Blazing Heat and Bottom Dragster
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Brand
Mopar
Mopar is a slang term for Chrysler’s performance cars and parts—think Dodge and Plymouth. When someone says “Mopar stuff,” they usually mean a Mopar car or Mopar performance gear.
Company
JEGS
JEGS is a company that sells performance car parts. Racers often use them to buy upgrades and supplies for events.
Company
Lucas Oil
Lucas Oil makes engine oils and related products, and they also sponsor racing. The speaker is praising them for supporting the drag racing community.
Concept
sportsman drag racing
Sportsman drag racing is the “regular competitor” level of drag racing. People race in brackets and classes, and being consistent and reacting well at the start matters a lot.
Concept
track resurfacing (new surface from starting line to finish line)
When a drag strip gets resurfaced, the rubbery grip changes. That can make the car launch differently, so racers usually need extra practice to get the timing and tires right.
Concept
test and tune
Test and tune is practice time before the real racing. Teams use it to try changes and make sure the car is working well on that specific track.
Concept
reaction time / "nasty on the tree"
The “tree” is the set of lights that starts the race. If someone is “nasty on the tree,” they’re really good at timing their launch so they don’t waste time at the start.
Car
Volvo 240 wagon
The Volvo 240 wagon is an older Volvo model that’s popular because it’s tough and easy to modify. Here, the host is talking about a drag-racing build based on that wagon.
Part
slicks
Slicks are special tires made for drag racing. They have almost no tread so they can hook up harder when you launch.
Company
P1 Sports Media
P1 Sports Media is the group helping share the race results. They’re basically part of how fans get the standings and updates.
Concept
eighth mile facility
An eighth-mile track is shorter than a quarter-mile drag strip. Because it’s shorter, the race is more about getting off the line quickly and building speed fast.
Concept
tripled up
“Tripled up” means the racer won three times during the weekend. It’s a way of saying they were on a roll and took multiple wins.
Concept
NHRA
NHRA is the big organization that puts on drag races in the U.S. Drivers earn points at events, and those points matter for championships.
Concept
super stock
Super Stock is a drag racing class where cars are fast and modified, but they still have to follow specific rules. It’s a step up from basic stock-style racing.
Term
red light
A “red light” is when you launch too early. The race is basically over because you broke the start rules.
Term
track was crappy
Saying the track was “crappy” means the surface wasn’t very grippy or was inconsistent. That makes it harder to launch without spinning the tires.
Term
suspension
Suspension is the system that controls how the car sits and moves. In drag racing, it helps the tires stay planted when you launch.
Term
track prep
“Track prep” is what the track crew does to make the racing surface consistent. If the conditions are rough, even good prep can’t guarantee great traction.
Concept
wheeling
“Wheeling” means the front wheels come up during acceleration. It can happen when the car hooks too hard or the launch is set aggressively.
Term
final round
The final round is the last race of the event. Whoever wins that round takes the event.
Concept
make the field
“Make the field” means you’re good enough in qualifying to get into the main bracket. If you don’t make it, you’re done for the event.
Term
ride
A “ride” here means who gets to drive the car. If the driver doesn’t show up or compete, someone else may take over.
Concept
bracket class
Bracket racing means you’re racing to a target time. You try to be consistent and hit your number, and that can let you win even if someone else is faster.
Concept
Phoenix
Phoenix is the race track being talked about. The host is saying it’s a place where a lot of racers end up getting their first big win.
Concept
Wally
“Wally” refers to the Wally trophy awarded in NHRA drag racing events. It’s a recognizable symbol of winning rounds and earning event victories, so getting a first Wally is a big achievement for a racer.
Concept
pro mod
Pro Mod is a very fast drag racing class. When someone says a car is “borderline Pro Mod,” they mean it’s running and behaving like a top-tier, high-powered setup.
Concept
test session
A test session is practice time before the main competition where teams dial in launch settings, tire prep, and overall tune for the track conditions. In drag racing, small setup changes can significantly affect reaction time and elapsed time.
