Air Force Reserve All High School Drags at Pacific Raceways

Posted on May 6, 2016 by admin

06 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.

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.

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.

PRDC #1 & Diesels #1 at Pacific Raceways

Posted on May 4, 2016 by admin

04 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.

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.

2 Days of SOVREN Spring Sprints at Pacific Raceways

Posted on May 1, 2016 by admin

01 May 2016 Kent, WA – Spring is in the air when the fine and some pretty expensive rare autos converge on Pacific Raceways. The American and European race cars that take part in the SOVREN races are quite a sight, and the sounds were fantastic of what racing in the past was like.

Walking the pits to get a closer look at these vintage cars and the care that the owner’s give can only be appreciated by watching them. Their baby or pride and joy are as evident as the love that is given to their children. Yes, these machines are raced and driven as back in the day but with great care not to bring any harm to them or their competitors, as I mentioned these are rare and quite pricey.

Check out the SOVREN web site for racing in the northwest and the next event at Pacific Raceways over the 4th. Of July weekend.

The images are broken out into two albums, one for each day of activity.

For Images From April 30th, 2016 – Click Here

For Images From May 1st, 2016 – Click Here

Private Test Session at Pacific Raceways

Posted on April 28, 2016 by admin

28 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.

Brad 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.

Quite 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.

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

Posted on April 23, 2016 by admin

23 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.

Into 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.

We 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.

Packed Class At ProFormance Racing School

Posted on April 21, 2016 by admin

21 Apr 2016 Kent, WA – A packed classroom for today’s ProFormance Racing School shows how the word is getting around about going thru the class. It can improve your driving skills even if you think you are a good one. Today it was AM Only Skills, Novice HP and a Power Lunch on the program.

What to do if this happens or where to look for the best escape plan can prepare you for much safer driving on the hi-ways and bi-ways. The more people that go thru the class with the combination of safer autos can only translate into safer travels. You really need to check into this program for yourself or children.

Contact ProFormance on the web site for info.

Images from the classes and track time are now online – click here to go to the photo album. As always thank you very much for your support and purchases!

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

Posted on April 17, 2016 by admin

17 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.

For 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.

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

Posted on April 16, 2016 by admin

16 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

SCCA – Conferences – SOVREN Race Licensing At Pacific Raceways

Posted on April 15, 2016 by admin

15 Apr 2016 Kent, WA – For some people it’s future plans and to some it’s just the aspiration of doing it and for others it’s a bucket list. No matter the thought process the class at ProFormance Racing School is a must.

The experience of Don Kitch and the instructors who teach you will pass along what together would I think total 150 years of combined and diverse experience. The wealth of knowledge that they have lets the students be themselves and learn in a very comfortable setting. Normal to all is a little nervousness when attempting something for the first time. This goes away quickly as Don has a way of putting you at ease so you can learn and soak up the knowledge he is passing along.

For two days of long class and track time you will gain the paper work for you to enter as a novice in many of the conferences around the U.S. And always the innovator ProFormance brought in four PRO3 drivers and their race cars to run with the students in the mock race at the end of the second day. To all those involved it turned out to be a great teaching tool for the students as the PRO3 drivers pushed just enough to encourage the students to take advantage of what was in front of them.

Way different than racing against your classmates only. For Don and the staff what they saw in this combination was how well it worked and is something that should be included with the class.

Keep an eye on the ProFormance website for the next class for your experience.

Images for the two days are now available – click here to go to the photo album. Thank you for your support and purchases!

Huge Crowd For HondaFest 2016 at Pacific Raceways

Posted on April 10, 2016 by admin

10 April 2016 Kent, WA – The annual gathering for the enthusiasts of everything Honda converged on to the Pacific Raceways grounds to take it all in. Car show drags and AutoX kicked off the action.

The 22 turn course proved quite challenging for those who took part. Missing gates and turns by the drivers had the AutoX instructor walk the course describing what the cones mean and what to do. Afterward the drivers ran the course, with some turning in some pretty impressive laps.

As the 1:00 pm start time for the drags to start drew near, the massive amount of people cruising the car show started for the stands, except those in the number of food stands. The lines were long and the food good.

As SpeedFactory prepped their race cars the lanes filled with a mix of cars with both street tires and race tires. The gains these teams have made are record setting with three great drivers with some bright minds behind them.

For those who stayed till the last race of this year’s HondaFest, they watched the SpeedFactory crewmembers and the drag crew jumping, high fiving and hugging each other with the numbers they just laid down.

With the thousands and I mean many thousands of people that come to the HondaFest shows how popular the event has become.