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Records Fell at the
IMDRA 2007 World Finals
Sponsored by
VP Racing Fuels |
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By Kip Scharf/Photography Michelle Scharf |
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The San Antonio Model Drag Racing |
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Also on Saturday Night, under the |
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League hosted the 2007 IMDRA
World |
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lights, a 50/50 shootout
was held with 22 |
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Finals October 4th through the 7th. |
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entrants. After the smoke had cleared, |
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Drivers began arriving Wednesday |
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young Daniel Rivera had claimed
the |
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evening to inspect the recently |
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money over all comers |
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upgraded racing surface at
Litespeed |
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in some very exciting |
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Raceway, a surface that has
yielded |
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racing.
Spectators |
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incredible speeds and et's
in its short |
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were lined up from the |
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existence. |
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starting line to the |
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Thursday’s test and tune day was |
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finish line to see
these super close |
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more of a meet and greet day as
more |
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races. Gary "Rocketman" Reeter also |
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racers arrived. A few drivers tested |
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wowed the crowd when
he ran his twin- |
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their rides, but most were
holding out, |
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engine "Fire and
Smoke II" rocket |
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not wanting to show their
hands to early. |
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dragster during an
exhibition run. |
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The MHRA gang made the trek, as
did |
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Activities finally
shut down around |
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the Georgia/North
Carolina group. The |
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midnight! What a time everyone had! |
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“Flyin’ Hawaiians” made the short jump |
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Sunday morning was quiet and calm, |
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across the water to attend as did the |
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with all drivers getting
their game faces |
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Puerto Rican contingency. The Virgin |
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on.
Morning pleasantries were |
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Islands were well
represented too. Last |
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exchanged as concours was
held. The |
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but not least, the
Texans came to play. |
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Friday saw drivers really testing the |
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track for the first time,
as they started |
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Door Slammer: |
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dropping numbers
indicative of a world- |
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BK |
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class race. The freshly resurfaced track |
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now incorporates new state of
the art |
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centerline reflectors which
disappear |
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Funny Car: |
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into the race track should
a car come in |
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Tim Morrow |
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contact with it, minimizing
possible |
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damage to the race cars and
keeping |
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racers in the hunt
for the championship. |
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Rail Dragster: |
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Saturday’s qualifying saw racers dip |
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Joshua Wood |
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into the record books 46 times
with 8 |
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class records being broken
by the end of |
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qualifying alone! Even with upper 90 |
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Congratulations also went to the |
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degree temperatures and high
humidity, |
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hardest working
people working |
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racers made it happen. VP Racing Fuels |
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at the track all weekend |
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Lane Choice 6 traction compound |
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long, as Richard
Garcia |
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withstood the 131-degree track |
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and Kevin Schneider |
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temperature throughout qualifying |
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were
"Thanked" by |
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and was probably one of the main |
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IMDRA President Floyd |
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contributing factors to the
incredible |
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Vick (center) and all
in attendance for |
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numbers being run by
the racers. |
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their incredible work
at the top end of |
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After qualifying concluded on |
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the track, safely
recovering all cars and |
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Saturday night, Mr. Greg Settles |
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verifying all record
runs. Thanks again |
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conducted a most informative
nitro |
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from everybody! |
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engine-tuning seminar under
the big top |
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tent, answering all questions and |
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With all matters in order,
it’s time to |
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educating the masses that had
gathered |
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race! |
