MEARS
MAULS COMPETITION @ CAPROCK/ODESSA
The Tate Branch Southwest
Superchargers gathered for their first race of 2018 March 24 @ Caprock
Motorplex/Penwell. Andy Mears took home the first "Jerry" of the year over 10
supercharger advocates.
Qualifying began around 5:00 p.m. as Ricky Esparza brought his slingshot-style
dragster through the burnout box to face Buck Woolens traditional car as the
first pair of the season. Buck made a 4.8943/142.36 to Ricky's better but
sub-index pass of 4.5365/158.73(!). Next up was Jacob Penner vs. Andy Mears.
Jacobs Vertex mag quit, 5.9347/114.62. Andy ran an officially ignored
4.4539/156.85. If you're are new to SWSC rules, any pass more than .10 under the
index of 4.60 is officially ignored, thrown out. On to the next pair. Former
SWSC Champion Joe Navar started to meet Rickie Weeaks altered, and Joe ran a
nice sub-index pass of 4.5744/151.72 to Rickies great 4.6733/150.30. Nice! A
long-absent Gilbert Tejeda brought a sling-shot style competition coupe-looking
dragster and ran 4.8829/142.59 against Janna Skinners 4.6475/149.45. And the hot
pink altered of Al Seelig eeked out a soft 5.5058 (killed the plugs) opposite
Christian Leffew's Best Pass Of The Club 4.6007/147.78! Just 7 ten-thousandths
off index! Tough!
Q-2 began with Buck Woolen improving slightly to a 4.8492/143.08 vs. Andy Mears
legal 4.6881/147.16 Next it was Ricky Esparza going an excellent 4.6109/157.07
to Christians 4.6013/145.58. Did I mention how close to index the SWSC racers
can get? WOW! Gilbert slowed slightly, 4.9057/139.02 to Janna's near-perfect
4.5962/150.25. Just under! Rickie Weeaks caught a bad tree, 5.8288/142.59 to Joe
Navar's 4.7075/151.11.
After consulting the SWSC
adding machine/calculator/abacus, the competition ladder was revealed to be #1
Qualifier Christian Leffew, just .0007 off index! His competition in Rd-1 would
be #8 Buck Woolen, .249 off. #2 Qualifier was Janna Skinner, .0038 under, who
would meet #7 Gilbert Tejeda, .282 off. #3 Ricky Esparza (.010 off) would run #6
Andy Mears (.088). And #4 Joe Navar (.015 off) would go against #5 Rickie
Weeaks, who ran a best pass .073 off index. So far we have had 9 passes within
1/10 of a second of the index!
Eliminations kicked off as
#4 Joe Navar fired to meet #5 Rickie Weeaks Ford-powered altered. Rickies
altered spun slightly and twisted, requiring a quick pedal job, but Joe was off
to the stripe, a near-perfect 4.6046/137.70 to Rickies 8.1539/55.84. Next up was
#3 Ricky Esparza vs. #6 Andy Mears. Esparza drew the dreaded "red eye" by .079,
surrendering his 4.9968/97.78 to Andy's sub- 4.5847/151.52. Third pair was #1
Christian Leffew and #8 Buck Woolen. Buck went red (first), -.057, 4.8421/144.32
to Christians early -013, 4.6656/143.63. And #2 Janna Skinner met #7 Gilbert
Tejeda and Janna came out the winner, as Gilbert went red, .-044, 5.4451/91.19
to Janna's .-027, 4.5718/150.75. Tough round, SWSC!
Rd 2 Elims began as #1
Leffew roared to life to meet #4 Joe Navar. Christian had a tire issue, delayed
burn out, and kinda hurried through his burn out. On the starting line, Joe
patiently and politely waited. At the green, Christians car spun slightly, and
Joe was away on a great winning 4.6127/142.86 to Christians slower 5.7664/83.
The other half of the round was #2 Janna vs. #6 Andy. Janna took a bad r.t and
slowed to a 4.8743/149.85 to Andys better 4.6515/131.93.
The first SWSC Final round
of 2018 came to be #4 Joe Navar vs. #6 Andy Mears. Now please stay with me as
the numbers are excellent in this final. Andy went .014 r.t., Joe .029! Joe ran
4.6091, Andy 4.6054!! By .019 at the stripe, Andy won the race, and what a race.
Our kind of side-by-side, supercharged alcohol-fed heads-up drag racing! May be
the closest pass in our 20-year history. Fantastic.
The SWSC extends our
Thanks to the Management and Staff of Caprock Motorplex. Hope to return soon!
Let's give away some bonus money!
The SWSC awards the
Tate Branch Junior Dragster Winner and Runner-Up Bonus to every race where we
and junior dragsters are competing. This week @ Caprock Motorplex the Winner was
Ashton Frasier. Runner-up in the class was Piper Everett.
Congratulations from the SWSC and Tate Branch Dealerships to these young racers!
Caprock Race Winner Andy Mears.
Caprock Race Runner up Joe Navar
Our eternal Thanks to our sponsors and everyone who assists in the continuing
success of the Southwest Superchargers, year after year. Now in our 20th year!
Tate Branch Family of Dealerships
Mears Mazda/Volvo, Lubbock, Tx
Good Vibrations/Drag Parts Whittier, Calif.
ATI Jet Executive Charter El Paso, Tx
TR Chassis/Design/Welding Las cruces, N.M.
Race #2 is coming April 7 @ Prairie Hill Raceway, Axtell, Texas. Come join us!
We'll see you at the races!
Floyd Stringer
Mears Mazda Winner Andy
Mears!
Mears Mazda Runner-Up Joe Navar
ATI Jet Quick Qualifier Joe Navar (4.5744)
TR Chassis Progressive Qual. Buck Woolen (#8)
SWSC Driver Bounty (Janna Skinner) Andy Mears!
Good Vibrations Quick Light Andy Mears (.014)