Concept
big money races
Some drag races pay a lot more than others. When people say “big money races,” they mean events where the winners earn big prizes and the competition is tough.
Concept
dragsters
Dragsters are race cars built specifically for drag racing. They’re made to launch hard and go as fast as possible in a straight line.
Term
live stream
A “live stream” is a real-time broadcast you can watch online. The speaker wants everyone to be able to watch the races as they’re running.
LIVE
there he is there he is there you are here we are
the future announcer of the Snyder sportsman classic second annual oh you're
talking my language now buddy I gotta be on the mic for that next year I watch
the little montage they put together after the event and was just looking back
you know such a huge car count like I hope she keeps forking out the dough
that can't be cheap to rent out the entire promoter fairgrounds so buy your
in-and-out burgers so that that Lindsay can keep renting that place out Walt
Walker in the house you know because I want to I gotta be on the mic next year
Lindsay if you're out there you know Matt if you're out there let's talk you
know let's wheel and deal pay me in corn dogs whatever we got to do to make it
happen double doubles is what's gonna be yeah animal style I mean I'll week we
can even skimp like so it's not you know I'm gonna cut in the margins too bad we
can just do plain no I mean gotta do animal style if you pay me in food I'm
probably do a better job anyway so yeah I don't know I mean it got pretty hot
down there I just crushed a patty milk for lunch today and I'm out here in
beautiful eastern Oregon and it's pretty toasty and do that's all I could do to
get back to the hotel I ate that patty mountain started dozing off buddy it's
nap time you are you on another work vacation or just just working I am on a
work not a workcation at all I used to live here actually went to college here
met my wife here got married here all my close friends are here my oldest
daughter is my stepdaughter and so her dad and grandma and grandpa live here it's
spring break brought her back so she could spend some time with them and my
regional staff that actually works in this area actually just went on maternity
leave so we're a little down on capacity so took the event took the took
advantage of the chance to you know cover for her a little bit meet with some
partners and some of the people we work with out here make sure we're set up for
success heading into our busy season and yeah gonna make the rounds out here
in eastern Oregon with some of the partners we work with so absolutely I
am gonna see somebody tonight shop night Monday nights were always shop night
they are still shop night even though I've been gone for a long time shop night
has carried on so shortly after this podcast I will be drinking my fair share
of Michelob ultra's at the shop so well I hope that shop night is also shop
night listening to the bracket breakdown it's funny cuz like I don't a lot of
them aren't in the racing like they're not not into it right but they're not
into it like us and and so today a couple of them were like after work let's
hang let's do this I'm like I gotta do the podcast and they're like what podcast
I mean half of the people I'm friends about here they don't they're like not
the Facebook type even so they don't even know you know and I don't like brag
about it or whatever so then they're like you got a podcast and you know and so I
had to tell them the story I told the story about how we got started like five
times today and when you tell people that you that it's available on Apple
podcast and Spotify their brains explode because they big time big yeah we're
big time it's gonna be called the big time breakdown we're professionals at
this point yeah bracket that don't get paid to do weird from you know LeGrand
is always gonna have a reputation it's not having good hotels I'm I'm sitting
in a brand new boy everything smells and you can still smell the chemicals off
gassing on the sheets like it's new new the Hampton Inn by Hilton here in LeGrand
Oregon I got a beautiful view of Mount Emily in the Grand Ron Valley it's nice
to have a good hotel in northeast Oregon yes sir you're you're the one who took
the plastic wrap off the bed it might still be on there I don't know if
anyone's ever been in this room I it has four floors I'm on the 400 sweet baby
executive style jeez you got the presidential suite but you know a dog
I'm up here on top looking down on the peasants down there you know a quick
shout-out to our gal Michelle with Alaska Raceway Park she hooked us up with
some swag got to represent Alaska Raceway Park where we can and we're
already scheduling Grandma Kerry said hey let's plan a family trip there and so
we're gonna have half the field in the rental car class when that happens so as soon as we get
we're gonna get a scheduled guys I'm gonna run through your whole family
