High Desert Harley/Bird of Prey Motorsports Sled/Bike: Zak Pedraza, Boise, .094, 6.56 (6.47 dial) 104.91 def. Matthew Giusti, Boise, -.017 (foul), 6.70 (6.31 dial) 111.46.

 

Capitol City Transmission Nostalgia: Patrick Bailey, Pocatello, .085, 6.47 elapsed time (6.48 dial) 104.00 def. Phillip Comegys, Emmett, -.113 (foul), 8.44, (7.74 dial) 63.24.

 

Fox eliminator presented by the Naughty Girls Sue Reynolds, Nampa, .124, 7.05 (6.98 dial) 91.03 mph def. Bekah Campbell, Eagle, .181, 9.09 (9.07 dial) 71.72.

 

Friday Results

Kidd Performance Super Pro: Brad Patton, Emmett, .023, 10.07 (10.09 dial) 130.17 def. Christopher Northup, Boise, .016, 8.34 (8.37 dial) 158.84.

Meridian Auto Ranch Outlet Pro: Bruce Stewart, Middleton, .055, 9.98 (9.95 dial) 127.88 def. Sean Shaffer, Boise, .060, 9.74 (9.65 dial) 135.46.

 

United Oil Sportsman: Kevin Mays, Boise, .084, 12.63 (12.62 dial) 104.70 def. Shannon Campbell, Eagle, .022, 13.61 (13.62 dial) 97.17.

 

High Desert Harley Davidson/Bird of Prey Sled/Bike: Scott Grondahl, Nampa, .071, 10.51 (10.49 dial) 125.92 def. Whitney Carlson, Meridian, .290, 9.35 (9.39 dial) 149.93.

 

Capitol City Transmission Nostalgia: Patrick Bailey, Pocatello, .004, 10.33 (10.27 dial) 120.48 def. Brad Bohning, Kuna, .012, 12.13 (12.02 dial) 108.04.

 

Fox presented by the Naughty Girls club: Linda Rowland, Notus, .074, 11.59 (11.56 dial) 116.07 def. Shannon Campbell, Eagle, .106, 13.51 (13.58 dial) 101.97.

At the green it was Montana out first as Jones’s .105 reaction time was 33 hundredths better than Bailey’s .138. Then at about sixty feet Bailey ran into some tire shake, which was all that Jones needed to take the win and the title 6.83/194.72 to cover Bailey’s 7.70/127.56.

 

Groups like the Northwest BB Funny Cars and the Blown Alcohol Thunder Pro Comp series fill a very vital role in the world of drag racing.

 

As is has become almost cost prohibitive to book in nitro cars at small and some medium sized market tracks. It is groups like the Northwest BB and Blown Alcohol Thunder that a track owner can book in and be assured of a good show and happy fans at the end of the evening.

 

And for that one evening at Firebird Raceway, drivers in these two series are the big show. The ones the kids look up to. Drivers signing the flags for fans, they got from Ed “The Outlaw “Jones. The smile on the face of a driver and crew chief looking at a time slip showing their best numbers ever.

 

It is all about perspective, and giving race teams a chance to race on a larger stage, and giving the fans a quality show, which keeps them coming back year after to year, to places like Firebird Raceway.

 

Sportsman Results (courtesy of Firebird Raceway)

 

Saturday

Jeff Higgins

Chris Jaggers

 

Kidd Performance Super Pro: Co-champions (split), Jeff Higgins, Boise, .029, 5.65 (5.63 dial) 120.63 and Chris Jaggers, Middleton, .021, 5.04 (5.03 dial) 135.77.

Meridian Auto Ranch Outlet Pro: Lisa Thomas, Meridian, .017, 6.19 elapsed time (6.14 dial) 100.50 mph def. Phil Sielaff, Pine, .065, 6.68 (6.61 dial) 102.73.

 

United Oil Sportsman: Glen Phillips, Middleton, .205, 8.01 (8.03 dial) 87.08 mph def. Michael Jaggers, Middleton, .095, 8.76 (8.89 dial) 78.45.

Justin Taylor

 

As the final came about just after the sun had went down both cars started to do their burnouts and the beautiful blue Satellite came to a stop and Hubbert could not find reverse with the transmission and he was forced to bail out of the car, allowing Taylor to single for the win.

 

Pro Comp Thunder Series made their first ever trip to Boise and to say these guys were excited to be here would be an understatement. The Pro Comp Thunder Series is a small track owners’ dream. They bring a nice show to smaller venues that might not get a chance at either Nostalgia fuel cars or even big show cars.

 

For some of these teams, going to Boise is like running at a national event, stated one of the drivers.

 

Therefore, with just five cars, the group felt compelled to put on the best show possible.

David Newton

Kelly Flansaas

 

Running on a hard index of 6.75 the first pair featured a classic dragster vs funny car match up of Laurel, Montana’s David Newton in the McKinney Dragster and Kelly Flansaas from the capital city of Helena, Montana, at the wheel of his Corvette-bodied flopper.

 

Both cars left on time with Flansaas hiking the front end a good eight inches, carrying it for nearly sixty feet before setting down and with FedEx driver from Laurel right on his hip the entire quarter mile. The win light came on for Flansaas with a 6.85/198.70 to a close 6.99-/75.73 for Newton.

