We were going to take the ’57 out this evening but threat of thunderstorms and the fact I tweaked my back this morning cancelled that venture.
However, Paul went out to garner more points in Sportsman before the rains came just before the 3rd round and here is his report on his race for the track championship. Chris was at the track giving Paul a hand and maintaining the Tempest. – Roger
It was a crazy evening at Pacific Raceways as the weather threw everyone a curve ball with figuring out what to dial and due to unplanned down time for oil downs, breakage, etc. we all had 1 time hit before 1st rd which isn’t much of an issue with the Pontiac as the car is consistent as heck to say the least! 🙂
1st pass: 12.433 @ 106.73 mph
2nd pass: 12.551 on 12.39 dial @ 98.21 mph (off throttle) ***Projected12.40 pass***
3rd pass: 12.419 on 12.37 dial @ 101.47 (off throttle) ***Projected 12.37 pass***
It started raining while I was coming down the return road after the 2nd rd win, thanks Kandis for the win dot as always as we love them! We thought the race was going to be called after raining for about 15 minutes but it was really weird where it was raining but you didn’t feel it on your skin as it was so humid & warm it was drying so fast before hitting the ground. We were called to the lanes for the 3rd round about 10:40 and the lines were pulling forward before it was called due to rain. This round would’ve been really interesting as the guy in 2nd would’ve raced the guy in 4th and I would’ve been racing good ol’ Jerry Durant Jr for a 3rd time this year in his Dodge truck as he is the reigning Div 6 Sportsman Champ and we have faced off in the final round twice previously this year where I was fortunate to come out on the winning end both time.
We were talking to Jerry during the rain delay and would you believe this, he has been in 18 final rounds this year thus far and has a 9-9 record in those?! He estimated that he has made about 300 passes on his slicks, plus drives the truck to & from each race this year as he has been at about 5 different tracks this year. He is a cool guy as he always goes out of his way to say hello and chat for a bit. There are quite a few other Sportsman racers that talk to one another which includes Bill Cadle, Gordon Rust, Mark Loftis and many others as all cool guys even though we beat up on each other in competition.
I want to say thanks again to Torri for letting me race her car & my bro (crew chief) along with Mom & Dad for all of your help this year as I truly couldn’t do any of this without your support. See you all at the next race on Aug 24th as that is an all day points race and last one before the team finals @ Spokane Raceway.
Go TEAM PACIFIC RACEWAYS! – Paul
About Roger
Driver of our '57 Chev from 1972-2019, Vietnam veteran (A Troop, 3/17th Air Cavalry Scout helicopter Line Chief and later Cobra Periodic Inspection team leader), retired ASE rated automotive mechanic. Roger became involved in drag racing during his high school days and after his stint in the Army ran E & F/MP [Modified Production] here in Division 6 before switching to bracket racing when the '57 became obsolete for class racing. He often raced at Puyallup, Kent-Pacific Raceways, Bremerton, Portland & the original Mission, B.C. track.