I'm putting all you guys on the trailer back to the the mainland
I'm stoked for bro and I already sent you that Airbnb link
right like we got the spot in in Palmer we're I'm ready dude we're gonna need a
little more than one on Airbnb if we're taking my family hold the old clan
we might have to uh uh book book our hotel rooms before anybody else so that we can
fit everybody but we get a couple win a bagos and just stay out there on the
riverbank but beside the track whatever we gotta do we're gonna make it happen
and uh I'm getting in the Camaro you can have that Mopar stuff and the Chevy power is gonna
put the smack down dog I can't wait that's fine with me as long as I get to go race at that
beautiful beautiful facility I'm I'm super down I got my hat last week too I didn't bring it out
here I want to muck it up on the travel uh but Richardson 112 too didn't even skimp with like
some you know crappy stuff like the real deal the real deal hats with the Richardson 112 so
yeah shout out to Michelle our girl from the Alaska Raceway Park for that okay while we're
talking about hats I gotta get something off my chest here okay okay we got JEGS and we got Lucas
Oil and they are phenomenal companies they support the the Lucas Oil drag racing series
they support the sportsman racers like no other right but they have the worst
winter circle hats ever made they're the worst so happens when you sell out to venture capital
man um I've loved JEGS forever uh I don't shop there anymore because their website is atrocious
I wish I would I would rather as much as I love Summit and as much as Summit does for our sport
like JEGS is the OG and and even though they've been bought out now like they're still the smaller
like more family's own type company right but Summit's website is far superior
and they have so many distribution hubs I get parts from Summit like the next day
and so I've been a loyal Summit shopper now for years still love JEGS
and and would love to support them more than I do but you gotta come correct with the winter
circle hats and you gotta fix that website guys you know I have my first receipt when I started
restoring our 67 Chevy Camaro that my dad gave me it was his car in college it's still got less
than 50,000 miles on it the first part I ever ordered was from JEGS it's a cash on delivery
receipt most kids don't even know about COD back in the day you could order a part from JEGS and
they would send it to you you didn't have to pay for it yet you paid the UPS guy when he got to your
house in cash so you just order stuff and they ship it and you hope you had the money ready when
they got there because the UPS man wouldn't give you the box until you gave him the cash
and I still have that first receipt 1996 I was 13 years old my dad I wanted to order parts but we
weren't actually ready to start restoring it so he let me order an air cleaner he's like yeah you're
gonna need an air cleaner someday so he let me buy an air cleaner so I bought one with the Chevy
sticker and the bow tie wing nut you know and cash on delivery baby 29.99
Pete says that's called bow tie dementia stop it Pete hey man I can't say nothing about Pete he's
got the nastiest stock sounding stock eliminated car in the game so I respect the mo power I respect
it but I'm a Chevy guy through and through all right let me just get my last bit in on this hat
thing PJ if you're out there I know you have a contact with Troy and he's got quite the clothing
brand going so if he can do nice things with clothes Jake sure as heck can do nice things
with some clothes so let's get it rolling PJ PJ all the coffins Jake I'm even shouting you out
so come on your name is not even a shout out that's a call out his name is literally Jake
like you know let's make it happen if the hats start coming correct I'm coming back to Jakes
until we got Richardson 112 I'm out also Lucas oil Morgan Lucas you're getting called out too so
and come on moving on off of my hat we got that this is by the way this is our last show we'll do
we just we'll be canceled after this show thanks to that rant that's okay I'm going down with you
dog if we're going down we're going down together brother let's do it we're just calling out the
top supporters of sportsman drag racing no big deal anyway we had quite the weekend full of
racing starting out in Reading California good to see some some of the northern tracks starting
to get going you have some results from there let's let's hear you had some good weekends
yeah man I wasn't sure you know Tony tramp has been going live quite a bit over the winter as we
led up to the season they did a whole new surface they were dumping all this money into the track
but he was also talking about county permitting issues due to some pretty strict insurance
requirements that the track that the county was trying to hold the track too far above and beyond
what other places in California and certainly other tracks across the country require
