Rain delays are never enjoyable for racers, the fans or the racing series as usually the day can
become longer than expected. A rain postponement, however can totally mess up things for everyone,
as schedules and work have to be arranged to accommodate the date. For Roger Bateman and the
Friesen Motorsports Top Alcohol Funny Car racing team the situation was no different; they had
hoped to rest as next weekend they are racing in Roger's home province of Alberta. The good news
was that Roger was the number one qualifier back in April, and that carried over to the re-run of
the date. With only seven cars in the program, Roger's 5.420/ 248.25 qualifying pass gave him a
first round bye.
Roger ran a solid 5.821-second pass at 243.77 mph in the quarterfinals to take lane choice over
Firestone, Colorado resident Paul Anderson in the semi-finals. "Considering we hadn't seen the
track for two months, I like that!" Roger commented referring to the run. Bateman squared off
against Anderson with the hopes of going into the money round and facing Sean O'Bannon from
Ontario, California.
Bateman handed Anderson the defeat by running a 5.790/ 244.25 to a slower 6.538/ 160.31. "We want
to go out and win all three races (in the NHRA's West Central Division)", car owner Dr. Brian
Friesen stated. "We need to show how good we are!" "It's good to get back on the track."
As Darkness fell on the drag strip in Great Bend, Kansas Bateman and crew had the car set on
"mean", as out of division combatant O'Bannon set out to ruin the Friesen Motorsports' party. In
the preceding race, the Top Alcohol Dragster final oil was dropped on the racetrack and it took too
long for the NHRA's staff to notice it before the cars launched. "I was pointing it to the NHRA
officials but they didn't get the word to stop the two in enough time", Car Chief Todd Murray said.
As the tree flashed green, Roger launched and ran through the oil, causing him to loose control of
the car momentarily; giving the win to Sean O'Bannon 5.874/ 244.92 to Roger's Respectable 5.906/
240.72. "We were the most dominant car today" Car Chief Murray continued. "It was unfortunate as
there was nothing we could do and that's just racing."
Now the team will continue West to compete in the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Rocky
Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta July 4th to 6th where Roger hopes to win in his own "back
yard".
