Category Archives: Drag Racing

Air Force Reserve All High School Drags at Pacific Raceways

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High School Drags 5-6-16 02706 May 2016 Kent, WA – Calling all high school drag racers and their friends to the track for some fun competition! Each year Pacific Raceways hosts the high school drags for safe drag racing, way better here at the track than on the streets.

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With licensed NHRA driver’s in attendance the drivers meeting begins with track manager Ed Garfield explaining the starting line area and how it equates to the Christmas tree and what it does to start the race. Pointing down track explaining how to exit the track at the three possible exits, and please don’t stop and turn around on the track.

Ed also stressed that if you have an issue on the track pull over to the guard rail and stop, to minimize any possible leakage which then is easier to clean up. Be safe in all manners was stressed as the meeting closed to begin the time trials.

After two rounds of collecting time slips then it was time to get serious.  The NHRA drivers were at the head of the staging lanes explaining how to read what is printed and how to pick a dial-in for their race. Do what you did the previous two runs and you should run this number.

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It was pretty good coaching as quite a few came within a couple of hundredths of their dial-in. Add to the racing a DJ playing music, a tug-o-war with a big chain stretched between trucks and of course the “burn out” contest for all to watch.  Because of the number of entries they ran up against the curfew though, the time that is in place for the track and the finals will be finished the next day.

Images of all the fun and action are now available.  Click here to go to the album.

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PRDC #1 & Diesels #1 at Pacific Raceways

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PRDC #1 - Diesel #1 5-4-16 10104 May 2016 Kent, WA – The kickoff of the Wednesday night races got underway with the skies showing the threat of rain.  Tonight it was diesel drags and motorcycles in combination for a night of racing.

Olympic Iron Motorcycle and Sound Diesel Truck are the new sponsors for the series this year, come out and welcome them to the races.

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That threat of rain I spoke of seemed to going on all around, except the track which pleased all those out for the test and tune part of the race evening giving them lots of runs.

The next race is May 18th come out and see what the buzz is about!

Race #1 winner in MC is Josh Johnson
The hot diesel this night belonged to Jim Calhoun.

Images have now been uploaded and are available – as always thanks for your support!  Click here to go to the photo album.

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Private Test Session at Pacific Raceways

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Private Test Session 4-28-16 04628 April 2016 Kent, WA – Not all the dates on the Pacific Raceways schedule are spoken for. Those that are not tend to become “Private Test Sessions”.

You never know who is going to show up on any of these dates. This date had such a wide range of cars for testing that I don’t think you could get too much further apart in class. A newly built ’56 Ford slated for B/Gas, and the crew chief Mary, a scant 71 years young learning to drive a PRO class dragster.

Private Test Session 4-28-16 030Brad Jolly learning his new dragster, a BB/FC black Mustang being schooled by John and Ruth Evanchuk and Jim Ronan and his wheel stander out for more laps.

Private Test Session 4-28-16 A 062Private Test Session 4-28-16 A 042Quite a diverse group taking advantage of the date. Each having their own reasons for testing and what they would like to learn or gain information on.  Whatever their reasons they must have been successful as all left the track with smiles.

Got some great images today of some truly unique vehicles. Click here to go to the photo album.

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Tulip Festival Drag Race & NW Super Comp Association #1 at Woodburn Dragstrip

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Tulip Festival Drag Race & Super Comp 4-23-16 14223 April 2016 Woodburn, OR – The trip down I-5 to Woodburn has spring showing everywhere. Mother Nature doing her thing transforming the northwest into blooming beauty. The past few weeks it has been sunny and warm and everyone knows that you need to water to grow so in and out of the rain bands I go.

Tulip Festival Drag Race & Super Comp 4-23-16 217Into Oregon the rain was left behind in Washington but the clouds in the sky say it’s not over.  After drying out the track after an early morning shower, and not much more than heavy dew got the track prepped for the start of time trials.

Tulip Festival Drag Race & Super Comp 4-23-16 064We ran thru the rotation of classes then the rain came brief and wet.  The Woodburn staff got the track dried and another round of class time runs, and then a halt due to a slight drizzle in the shutdown area. Track dry again and the weather was holding as eliminations began, round after round until the quarters and Mother Nature struck again.
Four times the track had been dried and the finals are close in a number of classes.  We pushed on with the skies in turmoil and with the finals underway the radar showed what no one wants to see as the rain pushed in from the top end and put an end to racing for the day.

