 GRAND
BEND, ONTARIO (June 1-3) -- Hoosier drag tires have been busy on drag
strips across the country, make that across the continent, no, make
that throughout the world! The latest stop on the IHRA circuit saw
racers make the trip north for the 2nd Annual Mopar Performance Parts
Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex. Hoosier-shod teams made it
to an astonishing seven class finals, and took home the top prize in
six of those classes.
Alan Pittman in Pro Modified (photo), Dale Brand and John Vourus in
Funny Car, Scotty Stillings in Modified Eliminator, Mark Horton in
Quick Rod, John Furr in Hot Rod, Bob Marshall in Stock Eliminator and
Joe Cicalo in Box ET, all made it to the finals aboard Hoosier tires,
despite cold and sometimes rainy conditions.
PRO MODIFIED
Alan Pittman qualified number one in the Pro Modified class in the
Wesbrook Motorsports '41 Willys. Pittman conquered the competition
using Hoosier's 34.5/17.0-16 C06 drag tires. In the final round,
Pittman saved his best run for last, using a .418 RT to his
competition's .424 RT, Pittman got the jump at the light. He then
proceeded to run an ET of 6.244 seconds, besting the runner-up's 6.385
ET. Pittman's victory speed was 222.11 mph in the final, and was his
2nd National event win of the year.
Also of note in the Pro Modified class, Both the Low ET and Top
Speed in the division were set by another Hoosier mounted car. Mike
Janis set both Low ET (6.169 seconds) and Top Speed (227.44 mph) using
the same size tire as the class winner, Alan Pittman, the Hoosier
34.5/17.0-16.
FUNNY CAR
In Funny Car action, it was an "All-Hoosier" final as
the number three and four qualifiers made it into the final contest.
Dale Brand in a 2001 Firebird met John Vouros in a 2000 Firebird in
the final round. Brand got a huge jump at the light clocking an RT of
.441 to Vouros' .558 RT. That was all he needed to capture the
victory. Brand's ET was 5.880 (234.61 mph) to Vouros' 5.853 (236.96
mph). While Vouros' ET of 5.853 seconds was Low ET of the event, he
couldn't overcome the advantage Brand garnered at the starting line.
Both drivers were competing on Hoosier 34.5/17.0-16 C06 tires.
QUICK ROD
Mark Horton used a .412 RT versus his competition's .427 RT to get
the jump at the starting line in Quick Rod. Horton had an ET of 9.086
for a .186 index to his competition's 9.100 ET and a .200 index.
Margin of victory at the win light was about seven feet. Horton was
using a pair of Hoosier 33.0/16.5-15 C07 drag tires.
HOT ROD
Former World Champion, John Furr in his '72 Nova, using a set of
Hoosier 32.0/14.0-15 D05 drag tires fought his way to emerge the class
champion in the Hot Rod class. The Oakboro, North Carolina driver
posted a better index to take the class win. Furr had an ET of 10.863
(-.037) to his runner-up's 10.820 (-.080) on the 10.90 index for the
win.
STOCK ELIMINATOR
After qualifying last (38th) in the class, Columbus, Ohio's Bob
Marshall in his '73 Dart battled his way through the elimination
rounds to claim the victory aboard a set of Hoosier 30/9.0-15 Radial
C07's drag tires. Marshall used .537 RT and turned an ET of 11.725 on
a 11.73 index (-.005) to take the win in Stock Eliminator.
BOX ET
Joe Cicalo, after qualifying second, defeated the number one qualifier
in the final round to take the win in the Box ET class. The Warren,
Michigan driver's competition in the final red lighted, giving Cicalo
the uncontested victory.
Other Top Hoosier Finishers: Also making it
to the final round was Scotty Stillings. Stilling's using a pair of
Hoosier 14.5/32.0-15L C07 drag tires, took the runner-up spot in the
Modified Eliminator class.
The IHRA series travels back across the border for
it's next event at Cordova Dragway Park in Cordova, Illinois for the
22nd Annual Amalie Oil Summer Nationals, June 14-16. |
