The PNSCA will be at the Northwest Drag Racing Association’s 34th annual hi-performance swap meet at the end of January. John Young, our VP, will be there to encourage more racers to join us at the track, to sell t-shirts, and to generally promote the PNSCA.

The event is on Sunday, January 31st at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds in Ridgefield.

John would love to have a few other PNSCA racers to help him at this event. If you can spare a few hours to help to promote the PNSCA, please email John.  He’d love to hear from you.

The PNSCA Annual Meeting, to set the schedule and discuss other business has been slated for Saturday, January 23rd at 1:00pm.  Our generous hosts again will be Greg and Darla Pessemier.

The Pessemier’s home and shop is at 4905 – 128th Street E., Tacoma, WA 98446.  A mapquest map is here.  You can get complete directions from your house by entering your address in the “address” box near the top of this page, and clicking “get directions”.

All PNSCA members are welcome to attend, please make plans to be there.  Look forward to seeing you then.

The RSVPs for the year end banquet are slow in coming in, and we want everyone to come!  Please make room in your busy holiday calendar for this great event.  Details are below, and RSVPs are still welcome.  See you there!

Remember to RSVP for the year end banquet on November 21.  Details are of the event are here.

Please RSVP by November 1st:

By Phone: Connie Bacon at 503.663.3282
By Email: Brandon Yoder at BuildersDesign@gmail.com

And be sure to specify if you want Steak or Barbecued Chicken.

Look forward to seeing you there!

The PNSCA year end banquet and annual meeting will be held November 21st, 2009.  Our generous hosts will be the Bacon family at their home in Boring, Oregon.

The evening will begin with the annual meeting at 4:00pm.  The banquet will begin with refreshments at 6:00.  Dinner will be served at 7:30 with awards to follow.

Dinner is $10 and will include your choice of steak or barbecued chicken.  Please bring your favorite side dish, salad, or dessert to share.  And don’t forget to bring your favorite beverages.

We’re also looking for door prizes, so please consider either bringing a gift or soliciting your friends, customers, sponsors, or vendors for gifts for the affair.

Please RSVP by November 1st:

By Phone: Connie Bacon at 503.663.3282
By Email: Brandon Yoder at BuildersDesign@gmail.com

The Bacons’ home is east of Portland/Gresham at 33067 SE Bluff Rd, Boring, Oregon 97009-9711.  Here it is on MapQuest.  You can get directions from your house on that MapQuest page by entering your address in the “Location” box near the top and pressing “Add Location”.

The Bacons have plenty of room for motorhomes, so feel free to bring your rig.  Or there are a number of nearby hotels (here is a list from hotels.com).

Please make plans to join us for the celebration, and be sure to RSVP!

This weekend’s season ending double-header at Woodburn provided plenty of movement in the points, and a few surprise stars to wrap up the year.  While the championship wasn’t in doubt, only one other position in the top 10 was held by the same racer when the weekend was over.

The Beautiful PNSCA Hardware

Friday night’s move in and dinner were a real hot box, with heat in the mid-90s.  Saturday’s temps were just a little cooler topping out in the high 80s.  But the racing was still hot.  At the end of the day, Geoff Hughes took the win over Rick Dearinger.  But the final appearance was enough for Rick to move into second place in the points, edging past the recently scalding hot John Young who was unable to make the trip to Woodburn.

Sunday was much cooler, with a passing sprinkle or two, but the racing was still great.  The semis featured only one top 10 PNSCA racer, Tom Gresham.  Joining Tom in the semis were occasional PNSCA racers Greg Pessimer, Natalie Peck, and Saturday’s winner Geoff Hughes.  Natalie won her first S/C round win with a .019 light and an 8.908, tuning the car herself and taking down our President Ed Hauter. In the final, Tom edged Geoff for the trophy.  The win solidified Tom’s 5th place position in the points.  And Geoff’s final round appearance capped a 151 point weekend, almost tripling his season points.  Check out the full points standings to see the final tallies.

