By Jim McCombe
More than 300 Northern California drag racers were on hand at the Easter weekend Summit ET Series Bracket Drags at Infineon Raceway, March 22. With ideal track conditions and 65 degree temperatures in the Sonoma Valley, many racers achieved personal best times over the quarter-mile drag strip.
Super Pro and veteran racer Ted Seipel of San Leandro, who is celebrating his 50th year in the sport at the young age of 71, once again was the man to beat in his "Helmet City" small block Chevrolet-powered 1971 Daytona Ferrari.
Seipel's final round opponent in the 52 car field was the very capable Dennis Paz of Stockton behind the wheel of his Paz Performance backed 71 Camaro. In a heads up race with both cars dialed in at 9.90 seconds, Seipel took a very narrow lead with a .017 reaction time to Paz's almost matching .018 RT. In one of the closest finishes ever with both drivers running under and recording identical 9.897 ET's, Seipel claimed the win by a scant .001 thousands of a second. Seipel posted a speed of 129.02 mph to Paz's faster 136.90 effort. Mike MacBrair of Pacific Coast Plumbing of Napa awarded Seipel an extra $100 bonus and $50 to Paz for having oil containment devices on their engines as part of the "Stop the Leak" program. These awards will continue throughout the remaining five Summit ET events.
Semifinal round honors were earned by Benicia's Jason Brink in a 63 Corvette and Stockton's Stephanie Paz driving a 1968 Nova. Keith Richards of Windsor picked up a $100 bonus from John Ledford of Vault Security Systems of Vacaville for having the best combined winning package in the first round with his 70 Challenger with a nice .007 total.
A total of 57 cars made the call for the first round of elimination's in the non electronics Pro ET class and after six rounds of intense competition, it was Alameda's Steve Skarry meeting up with San Francisco's John Contreras for the class championship. Skarry's Island Auto Sales 64 Pontiac begin with a win over Napa's Frank Steele followed by victories over Justin Saunders, Joe Piazza, Ken Parks, and the 38 Chevy Street Roadster of Napa's Darren Fridolfs in the semis. Contreras with his JC's Moving and Storage 65 Olds was busy working his side of the ladder recording wins over Richard Hardy, Don Morris, Jim Di Maggio, a single in round four and then a win over the 84 Corvette of Wednesday Night Drags regular Willie Woo of Moraga in the semis. The final round was decided right on the starting line as Contreras moved too soon and drew a red light by a scant -.002 RT. Scarry's .053 RT and a winning 10.196 on his 10.26 dial-in at 129.47 earned him the class trophy. Napa's Alan Cardwell had the best combined package in round one with a .021 which netted him the Vault Security System $100 bonus.
The Sportsman ET class started out with 44 entries and, as expected, the competition was hot and heavy from start to finish. To get to the final round, Sacramento's Mellisa Wright, in her L&L Transmissions 74 Nova, had to beat some very good racers. Wright eliminated John Tobias in the opener and then stopped "Nitro" Nick Eagan. She followed with wins over John Victorino, Caira Jacobs and teammate Brett Olson's 67 Firebird in the semi final round. Glen Terry of Oroville, who started racing way back in 1952, used his years of experience to get his slant six cylinder 64 Dodge Dart to a final round confrontation with Wright. Terry, the 2007 Slant 6 National Champion, got things going with a win against Don Waltenspiel and then dropped Rick McIlmoil. He then nabbed wins over former track champions Joe Doyle and Scott McKenna before earning a bye into the semis. Terry got the head start initiating a late .108 RT to Wright's better .020 RT that forced Terry into a break out 15.466 (15.53) at 85.78 to Wrights winning 12.352 (12.30) at 97.89 mph.
In Motorcycle, San Jose's Jeff St. Germain improved on his runner-up finish on February 18 and eliminated the 90 Buell of Petaluma's Randy Monte in the final. St.Germain a second generation racer had to play catch up in almost every round. Rick McFarlin was the first to go, then it was the electric bike of Mike Swallow, followed by a win over his Father and mentor Trace St. Germain on his 02 Kawasaki ZX9 in the semis. The ever-improving Monte stopped Jason Kindt, Tyger Ray Garcia, and Tracy's Dave Bothello KawasakiZX12 in the semi finals. Monte got the handicap head start posting a .088 RT to St.Germain's better .032 RT which was just enough as St. Germain's 76 Kawasaki came from behind to nab the win with a 9.594 (9.55) 130.62 to Monte's off pace 11.396 (11.30) 109.63.