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around to hear from the
foremost engine |
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builder, re-builder
and tuner around. |
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Records Fell at the
IMDRA 2007 World Finals
Sponsored by
VP Racing Fuels |
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Bracket class opened things with
drivers |
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Nitro Pro Mod was insane, with
Charlie |
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setting their
dial-ins, hoping their consistency |
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Hernandez of Hawaii,
shattering the existing |
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and reaction times
would not let them down. |
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records for both
speed and et just about every |
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Texas
resident Darron Legnon and Puerto |
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time
he made a pass. Charlie held off |
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Rico’s
Alberto Rivera Sr. fought off all |
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everybody
on the A-side until he met Arnold |
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competition to meet
each other in the A-side |
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Rivera from Puerto
Rico in the A-side finals. |
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Finals, where Alberto
crossed the centerline, |
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Arnold managed to sneak
past Charlie for the |
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handing the win to
Darron Legnon. David Olsen |
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win while fellow
Puerto Rican Alberto Rivera Sr. |
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and Troy Millard met
in the B-side finals where |
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captured the B-side win
over Dallas resident |
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David
outlasted Troy when he broke out by 2 |
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BK. |
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tenths. |
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Nitro Pro Mod: |
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Bracket Class: |
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Top
Qualifier:
B-side Winner: |
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Top
Qualifier:
B-side Winner: |
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Shawn Grier Alberto Rivera Sr. |
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Glenn Dicus David Olsen
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Runner Up: A-side Winner |
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Runner Up: A-side Winner |
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Charlie Hernandez Arnold Rivera |
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Alberto Rivera Sr. Darron Legnon |
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New Record: |
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Charlie Hernandez – 1.790 |
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The Nitro Pro Stock class was a battle
of |
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Charlie Hernandez – 76.6 |
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East Coast
Racers. After all was said and done, |
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Tim
Morrow was the dominant one. Claiming |
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The Top Alcohol Funny Car & Rail
class had |
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both
TQ and the top spot on the podium with |
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more record runs than
any other class. This |
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Wayne Prince garnering the Runner-up spot. |
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hotly
contested class came down to Dallas, |
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Texas own Mike Barge
and Puerto Rico resident |
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Nitro Pro Stock Class: |
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young Alberto Rivera
Jr. In the A-side final, |
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Top
Qualifier:
Runner Up: |
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Mike went red by a
hundredth, while Alberto Jr. |
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was strong for the
win. B-side action saw US |
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Virgin Island resident
Wade Dread go red by a |
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thousandth over Hawaii’s Bob Fukao |
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Top Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster: |
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Top
Qualifier:
B-side Winner: |
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Marvin Jackson Bob Fukao |
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A-side Winner |
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Tim Morrow |
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Records Fell at the
IMDRA 2007 World Finals
Sponsored by
VP Racing Fuels |
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Runner Up: A-side Winner |
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Mike Barge Alberto Rivera Jr. |
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with this class!
After the qualifying smoke had |
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cleared,
Jim “Rainman” Shauer reigned |
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supreme
as he claimed the top spot with an |
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incredible 1.312
blast! Nitro cars held their own |
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in eliminations
up until the finals, thanks to the |
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efforts of
Melvin Alston. In the B-side finals,
he |
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met up with “Jamin”
Joshua Wood from Dallas. |
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New Records: |
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Melvin did his job
on the tree, but Joshua’s 94 |
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Alcohol Rail |
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mph, 1.370 record
setting run ended the hopes |
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Marvin Jackson – 1.779 |
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for a nitro
victory. The A-side final was an all |
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Alberto Rivera Jr. – 74.1 |
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San
Antonio match-up, between first time
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contestants Robert
“Bullet Bob” Antelope and |
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Alcohol Funny Car |
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Alfred “The Rod”
Rodriguez. With both drivers |
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Sam Cannata – 1.850 |
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living in the low
1.4’s, this race was set to be a |
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Sam Cannata – 70.2 |
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dandy. Bob cut the better light by half a hun, |
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but Alfred ran 3
hundredths better at the top |
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end. The result? A 6-foot victory for Bullet Bob |
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Electric Top Fuel was a lightly
contested |
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Antelope.