And of course the weekend capped a wonderful year for Bob Woodruff who literally walked away with the championship, his second in a row.  Bob had a new crew member over the weekend, his daughter Kimberley helping out and cheering him on to another PNSCA Championship.

Congrats to Bob Woodruff for the season title, the weekend’s winners Geoff Hughes and Tom Gresham, and the rest of the PNSCA top 10 for a wonderful season.  And stay tuned for details on the end of the year banquet.

Racing this past weekend at Bremerton featured lots of movement in the points chase.  While Bob Woodruff has a solid lead at the top, the battles for the balance of the top 10 spots were in flux all weekend.

The battle for second through fourth is a tight chase with John Young, Rick Dearinger, and Ed Hauter changing positions with every race.  Rick took advantage of a win on Saturday to move up in the points, only to be pushed back on Sunday by the white-hot John Young who won on Sunday.  When the weekend was over John held onto second by a single point.

Emily Williams takes on Rod Lee in Saturday's Round 2

The chase for fifth through seventh is another tight battle between Chuck Linne, Tom Gresham, and Emily Williams.  It was also a back-and-forth battle with Emily getting into the semis on Saturday to take over fifth, only to drop back to seventh on Sunday as Tom and Chuck went rounds.  Only 11 points separate the three of them.  And Jeff Yoder showed he was not to be taken lightly as he was the only racer to win round one both days, moving him to eighth place in the points.

And finally the race to finish in the top ten couldn’t be much closer.  Roger Harper is in ninth with over 50 points on the 10 place racer, Branden Yoder.  But Branden has a slim two point lead on the 11th place racer Dan Benham.

It is clear all of these races will come down to the final doubleheader at Woodburn on September 12-13.  With several contenders hitting their 8 race limit this weekend, while others still have races to go, it will surely be a nail-biter.  Please make plans to join us there!

It was a hot time in Mission this weekend, hot weather to match the hot racing on the track.

A number of PNSCA members made it to the track on Friday for the test session, and the weather was fine: sunny and warm with temps in the mid-80’s (28 or so for you celsius folks).  The track was in good shape and wide open so you could get in just about as many passes as you wanted.

Saturday dawned warmer, though, with promises of hot weather late in the day.  There were a lot of racers at the track, most there for the Canadian National Open race, and a good crowd to see the nitro and alcohol funny cars that were there.  Also in attendance were a number of new (or absent for several years) PNSCA racers including:

• Kurt Schultz, Warman SK
• George Evans, Surrey BC
• Dwaine Ringguth, Grande Prairie AB
• Francesca Giroux, Edmonton AB
• Mike Shannon, Kelowna BC
• Al Hampton, Surrey BC
• Dale Green, Kent WA

Dale and his company DG Machine are the engine builders for many PNSCA racers, and are former sponsors of the PNSCA.  Was good to see him back out racing with us.

The PNSCA racers got in two time runs and began eliminations mid-afternoon.  The racing went along just fine, despite temps in the upper 80’s (over 30C) until about 5:00 when the skies literally opened up.  And just in time for the final match between John Young and Dale Green.  With Noah-level rain, racing was canceled for the day.  John and Dale agreed to split the money, and race for the trophy if they met in eliminations the next day.  But it was a good day, with solid performances from many PNSCA regulars, with Rick Dearinger, Roger Harper, Mike Seekins, and our Pres. Ed Hauter all going rounds.  You can check all the results here.

Sunday dawned damp, muggy, and warmer still, the temps went well into the 90s (about 35C).  We went right into eliminations for the Open at about 11am, and Emily Williams grabbed the #1 spot with a dead-on 8.900 and a .005 RT.  As the day wore on and the heat built up, so did the racing.  John Young and Dale Green did meet in the third round, and John won the PNSCA trophy from the day before.

John Young tells Ed Hauter how he does it.

There was also some unfinished business from the D6 Woodburn race, where Ed Hauter and John Young were scheduled to meet in the final, and were rained out.  That matchup was run, and John Young won the Wally.  And as Sunday wrapped up, John pulled off the hat trick, and won the Canadian National Open, winning his third event of the day.

