Gone Racin� �to the Lucas Oil NHRA Division 7 Inaugural Event at California Dragway

The Lucas Oil NHRA Division 7 Inaugural Event drag race was held on September 15-18, 2005, at the California Dragway, in Fontana, California, on the grounds of the California Speedway. Kathy Danish met us at the ticket gate and gave us directions in navigating around the huge racing complex. California Speedway is a remarkable racing facility. The oval track is used by IRL, NASCAR and many other oval track racing groups, and draws as many as a quarter of a million spectators for the Nextel Cup races. On the West side of the facility is a course set up for Kart racing and is a remarkably complex and interesting design. The VIP parking lot on the South side of the oval track is set aside for the drag racing facility. It has a professional concrete pad for the first 300 feet, concrete barriers for fan protection, two 500-seat aluminum stands for spectators and spacious pits that extend the entire length of the course. The shut off area has nets and a sand trap for safety, but the normal street legal cars are only allowed to run 10 second elapsed times. For the Lucas Oil NHRA Division 7 race, the times will dip down into the 6 second ET�s at over 200 miles per hour. Dave Danish, Kathy�s spouse, is the track Manager, and supervises a skilled and capable staff that can handle the extra speeds on this facility.  Jason Bentley is the overall Speedway Operations Manager, in charge of the Oval Track and other racing courses. Danish explained how the drag strip can be completely taken down and moved for a NASCAR race, then reassembled and ready to go by the following weekend.

One of the interesting things about California Dragway, a part of the California Speedway, is the way in which the staging lanes curve around from the East end, and from the North end of the course, allowing eight lanes of cars to be staged and ready to race. This keeps the action going at a fast and furious pace, which the announcer, Bruce Schwartz does admirably. Mike English is another of those great track announcers that shares mike time with Schwartz. Rick Carlson, from NHRA, sometimes steps in and takes over the mike. All three have a no-nonsense, fact filled manner of announcing the event so that the action is never upstaged, but seems to flow together. David Gerard was there to record the results for the Summit Series On-Line website and explained the action on the track. Gerard, who raced, crewed and built diggers since the 50�s, provided an excellent education on how the racers play the mind games that result in victory or defeat. Consistency and skill are just as important as horsepower on the track, and many racers often lose the race because they got too fancy. He pointed out that the reaction times for the sportsmen classes are often within a thousand of a second, and that dollar for dollar, these are some of the best dragracers in the world. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the racers and the way the drag race was being run. On the weekends, his partners, Rick Green and Darryl Jackman would join him as they recorded every single race and added commentary to the trackside action. Gerard recorded the air temperature that ranged between 71 and 80 degrees, a very comfortable, clear and sunny California day for racing. Then he pointed out the track temperature of 125 degrees, another fact that he kept track of. He showed the printout of the 1^st 60 feet of the race, and how important it was. �Reaction time and the first 60 feet usually tells the story of who wins these races,� said Gerard, �and horsepower helps.�

Everywhere one looked there were huge semi truck-trailer rigs lined up. These aren�t the pros and their budgets are much smaller, but by the quality of the cars, equipment and transporters, one wouldn�t know that this was a divisional race and not a National Event. The cabs are roomy, and able to handle driver and crew. B&M brought their rig out and set up a display, offering expertise and parts for any racer in need. They said that they normally attend events in the Southwest and are supported by the various companies that provide them with merchandise. In the staging lanes I spoke to quite a few racers, and many of them came from out of California. Debbie Dolezal was suiting up to race her Super Comp dragster called the �Century 21� car. A licensed real estate salesman in Arizona, she is known as the �fastest saleswoman on the block.� Debbie was there with her husband Darin, daughter Amber, and son Brandon. They have four race cars in the family, and there might be a definite chance that she will face her son in a mother/son drag race this weekend. Both Amber and Brandon got their start in Junior Dragsters, but have now gone on to the bigger cars. Amber was suiting up to race, as her brother hit the green light perfectly for his run down the course. There were a lot of women racers registered for the meet. Jenna Lucy checked her tire pressure and then adjusted her helmet for her run in curiously named �Rosa Maria�s� Super Comp dragster. Dean Carter was in line, waiting for his turn. He is the 2003-2004 Area 7 Champion, back in an A/Nostalgia Dragster class this year. Harold Mezier, who will be celebrating his 71^st birthday in a few weeks, was ready in his Super Comp Dragster. Mezier, known for his quality water pumps, fittings and parts, is a popular and well-liked racer in the Division.

David May was handing out literature for cruises and races in the area. If you want to find out what is happening in Southern California�s car scene, David is the guy to see. He is a great supporter of the local dragstrips in Perris, Fontana, Rialto, Irwindale, Pomona and elsewhere. James Drew, Roger Rohrdanz and Tim Marshall dropped by to say hello. All three are top of the line photographers who spend the entire day taking quality photos to sell to the racers. Track photographers are as old as the sport of car racing itself. Tim said that Rick Huff, driver of the Fuel Altered car �Nanook,� is making a good recovery from the accident at Boise, Idaho, that nearly took his life. Rick said he�ll be back in racing next year. Some racers voiced concerns that California Dragway would have problems handling an event as large as a Divisional Points Race. After the race was over, many were commenting that these fears were unjustified, and that the extremely qualified and able staff had a success on their hands. California Dragway proved to be a quality racing venue, one of the best on the Pacific Coast. Mike Austin from Medford, Oregon, won the Top Alcohol Dragster class over Johnny Ahten, from Scottsdale, Arizona, in the finals. The Top Alcohol Funny Car title went to Bret Williamson, Campbell, California, who beat Doug Gordon, from Paso Robles, California. In other categories, Michael Stone took the Competition Eliminator crown over Dean Carter. In Top Comp, Ryan Tietz overcame Joe Roubicek. John Richardson conquered Timothy Height to take the Super Eliminator title. Tom McBride vanquished Greg Boutte in Super Comp. Greg Luneack ran away with the Super Stock class title over Eddie Leabo. Rick Beckstrom beat Darryl Mitchell for the Super Gas bragging rights. Dave Adams took the Super Street championship from Gary Thompson. And in the last class of this hard fought drag racing series, Curtis Coulter outran Dave Moreno for the Stock Eliminator title.

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