Friday Photo Gallery
NOTE" Click on the thumbnails to view the full-size images
We arrived just in time to see the last stages of a cleanup precipitated by some oil leaking out of one of the Sekura Brothers Rocky Mountain Funny Cars. Then Troy Sitko made a very successful test lap in the Sitko Family nitro flopper, carding a career best - for himself and the car - nitro pass of 6.07 - 223.49
Back in the pits and waiting until tomorrow evening's qualifying sessions is the famous Twig Zeigler Nitro Funny Car, now being driven by Darin Bay
Back on track, two Rocky Mountain funny cars from Alberta matched up, with Cal Tebb (the GTO on the far side) clocking a 7.01 - 158.99 pass, while Joey Steckler's yellow 'Vette didn't receive a timeslip as he left before the tree was activated
LEFT: Dale Pedersen came up next and tried to dial-in his newly-turboed Pro Street car, but his first effort only produced a 15-second timeslip. RIGHT: I have no idea who owns/drives this Super Pro car, or even what make/model it is, but it certainly looks cool. Very small, and evil-looking.
Another of the Rocky Mountain Nostalgia flopper gang, Arvid Fonstad brought out his "Happy Hour" Mustang and gave us a little wheelie show as he launched
Time for some "complicated" eliminator cars, with Grant Klohn's B/A out testing on the left and turning a solid 7.38 - 186.60, while Bob Marshall's now A/A laid down a very stout 6.88 - 202.22
Another unidentified car, but it runs pretty hard and carded a series of mid 8-second clockings at more than 160 mph.
Newly licensed driver, Norm Kolwich, gets suited up and strapped in before his first pass down Mission Raceway in his brand-new Rocky Mountain Nostalgia Funny Car
Suited up, strapped in and ready to go, Kolwich made a good first pass at Mission, clocking in at an early shutoff 7.19 - 153.06 to show that the car and driver are almost dialed-in already
As seen on the trunk lid of a Super Pro '68 Dodge Dart, a decal (and a closer look if you can't quite read it) promoting the recently "closed forever" website Horsepower Heaven, formerly the "go-to" site for all things drag racing on this side of the continent.
LEFT: Eddy Plazier came up next and stopped the clocks with an excellent 6.83 - 199.82 that was just a little quicker than the 6.90 index the Rocky Mountain cars will be running on this weekend. RIGHT: "Wild" Al Weich ran next in his "High Intensity" Dodge Charger and laid down yet another 7.70 pass to continue his string of slow, but consistent laps since he licensed last month. Al: It doesn't need "MORE fuel".... definitely!
Terry Spargo brought out his A/AP comp eliminator car to test the newly installed fuel injection system. The results were somewhat mixed as it left well, but fell off and he shut down early to a 7.08 - 163.81 pass
Dale Pedersen's second shot at the track produced much better results, as he managed to put down a 6.93 - 153.84 despite a very early shutoff.
Another unidentified doorslammer, a '68 Camaro, sporting this year's "hot" colour - flat black - heated the hides, then redlighted and launched hard with the wheels up and the wrinkle-walls.... wrinkling
Don't know much about this one either, except that it's a '23-T Ford roadster and it looks pretty nice. These cars used to be quite common at the dragstrip, but have become rather rare as the years pass
LEFT: David Brant's first visit to Mission Raceway in his new "Reaper" Funny Car saw him clock a solid 7.17 - 180.32 pass in his west coast debut. RIGHT: Troy Sitko made his final license pass in the family's '78 Arrow and backed up his earlier 6.07 lap with a solid pass at 6.15 - 223.26 to complete the licensing process
LEFT: I've got to admit a bias against slow cars, door cars, or anything that doesn't burn nitro or at least blown alky or maybe nitrous in a pinch, but there's just something about wheelstands that attracts my camera like a moth to a flame. RIGHT: This car and driver I DO know about; it's the "Demon Chick" herself, Ms. Vicki Strell, wheelieing her Chevy-powered (oh, the sacrilege!) Dodge Demon
Seldom-seen, as in no one has seen it for two or three years, is Tacoma's Marshall Dawson and his AA/AM KB-powered Pontiac Firebird. Running very rich, the car had trouble getting up on the tires and only managed a tentative 7.99 - 145.04 on its first pass. In case the crew looks vaguely familiar - and they haven't been seen much over the past few years either - it's former Top Alky dragster driver/owner Bob Hafner helping stage the car, and ace crewman Paul Tarasenko at the rear, turning on the onboard data recorder
The former Glen Braid '67 Acadian Canso, now being wheeled by Steve Horne, starts his burnout... and keeps burning... and burning some more. Then when he tried to launch, the burst panel in the hood flew into the air (look at the driver's side window area to see it) as the blower backfired on the starting line. It couldn't have had anything to do with that half-track burnout, could it Steve?
Mopars? Yeah, we got 'em. LEFT: A very clean looking '68 Dart leaves with the wheels up and RIGHT: Holy Smokes Batman! Shades of Sox & Martin, as what looks like a period piece '70 Duster pulls into the staging beams