So along with the blisteringly hot and muggy weather, John Young showed that he is also certifiably hot.  He moved up into a tie with Ed Hauter for second in the points, but both have a long way to go to catch Bob Woodruff in his march to the Power Punch championship.  Check the full season standings here.

The next PNSCA race is a double header in Bremerton on August 15th and 16th.  Hope to see you there.

It was a great weekend of racing at the newly refurbished Spokane Raceway Park.  It began on Saturday as most of us rolled in well before the 1pm gate opening time.  But we just wandered past the empty ticket windows and found a place to park our rigs.

Blue Skies and Smooth Staging Lanes

Jay Livingston and crew have done a miraculous job in an incredibly short time to make a really great facility from what was clearly a neglected track.  All the key pavement areas are brand new, including newly reconfigured (and much more dragster-friendly) staging lanes, a smooth return road (with a long sweeper as the last chance option), and a great new track surface.  The restrooms are all bright and clean, the people are friendly and helpful, and it was a pleasure to race there.  The only thing they need now is freshened pavement (and more of it) in the pits, and this just might be my favorite Division 6 track.

Saturday started late, with a 3:00 first call, but they were running us as fast as we wanted so we got three qualifying rounds in before eliminations.  Emily Williams claimed the #1 qualifying spot with a 9.053.  There were 19 cars, meaning plenty of bye runs to go around.  In the end it was Bob Woodruff claiming the victory from Earl Cunningham in the final around 9:30pm.  As an example of how well they cared for us, Jay and a co-worker, personally hand-torched the track from start to about 1000′ before the final to insure clean runs in a very chilly evening.

Bob Woodruff and Roger Harper in the Sunday Final

Perhaps the most notable event on Saturday, though, was the terrible pit scooter accident Roger Harper had.  He collided with a backing race car on his scooter and did a “wicked face plant” (I think that’s the technical term).  After the medics rushed him to the hospital he returned by cab to the track, thoroughly bandaged up and looking much the worse for wear later that day.  And to claim the True Grit award for the weekend, he went on to race (and quite well) on Sunday — bandages, bruises, and all.

In addition, Moe Trujillo had engine trouble late Saturday, and was unable to make the round 1 call.  He needed to replace his engine, even though as luck would have it, the replacement was back home in Oregon.  But family came to his aid and showed up with the engine — just after 2am!  Moe, Tom Gresham, and a host of helpers managed to get it completely installed by 4:30am.  Long night and a heroic effort by the team.  Their luck remained sour, though, as Tom Gresham had lifter issues on Sunday and also failed to make the round 1 call.  Tough weekend for the Oregonians.

Bob and Connie Collecting More Money and Hardware from Ed Hauter, PNSCA President

Sunday dawned a bit less windy and with fewer threatening rain clouds.  We got in two good qualifying runs, although many were too quick the first time out — thanks to a liberal application of VHT by the raceway crew.  Jay wanted to avoid a repeat of Saturday’s first round where there were some traction issues.  Mike Seekins claimed the number one spot with a perfect 9.050.  And once again, Bob Woodruff went into the finals, this time against the ever-resilient Dr. Harper.  Showing no mercy for an ailing competitor, Bob took the win, leaving Roger to lick his wounds, both literally and figuratively.

All in all, it was a great time, thanks to Kelly Young who took some great shots (used in this post and can be found here).  The next PNSCA race is a while off, in Mission, BC on July 25th, hope to see you then.  In the meantime, the Division 6 Lucas Oil Series race is this weekend back in Spokane, hope to see you there as well.

In his never ending quest to run away with the championship, Mr. Woodruff takes both ends of the double header.

Congrats to Bob for the win, and Earl for his runner up effort and for his .008 package in round one that got him an award for best package of the weekend.

Congrats to Bob for an impressive weekend.  And especially to Roger Harper who literally left the hospital (after a nasty scooter accident in the pits on Saturday) to have an amazing Sunday for a man covered in bandages and obviously in a lot of pain.