PSCA results from Firebird International Raceway

The weekend of Sept.26- 28 at Firebird International Raceway was the sixth stop in the 2008 PSCA racing schedule.

Racing action was as hot as the temperatures for all three days.

Friday’s open Test and Tune saw several Pacific Street Cars get in some solid passes. Two nitro-nostalgia and four CIFCA funny cars plus a top dragster also made some shake down passes. The Powers and Steel car driven by Dennis Savage and the Coors Tribute car driven by Mike Adams both turned in numbers in the low 6-second range at over 200 mph.

The PSCA race was action packed from start to finish both Saturday and Sunday. All thirteen classes provided the crowd with close side-by-side drag racing with elimination rounds being decided by less than five thousandths of a second. The Mustang Madness final had local favorite, Bill Goy’s 1991 Mustang roll the beams and give the race to Glen Streleck in his 2003 Cobra. Glen, from Riverside, Calif., dialed a 10.94 and ran a 10.988 at 125.29 mph after his .048 light.

The trophy category final was between two local racers. Jim Sobczynski and his ’74 Nova took the win from Jeff Knighton at the starting line. Jim dialed a 13.15 and ran a 13.172 at 92.32 mph and had a .033 reaction time to Jeff’s .114 light. Jeff dialed an 11.59 and ran an 11.679 at 115.27mph in his 1978 Ford Fairmont.

Victor Sandoval from Tucson, Ariz., had to go through five rounds to face Jerry Hops from Resenda, Calif., in the final for Bracket 1. Victor’s 1971 Nova, sporting its new orange paint, took the final by cutting a super .007 light. Victor dialed a 10.08 and ran a 10.203 at 126.42 mph. Jerry could not wait and turned on the red light with a -.025. Jerry dialed an 8.18 and ran a 10.595 at 92.11 mph.

Mike Nordal the 2006 and 2007 champion and current points leader for ’08 in Open Comp, padded his points lead with another win in his 1975 Vega. Mike had a perfect .000 light in round 2, but only needed a .040 reaction time to get around Steve Pramov’s 1977 Vega. Nordal dialed a 10.61 and ran a 10.675 at 114.13 mph while Steve started with a .105 light; he dialed a 9.44 and ran a 9.537 at 145.47 mph.

Tom Easterday drove his Dodge Ramcharger Paint scheme 1962 Dodge Dart to victory circle when he ran a 10.671 at 107.04 mph after his .069 light on the Mean Street 10.60 index. The runner-up spot went to the street driven 1968 GTO owned and driven by Louis Fishgold. Louis ran a 10.746 at 126.87, but had a late .149 light.

Quick Street (9.60 index) once again pitted two local racers, Dan Withers and Chuck Sandstrom, in the final. Chuck, the Firebird Raceway manager, left first, but was not able to run his numbers. He had a .098 light and ran a 9.988 at 129.37 mph. Dan, in his turbo-charged six cylinder left with a .179 but was closer to the index with a 9.877 at 138.60 mph for the win.

NRP Super Street runs on 7.60 and 8.60 indexes. Past track champion Bill Kidd from Marana, Ariz., took the Brian Lopez-owned Pontiac Firebird to victory over Kevin Stokesberry from Miraloma, Calif. Bill had a great .006 reaction time to Kevin’s .047. Bill held on to the lead by running an 8.754 at 143.58 mph while Kevin ran an 11.036 at 111.83 mph.

For only the second time in the 2008 season, Parrish Williams competed in the K & N Filters Limited Street. This time he drove his 1989 Mustang to the number one spot. Parrish left about two hundredths at the starting line, but got to the finish line over three hundredths quicker than Craig Williams in his 2000 Camaro. Craig ran a 9.559 at 145.09 with a .141 reaction time for the runner-up spot while Parrish had the slower .163 reaction but ran a 9.241 at 149.93 mph.

The Micky Thompson Tires Wild Street final had the number one and number two racers in the 2008 points chase. Number two in points, Al Jimenez, took the win when he had a better .032 light and ran a 9.229 at 181.79 mph. George Raygoza, number one in points, took runner-up when he ran an 8.652 at 171.58 mph after his .063 reaction time.

Daniel Bott II, the current points leader in Eldelbrock Hot Street ran an 8.523 at 157.36 mph with a .095 reaction time to be number one again. Bryan Cobbett took his Mustang to the number two spot; although he had a better .033 light, he ran a 9.349 at 156.77 mph.

Scott Oksas from Saugus, Calif., took his 1991 black-flamed Mustang to the win in Borla Performance Extreme Drag Radial class. Scott had to face Roger Holden from Bakersfield, Calif., in the final. Roger struck the tires at the hit of the throttle and still ran an 8.272 at 178.02 mph with a better reaction time of .051 for the runner-up spot. Scott was a little late at the start with a .086 but ran a quicker 7.972 at 177.93 mph for the win.

When the tree went green in the Accufab Outlaw 10.5 class, Rich Zehring left first with a .080 reaction time. The 1970 Nova made a move toward the wall, and Rich had to bring it back in the grove. This slight move to the fence put Rich in the number two spot as he ran an 8.294 at 130.28 mph. Ron Weems had a .122 light, but ran right down the race track with a 7.726 at 147.26 for the victory.

With time winding down for the Hughes Performance Pro Street final to be in the lanes, Guiseppe Gentile and crew had to replace a motor they had blown up in the semi-finals. Clint Hairston’s 2007 GTO and crew made the call, but the Mustang of Gentile could not. Hairston and crew decided to make the run anyway, running a 6.570 at 216.93 mph after a .187 light on a solo pass.

Photos courtesy of Bruce Mabry