Sunday morning was bright sunshine and warming temps that had everyone ready for the race day ahead, but this at 7:00am. By 9:00am the weather closed up all around the track and the sprinkles began.

The radar again showed what was coming and for how long and the race day had to be cancelled. Over shadowed by the weather is the reason I am here to cover the Pacific Northwest Super Comp Association (NWSCA) and its first race of the season for them. Ty Anderson becomes the early point leader with his win, sorry no time or ET gotten. A special thanks to Luba for the cheeseburger and Sunday Morning coffee.

Images of all the racing and runs that go in under the weather are now online – some really unique and cool cars! Click here to go to the photo album.

Congrats to him and see you at the next PNWSCA event at Renegade the end of May.

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Swift Tools ET #2 & High School #1 at Pacific Raceways

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Swift Tool ET #2 - HS #1 4-17-16 26917 Apr 2016 Kent, WA – Sunday morning and day two of the back to back Swift Tool ET Series. The weather man is predicting record temps for this day though the high temps will came at the end of the race day. For the racers it means the cool air and sunshine, nothing better, and a great way to start the 2016 Swift Tools ET season.

Swift Tool ET #2 - HS #1 4-17-16 079For those winners in the first race yesterday it was a chance repeat; not an easy task but it can be done, for everyone else it was hey – “it’s my turn today”.

No repeat winners today… Those who won this race day are:

HS: Lane Cavar
MC: Jim Were
Sportsman: Casey Reed
Pro: Dustin Ward
Super Pro: Kevin Youngs in his first win ever, Congrats

Lots of images for the whole weekend, click here for the album for Sunday’s racing.

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Swift Tools #1 & Jr Dragster #2 at Pacific Raceways

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Swift Tool ET #1 - Jr Dragsters #2 4-16-16 61616 Apr 2016 Kent, WA – The quest has begun for the 2016 ET season championship.  Just shy of 200 entries gathered on Pacific’s grounds, all with their own dreams of becoming a track champion.

There were a bunch of new faces along with those racers that make up the core of the ET series looking to see their picture on the “wall of champions”.  With all things created equal these races are determined by fractions of a second that in pictures looks like a “dead heat” or a fraction of an inch.

Predicting what you will run in the “hundredth” of a second and then doing it is a feat on its own, doing it run after run will make you a champion.

Images are available online – click here to go to the photo album.

The first step to the end game and card their first wins of the season are:

Jr Storm: Jaslyn Bean
Jr Thunder: Ian Theofelis
Jr Lightning: Josh Schmanke
Sportsman: Paul Young
MC: Joe Lind
Super Pro: Gary Ermish
Pro: Chris Johnston

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Test-N-Tune & Jr Dragster #1 at Pacific Raceways

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Jr. Dragsters Race #1 4-9-16 39809 April 2016 Kent, WA – The fog moved in and the sun pushed it away casting a shadow on everyone for this first race of the 2016 season for the Jr. Dragsters. The racers, with another year under their belt were eager to get racing again.

Jr. Dragsters Race #1 4-9-16 477The other group of racers out today was there for the test and tune.   Great turnout! – Four lanes wide and around the curve. Can you say “happy to be racing again”.

One of the biggest happy grins had to have come from young Mr. Wilcox.  He was just recently licensed in a sleek race car in its own right  – he jumped into grandpa’s dragster and made his first of two runs required to upgrade, a little quicker and a bit faster. Good job to you.

The Jr. Dragster Winners –

Jr. Storm – Jaslyn Bean
Jr. Thunder – Ian Theofelis
Jr. Lightning – Josh Schmanke

Images of all the action are now available – click here to go to the photo album.

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Drag Racing Test-N-Tune at Pacific Raceways!

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Test and Tune 3-26-16 14326 Mar 2016 Kent, WA – For as many years that anyone can remember guessing the weather and scheduling dates for dry conditions mix like oil and vinegar. Getting nice weather in the northwest spring that can change hourly and even sunny here and downpours a mile away is not uncommon.