and it seemed like things were pretty dire sometimes I mean he maintained confidence like
he needs to do as the owner you know less the leaser and promoter of the track but it also seemed
like there was a while where I was like I don't even know if they're gonna you know start the season
on time or race at all because there was some question marks but they kept working he kept
corn money into it it's got a whole brand new surface I think from starting line to finish line
certainly the the first big chunk of it if not the whole track and they kicked things off
there's some an ET point series kicked off this weekend and they had like 300 entries or something
so a ton of people showed up I know a lot of guys from D6 from right here in Oregon that went down
and and either participated in the test and tune portion or or were racing and did okay
and looked like a pretty good event man I know Henry Roberson was out there just doing Henry Roberson
things he didn't lock up the wind but but he was nasty on the tree all weekend in the end super
pro John Carvalho got the win over Craig Merleys Merleys was just nasty on the tree but he took
way too much and gave Carvalho the win Nick Geocone and Big Bucks Bob Robert Butler met up in the
final in pro ET and and Nick was able to get the win there and then Andrew Olson was able to grab
the win in sportsman so kicked things off with a big car count things went pretty smooth as far as
everything I've heard and and people are putting up points right and the road to the finals has
begun while you said Andrew Olson okay yeah I don't know if you saw what Andrew Olson was driving
yeah buddy he's got a station wagon Volvo with slicks on it it's an 83 Volvo 240 wagon with an LS
in it like how do you get more cool than that it's pretty cool I mean throw a couple
turbskis on there a couple Hong Kong hurricanes is about all you can do to make it any cooler
so no he's got a sweet ride and like I said you know the the road to ET finals has begun
with the new double format I think you only got to make three races to be able to go race
and so people got points on the board chasing championships and and and making their way to
Vegas right so shout out to my man Cody Kirksey at P1 Sports Media for hooking up the the results
I talked to Tony Trimp today on the phone he's like I don't have him for a couple days buddy
I got the pictures and I'm like I only recognize like three of those guys so
but but Cody Kirksey he's got his sources and was able to to shoot me the results
from Reading so big shout out to Cody you'll hear him on the mic down in Southern Oregon and
a lot of people from Sonoma have heard Cody on the mic at the national and divisionals and weekend
stuff so shout out to him and what he's doing appreciate the looking out there just up the
road in Coos Bay another eighth mile facility they kicked off their weekend as well and so people
putting points on the board there you'll remember last year in D6 they sent a single racer to ET
finals race Albie a really good young fella that that can get it done I think this year we'll see
if Coos Bay doesn't send a bigger team I I think we'll see more Coos Bay racers in the mix they
might be on the D7 side with Reading so close but a big story down there Brian Fletcher tripled
up on the weekend he was dominant racing off the top and the bottom and pro and super pro
in the same car and got a got a double up one of the days and and then
one super pro a different day so killer weekend for for Brian Fletcher congrats to him and yeah
we're off and running man up here putting points on the board so Brian Fletcher he's given me a
little bit of CW Hofer vibes down in Bakersville and he just won everything so Mr. Fletcher
keep it up he's got the right last name and uh if you want to be good at drag racing he he's
already got a good start speaking of Fletcher you see what he did over the weekend he said I'm
gonna go IHRA racing and he's gonna do the same thing he always does and he's gonna turn on all
those wind lights grab the golden iron man up at Galat man um so yeah Fletcher doing Fletcher
things he's up in top five in the points I know it's early on the NHRA side he's grabbing while
he's there he's grabbing iron man's on the other side um like some new energy around Fletcher
sometimes he kind of takes it easy and he's not but he's he's he's racing man he's going for it so
shout out to Dan Fletcher uh for doing Dan Fletcher things yeah Mr. Fletcher's on a hot streak
um there's quite a few other people on a hot streak especially down in hot hot
phoenix arizona this last weekend there were four drivers in this in the sportsman categories
that were also in the final round last week down in Pomona so pretty crazy um so if you want
just to listen to last week's episode you could just skip back and uh pretty much hear the same
results as we're we're about to tell you right now but uh why don't we kick things off with uh
