Taking Stock of the First Part of the Season


Well, we are finished with the first quarter of the 2015 season of Nostalgia Drag Racing. And from all outward appearances it seems as though the word could be domination – well, maybe not as strong as domination, maybe the term should be "command."

This is what Steven Densham has on the funny car field even after the Saturday night rainout at Rocky Mountain Raceway in West Jordan, Utah, a commanding points lead. Densham ran into mechanical issues and killed a bearing according to team owner, dad Gary Densham, and they just ran out of time to get the car turned around. As luck would have it, the rain held off just long enough for Densham's second-round opponent Richard Townsend in the "Nitrohaulic" Camaro to take a 5.92 single run. 

Then the clouds opened up and the rain and hail began to fall, forcing the remaining teams in the staging lanes back to the pits and eventually washing out the remaining racing action.

So, the choices are either moving the semifinals to the next stop on the schedule, which is in Mission, British Columbia, and the finals to be run in Idaho (which has been rumored) or running everything at Boise.

The remaining nostalgia classes will be waiting until Bakersfield to run those specific races to see who gets the check and the trophy.

But I digress. Getting back to command, that is what the Densham team appears to have over the rest of the nitro funny car field. Going into Utah, Densham's two wins has given him a 104 point lead over "Hollywood" Kris Krabill.

Densham secured the number-one qualifier position and notched a first round win before the bearing issue caused the team to withdraw from the event. If Densham keeps on this roll it is going to be tough to overcome the lead he has.

However, we do not race on paper and weird things happen in drag racing. Krabill, Townsend and Overholser all have a chance to double up in one weekend and throw this whole scenario into turmoil.

As far as the engine stands with wheels, the Top Fuel cars, it appears that strong groups of cars are heading to Bowling Green, Ky., and Beech Bend Raceway Park, for the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion, to be held on June 18-20.

This could be a rerun of last year, as once again it seems like Tony Bartone, with crew chief Steve Boggs, has the gold car running on a rail. According to Bartone the car was scheduled to be taken back and some updates done to it. Will this help or hinder the performance of the car? Not to wish bad luck on any competitor, but if those updates give more performance to the Bartone Brothers dragster, well, I'm afraid it will be a race for second for everyone else.

Speaking about a race for second, over in the IHRA, Mike McIntire is making it a race for second place in the points. McIntire in the "McAttack" has a 100 point lead on last year's champion Jason Rupert. Now what is impressive with this fact is that McIntire has this sizable lead after five races by racing in only FOUR events.

McIntire missed the event at State Capital Dragway in Louisiana when his father Mike Sr. had health issues. Tim Boychuk won that event in his last race with former crew chief Roland Leong.

Speaking of Mr. Boychuk, an announcement released last week stated that Tim would be removing the "Hawaiian" logo from his car. Immediately after, a press release was issued that Boychuk and Leong had parted company, there seemed to be some disconnect between the two when it came to the "Hawaiian" branding on the car.

However, that situation appears sorted out by both parties and Boychuk will remove the branding. Hopefully the colors of the wrap will remain the same as it is a beautiful car with the blue and white. Those headed to Budd's Creek, Md., for the IHRA Nitro Jam will be able to see the new car on June 19-20.

One last thing, as it is getting into the heat of racing and the heat of the summer. Hydrate (water, not beer and soda) and use sunscreen.  Make a new friend by offering to apply sunscreen on him or her. Honestly, keep an eye on each other because we want to see you all at a nostalgia race in the near future.

I write this every month, just to see who notices!