To a drag racer when they hear the weatherman say no rain until early evening it is pure joy, on top of that it’s a Saturday. The lanes packed with cars showed many a racers were glad to be shaking off the winter and ready to once again hit the dragstrip at Pacific Raceways.

Test and Tune 3-26-16 038The day before Easter has a lot of families together for the day and as all know racing is a family sport and to do this together makes no difference that it’s a holiday weekend. Grandparents and young mothers watching the kids play in the enclosed area Pacific has brings the future racers to the enjoyment of the sport. How many racers today have memories of the same thing, you talk to them and they will tell you, yes.

The race team combinations have many forms like Gary and his wife and the red Camaro or John and son Ian both now in dragsters though John’s is bigger also grandpa Terry handing the keys of his sleek new race car to his 16 and a half year old grandson Yeshua to license in. No matter how you describe the team, family is the focal point. Friends, family and racing this was the real first test and tune of the 2016 season (the first rained out just after starting) enjoying the spring weather.

Test and Tune 3-26-16 331What was not normal to hear this early here is the sound of a “nitro” motor running. This motor resides in the frame rails of Dana Meeks nitro Harley out to test for an event in Vegas upcoming.  Made two productive runs too, the last ending the day of testing and tuning for all as the winter time curfew is still in effect. Good luck to Dana and all else in a couple weeks for the next test and tune.

Thanks to the great conditions there are over 300 images to choose from in the photo album. Click here to go to the album.

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Weather Induced Coverage – Test-N-Tune & 4-Stroke Karts

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Test and Tune and 4-Stroke 3-20-16 065Test and Tune and 4-Stroke 3-20-16 08620 March 2016 Kent, WA – Weeks of anticipation to get a run down the dragstrip has arrived. Winter upgrades and new cars need to be tested.  There is only a month till the start of the 2016 E.T. Drag Racing Season, so these test and tunes can be very helpful.

Not so helpful though was Mother Nature as the weather pundits called for rain. We first got a round of “street” tires and then the “slick” tired racers got their shot at the track. Up next the motorcycles.

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As normal track champion Joe Lind was first in the burnout box. Did I mention that water is needed to do your burnout? Water provided by the track in a controlled amount.  Burnout completed and ready to “stage” Mother Nature started adding more water to the burnout box and everywhere else that matters to a drag racer.

There were no breaks in the rain and the test and tune is now history, so it was off to the PGP Motorsports Park for some 4-stroke kart racing – they have “rain” tires and the gear to keep you somewhat dry. We got there just in time to catch the last qualifying heat as the rain continued, throwing spray off the tires as they sped by.

Noted is the fact the lap times do not differ much between the dry or wet track surfaces – a testament to how well the rain tires work.

Throwing down some very steady lap times Derek Wang could not be caught and claimed the P1 spot. Standing in P2 young Mason Buck is showing the progression he has made over the past year and a frequent stander on the podium Zak Bothel picked up P3.

Two albums are available, one for the first Test-N-Tune event of the season, the other for 4-Stroke.  Click on the links below to go to the photo albums.

Drag Racing TNT Images – Click Here

4-Stroke Kart Racing Images – Click Here

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Winter Practice Tree Event- March 12th, 2016

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Practice Tree Series 2-27-16 03112 March 2016 Kent, WA –  The Winter Practice Tree Series keeps growing. The shift to The Sports Page set in motion the combination of good food and spirits with the competitive nature of drag racers, and it’s a lot of fun too!

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Reaction to the tree is the ongoing challenge to cut that perfect light. Bragging no matter where starts with cutting a good light. Staying in shape to do so is that muscle memory gained from practicing, like anything you want to get better at it’s what you do. Many a racer has the hand held practice device to stay in tune but that’s by yourself, to stand next to someone to do the same adds that competitive edge to beat the other person in the lane.

Next up the real thing as the shift now goes to the track as the season is on the horizon with one important fact that will be missing and that is “no” drinking and racing that “is” legal for The Winter Practice Tree Series.

In the final race Jim Mabry took the practice tree and Amanda Jackson claimed the Pro Tree event. Absent from the final event do to a previous engagement Carl Thorsett is the overall winner this year.

Till the next Practice Tree have a wonderful season of racing.

Images are now available – click here to go to the album.

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