with stock eliminator let's do it stock eliminator familiar name uh Justin Lam bringing luna how do
you say luna to the winter circle once again uh Justin had a great day great weekend um
uh i'm going to say this about super stock too um but to navigate uh a low nine second
copo camaro in 150 degree um track temperatures um it's quite difficult to do um Justin Lam
and Tim Seymour both did that um respectively but uh uh i will say Lam got a little bit lucky
in the semis uh blew the tires off uh but i mean what do you expect when the when the tracks that
hot but um jimmy d was a little red but uh overall just a great weekend for lamb getting it done in
the copo um like i said Tim Seymour also in a copo in super stock um he's got quite the points
going so it's funny i mentioned Tim Seymour because Justin Lam Tim Seymour and Evan Kowalski
who was also in a final last week was in the final this week and they are the top three in
points not separated but by two points all three of them i i isn't adkinson still oh you're in
are you in super stock or stock on that yeah yeah yeah um no man bunch of copos cutting it up and
and you know Justin got the rad torque super stocker in the in the winter circle um you know
a couple weeks ago puts the stocker for his brand new sponsor first time out at the national event
puts it in the winter circle for them pretty special weekend i think he had some family and
friends and different folks in town uh so pretty special weekend and yeah you know he wasn't stellar
on the tree uh all day um he was kind of living in the mid 20s had a 40 mid 40 tree um he was he
was tuned up against jimmy but then blew the tires got lucky with the red light and then and then
Leo clicked it a little bit red in the final so um you know Justin can't control that he was there
he was ready he was prepared and he did his job and um hell of a way to start off the season for him
man so yeah one thing about lamb is he he's got the nicest stuff and he works on his stuff all the
time he's he's the smartest people mechanically that i know and for him to blow the tires off
that's just speaking how i would say crappy crappy is the correct word for this crappy the track was
this weekend yeah tough conditions i was actually surprised because he is like he's a he's especially
when it comes to suspension and and applying the power you know he can pull up graphs and just
talk you talk you silly with timing curves and different things that he does and and uh you
know seeing him blow off the tires surprised me i've told you many times he helped set up my
suspension um back in 2022 i haven't touched it since uh it's like it's good it's been just right
for forever i don't even touch it it's just set it and forget it so um yeah but that's the thing
right you prepare like people talk about luck right well luck requires preparation to put
yourself in the position to be able to get lucky and um and like you say he he grinds man he grinds
all the time it's all he thinks about um and uh and that's why he's just in lamb and that's why he
has 35 national event victories and six world championships so when i when i say the correct
the track was crappy it's nothing to the to the um bring down nha nha safety safari
nha track prep they were doing all they they could do um it was just it was brutal you guys
probably had 160 degree temps at one point certainly over 140 but i bet you were creeping
over 150 i'm sure it certainly was it was touching 150 for sure but i do want to shout out the nha
they did a great job with the cards that they were dealt for sure so not not a rag on nha but uh
just tough conditions for everybody yep for sure super stock i did say tim seamore over evan koalski
um super comp doug johnson beats tanner theavald tanner i was i'm i'm close to tanner we pit
together sometimes uh maybe we we talk a little bit but uh he was he was on fire but doug
i didn't see a lap that doug made that just wasn't blowing my mind i think in the quarter finals
my guys double or trip zip dead on two um just yeah throwing down runs yeah two total against
tim the answer in the in the quarters um and you know i he got the win uh in seattle last year
i got to talk to him i think that was maybe his first ever like his first in like a long ass time
dale green powered machine last last i knew um running dale green machine power and um
you know he's a heck of a racer and that was a nasty lap in the in the final right the fourth
out between him double breakout um fed fed tanner a little bit of stripe um and he fed him fourth
yeah yeah so um hell of a hell of a run by tanner and you boy tanner sitting number two in in uh in
the point so made a big move right it's early so the swings are always big right now um but they
matter and you know when you when you're coming down the stretch you put yourself in a position to
to finish strong by having some big scores early um and so shout out to tanner he's been
driving his wheels off you know for the last few weeks i expect him to continue to do that
