Kaplan cruses Comp, joins first-time winners Kelly, Coltrin, Pasher; Austin wins fifth straight

National Dragster, Sep 12, 2003 by Dillashaw, Bruce

Jirka Kaplan followed through on the promise he has shown this season with his rare BB/AM '23-T altered for his first win and the class' first e.t. and speed records. The Calgary, Alta., racer qualified No. 1 in Comp with a 6.889, 1.101 under the index, a modern-day record. Kaplan then slowed the car for eliminations and defeated No. 2 qualifier Maureen Jondahl's H/AA '92 Firebird in the final, 7.293 (7.87 index) to 8.909 (9.45). Jondahl ran an .80-under 8.78 in qualifying and still didn't get the pole.

Kaplan used a big-block engine to qualify No. 1 at the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas in April with a 6.55 that was .73-second under the AA/AM index. At the divisional event at Oregon's Woodburn Dragstrip, he qualified No. 1 with a .63-under 7.40 and runner-upped with a small-block engine in BB/AM. The AA/AM and BB/AM classes, which were added in 2002, are supercharged, methanol-burning categories that require a maximum cubic inch displacement of 450 (in AA/AM) or the use of a small-block engine (BB/AM). Kaplan used a 278-cid small-block Chevy in Mission Raceway.

Kaplan's worst light in four rounds was his .039 in the final, and the 7.29 that he ran in the final permanently lowered the class index to 7.94 (from 7.99); Jondahl lost the same amount off of her H/AA 9.59 index. Kaplan's 6.88 in qualifying was the first record for the class, which had a 7.54 minimum. His record speed was 181.96 mph.

Other winners at this sixth of seven Northwest Division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events were Mark Hentges (Top Alcohol Dragster), Bucky Austin (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Byron Setters (Super Stock), Steve Kelly (Stock), Anthony Castillo (Super Comp), Mike Coltrin (Super Gas), Darrell Pasher (Super Street), Steve Miller (Kerker Motorcycle), Dave Jackson (Top Comp), Earl Cunningham (Super Comp Shootout), Curtis Geise (Super Gas Shootout), Terry Reed (Super Street Shootout), Dave Jung (Super Pro), Julianne Mellof (Jr. Dragster Lightning), and Michael Lowe (Jr. Dragster Thunder).

Austin continued his domination of the floppers this year by winning for the fifth time in as many events in Division 6. He qualified No. 1 with a 5.674, almost a tenth ahead of No. 2 qualifier Clint Thompson's 5.768, and maintained at least that performance margin in eliminations. He defeated Sunburst, Mont.'s Henry Coolidge in the final. Coolidge, a runner-up in Douglas, Wyo., last year, took a five-hundredths advantage at the start, .041 to .095, but Austin ran him down and won, 5.76 at 250.69 to 5.932 at 245.23.

Gregg Lawrence dominated Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying with a 5.376 from his injected-nitro entry but lost in round one to Steve Federlin, 5.57 to 5.60. That left an easier path for Hentges to win his third Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of the year; he defeated Brandon Johnson in an all-supercharged final, 5.740, 226.07 to 6.079, 175.64. Hentges qualified No. 2 with a 5.41 and ran 5.41 and 5.42 in the preliminary rounds. It was second-generation racer Johnson's first final of the season; he scored three wins in four finals last year.

Setters, winner of the 2001 NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, titled in Super Stock over Rick Johnston. Setters qualified his GT/DA '96 Camaro No. 6 in the 33-car field with a .985-under 9.81; Johnston qualified his SS/OA '55 Chevy No. 18 with a .684-under 11.91. Setters' worst light in eliminations was a .067, and he benefited from one foul and a semifinal bye in six rounds; Johnston received two fouls.

In the final, Johnston was given the spot, 11.84 to 9.86, but he gave most of it back with a tardy .194 light to Setters' .040. Setters took care of Johnston's 11.849 with a .02-over 9.88.

In the first of two finals that paired first-time finalists, Kelly defeated Michael Sumner for the Stock title. Kelly qualified his I/SA '69 El Camino No. 23 in the 44-car field with a .769-under 11.83; Sumner began from the No. 32 spot with a .583-under 11.56 from his F/SA '66 Nova.

After cutting a .073 light in round one, Kelly had successive lights of .004, .003, .001, and, in the final, .002, and he received a bye in round three. Sumner, who received one foul and a semifinal bye, recorded his worst light, a good .044, in the final. Kelly went under by six-thousandths with a 12.014 in the final, but Sumner was worse, with a .12-under 11.608.

Super Comp winner Castillo is a veteran of final rounds, and he upped his total to four wins in nine divisional finals since his first in Super Street in 1996. He is perfect in national event finals, having won Super Comp and Super Gas at the 2002 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals and 1998 Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, respectively. Here, he defeated first-time finalist Adam Drzayich.

Castillo's worst light in the six-round 42-car field was his .032 in the final, and he received two fouls and a bye. Drzayich, who received one foul, had the worst light in the final round, a .038, which also was his worst of eliminations. Castillo won by an 8.919 to 8.945 count.