Ok. my pal Bob Williams and I tried our best to record what happened. We ain't no DRC but we're all ya got this weekend from Fontana. ( ! )
(officially - AutoClub Dragway)
First round Gene Buell tree'd Doug Broaddus and on a double breakout race Gene went a .57 on a .60 dial and Doug went .58 on a .62 dial. Doug may have redlit, I can't remember.
(I'm announcing while we're writing.....)
Brian Broaddus dialed 9.84 and went .93 for the win when Billy Chaffin went an .85 on a .44 dial. Couldn't run his number.
Wayne Taylor had too many time trials (5) and threw a handfull of great time trial R/T's down the drain when he redlit against Kevin Smith who went .03 on a .05 dial. :-) Hi Wayne ! Ya looked great right up til that moment.....the 318 was hauling butt.
Didn't get the R/T but I think Tony Janes got tree'd by Joe Schweigert as Joe went 10.68 on a 10.66 dial and Tony went 12.766 on a 12.77 dial.
Missed info on J. Brooks against Riddle, but Riddle went a 11.65 on a 11.63 dial to win.
Juan Mendoza singled when John Mason was a no show. Juan put up some 9-teens in qualifying. Vette is awesome to watch coming outa the gate.
On a BIG time double break out race Ken Etter and G. Tacket went at it. Ken dialed a 10.72 and went .67, Tackett 9.19 on a 9.23 for the win.
The lone Hemi Cuda of Dave Rayborn certainly impressed the Mopar crowd during time trials. He went red in the first round giving Tony Mandella a freebie. Tony ran it out the back door and went 13.390 on a 13.39 dial. Tonys R/T's didn't vary a tenth all weekend, with the lone exception being the .012 in yesterdays final round win of the Gamblers race. Constant .030's is a good thang.
Rod Greene 4 speed 340 was a crowd favorite, but he too went red against Luneacks A/SA wedge. (another obvious crowd favorite.) Greg went a 10.65 on a 10.70 dial.
Jay Mayo got to leave first against Jim Meador, 11.65 to a 11.05 dial. Went red. Meador went 11.06.
John Irvings little mopar wagon was cool. but he too red lit to Larry Beldens A/SA Camaro who went a 10.56 on a 10.57 dial.
John Irving jr. went 12.48 on a 12.44 dial and beat by G. Thomsons 12.26 on a 12.25 dial.
Brian Phillips slowed to a 11.40 on his 11.08, for the win, as C.Hanson broke.
Chuck Norton and D. Sanders were both No Shows in the first round. Chuck coasted downtrack on his last time trial this morning. Quite possibly he might eloaborate on this later.....(chuck ?)
ROUND TWO:
Buell has a hot mopar at the mopar meet, and goes red against Brian Broaddus who carded a dead-on 9.84 on a 9.84 dial. Little mopar seems scared of overweight Bowtie missles. hehehehe.....
Schweigart and K. Smith - not good info but I see Smith advanced, so as pure speculation occurs, here's their dials and et's. Joe S dialed 10.67 and went 10.68 - lost to Smiths 10.09 on a 10.05 dial. Tree'd him I guess.
Mendoza put up a 9.29 om a 9.23 dial but lost to Riddlers better R/T. Riddler went 11.72 on a 11.64 dial for the win.
Tackett/Mandella - maybe they could shed some light on this run as Bob only wrote Tacketts dial - and I got Tonys win written down when he went 13.40 on a 13.40 dial. !
Luneacks big Plymouth was back up against Meaders Camaro next. And as many a mopar did this weekend decided he had won too often and went red - allowing Jim to card a 11.068 on a 11.07 dial. Round two and the mopars are already thinning out. I'm not certain that was what Greg was thinking but again I can only speculate.
G. Thompson in Larry Maxwells 455 Firebird, that was listed as a 350 told me he had been working to clear the bog all weekend. In this second round he dialed another 12.30 and went 12.06. Fixed the bog I guess, and WON as Belden had gone red.
Brian Phillips singled to a 11.09 on a 11.00 dial. Tail wind stopped? Who knows. :-)
ROUND THREE:
Smith/Riddle - certainly the closest race all day. Riddle dials a 11.62. Smith dials a 10.04. Both run ON their dials, 10.048 to a 11.622 with Riddle taking the win. R/T's were .090 for Smith and .026 for Riddle.
Mandella and Meador - Tony dials down to a 13.42 - Meador goes red. Tony goes 13.38. Probably had a .032 r/t. Easy to say cause he was a Fletcher jr. all weekend. But there are more rounds to come.
Two Pontiacs meet next. I thought we were supposed to divide and conquer. Somebody talk to these guys.....!
Phillips dials an 11.08 and goes an 11.09 as Thomson red lites his chances away. At least he found the bog.......
ROUND FOUR:
Phillips and Mandella. Phillips who had a string of 11.09's dials down to an 11.06. Tony also dials down to a 13.34. Looks like these guys are a planning a back door massacre. Got all of this one written down too. B.P. has a .056 light and goes........................11.09
Tony has a xxxx R/T - altogther now - .035 light and goes 13.36 for the win.
B.Broddus and Riddle - Evidently Broaddus kept adding weight every round, or maybe the sponsor decal sticker glue stuck to his tranny brake thumb, as he decided to hang around the tree long after it went green. Don't know for sure. Zzzzzzz. I'll let him tell the fish story on that one.
Riddle went 11.62 on a 11.59 dial and had a .054 light for the win. ha!
ROUND FIVE:
So, at the mopar meet we got a lone survivor in Riddles sweet yellow Cuda. He dials an 11.60. Tony Mandella dials down again to a 13.32.
Tony left first with a ...............................everybody at once.........
.031 R/T and went a 13.34. Mopars last hope redlit his chances away and Tony D Doubles up for the weekend!! And the Mandella crowd went wild !
(sorry) coudln't help it.
Big thanks to Michael Ogborn for kicking in on the purse, and to Nitro Joe for giving ALL of the racers more time trials than you could imagine. Thomson said he couldn't remember a race where he was hurrying up to get his jacket on so many times just to make another time trial.
I can only hope there will be more kudos for Joe and the great race he put on this weekend.
Signed,
Lonely at the top,
Bruce F.
"The future isn't what it used to be."