photo by Mark "Sharky" King c/o nitrofunnycarnews.com

Funny Car Fever was a weekend of firsts for both myself and McCain’s Bomb Squad: I had never posted a 5-second elapsed time in a Nitro Funny Car and MCain’s ’73 Duster had never run in that zone either….

Imagine the team’s collective surprise when we posted back-to-back 5-second clockings today! The first transpired in the opening round of eliminations, and was at the expense of Dennis La Charite and his menacing Back In Black machine. By virtue of that win, as well as our #1 Qualifier status, we earned a bye run in the second round. (Twelve cars answered the bell for a 16-car show — there was bound to be a solo run for us sometime in today’s competition.)

Even though I ran unopposed in the quarter-finals, I was determined to run quick enough to earn lane choice for out semi-final joust. To that end, we clocked another 5, this time a 5.94 at a set-me-back-in-the-seat 241 mph. Practically speaking, these numbers, while impressive, didn’t mean much as my eventual opponent, Garrett Bateman in the Plueger & Gyger Mustang,  put up a jaw-dropping 5.81 in his heat.

The back story here is that one of Sacramento Raceway’s lanes — the left — leaves a little something to be desired. Specifically, it has a gnarly bump in it. The dreaded left lane is where we ended up against Bateman. Against us in the semis, he ran another stellar, straight-as-Sissy Spacek 5.80-something. Meanwhile, the Bomb Squad smoked the tires 200 feet into the run, the race car got out of the groove, and rather than get back on the throttle and possibly ruin the race car after bouncing over the speed bump, I shut ‘er off.

Please be advised that nothing in this report is meant to negate the accomplishments of Garrett Bateman and the Plueger & Gyger Funny Car. They were beyond good this weekend.

Next weekend: McCain’s Bomb Squad makes an appearance in DragFest at Famoso Raceway, north of Bakersfield. Be there or be there.

(McCain’s Bomb Squad photo c/o nitrofunnycarnews.com)

After Jack Beckman’s unfortunate crash last night,  there are 14 entries left in the 16-car Nitro Funny Car class, which means that once eliminations begin this afternoon both myself and Krabill will get uncontested “bye” runs into the 2nd round.

Stay tuned for more news from Cowtown, cyber-cats and kittens.

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Here’s the first news from Funny Car Fever in Sacramento: Last night on a cold, slippery and green track,  we were able to claim the provisional #2 position on the 16-car Nitro Funny Car ladder. By virtue of posting a quarter-mile elapsed time of 6.63 seconds, we ended up slated behind Kris Krabill, who claimed the #1 spot  with a 6-flat.

This was our first pass with Smoky Alleman tuning McCain’s Bomb Squad. His tune-up is based on tweaks to ideas that tuner/consultant Roland Leong came up with at the March Meet and it seems to be paying off, especially considering that I shut off the engine at 1000 feet into the run (as corroborated by our 177-mph top end speed, in contrast to Krabill’s stout 242-mph clocking.)

Qualifying was marred by a  scary crash, involving “Fast Jack” Beckman, last week’s Funny Car winner at NHRA’s Atlanta drag race, and a driver who came to Sacrament to moonlight in a vintage-style Funny Car. Unfortunately, Jack bounced off athe guardwall and turned upside down in Lee Paul Jenning’s American Revolution Camaro.

I was strapped in McCain’s Bomb Squad Duster, waiting our turn to run when the crash happened. I didn’t see it; I could only hear it. Net, net: Beckman is okay; the race car not so much.

More qualifying today. Eliminations later this afternoon. Stay tuned.

Las Vegas Speed Spectacular May 15-17 features nostalgia racing, car show, music

LAS VEGAS – The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will present the second annual Las Vegas Speed Spectacular for the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series on the weekend of May 15-17. The weekend will include nostalgia drag racing, a vintage car show and music.

Headlining the nostalgia drag show will be the world-famous Nanook AA/FA fuel altered, owned by Dave and Linda Hough. Las Vegas drag racer Vince Generalao piloted it to its quickest E.T. ever – 6.13 sec./235.29 mph – last year at Auto Club Dragway in Bakersfield, Calif.

Another feature of this year’s Speed Spectacular at the Strip at Las Vegas brings four vintage nitro funny cars added to the full NHRA Heritage Series Sportsman show.

Nitro funny cars making exhibition runs on Saturday May 16 will be 2008 Speed Spectacular Funny Car Champion Nathan Bugg in the “Lil Nate” Barracuda, Dennis Taylor driving the “Future Flash” Dodge Charger, the “Beach City Chevrolet” topless Corvette driven by Ed Schwarz and “McCain’s Bomb Squad” Plymouth Duster piloted by Mendy Fry.

Legendary rockabilly DJ “Flattop Tom” Jacob of La Habra, Calif., will provide his special blend of music on a 1,000-watt sound system.

Art Kam and the Las Vegas Cruisin’ Association will produce the car show, featuring hot rods and show cars from the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.

To purchase tickets or obtain more information, please call the LVMS ticket office at (702) 644-4444 or visit http://www.LVMS.com .

Saturday, May 16
Noon and 4 p.m.: Nitro exhibition runs.

Sunday, May 17
Noon and 4 p.m.: Nitro exhibition runs.
5 p.m.: Event concludes.
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People ask me: “Where do you post your 2009 schedule?” I often get asked that question, and now I can point them to this post, detailing appearances by McCain’s Bomb Squad Nitro Funny Car. They are as follows: