Delays Confound The Drags
Baseball fans often have to put up with rain delays. Motor sports fans have to deal with oil slicks and strewn car parts interfering with their hard-earned dollars.
It’s all a part of the game.
While the action was hot and loud at the World Finals of the American Hot Rod Association at Spokane Raceway Park on Friday and Saturday, two delays because of leaking oil from dragsters forced some reorganizing of early round qualifications.
In Friday night’s opening round of qualifying, a 1-hour delay threw the initial schedule out of order and postponed some qualifying to Saturday morning.
The delay occurred during pro-alcohol dragster qualifying when Lee Smith of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, leaked oil from start to finish down the right lane of the track.
Track organizers were forced to change the order of qualifying so that top-fuelers and funny cars could proceed with their runs.
Later, funny-car driver Richard Hartman, riding for Johnny West this weekend, had his rig catch fire halfway through his pass when a piston rod on his car broke. Hartman sustained no injuries.
“I was a little past the halfway point of the track when it just blew up,” Hartman said.
The car has been sent back to West’s home in Phoenix for repairs, and it is highly unlikely that it will be ready for the next major National Hot Rod Association stop in Brainerd, Minn.
In other funny-car competition Friday, National Hot Rod Association points leader John Force posted the top qualifying time of the weekend with a quarter-mile pass of 5.389 while reaching 272.93 mph.
Force jumped out to the quick start, traveling the first 60 feet in .93 seconds.
“That’s a good start on any track, I don’t care where you are,” Force said. As expected, he will be the man to beat in today’s finals.
In top-fuel competition, Clayton Harris posted the weekend’s best time with a 5.136 pass at 246.92 mph. Unlike Friday and Saturday, today’s finals will be during the day, with temperatures to hit the mid-90s.
“I’m going to have to back down a bit to keep from burning the tires,” Harris said.
Unlike other top-fuelers, Harris’ car is equipped with an air-operating clutch. In layman’s terms, clutch operation isn’t dependent upon the number of revolutions per minute going to the engine. The air-piston in the clutch is computer programmed.
“The key for me is to just not get greedy,” Harris said.
The other pro leaders going into today’s finals are Mike Cofini and Craig Peterson. Cofini, in an alcohol dragster, ran a 6.244 quarter at 220.24 mph. Peterson posted a 6.576 quarter with a speed of 213.46 mph.
Pro finals are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. today.