and uh congrats to dug for getting it done man the guy's been doing it for a long long time
and uh certainly knows how to wheel that hot rod so one thing about dug is uh he was crushing the
tree uh there was a couple misses but um four out of the five or four out of the six times he's
sub 14 on the tree and i mean that's gonna win you a lot of rounds especially in super comp
yeah well i'm speaking of super comp shout out to trey vetter uh that kid is a machine man he's
he's racing in in uh super comp and super stock uh he's seven take four to lose in the quarters
in super comp like what are you what are you gonna do uh with that you know um and then
gets to the semis in super stock right wheeling wheeling two totally different kinds of rides
two totally different kinds of strategies um and taking them both deep uh ty gainer did the same
quarters in in super stock and then semis in top dragster which we haven't talked about so
shout out to those two young fellas man um you know we talked about it at the end of the year
last year about kind of the state of where racing's at and how we feel and and the young gunners
man from the pros you got matty gordon out there wreck and shop already you've got a bunch of young
racers uh in the sportsman ranks who are absolute killers and they show up you know every weekend
that includes you and tanner right you guys ain't you guys ain't old yet um so really need to see
um you know i think you said you pointed out to me the the oldest person in the in the top
dragster semifinals was in their mid 20s yeah kody wever was 28 years old and he was older than
the next one by like eight years seven years old guy couple of those guys can't even have a beer yet
so pretty wild man oh yeah um speaking of young guns in top dragster uh your mvp greatest of all time
of this week and of last week and probably the future next week cooper freaking chun
for the record i think we gave it to macy gordon last week right um he was the greatest of all
time on top dragster last week though dude and like you know dylan howe is still my pick to win
top dragster world championship cooper chun's my pick to win the bottom dragster world championship
i don't know what that guy's doing with a 760 super comp car uh in top dragster but he knows
what he's doing with it um shout out to dylan uh who really just had to fight all day um he he was
a little all over the place on the tree to start um got away with one uh against his dad
cleans it up and gets real aggressive he's 001 on the tree against ty gainer to take gainer out
to young guns going at it and then um he he knows what coop's been letting go all day
so he knows he's got a dial it up he gets super aggressive clicks at three red um but made the
right decision right because coop's trips in the finals so dylan was gonna have to be good he took a
shot and um and just just clicked it a little too early cooper chun gets the win his first national
event win which seems weird right as successful as he's been as good as he's been uh his first
national event win parker in 11 rounds of top dragster eliminations this season cooper's reaction
time average is 008 jeez he's never been worse than 18 and going into the final round he had a 003
spread before he messed it up by going trips in the final um just locked in man and and in a in a
class where chasing is clearly an advantage i would say versus any of the other ones he's backing
into every single one of those win lights from from from driving in front and uh just really
impressive man what that kid can do the focus he's got he's having a blast too you know and
you say out to coop chun man what a machine you say he's backing into every single one of those
rounds and you couldn't be more accurate because the closest split that cooper had the last two weeks
59 hundredths of a second we're talking over half a second split was his closest split
so if you put that proposition to anybody hey what do you think about taking a 24 year old 25
year old molas with a mild 598 that runs high 760s mid 760s you go top dragster racing nobody takes
that opportunity right nobody wants to do that but coop chun does and and he's doing it man so
super impressive it'll be interesting to see if he can keep this going as the series moves around
that car is probably not going to make the field right at some point that he's just not going to
be able to get in with it i would say top dragster division six he'll probably qualify
at all the divisional races he attends but it'll be interesting to see if they get the band back
together they got stanky and chun well and that's a thing if casey don't start throwing down he's
just gonna have to give that ride up to coop and let coop drive it because you know he's gonna have
to because that car can make it in the show no matter where you go so um we already got the
graphics for you stanky and chun thank you and chun baby um so yeah lawyer billboards in vegas
