25 Jul 2014 Kent, WA – by John Ramsey It was a throw-back throw-down as northwest Funny Car legends Bucky Austin and Twig Zeigler delighted a large Pacific Raceways’ crowd with a side-by-side hammer-down pass at the 27th Annual GoodGuys Friday Nite Vintage Drags July 25that the historic Kent track.
Kris Krabill, driving for the legendary “Northwest Hitter” Bucky Austin, grabbed a slight starting line advantage and powered to a 5.748 at 249.44 mph over Zeigler’s ’74 Plymouth Satellite piloted by Devery Howard, who stopped the clocks at 5.834 at 246.39 mph. In the nightcap, Krabill set top ET and speed of the night in his match-up with Roger Garten’s 1973 Mach 1 with a 5.737 at 254.86. Howard’s second round run wasn’t enough to hold off the hole-shot win of Nathan Sitko and his Edmonton, Alberta based ’78 Plymouth Arrow that ran 5.934 at 244.03 to Howard in the Twig Zeigler car ata 5.914 ET at 222.18 mph.
Sitko also took the measure of Garten in the opening round with a 5.889 at 243.33 to Garten’s centerline crossing foul.
Austin’s and Zeigler’s floppers were mainstays at Pacific Raceways in the heyday of Funny Car match racing when the track was known as Seattle International Raceway (SIR), hosting such events as 64 Funny Cars. In recent years, Austin’s Fife, WA-based team has made regular appearances in testing at Pacific Raceways.
The GoodGuys annual event at Pacific Raceways attracted nearly 200 hot rods, muscle cars and competition race cars 1972 and older. In addition, a large car show was held in the upper pits. The GoodGuys Friday Nite Drags are part of a weekend festival of hot rods and hot cars held at the nearby Puyallup Fair Grounds.
Other winners at the Friday Nite Drags included John Ermish of Renton WA in Competition; Tacoma’s Steve Wilson and his ’38 Ford Coupe in Hot Rod 1; the ’36 Dodge of Buckley, WA’s Pat Kelly in Hot Rod 2; North Bend, WA’s Ken Reeves and his ’67 Dart in Street Machine 1; and Gary Gandee of Bremerton driving his Pontiac Firebird in Street Machine 2.
Images of all the action are now in the galleries. Click here to go there.
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