The latest update as of November 5, 2023

Western Region Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series - TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER

With 17 racers entered, a number of them Top Ten runners, qualifying was guaranteed to be intense. The schedule provided two test-n-tune runs on Thursday, followed by three qualifying sessions on Friday, before eliminations on Saturday. There was only room for 8-cars in the field, and when the tire smoke and nitro fumes cleared, the bump spot sat at a very quick 5.295, held down by Casey Grisel. Sitting at the top was the dominant blown alcohol car in the world, driven by Canadian Shawn Cowie, with a third session 5.168 - 278.92. Cowie ran in the final pair of qualifying, and bumped Jackie Fricke's excellent 5.185 - 277.72 down to the #2 spot on the ladder.

Notable non-qualifiers were A/Fuelers Madison Payne and Kim Parker, and the blown alky entry of James Stevens, who finished as first alternate with a very good 5.324 - 269.24. In fact, the first five alternates were in the 5.30's, and if the field was expanded to 16-cars, the bubble would have been a decent 5.525 e.t. Going into eliminations the A/FD vs B/AD entries, were five to three in favour of the nitro burners.

(LEFT) After making her Top Alcohol debut in the Michalek Brothers car at Dallas, she's moved into the Samsel Racing rent-a-ride. Following a semifinal finish at Dallas, she made an early exit at the Nevada Nationals, before qualifying in the #3 spot at this event with an excellent 5.223 - 270.75 pass. That pitted her against the defending world champion, Joey Severance in the first round. Severance left first but tire shake cut his run short, and Sampey lit up the scoreboard with her best run of the event, a 5.201 - 276.13 to advance to a semifinal pairing with Jackie Fricke.

That race against Fricke was a great battle, with Fricke taking a very small reaction time advantage and pounding out a 5.273 - 269.40 that wasn't quite enough to hold off Angelle's consistent 5.255 - 275.79. Sampey's margin at the finish line was less than a quarter of a car length, but it was enough to propel into a final round match against Shawn Cowie, with Cowie holding lane choice.

(RIGHT) Laying down on his patented valve spring busting burnouts, Shawn Cowie was running on mean all weekend. Starting with an "off (out of) the trailer" test- n-tune 5.187 - 275.44 on Thursday, he blitzed through qualifying on Friday with a 5.203, then a 5.193, before taking the top spot on the ladder with his final qualifying pass of 5.168 - 278.92 to take top speed and low e.t. with his blown alcohol entry.

His first round match against #8 qualifier Casey Grisel was close for a hundred feet or so, as Grisel got an .074 reaction time advantage, but Cowie's consistently quick 5.181 - 278.17 gave him a two car length victory over the game effort by Grisel. Facing another A/Fuel in the semifinals, Cowie slowed to a 5.204 - 277.60 - his slowest run of the event, but it was more than enough to run away from Rich McPhillips Jr., who shook the tires and shut off to a 10-second clocking. That set up a final round date with Sampey, with Cowie holding lane choice. Sampey gave it a good try, but her slowest run of the event, albeit a very good one, 5.290 - 268.17, wasn't nearly enough to stay with Cowie's event winning 5.196 - 277.43 pass. That gave Shawn five regional wins on the season, and set the team up for the final event of the year at Pomona.

Western Region Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series - TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR

(LEFT) Looking at the two cars in this section, the photos could have been taken almost anywhere Top Alcohol is run, at regional and national events. The odds of these two racers being in a final round are almost a sure bet, and this race was no different. Doug Gordon opened qualifying by slotting into the #2 spot with a great 5.456 - 267.85, just a few thousandths behind #1 qualifier, Chris Marshall's slightly superior effort of 5.452 - 265.12 in the Miner Brothers Camaro. (It's actually a little superfluous to say Camaro as every Funny Car in the pits was sporting a Camaro body. Neither Gordon nor Marshall improved on those numbers in the two later sessions, and they ended up in the top two spots, with Marshall #1.

Gordon opened eliminations with a consistent 5.468 - 267.37 to overcome a slight holeshot by Hunter Jones, and pull away to a multi-car length win, earning lane choice over the always tough Brian Hough. That semifinal match was over almost before it started, as Hough redlighted (-.059 reaction), with his two-step launch control. Gordon slowed a little to a 5.518 - 265.53, and lost lane choice to his final round opponent... wait for it.... Sean Bellemeur.

(RIGHT) With the championship out of reach after Gordon wrapped up the points chase in Dallas, the "Killer B's", with driver Sean Bellemeur were looking to finish the season on a high note. They started on that quest with the event win at the Nevada Nationals, then turned their sights to the regional event. Things didn't start well as they shook the tires in the first qualifier, but it came around with a solid 5.488 - 265.48 in the second session. The final attempt came up short though, as tire shake forced another early shutoff, leaving them in the #4 spot going into eliminations.

Facing Indiana racer Chip Beverett in the opening stanza, Bellemeur made his best run - to that point - of the event, stopping the clocks at 5.485 - 265.22 for an easy win, as Beverett left first but struck the tires early and clicked it off to a 10-second time. Despite the great run, Bellemeur didn't garner lane choice over semifinal opponent, Chris Marshall. That race ended quickly as Marshall redlighted in the torque converter equipped car, wasting a superior 5.478 - 262.85 that could have covered Bellemeur's slightly slower 5.493 - 264.65. In the final, Bellemeur covered Gordon at both ends of the track, leaving first by .033, then outrunning him to the finish line with another consistent 5.494 - 263.82 that was enough to give him a full car length win over Gordon's second best 5.505 - 266.06 effort.