NAPA AUTO PARTS IGNITOR WRAPS UP ON MONDAY
If Saturday was a challenging day, then Sunday could best be summed up as one
filled with frustration. Guess you could say Mother Nature threw every ounce of
fury our way. It rained, then rained again, followed by yet another round of
rain…guess you get the idea of what kind of day we endured weather-wise.
Aside from the poor weather there was some fantastic racing as eliminations
continued early into the afternoon after morning rain delayed racing until
around 1:30 pm. In between showers, nearly two and a half hours of racing took
place after which the skies let loose with only 25 racers still in competition.
For the record, Saturday saw over six tenths of rain fall (a state record for
May 2), followed by Sunday with an accumulation of better than a half inch by
day’s end. In summary, it was incredibly wet over the final two days of the NAPA
Auto Parts Ignitor.
The Top Fuel final was electrifying to say the least. Mike McLennan upset Jim
Murphy in a very dramatic final. McLennan ran 5.95 (at top speed of 251 mph) in
the opening stanza to beat Brett Harris. Then Murphy blew everyone away with a
brilliant 5.75 (1.02 60’, 3.83 660’ and 207 plus speed at the eighth mile) with
his WW2 green machine on the odd-lot bye run. In the final, Murphy struck the
tires out of the gate, opening the door for the new Mike Fuller car to take
advantage of the situation. Both drivers were challenged on the run (including
Murphy clipping the last 3 foam blocks), but McLennan crossed the stripe first,
winning the final in a 6.77 to 6.80 shootout. In the final, temperatures had
dropped to 56 degrees and not too many seconds after the two left the starting
line, the skies opened up with yet another round of precipitation. In fact, they
were the last two cars down the track when the pin was pulled for the day.
Congratulations to
Many of you are already familiar with where to go to find out all the latest
results, but for those of you who may not, direct yourself to
www.dragracecentral.com
for a complete round by round update from the entire weekend of racing.
All final round results included the following:
AA/FUEL DRAGSTER
Mike McLennan,
COMPETITION ELIMINATOR
Jeff Lane, North Bend, Wash., '07 Cobalt, C/SMA, 8.454, 156.54 def. Clint
Neff, Arvada, Colo., '23 roadster, K/A, 8.283, 140.84.
SUPER STOCK
Steve Wann,
STOCK ELIMINATOR
Clarance Bidniak,
SUPER COMP
Steve Apted,
SUPER GAS
Dave Kelly,
SUPER STREET
Tom Manfred, Liberty Lake, Wash., '81 Mustang, 11.204, 126.76 def. Steve
Reynolds, Nampa, Idaho, '71 Nova, 11.156, 127.42.
TOP SPORTSMAN
Scott Stephens,
SPORTSMAN MOTORCYCLE
Gary Moreno, La Verne, Calif., '06 H-D, 9.776, 133.55 def. Miles Hauer,
Seattle, '81 Suzuki, 9.551, 103.37.
SUPER PRO
Ed Cutler,
PRO
Troy Pecht,
TOP DRAGSTER
Semi’s and Final Round of this class (by mutual agreement) to be contested
at the Seattle LODRS in June.
Thanks to everyone for supporting this year’s Ignitor. Our special appreciation
goes out to all the Firebird and NHRA Staff for the effort put forth in keeping
the track in first-class condition, not to mention the countless times they
dried things out. From Joel to Dennis, Misty to Karen, Tammy to Rachel, Debbie
to Tauna, Tessa to Bob, Ron to Doug, and the four guys who somehow, someway
managed to work all six days pretty much uninterrupted, namely: Jason, Vance,
Glen (pictured above with the Jet Express Track Dryer that we used
countless times) and Byron. Thanks again to everyone [including all those not
mentioned above] for all your help. We certainly couldn’t do it without all our
fine staff and officials!