High School class racer Jacob Hirsh of Benicia came into today's race in fifth place in the High School Summit ET points standings, but his win over Napa's Chris Simas put him right back in the hunt. Simas dropped Nick Kelly in the first round and then took out points leader Kevin Neft of Petaluma and his 72 Maverick in the semis. Hirsch pulled a big upset scoring a win over Napa's Nikole D'Adamo and her B&G tires backed 69 Camaro. Hirsch then got a timely bye run into the semi final round. Hirsch grabbed the early lead using a .063 RT to a late .179 for Simas and held on for the class win with a 17.469 (17.21) 73.04 as Simas ran out of race track running a 13.578 (13.40) 94.83.
The Super Comp final pitted the Novato-based Red Line Oil Dragster of Rick and Patti Beckstrom against the Kessler Towing entry of Dan Boscacci of Shingle Springs. Both drivers were using Undercover chassis and identical 565 Chevy power plants giving a indication of what was to come. Beckstrom took a .044 RT lead to a .066 RT and that was all he needed to steal away the win in a double break out race 8.899 (8.90 index) 180.04 which had Boscacci running under by even more 8.863 at 165.99. Novato's Mike Gomez took his Gomez Automotive 2004 Worthy dragster into the money rounds before losing to eventual winner Beckstrom. Beckstrom also earned low qualifier honors with a 9.914.
The 9.90 indexed Super Gas class was full of surprises as many of the odds-on favorites made early exits. Going into the final round, Tom Pulliam's Napa-based "Pulliam's Well Exploration" 02 Corvette had to drive through some quality racers as did Orangevale's Will Boxhold and his 53 Studebaker. Pulliam started his march into the final getting the nod over Steve Barber followed up with wins over National event winner Bob Herr, Dennis Paz and then a single. Boxhold a second generation racer and former Jr. Dragster champion set things in motion ousting multi-time champion Larry Bradshaw then getting wins over Bruce McPartland, Bob McKay and the 98 Pontiac Firebird of Tracy's Shawn Steele in the semis. For the run for the money, Pulliam took a slight starting line advantage with a .018 RT to a .028 light for Boxold. At the finish, it was Pulliam for the win light going 9.911 (9.90 index) 154.35 to Boxolds too quick 9.889 at 167.12. Bob McCay of Roseville was the low qualifier in his 76 Monza with a 9.903
The seldom seen Jim Spaugh from near by American Canyon enjoyed a great day of racing in Super Street driving his Mikes Racing Fuels Chevy Lumina to a final round appearance with San Ramon's Scott Brown 66 Chevy Nova. Brown's -.003 red-light in the final sealed his fate giving Spaugh the automatic victory. Spaugh sped to a 10.865 win (10.90 index) at 134.55 while Brown wasted a better 10.894 at 126.09. Lasting into the semis were David Adams of Livermore in a 71 Maverick and Gilroy's Duane Daniel's 72 Nova.
Trophy honors went to the 72 Vega Wagon of Vacaville's Bob Choisser who was able to drive around the 70 Nova of Rodeo's John Terry in the final. Choisser nailed the tree with a .020 RT to a .099 to record a winning 13.414 (13.38) at 101.21. Terry fell short coming up with a 14.915 (14.90) 89.71. Fremont's Michael Bogdanoff earned the semi trophy with his popular 73 Cadillac.
Castro Valley racer John Tobias powered his "Tyler Brayton Racing Team" backed 67 Camaro to a final round victory in ICRA club competition over past winner Alan Rutter's Willows-based 440 72 Plymouth Duster. Rutter actually was better on the tree with a .040 RT to a.074 in which both drivers ran under, Tobias going 12.184 at 105.63 on a 12.22 dial that had Rutter going under by even more with a 10.60.1 (10.65) 119.92. The 70 Buick Estate station wagon of Pleasanton's Rick Duemling stayed around until the semifinal round before losing out to Tobias.
The next Summit ET Series Bracket Drags event at Infineon Raceway is scheduled for Memorial Day, May 26. This will mark the third of seven Summit ET Series points events. For more information, call 800-870-RACE ext. 209 or click here.
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