What a race! |
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category with an
Arizona twist as Pat McDonald |
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and Troy Millard
fought for the title. Pat TQ’d |
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Extreme: |
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with an incredible 1.588 and kept his record- |
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Top
Qualifier:
B-side Winner: |
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setting performance
up as he claimed the title |
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Jim Shauer Joshua Wood |
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over Troy in the final round. |
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Electric Top Fuel: |
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Top
Qualifier:
Runner Up: |
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Pat McDonald Troy Millard. |
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Runner Up: A-side Winner |
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Alfred Rodriguez Robert Antelope |
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A-side Winner: |
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Pat McDonald |
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New Record: |
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Joshua Wood – 1.370 |
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Alfred Rodriguez – 100.2 |
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The Combined Top Fuel Funny Car class
saw |
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New Record: |
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Shawn Grier occupy the
number one qualifying |
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Pat McDonald – 1.637 |
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spot. Shawn’s luck ran out when he met up with |
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Troy Millard in the
semi-finals. On the other |
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The Extreme class lived up to its
name, with |
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side,
Mr. Nitro, Tim Morrow, battled it out |
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racers dropping et’s
and speeds like none ever |
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against MHRA’s big,
bad, Mike Smith, where he |
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seen! There were 24 jaunts into record territory
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was triumphant. Tim and Troy met in the finals |
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where nitro prevailed
and Tim took the honors. |
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Margin of victory: 37 inches! WOW! |
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Records Fell at the
IMDRA 2007 World Finals
Sponsored by
VP Racing Fuels |
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Combined Top Fuel Funny Car: |
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Nitro Top Fuel: |
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Top
Qualifier:
Runner Up: |
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Top
Qualifier:
B-side Winner: |
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Shawn Grier Troy Millard. |
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David Guerrero BK |
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A-side Winner: |
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Tim Morrow |
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Runner Up: A-side Winner |
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David Guerrero Bob Fukao |
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New Record: |
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Tim Morrow – 1.784 |
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Tim Morrow – 77.4 |
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A special “Thanks” to VP Racing Fuels
and |
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Wade
Gray for educating us on track |
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The final class contested at the 2007
IMDRA |
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preparation
procedures and starting line |
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World Finals was the
largest class. Who said |
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cleanup
issues. Also for the Lane Choice 6 |
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nitro is dead? Nitro Top Fuel was alive and |
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traction compound,
which allowed the drivers to |
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quite well! The competition during qualifying |
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put the hammer to
the wood for incredible world |
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was stout. All cars qualified within 2 tenths of |
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record
performances. Thanks to Paul and Rich
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each other for a
tightly packed field. VP Fuels |
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Campbell of Team
Walbern for supplying racers |
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sponsored racer David
Guerrero, running out of |
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with the parts and
education they needed to get |
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the Schmidt Racing
stable, took the number one |
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the most of their
cars. Thanks to Greg Settles |
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spot. By the time the semi-finals rolled around,
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for handing out great
amounts of knowledge to |
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it was looking like
an all Schmidt Racing final, |
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drivers and engine
tuners during his Saturday |
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with
David and Jeff Schmidt meeting in the |
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night engine
clinic. Thanks to HPI and Castle |
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finals on the
A-side. Hawaii’s Bob Fukao and |
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Creations for their
contributions to the IMDRA |
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MHRA’s Mark Rollings
had other plans, though. |
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and their support of this organization. Thanks also |
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On the B-side, Dallas
resident’s BK and Mike |
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going out to Rockingham Speed Products (RSP) |
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Barge
had worked their way up through the |
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for their fine donation of super sweet bodies. |
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tough ladder to meet
each other. At the start, |
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To Litespeed
Engineering and Bill Poisso for |
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Mike
had a 16-thousandths advantage, but BK |
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building a first
class racing complex capable of |
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ran
5 hundredths quicker for the 2o inch |
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handling the most
demanding power the racers |
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victory! Yikes!
Everyone’s pulse is now just a |
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have to throw at
it. Most importantly, a very |
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tick faster,
expecting a huge A-side final round. |
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special “Thanks” to all
the incredible IMDRA |
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David Guerrero and
Bob Fukao lined up. At the |
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members
throughout the world who make up |
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green, David gets 2
hundredths on the tree. |
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the greatest RC drag
racing organization ever. |
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Both cars are
side-by-side all the way down the |
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This event was the
best because you made it so! |
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132. At the stripe,
Bob’s win light comes on. A |
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2007 is in the
history books. 2008 will be bigger |
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27-inch
victory! What a race and what a way
to |
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and better than
anything you can imagine!
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end
the 2007 IMDRA National event season!
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