Southwestern International Raceway Sept. 1st (2nd) As the SIR team gathered for race #11 on Saturday the first of September, so did the rain clouds. The clouds won and the rain started to fall. SIR management decided to cancel Saturday night and run the event on Sunday, September 2nd. Gates opened at 7 AM under clear, blue Arizona skies. For added excitement during race day, a target or bounty car was randomly chosen in each category. The $50 bounty in Super Pro was placed on Rodney Ward and his ’64 Chevy truck. Jay Axtell took the $50 from Rodney in round #3 and went into the final against Scott Stauth. Jay left two hundredths at the starting line with a .042 light to Scott’s .026 and could not make it up at the stripe. Scott’s big block Chevy R.E. D. dialed a 7.86 and ran a 7.908 at 169.13 MPH while Jay’s R.E.D. dialed an 8.17 and ran an 8.220 at 158.28 MPH to be in the runner-up spot. In Pro the bounty car was Fred Moses and his 1969 Nova. James Sorenson took that $50 right away in round one when Fred dialed too hard and could not run the numbers. The Pro final was between two former Jr. Dragster and High School champions. Brad Hawk was the victor over Jake Burris. Brad drove his ’85 Mustang to an 11.046 ET at 118.97 MPH after the .070 light and an 11.02 dial. Jake had a better reaction time with a .037, but was off his 11.45 dial with an 11.517 ET at 115.50 MPH. The bounty car in Sportsman was two time track champion, Don Graham. Don took his $50 all the way to the final round, but had to hand it over to first time winner Richard Lockhart. Richard took the double break-out race when he only went under his 12.98 dial by two thousandths with a 12.978 ET at 103.10 MPH. Graham dialed a 13.37, but ran to the number two spot with a 13.359 ET at 101.17 MPH. The Motorcycle bounty was placed on Jim Burris Sr. Jim was the only target racer to keep the $50 through all the rounds and win the event. Jim, the race #9 winner, took his 2007 V-Rod back to the winners circle with a .119 reaction time as he dialed a 10.42 and ran a 10.517 at 125.41 MPH. Chet Berry, the team race #10 winner was the runner-up. Chet, on his 1989 Suzuki 750 had a super .020 reaction time, but the bike slowed to an 11.465 at 117.01 MPH on the 11.24 dial. The High School final was between Matt Hawk and Joe Gerstel. Matt, the current point’s leader and last year’s H/S champ was once again holding the trophy when he dialed a 16.65 and ran a 16.736 at 78.94 MPH after his .056 reaction time. The runner-up spot went to Joe Gerstel when he was just a little late with a .106 light. Joe dialed a 12.33 and ran a close 12.399 at 110.72 MPH. During the course of the day, we completed Team #9’s rain-out races. The winner of the Pro category was Marvin Wolfmeier with Tim O’Moore as runner-up. The winner of the Sportsman category was Don Quaintance with Hank Axtell as runner-up. The winner of the Super Pro category was Dennis Schrage with Scott Stauth as runner-up. The Box Conci went to Robert Hall Sr. in his shoe box Chevy II when he ran a 10.786 at 122.58 MPH. The next event at SIR is a Super Quick 8.50 Index Class, Super Categories, Motorcycles, and a No Box Gambler on the 14th and 15th of September. Gates are at 4 PM both days. Bruce Mabry, track announcer |