Pacific Division HOTLINECharlie Neilson, Division Director Paul Jager, Division Tech Director Lena Billington, Administrative Assistant Tech Line: Tuesday & Thursday, 7-9 p.m. March 2003 2035 Financial Way, Glendora, CA 91741 (626) 963-2454 • Fax, (626) 963-2454 (626) 914-4761 • Fax, (626) 914-8963 Bob Johnson, Photographer, (661) 943-0855 NEWS FROM THE PACIFIC DIVISION Decisive Phoenix wins by Lucas and Gordon highlight season-opening event by John Jodauga photos by Bob Johnson acing unexpected electronic prob- lems and the threat of rain showers, Fracers and NHRA officials worked together to finish the Division 7 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series opener in splendid fashion. Morgan Lucas and Doug Gordon scored respective victories in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. Other victors included Rick Braun, Comp; Kyle Seipel, Super Stock; Jim Meador, Stock; Thomas Bayer, Super Comp; Kenneth Yeoman, Super Gas;Gary Thompson, Super Street; and Sean Conner, Motorcycle. Said Division 7 Director Charlie Neilson, “To begin with, we were amazed with the turnout that we had — 585 cars. That was a lot more than we expected, In the winner's circle were, back row, from left, Division 7 Director Charlie Neilson, considering the threat of rain and the cur- Kyle Seipel, Doug Gordon, Morgan Lucas, Rick Braun, Jim Meador, and Charlotte rent state of the economy. Then, as the and Forrest Lucas; front row, from left, Sean Conner, Carolyn Hills, Thomas Bayer, weekend progressed, we had some unex- Kenneth Yeoman, and Gary Thompson. pected teething problems with the new LED Tree whenever the full Tree was used, against and they cooperated fully without Lucas stepped up with his devastating 5.39 which was for Stock, Super Stock, and complaint. I was really proud of how every- to defeat Tony Meredyk’s 5.61. Lucas then Comp. One of the ambers would randomly body kept their equipment together and demoralized Darren Nicholson in the flicker before the Tree was turned on, and helped us get through the race with a min- semi’s, 5.44 to 5.77, to earn his final-round it turned out to be a power surge problem imum amount of downtime.” showdown against Chris Demke, who was that was eventually corrected by Com- Lucas, who finished last season in fine running strong numbers as well with win- pulink and Jeff Foster, who had worked on style with a victory at the Automobile Club ning times of 5.45 and 5.50. the situation from Friday on. of Southern California NHRA Finals, his But Demke slowed to a 5.63 at only 208 “I really have to thank all of the Division 7 second national event triumph of the year, mph in the final, and Lucas won going away racers for their patience and under- overwhelmed the Top Alcohol Dragster field with a 5.47 at 266.37. Defending Division 7 standing,” Neilson continued. “We needed on race day with three sizzling runs that champion Duane Shields, who won last to have about two dozen re-runs on Sunday, ranged from a low e.t. of the meet 5.390 to year’s season opener in Phoenix, qualified but everybody understood what we were up a 5.473. After qualifying third with a 5.425, to page 3 April 25-27, 2003 FEATURING AA/FD INC. Butch Blair’s “Fugowie”-John Eirich’s “Ground Zero” Dave Smith’s “Nitro Fever” Lee Jenning’s “CA Trucker” Arnold Birky and Mark Malde’s “Birky Bunch” Jack Harris’ “Nitro Thunder”-Jim Murphy’s “WWII” Mike Lockman’s “Superstitions” Gerry Steiner, Jesse Perkins, John Blanchard Brenden Murry’s “Runnin’ Wild” Rich Howell and Fred Farndon Mike Fuller and Bill Dunlap Pete Jensen and Glen Hutchison’s “Foothill Flyer” FIRST 500 race fans will receive FREE souvenir Sacramento, California FUNNY CAR FEVER & AA/FD at the WESTERN STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS Thursday, April 24 Saturday, April 26 - FUNNY CAR FEVER Parking. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Gates Open . 8 a.m. NHRA Tech . 10 a.m.-6 p.m. NHRA Tech. 8 a.m.-noon Test and Tune (operated exclusively by track) . 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Time Trials & Qualifying . 9 a.m. Admission Free with weekend pass Comp Qualifying . 12 & 4 p.m. Top Alcohol Dragster & Funny Car Qualifying – Round 1 . 12:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster Qualifying . 3 & 6 p.m. Gates Open . 8 a.m. Secure Track . 7 p.m. NHRA Tech . 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Time Trials & Qualifying . 