  Harris Runner-up  Chuck Neal (holding trophy), Rick White and crew are all smiles after a convincing win at the Goodguys 17th Nitro Nationals. White came from the 15th qualifying spot to run low ET of the meet in the semis (5.775) and to overcome a perfect light by Brett Harris and take a 5.82 to 5.90 win in the final.
 Next out was the new car of Chuck Tanko and the not so new Birky Bunch with Mark Malde up. Tanko broke on the burnout (above) so Malde singled to a safe but show-making 6.401 @ 217.70.   The second pair was Brad Thompson and Lee Jennings Sr. Both cars struck the tires before half track and coasted through. Neither would make the show.   Pair three was the Hot Rod Bill car with Rick Williamson in the seat (pictured) and Rick White in the Neal & White entry. Williamson's 6.077 @ 199.43 was costly as his Rodeck kaboomed at the 1100 foot mark. White hazed the tires early in the run but pedaled his way to a fairly nice 6.469 @ 217.11. The clean up crew was picking up a pieces in Williamson's lane... the third major clean up of the session.    Almost one hour after the first car fired pair four do their burnouts. Pete Kaiser in the "Ground Zero" car and Bob Hallock in the Circuit Breaker.  Hallock was on and off the throttle to a 6.769 @ 141.98. Kaiser got a safe full pull and clocked 6.330 @# 218.62. The shocker... there was no oil on the track.   Pair five featured two "hitters"... Jim Murphy in his WW 2 Racing fueler and Bill Dunlap in Mike Fuller's "Bat Car".  Murphy played it safe and carded a nice 6.147 @ 245.32. Dunlap on the other hand goes low with a 5.911 @ 248.20. That was the good news. The bad news was his engine was going away from the 1000' mark on and to no ones surprise oiled the track when it came apart. Down again!   Fifteen minutes later Jason Richey and Terry Cox gave it a try. Richey, in Dave Smith's ever improving "Nitro Fever" runs a stout 6.015 @ 252.19 (top speed of qualifying) while Cox put the "Cheetah III" into the show with a 6.058 @ 246.44.   Next out was Jeff Diehl in the RB Entertainment car and hard-luck Fred Farndon who can't seem to buy his way into a show even in Butch Blair's #2 car. Farndon blazed the tires and clicked it while Diehl cards a 6.202 @ 225.56 which would land him in the # 10 spot.    Next pair was Brett "The Sheriff" Harris in Nitro Thunder and Sean "The Penguin" Bellemeur in the Plaza Hotel entry.   Harris left hard and went low with a 5.908 @ 246.30. Bellemeur struck the tires hard at the hit but managed to pedal it to a 6.974 @ 226.43 which would net the # 17 spot which is not good in a 16 car show.  Out next was Adam Sorokin in John Blanchard's pedal-clutch car and March Meet Champion, Howard Haight in Butch Blair's # 1 car.  The string of four pairs without oil on the track ended here. Sorokin was shut off when the engine started bleeding after the burnout.  Haight makes the field with a conservative 6.212 @ 236.30  After more than two hours, the final pair of TF cars took their shot at qualifying. Mendy Fry in the MasterCam entry was paired with Denver Schutz in Bill Cullen's Texas based fueler.  Mendy "Nitro Kitty" Fry made the show with a 6.250 @ 230.80 but Schutz went quicker at 6.053 @ 241.80. They would land no's 6 & 12 respectively.    Representing the Goodguys, John Drummond honored co-Grand Marshals, Top Fuel legend Frank Bradley and Dick Bertolucci who has one of the coolest collection of Hot Rods, Bonneville cars and customs on the planet.  Frank and Maggie Bradley  Wisely foreseeing a long day, the first round of Top Fuel went off early (9:45 am) with Sean Bellemeur (in for Williamson on the break rule) and Jim Murphy paired up.   Bellemeur, who is one of the best leavers in the sport, strapped a holeshot on Murphy (0.017 to 0.094) and held it all the way to the stripe. Sean carded a 6.007 @ 247.57 to Jim's quicker and faster 5.965 @ 252.05. Bellemeur's MOV: 0.0350 seconds (approximately 13 feet). This would prove to be just the first of several very close TF races this day.    Pair two was another dandy with # 11 Howard Haight squaring off with # 6 Denver Schutz.   Schutz got a very slight lead on the lights and they just stayed welded all the way down. Howard got the win light with a 6.026 @ 245.76 to Denver's 6.038 @ 238.22 - Haight's MOV: 0.0050 seconds (approximately 21 inches).   Pair three matched up to Chevy's - Brendan Murry and Mark Malde.     Malde was out first but Murry reeled him in before 330 mark and motored on to a 6.160 @ 205.85 to a 6.334 @ 224.88 win.   Pair four - Brett Harris vs Bob Hallock.   VRA TF Top Speed Record Holder, Jack Harris gives son Brett the ol' thumbs up before he stages.  Hallock caught a good light but he needed way more than a tenth as by the 1/8 mile Harris had gone around him and pulled away to a stout 5.873 @ 256.41 win. Hallock gave up early and clicked it to a 6.274 @ 169.72.   The 256 puts Brett firmly into the prestigious 250 MPH Club.  Pair five featured # 13 Pete Kaiser and # 4 Rick McGee.   