30 September 2012 – Going Rounds at the NHRA Division 7 ET Finals

It was a good and exciting weekend at the NHRA Division 7 ET Finals in Bakersfield, California. After Thursday’s time trials, we learned that because several people could not attend the race, being in the 8th spot in the points for the year meant that we were 3rd alternate for the Summit Super Showdown and therefore made the fifth spot for the race! We were shocked because we thought we would not be racing in Sunday’s race unless we won Saturday’s race against the other 121 Sportsman racers.

We had the car running well and went several rounds in the low roller gambler race on Friday night and Saturday. We lost with an oh so close .008 breakout and then went on to make the top 16 out of 64 for the Run For the Money race on Friday afternoon. We left on Friday evening feeling confident for Saturday’s Division Championship race. We raced several great racers and made it to the third round when I was lined up against a Famoso sportsman racer. At launch, I felt I nailed the tree only to find that the accelerator pedal could not withstand the force any longer, and broke from its bracket causing me to coast past the starting line. After putting at idle all the way back to the pit, we brainstormed a way to fix the petal for the race on Sunday. After help from so many of our awesome Vegas team pit neighbors including the Phlegars, Cecil Jr and Sr, Wesley Eisenga and Carl Cannavo, we repaired the pedal in time to get a few hours sleep before Sunday’s eliminations.

Round one brought a red light on the opponent’s side, and sent me onto round number two. After a really close race, I ran 12 thousandths off the dial to his 19 thousandths off, but his reaction time made the win light come on his side. Even though it was a loss, we knew how hard we worked all year to get to this point. We were very thankful to have the car running so well, and to be part of the top 24 sportsman racers in Division 7. I’d like to thank my awesome crew chief for all his hard work on the car and for giving me awesome dials to race with. I’d also like to thank team Las Vegas as well as everyone at the track for helping with the pedal. It was an awesome weekend and I’m really proud to be a part of such a great team. I also want to say congratulations to Team Las Vegas for wining the Team Spirit Award, the Track Championship for Saturday’s race, and the Track Managers trophy for Sunday’s race!

We’re incredibly excited to leave for Vegas this week and race in the final PSCA race, the Mickey Thompson Tires West Coast Nationals. We are confident in the car, and can’t wait to see what we can do at the last race of the year.

– Alex