have your name written all over it but let's do it um yeah man continue to be impressed it's um you
know feel like a and you know i'm a fan right i'm a fan more than anything um and i've been fanboying
coop pretty hard the last few weeks but it's um really since the fling last year but it's hard not
to man when he's throwing down the way he is um but again hell of a way to start out for dylan how
he's still my pick to win the world um he came out swinging in his season debut the way i knew he
would and and he was that close so um i know he's motivated and uh and he's gonna stay locked in so
it's gonna be fun to watch these young fellas uh down the stretch in top dragster yes sir the other
fast bracket class top sportsman we saw rob mendenhall uh get the win there he jumped over from
top dragster the last couple years and he's started to make a home there here in top sportsman
he did win his first ever national event wally down in phoenix i believe he is from arizona so
hometown track for rob uh cool to see that happen um it's kind of funny um phoenix to
is known for first time winners um i've seen a lot more on the division side i got my first
win there my sister got her first win there allison mccown i could name probably 10 more people
that got their very first win in phoenix so uh to see people uh get their first win in phoenix
i'm like it's it's a track thing it's it's just the place where people go to get their first uh win
either uh divisionally nationally it doesn't matter but um phoenix it's a funny track like that right
not only is it like a place for first but it's that place where like people win three in a row
come a deal right they whether it's divisionals or nationals it's one of those places where um
it's kind of your track right for certain racers it's like that's their place and that's where
they're nasty all the time no matter what else is going on they get tuned up um that was that was
rob's first national event final round um and he gets his first walley in his first try so congrats
to him he was up against d6 hitter will yakim it's will will's car is one of the coolest top sportsman
cars around uh beautiful beautiful car um so i had to i had to you know cheer my my d6 fellas on
but um he just you know couldn't get her done couldn't run the number i think he got out of it
he was behind on the tree and and uh got out of a little bit to run you know one above but um
yeah well yeah will yakim it's a little bit crazy to me um taking a little six second
top sportsman car uh i mean he was willing it in that hot hot uh track but uh that thing's borderline
pro mod man it's like it's it's nasty that thing's sick absolutely and it and it's loud as heck and
it's cool as heck so uh yeah good job will uh i'm sure we'll see you in pamona uh super gas
your familiar name val torres wins but guess what it is not val torres senior it's jr coming in with
the win uh fun fact for you val torres won in this car i don't know 15 years ago had to have been
and uh i don't know if he owned it at the time but he bought it back and the first national event
back parks it in the winter circle um you you don't ever like to see the name torres next year
but looking like you're never going to want to see the name torres against you in super gas because
if you're not getting senior you're going to get jr well and gave jove pretty good this weekend too
i think gave was in the quarters uh this weekend at least and uh so good good weekend for the torres
family um they know how to get her done man so uh shout out to val torres jr congratulations
getting it done over chris gabbert who clicked it read val was dialed up he was 008
and and saw the light come on so he got out of it but he was ready to go and um
gabbert hadn't had a light better than 13 all day um for that matter val hadn't been
better than 12 all day so you know they both got up on the wheel gabbert took a little too big of
a chunk out of it and and clicked it read um and then i think he went down there and put it like
dead on four or something dead on two so tough break for chris but um uh you know nice job for val
and uh we're off and running man don't don't get me wrong i like roadsters i'm a roadster guy i
like roadsters but there's nothing like a full-bodied super gas car and mr. Goddard and also me being a
mopar guy he has one heck of a duster that is beautiful one of the nicest cars in super gas but
uh if it wasn't a race car it should definitely be in a car show that's that's one of the reasons
i love masta witch's car so much like you just don't see the full-bodied door slammers like
you used to um you know and so yeah when you're getting down with doors um and full-bodied cars
it's um it's pretty sweet absolutely well that uh that pretty much concludes the results from phoenix
um we'll we'll get moving on this weekend we got the southwest showdown we talked about it a couple
weeks ago with chris foresight but it's the time now starts on thursday with a test session along with