 

Getting back to the pit area, Flansaas had a huge smile on his face, saying, “This place is great, WOW!”

 

The next pair pitted the two top dogs in this group, Brent Jones from Stevensville, Montana, and Rich Bailey based in Salem, Oregon. As these two did their burnouts, starter Weston Nichols noticed an oil leak on Bailey’s dragster that kept getting worse and Nichols shut off the dragster, giving Jones a single. Jones took full advantage of the single, but was just a shade too greedy as his 6.73/209.17 took the win light butit was too quick by two stinking thousands of a second for the 6.75 index.

 

The final car down the track in the opening stanza was Missoula, Montana’s Larry Demott. Demott was a late addition to the show and was still working on his combination. Still Demott did his level best to put on a show for the capacity crowd that had filed into the racetrack. An early shutoff 8.41 at 157.76 showed that he was working in the right direction on getting a baseline.

Rich Bailey

 

In round two both Bailey and Jones got closer to the 6.75 index. Nevertheless, it appeared it was going to be Bailey and Flansaas in the finals. However, when Flansaas started back to the pit area the team noticed a grinding sound coming from the rear of the car. Upon further inspection when the car got back to the pits, the team found some mounting brackets for the brakes had failed and they were grinding into the rotor. This would keep Flansaas from making the final round against Bailey. The spot would then go to Jones in his Firenza flopper for the final round.

 

In the final it was the bright yellow Firenza (a former Pat Austin car) of Jones and Bailey and his tried and true dragster.

race reports

Fox Hunt at Boise, Idaho

It’s All About Perspective

 

Words and photos by Brian Losness

For the past forty years the management team of the family-owned Firebird Raceway in Eagle, Idaho, has facilitated an event first brought to the forefront by promoter extraordinary Bill Doner.

 

And like any long living idea, changes and adjustments must be made to the original idea to help make the idea fresh and exciting. Therefore, over the past decade this race has had many different incantations.

 

This year the family decided to put together a double header for the crowd that would fill the track.

 

Usually the event is a two-day event, with Friday being a day for the professional teams to test and get a feel for the track and conditions. However, this year a very light but very, very persistent sprinkling of rain put the schedule behind about two hours. This precluded those teams from testing the new track surface.

 

The two organizations that were booked into the event to entertain the fans were the Northwest BB/Funny Car group and the Blown Alcohol Thunder Pro Comp group. The BB group is made up of exclusively of nostalgia alcohol funny cars that run on a “floating” 6.70 index. Meaning the closest to the number either quicker or slower is OK.

 

The Blown Alcohol Thunder Pro Comp series is based on a set of rules similar to 7.0 Pro. Center steer, blown and injected cars of all kinds are allowed. This means dragsters, funny cars and altereds all run against one another. The Blown Alcohol Thunder group runs on a fixed 6.75 index, meaning that runs of 6.75 seconds and slower are only allowed, any run quicker than 6.75 are disallowed.

 

Both groups work on the Chicago Style show, where each car makes two runs, and the two quickest cars come back for the final.

 

The BB Group had a full complement of eight cars come to the Fox Hunt, whereas the Pro Comp Thunder had plans to bring ten cars, however, four of their contingent ran into issues that precluded them from making the trip to Idaho.

 

When the teams came up for the first round of qualifying the BB Group were up first.

 

Jesse Welch and Stephanie Parker were the first pair out. Parker was first out of the gate with Welch right behind her. Parker started to move away and registered a 6.98/190.00 to cover Welch’s 7.22/190.54 lap.

 

Next up was Justin Taylor and Stephanie’s mom, Kim Parker, in her 1970 Mach 1 Mustang. Kim moved first but Taylor was able to drive by her at the tree and powered by for a 6.65/210.73 win over Parker’s 7.26/163.95.

Greg Howland

Ralph Hubbert

 

Next came the undisputed burnout king of drag racing, Greg Howland, and Ralph Hubbert in his beautiful ‘71 Plymouth Satellite. Howland did his usual 1,000-foot burnout. The crowd, as normal went wild. Howland was tuned up for this pass as he ran a perfect 6.70 at 204.20 but just before the finish line Howland killed every mosquito within a mile radius of the track with oil smoke, as Hubbert trailed with an oh-so-close 6.76/208.52.

 

When Howland got back to the pits the team found that a nozzle teamed with 1500-degree cylinder temperature drilled a huge hole in the top of the piston and scarred the sleeve. Howland’s team made a valiant effort to repair the damage, but time ran out and Howland reluctantly threw in the towel.

Royce Taylor

 

The final pair pitted Shane Harter and Royce Taylor. Taylor has one of the best race car-tow vehicle combinations in the sport: Matching dark green metallic 1972 Mustang Mach 1’s. Both are show quality and the pair looks awesome pulling into the staging lanes. In this pair the dark green Mustang took the win over Harter’s Corvette, 7.20/175.32 to 7.23/193.54.

 

The second round found Hubbert running a 6.60/213.23 to take one of the spots in the finals. Since Howland would not be able to make the final, this opened up another spot, which was filled by Justin Taylor’s 6.65/210.73.

VOLUME XIX,  NUMBER 7 - JULY   2017

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