McGee was away first and went on to win with a 5.872 @ 245.54 which held off Kaiser's game 5.926 @ 247.97. Another close drag race!    Next pair was Jason Richey and Mendy Fry.  Both drivers left together but the win light went to Fry with a 5.923 @ 249.49 while Richey trailed with a game 6.193 @ 237.59.    Fry's time was impressive but also expensive. The Infineon crew was called out to clean oil in her lane... a long clean up. Let's see, how many oil downs this weekend? We lost track!  Terry Cox and Jeff Diehl met in pair six.  In a good drag race Cox takes the win with a 5.950 @ 244.87. Diehl was right there with a 6.012 @ 249.26.   Albeit a nice time for Cox, I included this to show all the grease sweep in the shut down area.  The last pair featured two cars that were shut off earlier (due to an oil down) and allowed to cool down. Bill Dunlap would face eventual winner, Rick White.   This one was pretty... a pedalfest to the max. Both drivers were on and off the throttle blazing the tires at each hit. When the smoke cleared (literally) White got the win light with an unimpressive 6.500 @ 244.29 while Dunlap coasted through with a 6.772 @ 148.94. After an hour and ten minutes round one of Top Fuel was competed.  The second pair pitted Mendy Fry and Rick McGee.  McGee left first and pulled away for a 5.933 @ 239.27 win. In the other lane Fry experienced a HUGE engine explosion and fire just before the lights. She did a great job of keeping the car off the guardrail and out of McGee's lane.  The Tedford & McGee crew celebrate the win but that would be short lived. On the top end McGee was out of the car, covered in oil himself, looking at a very dead Donovan engine. It would be a real thrash to make the next round.  After another very long clean up the next pair in the water box was Brett Harris and Sean Bellemeur.  Both cars left together but Harris takes over by the 330' mark and pulls away to a 5.912 @ 255.92 win light. Bellemeur never gave up carding a 6.029 @ 243.72.   The final pair of round two paired Rick White and Terry Cox.  White pulled a huge rabbit out of the hat on this one... he steps up to a huge 5.775 (Low ET of the meet) and a stout 250.13 putting him into the 250 MPH Club as well as Harris earlier (both are also members of the Bonneville 200 MPH Club). Cox was no slouch with a 6.010 @ 244.96 losing effort.  With a lot of help from their friends (and the do have A LOT of friends) the Tedford & McGee "Overtime Special" made the call for the semis. In the far lane was Brett Harris in Jack Harris' Nitro Thunder that hadn't hurt a part all weekend.    Harris puts his earlier bad light behind him and just drills the tree on McGee. McGee gave chase but the big red car was long gone to a 5.866 @ 256.94. To their credit, the McGee team logged a valiant 5.945 @ 245.18 with their "old back-up engine".    The other pair was Rick White and Howard Haight.  Haight went red by a bunch while White legged it to another impressive number - 5.811 @ 251.11 which would give him lane choice over Harris in the final.  By the numbers the final featured the two best cars in the pits and two drivers who had never been there before... Brett Harris and Rick White.  As billed, this was one hell of a drag race. Harris nails a perfect light but White drives around him near the stripe. It was close all the way down with both cars over 201 mph at half track which is considered a prime number for front engined nitro cars. White clocks a 5.825 @ 250.97 with Harris right there with a 5.906 @ 258.27 (Top Speed of the meet). 
 The Funny Car final featured two Mustangs with late model Chrysler power. Larry Pettit left first but does some exploration of the right lane. He pretty much inspected the boundaries all the way down. Dan Horan Jr. was late but he was straight as a string down the middle of the lane to take the win with a stout 6.148 @ 227.88.   Ken Moitoza and crew celebrate his first A-Fuel win.  The AA/Gas final pitted March Meet winner Steve Woods and Howard Anderson. This was really close at the top end. Anderson got the jump and there were close numbers all the way down. Woods pulls ahead and gets his second consecutive 2005 Goodguys win with a 6.743 @ 201.22. Anderson was right there with a 6.771 @ 202.12. Woods' MOV: 0.0050 seconds (approximately 18 inches).   Another two time 2005 winner was JD Zink in Jr. Fuel.  John Rasmussen and crew celebrate their first Jr. Fuel 'B' win.  Ronnie Lennon and his "Batto Trucking" altered took the NE title.  Bob Lander came out on top of the tough 32 car NE-2 field.  No stranger to the Goodguys Winners Circle is Craig Wallace who nailed another NE-3 title.  Mike Ward captured the A-Gas crown.  Bret Pilcher kept the Winners Circle YELLOW with his B-Gas win.  Steve Galileo waded through five rounds of racing to win C-Gas.  Parting shots...  Nitro Sheriff - Jack Harris AA/FD Inc. - Nostalgia Top Fuel Teams  WDIFL.com is a Left Coast Graphics Web Property. |