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If you had to pick just one of the races over the last 12 years is there one that stands out in your mind?

CW: I can't pick just one. There are several. And, what usually made them memorable was some type of drama or controversy in the final of Super Pro Street. There was the year Tony Christian's crew forgot to turn on the nitrous bottles and the only thing that saved us from a Swede taking the title was a huge hole shot by Tony. I think if the track had been 10 feet longer Tony may have lost. 

There was the famous so called "burn down" final between Mike Moran and John Scialpi. Scialpi did his burn out first in a blown alcohol car he was driving for a guy named Hurd from Washington state and Moran had a problem that turned out to be one side of the engine had the plug wires not attached. It took about two minutes to find and fix the problem with Moran's car, and all the time John Scialpi was waiting with the engine running. Adrenaline and testosterone was spilling onto the ground on this deal. But, I wasn't going to have a single in the final if there was ANY way to avoid it. For sure, Moran was late to stage, but that was my call. Mike eventually did a short burnout and had a
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nitrous explosion in the lights on the run. Moran won by thousandths. Scialpi was pretty cool about this, but saying Hurd was a little hot is like saying the Grand Canyon is a small dip in the road. His blood pressure may have never returned to normal. 

And then there was the year Ricky Carlos won when it was determined Pat Musi had crossed the centerline in the final against a red-lighting Ricky. This cost Musi $6,000 and you can imagine how disappointed he was. I'm pretty sure Pat thought he did not cross, and he and his crew let us know that in no uncertain terms for quite a while—about a year, I would say. But, the fact of the matter is that he did cross and the rule concerning that situation made Ricky Carlos the winner. We both got over the harsh words eventually and now are on pretty good terms. I'll never forget any of these three incidents.

How did you originally determine what classes you would have and how many where there originally?

CW: Originally the classes were what Kjell had come up with, with small adjustments suggested by me. I think there were only about three classes to start with. All had the same weight rules with the only difference pretty much being different drive tires.

How did you formulate the rules for the classes? Did you look at anybody else’s rules at the time? 

CW: Kjell pretty much used the rules he had found to work at his events in Europe. Whether he looked at any other's or not, I don't really know. I can tell you that I do glance at other's rules and the performances that are turned in during the year at their events. We use the NHRA safety rules, but we tailor the weight rules taking into consideration what we expect are contributing factors to fair weight handicapping at our track and during this time of year. 

How many cars and approximately how many spectators did you have at the first race? 

CW: At the first event Kjell and I did it was a Sunday-only deal. I think we had 67 "heads up cars" and about 1,000 total spectators. Not a great start, but I felt the magic was there and there was enough to build on.

Can you tell us approximately the percentage of increase and car count from the first race to present? 

CW: Car count is up about 500% and the crowd is way up from the first one. Actually, we have set attendance records every year.

Do you have any plans to add or subtract any classes in the future?

CW: I am always taking calls from folks with suggestions on classes. We are still listening. But at this time I think it would be best to keep our four-class format. We already have nearly 400 cars trying to get into a show that qualifies 128 for eliminations on Sunday.

If you were to add a class, what would it be? 

CW: Maybe a "Limited Street" type class with the small 10.5 slicks or a class similar to Heavy Street but "All Motor" as some say.









 

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