11 a.m. Note: any class that exceeds 100 cars will run first round on Saturday. Schedule subject to change. Listen for announcements and check posting boards for changes. Comp Qualifying . 2 p.m. & 5:30 p.m. Top Alcohol Dragster & Funny Car Qualifying . 2:30, 4:45 & 7 p.m. Sunday, April 27 - TOP FUEL SUNDAY Secure Track . 7:45 p.m. Gates Open . 8 a.m. Eliminations . 11 a.m. Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster Eliminations. 12, 3 & 5 p.m. Secure Track . 5 p.m. Schedule subject to change. General Admission Saturday, April 26 (w/out pit pass) . $15 Saturday, April 26 (w/pit pass) . $25 Sunday, April 27 (w/out pit pass) . $15 Sunday, April 27 (w/pit pass). $25 Three-day ticket. $50 For information: (916) 363-2653 Entry Fee (Car & Driver). $140 Test and Tune (operated exclusively by track) . $100 or visit www.sacramentoraceway.com Children 11 & under admitted FREE Lucas proved to be unstoppable during Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations as he defeated Chris Demke in the final, 5.473, 266.37 to a slowing 5.633, 208.23. In the first round, Lucas set low e.t. and top speed of the meet, 5.390, 267.27. from page 1 time in the semi’s. Seipel, who finished holeshot-aided final, 8.932 to 8.928. just four points out of first place in last Bayer had moved into the final with a No. 1 with a 5.410 but was upset in the first year’s Division 7 Super Stock standings, solo pass in the quarterfinals after Kyle round by Howard Haight, 5.88 to 7.96. combined his .004 light with a .01-over Rizzoli’s entry was knocked out by Gordon’s Top Alcohol Funny Car vic- 8.990 in the semi’s to defeat the highly breakage and a bye in the semi’s. tory came at the expense of No. 1 qualifier regarded SS/IA ’69 Camaro of Dan Yeoman’s ’91 Daytona prevailed over Bucky Austin in the final. Gordon, whose Fletcher, which was .022-under with a Kevin Kleineweber’s ’00 Corvette in the ’02 Camaro made the program in the No. 10.238. double-breakout Super Gas final, 9.887 2 slot with a 5.697, just behind Austin’s ’02 Meador put together a near-perfect to 9.879, with Yeoman’s .023 to .027 Firebird, which nabbed the pole position package with his D/SA ’67 Camaro to win starting-line advantage proving decisive. with a 5.631, prevailed in the final with a the Stock final over Curtis Coulter’s D/S ’69 In the Super Street final, Gary 5.77 to Austin’s shutoff 7.26. Mercury. Meador’s .004 light and .002- Thompson’s ’86 Corvette handily Up until the final, however, Austin was under 10.828 got the nod in the defeated Rodger Sauder’s ’72 ’Cuda the star of eliminations with a low e.t. of the double-breakout decision against Coulter’s with a 10.935. Sauder, who had a .025 to meet 5.600 to turn back the 5.812 of John .013 bulb and .011-under 10.089. .043 holeshot, could not run his number Patton’s ’99 Firebird and a 5.626 to 5.765 Meador advanced to the final with a with an 11.02 on the 10.90 index. defeat of Mark Woznichak’s ’02 Camaro in 10.944 bye run while Coulter ruined Conner triumphed once again in the semi’s. Gordon topped defending Divi- Seipel’s chances of a double by Motorcycle eliminations as final-round sion 7 champion Steve Gasparrelli’s ’03 defeating the Super Stock winner’s opponent Leo Shaver’s Kawasaki Ninja Firebird in the first round, 5.68 to 6.69, and C/FIA ’98 Firebird in the other half of the fouled with a -.005 light. Conner’s win- he singled with a 9.10 in round two over semi’s with a .046-over 11.146 to a .032- ning time with his ’98 Koenig Kawasaki Mert Littlefield’s broken ’99 Camaro. over 11.21. The difference in the contest was a .012-under 8.368. Braun, who was winless in Division 7 was Coulter’s .017 light against Seipel’s Mike Ferderer (Super Gas) and Tim- Comp action last year, got off to a much tardy reaction time of .121. othy Richards (Super Comp) earned their better start this season with his final-round Bayer, who finished fifth in last year’s Perfectly Strange awards by running triumph over Joe Mozeris. In the show- Super Comp points chase, claimed his exactly on their respective indexes during down, Braun’s B/EA ’01 Firebird overcame victory by stopping Todd Bartone in a the weekend. the .048 to .163 starting-line advantage of Mozeris’ B/ED to win with a .527-under 7.983 against Mozeris’ 7.320 on the 7.50 index. Braun advanced to the final with a .393-under 8.117 victory over No. 1 quali- fier Frank Aragona Jr.’s F/EA, which slowed to an 8.971 on his 9.00 index, and Mozeris easily defeated Steve Wilmoth’s slowing C/SR ’34 Chevy with a .082-over 7.582 in the other semifinal-round contest.