Franks Race Results

 

 

          Gary Hill (Truth or Consequences, NM) won the latest outing of the Southwest Superchargers to Desert Thunder Raceway in Midland, Texas.

        

  After a beautiful warm afternoon without rain (which has been a regular event for the SWSC there), timed trial qualifying runs began for the SWSC faithful around 6:00 pm. The legendary Dr. Hook (in Texas) had promised the SWSC a treacherously sticky track and he delivered , in spades! Buck Woolen (Jr. and Sr.) lined up to be first down the fresh Desert Thunder surface and at least half of the first pair made a great pass. Buck Sr ran a respectable 4.8163/144.60, but Buck Jr. lifted the front wheels slightly immediately before crunching the transmission into oblivion. Further progress under power was unlikely, and the crew had to push him back to the staging lanes to be recovered by the team. Next up was Clay Cunningham, driver of the Wayne’s World dragster. He faced the “Banzai” entry of Andy Mears, Lubbock., TX. Clays r.t. of .011 and e.t of 4.7054/151.06  overshadowed Andys nice sub-index 4.6579/151.52. Brittny Blakely fired her big block to meet Jacob Penner (427 Chev). Jacob made a great  4.6878/151.72 vs. Brittnys officially ignored 4.5354/154.06. Sue Stringer (Alamogordo, NM) next met Gary Smith (500 in. Hemi) and Garys 4.8090/142.90 outpaced Sues 4.8258/134.85. Gary Hill (525 Max Wedge) next prepared to run Don David (Odessa, TX). Dons 4.6936/150.50 outran Garys 4.7709/146.01. Finally Bill Norman and The Fabulous Fat Boys met Lyle Byrum (El Paso). Bill eeked out a 4.8733/145.82 to Lyles bogus 5.1536/146.91. (Do I have the right numbers for that Pass? I didn’t think so).

 

          Q-2 rolled through the DTR bleach box around 8:00 pm with Buck Sr. facing Clay Cunningham. Clay followed up his earlier run with a nice 4.7594/150.10 and Buck went 4.7262/146.96. Nice Job, Guys! Next Andy Mears and Brittny would try the pavement. Mears .009 r.t. coupled to his 4.6157 was almost too fast compared to Brittnys barely legal 4.6012/152.23. Don David next followed Gary Hill through the water. Don went 5.6206/137.36 (staging problems) and Gary put up a 4.6891/146.39. Gary Smiths Q-2 pass was 4.9536/139.28 vs. Sue Stringers pedaling 5.6614/115.98. Lyle Byrum made a single and went 4.6251/152.08. And Bill Normans single showed 4.8439/145.63.

 

 

          Looking at the Desert Thunder Raceway print outs revealed the run order to be: #1 Qualifier, Clay Cunningham .0054 off index (4.70), #2 Don David .0064, #3 Gary Hill .0109, #4 Jacob Penner .0122, #5 Buck Woolen .0262, #6 Andy Mears .0421, #7 Lyle Byrum .0749, and #8 Brittny Blakely .0988 off the SWSC 4.70 index. May I remind our faithful SWSC followers we allow qualifying runs  down to .1 seconds under index to count as well as any other runs, but runs more than .1 under are rejected.  So Brittnys “best “ pass was her 4.6012.

 

           Not qualified on the SWSC ladder for this race was #9 Gary  Smith at .109 off, #10 Sue Stringer .1258, and #11 Bill Norman .1439 off. Buck Jr got no time.

 

          Round 1 of SWSC Eliminations started with #4 Jacob Penner firing his mount and #5 Buck Woolen Sr rolling to meet the challenge. Buck Sr drew the ominous “redeye” and gave away a great 4.7469/145.82 to Jacobs winning 4.7575/149.70 (difference in e.t.s of just .0006!). Next pair was #1 Qualifier Clay Cunningham and #8 Brittny Blakely. Car owner Chuck McBride admitted to fattening up the fuel curve in hopes of killing several  tenths, but soon the clocks revealed Brittny's too-fast 4.6226/141.60 surrendered the win to Clays superior 4.7412/147.25. Next up was #3 Gary Hill vs. #6 Andy Mears. Andy got out of the groove enough to lose traction with the right Goodyear and sashay to a slow 5.0084/130.10 to Gary's straighter 4.7540/132.04. The final pair in Rd 1 was #2 Don David and #7 Lyle Byrum. Dons short dragster did its now familiar wheelstand, landing hard enough to disconnect the steering shaft from the r&p, rendering any further progress nil.  Lyles winning pass was a 4.7819/125.07.   Following on the heels of the qualified field #9 Gary Smith and #11 Bill Norman made test runs to refine their tune-ups and entertain the fans with an extra run. Gary's 4.7990/146.64 was ahead of Bills repeat 4.8306/146.10.

 

         Rd 2 SWSC Elims was initiated as #1 Clay Cunningham pulled out to face #4 Jacob Penner. Penner slept slightly as evidenced by his .2055 r.t., and lost the pass with his 4.8027/147.88 trailing Clays consistent 4.7661/149.70. #3 Gary Hill faced #7 Lyle Byrum in the other half of the semi final round. Gary got away first and stretched the pass to the limit with Lyle going around him in the last few feet only to see Lyle lose in a double breakout pass, Gary's 4.6971/139.10 winning over Lyles more egregious 4.6816/151.82.

 

          The SWSC Final Round was run around 1:00 a.m. #1 Clay Cunningham ran #3 Gary Hill, Gary's Max Wedge Mopar vs. Clays Big Block Chevy. Almost identical r.t.s (.0624 vs. .0664) heralded a final of grand scale. Sure enough, Clays fantastic 4.7272/150.70 LOST to Gary's superior 4.7015/135.42 (BRAKES!).  WOW!

 

 

          A big SWSC Congratulations to Gary Hill on his first win in a couple years. And Kudos to the Wayne's World team and Clay Cunningham for a great R/U and a consistent race car.

 

         

 

 

 

 

 The Davidson Racing Fuels 30-gal drum of methanol goes to the winner, Gary Hill of Truth or Consequences, NM.

  

          The Mears Mazda #1 Qualifier Bonus went to Clay Cunningham. The Mears Mazda #2 Qualifier Bonus went to Don David.   

 

           The Sunset Racecraft Progressive Qualifier was won by #11 Bill Norman.

 

         The  Good Vibrations Reaction Time of elims went to Lyle Byrum for his stellar .0306 in Rd 1.

 

       

 MSD Ignitions of El Paso sponsors a Winners Bonus of $50 and a R/U Bonus of $25

 

        

  Our Thanks to all the Southwest Superchargers sponsors who help keep the SWSC going in these tough economic times!