21 Sep 2014 Kent, WA – Race number two in the fall series brought new faces to the track on this sunny Sunday, the last one of summer.
In the two ¼ mile classes you can see a bike vs. a dragster or a pure race car vs. a pure street car. Looks are little skewed as they are lined up against each other racing against their dial-in. Pure ET racing is how well you can run the number. Have to be consistent to win here as you have to know your race car and what it will do providing you do the same thing each pass. The human factor in racing, always the unknown as we are not machines that can exactly re-peat time after time each pass; though the more you do anything the closer you can get to doing this repeatedly.
Not running in the series and out for testing only was Drew Austin in his recently wrapped dragster running in the Nostalgia series, and testing and fine tuning their work. Have to think this will be a much photographed dragster when in competition.
Regular runner in the super pro class Kevin Rennick brought out his top dragster out for some testing as the opportunity to do so does not come often enough while racing in the ET series.
A rare treat this time of year was the sound and smell of “nitro”. Only two cylinders of nitro are all it takes to propel Dana Meeks down the track on his nitro HD drag bike. It is a rare breed of racers that ride these bikes. Anyone that has seen a nitro powered motor explode knows how volatile they are, now fire it up and lie on top of it and ride it down the strip. Like I said “a rare breed” indeed to do this.
Not forgotten in the fall series are the 1/8 mi. Jr dragster classes. These young racers are just as serious about their sport as the 1/4 mi. versions. Having fun, doing your best and when you win, reaping the rewards. As in the first race of the series no trophy here, the huge smiles on the winner and runner up says it all as Jim and Joann Ronan provided the bills to bring those smiles. Kudo’s to you. The smiles in Jr.Thunder saw Porter Johnson winner and Ryan Warnke runner-up. In Jr. Lightning winner Emily Lewis and runner-up Josh Schmanke shared the winner’s circle.
In the non-electronics class Jasin Bravo claimed the trophy over Ron Parker. The electronics class saw past track champ Steve Beggerly take the win over “bathroom row” runner Tim Schmidt.
Over 500 new images are now available – click here to go to the album.
21 Nov 2014 Kent, WA – This year’s banquet held at Emerald Downs brought many to fill the tables for food and awards. E.T. winners shared their experiences at the finals, and what is planned for next year’s race cars filled the room with conversation. There was plenty of applause for all the winners with a bit more directed towards Norm and Gordon for their accomplishments this year. Congratulation to all the winners and see you next season.
