dons came on, disqualifying his 4.6111/148.71 to Bucky's winning 4.6394/148.81. R.T's. were .369 to .399. #2 Joe Navar met #7 Keith Mauldin and Joe advanced on his 4.6664/135.58 to Keith's valiant 4.8399/144.65. The last pair in the first round was #4 Janna Skinner and #5 Christian Leffew. Janna red-lighted away a 4.6410/149.95 and allowed Christian a win on his 4.6405/150.15. Stop and look at that one. .0005 diff in e.t., and .016 diff in r.t. SWSC at its best! Close, blown, no electronics, heads up, alcohol fed!
Before the finals Jacob Penner and team fed the SWSC with his now FAMOUS Fajitas. Jacob, we just cant thank you enough! Great food and great racers.
SWSC Semi-finals started with #1 Jacob meeting #5 Christian. Christian drew the dreaded red bulb, (.3975) and went under index, 4.5849/150.55 to Jacobs winning 4.6113/151.72. #2 Joe Navar pulled through to meet Buck Woolen next. Joe displayed a near perfect 4.6033/144.74 but Bucks better r.t. got him the win with a 4.6591/148.61.
The SWSC final for the "Jerry" trophy came off around midnight with #1 Jacob Penner running #6 Buck Woolen Jr. Bucky's trans brake picked a bad time to fail, LB3A no time, Jacob Penner got the win via his superior on index 4.6098/150.1. Great pass! And Jacob wins Max SWSC Points!
This was Hobbs Motorsports Junior Dragster Challenge Race. As such , the SWSC was honored to pay the Tate Branch SWSC Junior Dragster Bonus to the Winner and Runner-Up of that race. Congratulations to winner Leslie Grissom Jr. and runner up Aston Frazier, outstanding!
A very big thank you to Hobbs Motorsports Park. That track had BITE! We look forward to returning next year.
Make sure to go over to the photo album https://boxnobox.smugmug.com/hobbs-8-20-2016/. Some great shots here of everyone in the class! Great job on the pics.
OK, SWSC race fans, we're off to the border land next week, Aug 27, El Paso Motorplex, El Paso. They've already started the track prep, it's gonna be a blast! C'mon, let's go racing!
Floyd "Fuzzy Gearhead" Stringer
Lets give away some bonus money!
Mears Mazda Winner Jacob Penner
Mears Mazda R/U Buck Woolen Jr
TR Chassis Progressive Qualifier Christian Leffew
Good Vibrations Quick Light Christian Leffew
ATI Jet Quick Qualifier Don David
SWSC Gary Smith Best Pass Joe Navar
Gary Hill #1 Qualifier Jacob Penner
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
