Hot days, cool races, Shootout at Sundown

Words by Tim Rigby
Photos by Paul Schmitz

The West Coast Hot Rod Association SHOOTOUT at Sundown was presented by HOLDERS A/C & Heating; this would be the 4th Race of 2009, 3rd at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway in McFarland, Calif. The cool weather was the story last month, this time it was quite the opposite: with outside temps reaching 110* during the day, everyone was looking forward to the night racing! The Famoso crew kept on top of starting line and track conditions, making sure that the lanes stayed even and the track was the best it could be in both lanes. By the time the racing started, the track temps had dropped considerably and it was obvious the track wouldn’t be an issue. It wasn’t just the temps heating up this weekend, the points championships have heated up as well and are closer than ever!

When it was all said and done there were 7 WCHRA Records reset and some of the quickest and fastest runs to date, with some wild crowd pleasing passes turned in by the Heads-Up driver. The new for `09 Limited 10.5 class has quickly become the most talked about class among racers and fans with side by side 200ft wheel stands and record setting performances. This class is definitely one you don’t want too miss! We are definitely looking forward to September 26th -27th, when the WCHRA returns to AAA Auto Club Famoso Raceway for the season finale, the SCE GASKETS West Coast Finals. This event will be TELEVISED with coverage by Inside Drag Racing (IDR) and broadcast on Fox Sports Net (FSN).

The WCHRA will also be at the Pinks All-Out on September 11th & 12th at AAA Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California. Stop by their tent and check out some of the racers and cars of the WCHRA, as they’ll be making a few exhibition runs at the event.

PRO

QUALIFYING

Number two qualifier Tim Henry

In round one of qualifying, the Firebird of Tim Henry led all qualifiers with a nice 6.42 at 221 mph. In round two, Henry would once again step up and lead qualifying with a 6.355 at 221.73, but right behind him was the ‘55 Chevy of Brett Williamson with a career best 6.383 at a potential record setting, 227.61! Going into the final session, there were many questions: Would the Williamson team be able to take the #one spot? Would Tim Henry be able to hold on? Or would the one of the other eight Pro teams step up and take it from everyone? When the smoke cleared it was the Brett Williamson at the top nudging out Tim Henry by .005 of a second, 6.350 to Henry’s 6.355!, third would go to Clint Hairston’s 6.684 at 219.61, followed by Allan Bessant 6.702, Jay Diedrich 6.728, Gary Soulages 7.127, Jimmy Mock 7.643, Joe Alsworth 7.887, Kelly Bluebaugh 8.060 and Randy Walkers 9.385.