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KENT, Wash. --
Repeat winners Chris Demke (Top Alcohol Dragster), Sean O'Bannon (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Alan Ellis (Comp), and Ryan McClanahan (Super Stock) welcomed the newcomers to the club. First-time Stock winner Cour was on in Seattle, driving his A/SA '10 Mustang to the top of the heap in qualifying and then ousting Jim Storms in the first round with a killer package that included a .013 launch and 10.104 on his 10.10 dial to his opponent's breakout 11.288 (11.36). The Flanders, N.J., racer followed up a second-round bye run with a defeat of Daniel Cyr, who was a sleepy .291 at the starting line timer but nearly made up the difference with a 10.242 that was just two-thousandths over his number to Cour's 10.338 (10.14). Cour and Larry Hill were the first pair out in the quarterfinals, and their heads-up A/SA competition ended in Cour's favor, 10.208 to 10.306, and set up a semifinals match with three-time national event winner Bill Bushmaker. Cour recorded the better reaction time, .039 to .050, and ran two-thousandths over his 10.17 dial to defeat Bushmaker's 12.030 (12.02) and earn his first trip to the money round, where he squared off with Jim Waldo, a 10-time winner who earned his first at the 1979 Winternationals.
Brush Prairie, Wash.'s Malicki drove the top end to survive the early rounds of Super Comp, reigning in a set of double-breakouts, and then cashed in on luck in later rounds when Eric Stroh, Ken Mostowich, and Bobby Dye Jr. all saw red. Malicki didn't bat an eye at Dye's .002 foul in the final, though, and recorded a more than adequate .014 start and capped it off with a perfect 8.900 on the 8.90 index.
Wilson advanced to the final on John Larsen's .001-second semifinals red-light and was the automatic winner of the event when Justin Lamb staged his Camaro but rocked back out of the lights and was disqualified with a staging violation.
A subdued tone blanketed the remainder of the event after Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mark Niver was involved in a fatal incident in the shutdown area during eliminations. The well-liked and kind-hearted longtime racer won the 2008 event in Seattle and was on his way to another Pacific Raceways final when the incident occurred after he crossed the finish line ahead of Shawn Cowie in the semifinals. Demke was declared the event winner for taking the green light in his semifinals bye run. Demke qualified his blown Peen-Rite-Abrasive Finishing entry at the top of the 12-car field with a 5.322 at 270.10, with Cowie in the No. 2 spot and Niver nipping at their heels and earning a start from the No. 3 position in his A/Fuel dragster.
First-round opponent Bill Edwards Jr. was unable to make the call, but that didn't prevent Demke from laying down a low of the round 5.319, and in his second round match with Mike Austin, he almost couldn't overcome a .073 starting-line deficit but reeled in his challenger in the last 320 feet of track, 5.296 to 5.384. The effort was rewarded with a bye run into the final. The national event title was the second in 10 final rounds for Demke, who started the year with a Winternationals win.
The Top Alcohol Funny Car field was topped by Doug Gordon, who was less than stellar in his first two qualifying efforts but hit the track on Saturday with a quick of the session 5.624 to nab the top spot and a first-round bye run. After getting past John Evanchuk in the second round, Gordon's fun came to an end as eventual winner and Division 7 rival O'Bannon powered past him to cross the finish line first; O'Bannon had major ground to make up after Gordon blazed off the starting line with a super-quick and lucky .006 but surged to a 5.619 to 5.737 victory in his Forest River RV Monte Carlo. In the final round, O'Bannon pulled to the starting line alongside Steve Gasparrelli, a Pacific Division competitor with 10 national event titles to his credit, including a 2003 win in Seattle. His opponent was nearly twice as quick on the leave, but O'Bannon pulled even at the 660-foot timer and kept up the battle, inching ahead by 1,000 feet and expanding the lead to get the nod in a 5.581 to 5.655 decision.
With his father, veteran racer Lou Gasparrelli, in attendance, Gasparrelli qualified second in his ECS Mustang and socked away a round win over Clint Thompson for a second-round bye and then beat Ken Webster on a holeshot. Ellis notched his third Comp victory - he scored in 2007 at the Phoenix event and won the SPORTSnationals in Fontana earlier this season - with a final-round defeat of Glen Treadwell, who was appearing in his 15th final round. Ellis scored the easy win after Treadwell illuminated a .056 red-light. In the first round, Ellis wheeled his A/AA entry to victory over Dennis Myers and then advanced automatically when Randy Jones fouled by five-thousandths. He was better at the starting line and took a small CIC penalty to send Brandon Huhtala back to the pits empty handed in the third round, and then drew fellow Division 7 competitor Dean Carter in the semi's. Carter was first to launch, but Ellis gained on him, passing his opponent mere inches before the finish line stripe.
The strenuous summer continues July 16-18 with the next Full Throttle Series event, the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals in Sonoma, where Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competitors will vie for event titles in the second race of the Western Swing. Sunday's Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series final results from the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Top Alcohol Dragster -- Chris Demke, no time def. Mark Niver, broke. Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Sean O'Bannon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.581, 257.87 def. Steve Gasparrelli, Ford Mustang, 5.655, 255.87. Competition Eliminator -- Alan Ellis, '23-T Ford, 7.599, 117.26 def. Glen Treadwell, '23-T Ford, 10.434, 83.61. Super Stock -- Ryan McClanahan, Chevy Cobalt, 8.509, 147.07 def. Shawn Blair, Dodge Dart, 10.596, 123.09. Stock Eliminator -- Kevin Cour, Ford Mustang, 10.127, 127.90 def. Jim Waldo, Pontiac Firebird, 10.204, 130.39. Super Comp -- Tom Malicki, Dragster, 8.900, 177.44 def. Bobby Dye Jr., Dragster, 8.915, 151.89. Super Gas -- Reg Wilson, '34 Ford, 12.638, 111.36 def. Justin Lamb, Chevy Camaro, DQ. Super Street -- Darrel Saxby, Chevy Chevelle, 10.868, 123.32 def. Bob Sims, Chevy Nova, 10.845, 130.75.
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