The latest update as of October 22, 2024

FIREBIRD FALL SHOOTOUT - Firebird Motorsports Park - Chandler, AZ

Here's a twist to the old adage about "bringing a gun to a knife fight" (or vice-versa). On Friday night at Firebird, Dylan Winefsky brought the blown fuel "Nitro Moose" to the Top Alcohol shootout. The Winefsky team was shaking down the car and prepping young Dylan for his licensing runs at Las Vegas after the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at the end of the month. The team will compete at that event with veteran driver John Hale in the cockpit.

Making his first pass(es) in an all-new BIG show Funny Car, young Dylan Winefsky put the "Nitro Moose" through a couple of burnouts and one launch that ended quickly with major tire shake. The track just wasn't prepped to handle the big horsepower on a cold evening.

Then it was down to business for the final Western Region Top Alcohol event of the 2024 season. It was quite interesting to see how many national championship contenders made the trek west to try to capture more points towards their title hopes. Among the dragsters were points leader Hunter Green, and #6 Matt Cummings. There were two other Top Ten racers competing, but #3 Shawn Cowie had used his allottment of regional events, and #10 Madison Payne was already eliminated from contention for the championship. It is to be noted that Cowie could hurt both Green and Cummings' chances if he could eliminate them on Saturday.

One more item of note is that of the 11 dragsters in the pits, the majority were running blown on alcohol, with six of the blower cars entered. Quite a change from the makeup of almost every field in the past year or three. Also to be noted is that we don't have a breakdown on what numbers the racers ran in each session, so we have simply reported their quickest e.t.'s.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT) Still fighting the good fight with a blown car, Medford Oregon's Mike Austin couldn't get a solid grip on the cold track as the LAD Automotive entry could only muster a non-qualifying 8.360 - 108.18 clocking.

(RIGHT) Following some strong runs at the U.S. Nationals, where she broke into the 5.20's in her blown alcohol car, Shaundra Blinzler fell well short of the bump spot of 7.159, with a best of 8.045 - 99.49 on her qualifying sheet.

(LEFT) The Darien & Grisel team, with Casey Grisel driving and Jerry Darien tuning has been running very strong since mid-season, starting with their dominating winning performance at the Northwest Nationals. They followed that up with a career best for Grisel at Dallas (5.185 - 278.09), and kept the beat going with a top qualifying 5.265 - 270.37 here. Grisel made strong runs in both sessions, as he ran even faster, at 271.24 on one of his attempts.

(RIGHT) Here's Grisel launching hard in the near lane, while long-time alky racer Chris Demke in the "Peen Rite" car punched his way into the field with a solid 5.415, coupled with a big speed of 271.45 mph. That was good for the #6 spot on the ladder.

(LEFT) Nearing the end of what had to be a disappointing season for the Duane Shields-owned "Muscle Milk" team, third-generation racer Madison Payne warmed the tires prior to her first qualifying shot. She got down the track strongly on both attempts, posting speeds of 272.94 and 273.77 mph, with her best e.t., 5.325 placing her in the #4 spot in the field.

(RIGHT) Here she is leaving the line (near lane) against Joey Severance in the far lane. The "J&A Services" has been seemingly been snakebitten all year, running strong then losing fire, breaking, shaking, smoking, etc. But they were on their game here, taking the second rung on the ladder with a very good 5.295 - 274.00 to lead all the supercharged cars in the field.

(LEFT) Making only one pass in qualifying, Shawn Cowie executed his patented high-revving, tire blazing burnout. He skipped the second session as the track cooled and he didn't feel any pressure to top the field as he was out of points earning opportunities.

(RIGHT) When this pair crossed the finish line, the scoreboards lit up BIG with some very solid numbers despite the cold air and track temperatures. In the near lane, Shawn Cowie stopped the clocks with an excellent 5.352 - 275.39, while in the far lane, Matt Cummings posted a very close 5.357 - 274.72 to slot in right behind Cowie on the qualifying list.

Coming into this event with a last chance to increase his points total, Hunter Green smoked the tires hard right off the line and coasted to a non-qualifying 11.458 e.t. at 68.26 mph. He would have needed to qualify and get past the first round to gain any points, and at this point, can only wait and watch what the racers chasing him do. NOTE: He has entered both the Las Vegas and Pomona national events, so we can presume that he plans to attempt to "block" the challengers to his points lead. If he can eliminate them before they overtake him, he might be able to hold on to the #1 spot, but he's less than one round win in front of Cowie and Fricke and that scenario seems improbable.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #1

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TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Qualifying Session #2

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TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #2

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ELIMINATIONS

We don't have any photos or details other than the e.t.'s and speeds for eliminations. It appears that there were a number of no-shows in the first round of Funny Car, as apparently Will Martin broke something on his first qualifying pass, and Hunter Jones appeared to suffer the same fate. On the dragster side, everyone showed - and most ran well - in the first round, but only two of the four semifinalists made it to the line, giving their opponents bye runs into the final round.