TRUE 10.5

The ‘08 Champion Rich Hoyle (shown) and his silver Nova got a bye and also a .000 light at 5.666 at 104.55. Andre Ball with his ‘90 Mustang paired up with Matt Castro and his ‘86 Mustang; Ball left first and ran 5.263 at 148.66 to Castro’s losing 6.960 at 98.66. Walt Brock of Palmdale, Calif., matched up with Richard Gabel from Fresno in the largest car at the event, a ‘66 Chevy Impala. Brock won with a 5.085 at 143.74 to Gabel’s 5.641 at 124.60.

Jalil Jaber and Roger Holder faced off for the first time this year, Holder leaving first with the better RT of .020, but somehow Jaber got the win at 5.451 at 134.62. The last pair was Ron McSwain in his ‘71 Camaro and Greg Castro in his ‘88 Mustang, a real battle of the brands Chevy vs. Ford battle. Castro left first and ran 6.227 at 109.39, only to come up on the losing end as McSwain got to the line first at 5.978 at 134.06.

Round two saw Brock advance past Jaber, 5.263 at 140.69 against 5.449 at 134.91; Hoyle handily defeating McSwain; and Ball enjoying an empty second lane. Round three never even got off the ground, as windy conditions intervened.

DRAG RADIAL

The first round started off with Armen Maghdessuan (shown) getting the bye, followed by David Bowman and Scott Oksas with pretty evenly matched RTs and a nice race at the top end with Bowman getting there first with a 5.402/141.64 to Oksas just a click away at 5.495/135.39.

The next pair were Rod Oxford all the way from Surprise, AZ, and the local racer Bob Kopp. Oxford crossed the finish line with a 5.712/135.46, while Kopp had problems on the starting line. The next pair was Dee Pfnster and Chico Coleman. Coleman left and at the top end clicked off a 5.618/130.05 to the Pfnster’s losing effort of 6.765/124.46. The last pair for round one was the hard charging Mustang of Levi Hanna and Derrol Hubbard. Hanna climbed right in the hunt with a 5.650/141.37 to the slowing Hubbard’s 7.194/97.06.

Round two started off with a blowout, as Maghdessian drove a 5.815/125.82 and walked away from a hurting Hanna, who could only manage a 7.623 at 84.61. Oxford put Coleman away with a 5.733 to 6.002, and although Bowman had a bye run this round, he didn’t take that as a chance to coast, hammering in a 5.262 at 120.49 to set a new record. With efforts like that, the weather interruption that forestalled the third and fourth rounds could only be described as heartbreaking.