Struggling on

Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Ron Lewis

Super Stock winner Ryan McClanahan.

It was a subdued atmosphere for the final rounds of the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways on July 11 after the death of a sportsman racer.

Mark “Billet Bullet” Niver, 60, of Phoenix crashed his Top Alcohol Dragster during Sunday's semifinal round. After Niver crossed the finish line he deployed the parachutes but they instantly detached from the car. Niver's rail hit the sand trap and the catch nets. Upon impact, the front of the dragster folded backward and landed on top of the cockpit.

Chris Demke, who was declared the winner of the TAD class, presented his winner’s “Wally” trophy to the Niver family.

Despite a relatively low competitor turnout in some of the Lucas Oil classes, the racers delivered a number of outstanding performances for the Sportsman cognoscenti at Seattle. There were some unusual performances by sportsman racers, four of whom repeated their 2009 Northwest Nationals victories at the 2010 event. The repeat winners came from the quickest and fastest of the sportsman classes. The defending winners were Chris Demke (Top Alcohol Dragster), Sean O'Bannon (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Alan Ellis (Comp), and Ryan McClanahan (Super Stock).

First time Seattle national event winners included Kevin Cour in Stock Eliminator, Tom Malicki in Super Comp, Reg Wilson in Super Gas, and Darrel Saxby in Super Street.