The Moto-X bikes were out in force for Friday Night Races at Pacific Raceways. With beautiful spring weather shining the racers were in summer form. If you enjoy fast action come out on a Friday Night or even a Wednesday for practice sessions and check it out. Come hungry and check out Bigfood for meals and treat’s while watching the action.
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PRDC kicked off the 2013 season with race #1. Joe Lind and his varied band of racers tested the well prepped surface by the drag crew. The sunny skies and warm weather brought out a lot of happy people, racer’s and spectator’s alike. With BIGFOOD aroma drifting on the light breeze, it made you hungry even after you already ate. It’s good food check them out on your next visit.
Images are now available in the photo gallery. To go there, click here.
Pacific’s drag and moto tracks were under the assult of bikes, ‘moto and drag”. With the moto track in practice mode, moto after moto went on thru the evening. Practice on Wed. and “Race” on Fri. Got a bike come out and give it a try as beginner’s to expert’s are on hand to lend it if asked.
By the time racing ended Jake Havens on his ’08 Hayabusa ran on his D/I to take out Jim Werre on his ’08 Suzki.
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With the bright spring sunshine in their eyes, the classroom time could not go by fast enough for those high school drag racers. Then it was off to Pacific Raceways for an afternoon and evening of racing with girlfriends and other cohorts at the drag strip. More than 80 students from 26 different cities tested their skills on racing the track.
A host of sponsor displays and a trio of pure race cars showed what drag racing has to offer. Throw in a wheel stander and passes by the race cars in between the rounds of high school, the action was nonstop.
Add in the teachers and alumni from a number of schools aiding the new participants to drag racing helped out a great deal. When the smoke cleared at the end of the night these are your winner’s.
Tyler Bodtke from Rochester beat Tatym West of Enumclaw in the high school class.
Alumni was won by Luke Lenihan who took out Mac West.
Michael McMillon took out all other teacher’s for the win.
The race schedule says this is race number 4 but it’s the first race not interrupted by mother nature. The bright sunny skies and warm weather brought out quite a few entries for the race. Those that did not or could not attend missed some very tight racing.
New pictures from the event are available now – click here to go to the gallery.
With the 11:00pm curfew looming, the racing was hot and heavy. The racing ended just two minutes fore the curfew. The winner’s are:
SUPER PRO – Rick Hendrichs took out Darral Pettit.
PRO – Mike Summer came closer to his dial-in to beat last year’s champ Scott Lewslew
SPORTSMAN – With a car that came away with 2 runner-up races the night before Paul Young raced his way to a “win” over Jerry Durant Jr.
MOTORCYCLE – The motorcycle class saw Mark Sires go to an easy win when Dan Funderburg broke.
Friday and sunshine. There is no better reason to get on a bike and ride. Apply that thought to a moto-x bike and you end up at Pacific Raceways track. The Moto-X track layout features options and directional options that will test even the best riders.
With the number of rider’s that showed up Friday it seemed like a lot of minds had the same thoughts. Still early in the season these sunny days in spring are best spent outdoors. When the sun’s out the beauty of the northwest shines and that brings out the riders. Check out their 2013 racing calendar and find your sunny day.
Photos from all the action are available now – click here to go to the photo gallery.
A cloudless sky greeted those who came out for the kickoff of the summer season hours at Pacific’s dragstrip and moto-X tracks. With Mt. Rainier shining in the distance and the track surfaces prepped to perfection by the respictive crews the racing began.
The moto-x drew a big crowd of rider’s as this was their first real “dry” surface to practice on. More like normal riding as opposed to the “wet” surfaces on earler practices. Clouds of dust went up in the air instead of rain coming down.
On the dragstrip the garanteed dry surface insured a full session of racing, unlike the “downpours” that abrouptly ended an earler event. No rain in the forecast brought quite a varity of cars to the track to take advantage of the nice weather.
On hand at both tracks Bigfood served up their fine fare for those seeking a meal. The early arrival of cars on the dragstrip and bikes at the moto-x track made for an action packed season for both.
SAMPLE IMAGES
This vintage racing organization with its roots in the Pacific Northwest made the first of three events this year at the renowned 2.25mi. Pacific Road course. The two day race event kicked off with a Friday test and tune, licensing for new driver’s and paperwork for racing. The range of race cars goes from when auto’s started racing thru those made before the end of 1972 and an exhibition class for those distinctive race cars produced by the end of 1989. No “bump and run” or “body rubbing” to gain position in this type of racing. These are some very pricey auto’s. Imagine going to your local parts store asking for something to repair a ’64 Elva Mk 8 and hear the reply, “a what”. Driver’s race hard but take great care not to run into each other.
Saturday started with practice and qualifying for all classes. Each group had a 20 minute session to set their position for the start of competition. For those who race here in the Northwest know you have to race the weather. With 3/4mi. or so distance from the west to east ends of the track you can have “sun” at one end and “rain” at the other end of the track. The right tire’s play a pretty important roll under these conditions. By the time racing started in the afternoon the weather had changed completely, greatly reducing lap times and speeds causing the drivers to check how much right foot they used.
Sunday was all racing. The 15 separate races scheduled for the day was timed out to the min. This is a testament to the hard work put in by all SOVREN’s people. From the president down to the turn worker’s they share the same passion for vintage racing. To get involved go to www.SOVREN.org and check them out.
A welcome lunch break each day had the “Bigfood” people hopping to get everyone their food in the 1 hour time frame. There is nothing better than a hot meal to start off the afternoon, check them out on your next visit to the racetrack.
The first two races of the Swift Tool sponsored Et series were washed out by more then enough rain, but it was not because they say “it always rains in Seattle”. It is because it decided to rain on those days. With that fact to contend with the drag strip crew will stop at nothing short of another downpour once they start drying the track.
That effort noted by a number of racers the day before bought praise and three boxes of doughnuts for the crew. It’s the little things like those efforts that the racers appreciate. Giving back a little of that appreciation the racer’s and crew with “street” tires drove a up and down on the shut down area of the track to help get the water up and dry the track.
With the sun shining a bit more from the breakup of the clouds the relentless assult on the track surface got the 2013 racing season underway. Going thru time trials, racers getting a fix on their performance in the new season, the mood grew bright as the spring sky was shining.
With 90 entries to start the season and enough time to run the race before curfew (5:00pm). Almost thru the first round of Sportsman class mother nature stopped the racing cold. The rain was coming down quite heavy with hail bits in the mix, it was all over almost before it got started. Such is drag racing in the springtime in the great “Northwet”.
With the opening weekend for both the moto-x and dragstrip happening on the same day, the season got underway in a big way. Sadly, mother nature had another idea.
Anyone try to drag race in the rain? The rain turned the moto-x track into a bit of a sloppy mess. Although the track was drained for the most part by Lance Smail and his crew, the relentless rain “puddled” on the surface. I have to believe that the rider’s were both getting a lot of experience along with having quite a bit of fun playing in the “MUD”.
Get the “holeshot” start and you stayed pretty much free of mud, those coming from behind were coated so much it was hard to tell who they were. A pressure washer was pretty much the “it” machine for the weekend.
With the April showers bringing May’s color to the area, all that water will go to good use and the drier track will bring the track to a more race able condition. Any discomfort felt by the racers will be long forgotten towards the end of the season when the “points” they earned at this event comes into play.
On hand providing “hot drinks, burgers and dogs”, was “Big Food”, Pacific Raceways Concessionaire along with John Madden and his “Race Rescue” track safety team provided any aid that arose.