ARTICLE BY JASON
CULLEY AND BRIAN WATTS / PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN WATTS
SACRAMENTO, CA (May
30, 2007) - ACDRM.com writer/photographer Brian
Watts described the crowd at Bugorama #59 as reminiscent of
the glory days of yesteryear. The pits, staging lanes,
swap meet, car show, parking lot and grandstands were
overflowing all day. It is the norm usually after the Pro Mods, Super
Street and dragsters make their runs the grandstands empty
out a bit, but not on this day, the crowd stuck around to even
watch the 19 second sportsman cars. One of the
highlights of
the weekend was the front engine dragster
brought out by the guys at VW Paradise. "The Nail"
(pictured to the right), a
front engine dragster recently restored by VW Paradise
sports a twin turbo power plant and wowed the crowd every
time it pulled into the lights. On it's f
irst
full run it clicked off a a 7.15 ET at 188 MPH. Shawn
Geers brought out his recently completed Der Renn Kafer Cup
entry (pictured to the left) with Jesse Hardin
handling the driving duties. Only the second time a DRKC car
has gone into the
10 second range with a 10.831 ET at 124.25 MPH.
In
the G. Serrano VW Parts
and Service Pro Mod class it was guaranteed we would have a
first time winner this season. Phoenix Bugorama winner
Hector Urias could not make the trip to Sacramento due to
prior commitments. There was talk that as many as 6-7
Pro Mod cars could possibly be in attendance this weekend
but only three Pro Mod cars managed to make the trip to Sacramento;
Eric Calabrese of Simi Valley (CA), Eric Madson of Grand
Junction (CO) and John Redding of Grand Junction (CO).
Tywon Mitchell was hoping to have his newly painted Pro Mod
VW ready but had to leave it at home waiting on parts and
Jason Fuller was making some licensing passes. In the
finals, 2006 PRA Pro Mod Champion Eric
Calabrese of Simi Valley, CA ran a 9.155 ET at 158.16 MPH to
defeat Eric Madson of Grand Junction, CO who couldn't get
down the track straight for most of the weekend and only
managed 16.622 ET at 49.47 MPH. Calabrese was the #1
qualifier with a 8.850 ET and the top speed for the weekend
belonged to Madson at 162.37 MPH.
On a side note we want
to thank Eric Madson for displaying our new ACDRM.com
stickers on his Pro Mod Ghia. Also would like to thank
Shawn Moore for producing the stickers and also some shirts
that will be going on sale real soon so keep an eye out.
(CLICK
HERE FOR PICTURE)
After
the 2006 season David Stark of Corona (CA) went into rebuild
mode and updated his '57 Bug with a new chassis but
unfortunately missed the opener at Phoenix. He wasn't
going to miss Sacramento, thrashing to get the car back
together in time. His efforts paid off with a win in
the Heads Up Performance Super Street win over Roger
Crawford of Fullerton (CA) in the finals. Crawford
came into the weekend looking to challenge the Super Street
records held by Stark (10.19 ET) and Jorre Estrada (131.94
MPH) and had company in that challenge. Fellow Super
Street racer Doug Gonzales was looking to get into the
record books also with a 10.114 ET at 129.30 MPH run in
qualifying but couldn't back it up for the record.
Just prior to the Gonzalez run, Crawford piloted his Motion
Sickness '58 Ghia to the first ever sub 10 second run in
Super Street with a 9.990 ET at 132.58 MPH. With the
crowd on the edge of their seats, Crawford fired up his Ghia
in the staging lanes for his final run against Stark but
heard a strange noise coming from the motor and shut it
down. Stark didn't take the bye run easy and clicked
off a 10.459 ET at 127.29 MPH for the win. It turns
out the culprit of the noise were a couple stray DZUS
fasteners in the #4 port and the #3 cylinder. There
are reports Crawford set a new record with a 10.15 pass that
he did back up, ACDRM.com is attempting to verify that and
will keep you updated.
In
the Bugformance of Sacramento Super Comp class Robert
Hemphill of Victorville (CA) faced the #1 qualifier Chris
Brown of Antelope (CA). Brown lit the red bulb (-0.055)
giving the automatic win to Hemphill, who ran a 11.407 ET
(10.90 index) at 117.92 MPH. Brown ran the
quarter-mile at 11.946 ET (10.90 index) at 84.52 MPH.
In
the VWTURBOKITS.com Super Gas class final Steve Atkinson of
Santa Ana (CA) lined up against #1 qualifier Rich Grise of
Lake Elsinore (CA). Atkinson was a little anxious and
left a little early (-0.266) giving Grise the win.
Grise ran 13.195 ET at 70.16 MPH to Atkinson's 12.038 ET at
87.99 MPH.
Russell Sakatini of Los
Angeles (CA) advanced through the Clyde Berg Heads and
Motors Super Modified ladder and was paired up against Steve
Teeters of Sacramento (CA). Sakatini clicked off a
perfect 12.900 ET (12.90 index) to take the win over Teeters
and his 13.005 (12.90 index) at 91.61 MPH.
Wayne
Axford of Carmichael (CA), the #1 qualifier in the DPR
Performance Pro Eliminator class advanced to the finals and
faced Jimmy Bowes of Auburn (CA). Axford broke out,
running a 11.769 ET (11.83 dial-in) at 103.96 MPH and gave
the win to Bowes with a 12.633 ET (12.55 dial-in) at 100.50
MPH.
The son of the Pro
Eliminator runner-up, Chad Axford of Carmichael (CA)
advanced to the finals of the Sportsman ET class against
Stephanie Brady of Sacramento (CA). Chad Axford ran a
19.121 ET (18.91 dial-in) at 63.23 MPH to take the class win
over Brady who ran a 14.840 ET (14.50 dial-in) at 91.01 MPH.
The next event for the
Pro Racing Association (PRA) is the DRAG-IN on July 22nd
at the Auto Club Raceway @ California Speedway.
BUGORAMA #59 PHOTO GALLERY -
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