the anticipated east versus west showdown uh let's run through uh the racers from the west coast
east coast uh tell me how you feel and then we're going to pick a driver from each side
see who can who can pick the winner about that um okay let's do it wait you you kick this thing off
from the west coast we have dust and words new addition you there i'm here it's locked it logged
me out now you're here i'm you dust and words i'm back sorry about that dust and words marco
paravelaris tim omore tony marconi brad hawk gape torres dylan moody kurtis insolita mark barnhart
c w hofer chris wittfield west coast chris wittfield henry robertson brad pierce yours truly
cooper chan and shan shafer let's let's before you pick somebody right let's um the west
coasters know if any if any of you guys from team texas are watching um the who may not know any of
these guys i think most of them do right gleghorn's really driving this bus most of us all know
everybody knows that and there's a lot of mutual respect wort has wrecked shop multiple times uh at
thrown down in one championships at firebird he's went him and his dad both went deep at big
money races across the country we all know about marco tony marconi a few weeks back um or maybe at
the end of last season one every damn race there was at tucson um chuck and brad hawk the hawk family
are you know royalty out here in this part of the world we just talked about gape torres um we know
about c dub wittfield robertson brad pierce sitting number one in the points early on in
super gas um you're a former division champ uh coop chan former million-dollar winner and just
wrecked shop right now hot as they come shan shafer's won multiple big money races at the fling
these guys know how to get it done um so i i feel i feel good about our west coast team man
i do feel a little bit of out of place on this list because i feel like i'm the only one on this
list that hasn't won an event either the southwest showdown or the spring fling so uh i i don't like
being the the weakest player on the team but i'm gonna try and be a team player and and hold our own
for for the west coast um who are you picking to win from the west coast
man um i think there's an obvious answer here just with the heater he's on and we already gave him
his flower so cooper chan's an obvious pick but yeah man i um he is an obvious pick right but like
this tells you how good this field is because even as hot as he's been right now um i'm still
struggling right i know marco when he flips the switch man marco's as nasty as anybody he's a killer
um chris has had a lot of success at at uh foresight races and and we know how focused he
is coming into this season um henry just went like 10 or better like 10 passes in a row off the
bottom this weekend so i know he's dialed in and ready um and tim o more man tim o more is the guy
that of all the people him and mark barnhardt are the people uh and maybe kurtis uh the three folks
that people know the least um kurtis has been racing a long time man and he parks that big old
mopar in the winter circle quite a bit mark um off and on he's had some success he's got a ton of
experience he's from my hometown i grew up with mark's kids um and he's been racing those dragsters
for a long time and when he gets on one he can go deep tim o more had still to this day the best
single day performance i've ever seen from anybody and it was at the southwest showdown he beat peeps
peter beyondo chris whitfield and luke bogacky back to back to back to back on his way to winning
one of the big checks at the southwest showdown um like even now i've i saw it happen and it's still
to say that out loud um flows me away right so um before you make a pick the more the more i look
at this list the more i don't want to pick yeah man i think we just we just skipped the pick part
we're just proud of all the west coasters on this list i'm with it brother i normally somebody
say we gotta make a pick but i'm with you on this one bro um y'all can make the picks in the
comments but i think we're gonna hold off on the pick here uh there there's nobody on these two lists
that if they win you're gonna be like oh that's surprising it's uh it's just the some of the
then and you know on the east coast side man like it's the same story right we all know about
jeff sarah and what he's he's been able to do over the years um there's a lot of names on the east
coast list that i don't know well you don't want enough good money but i'm just kidding i know all of
them you know i don't want to line up against jeff i don't want to line up against cori i mean i
want to line up against anybody i'm not very good at all but i definitely want to line don't
want to line up against those as kyle kultrera man when he is on he is on um lucas has been wrecking
shop in the last few weeks like he's been cashing checks already uh lucas tries that uh white camaro
yeah uh he's been driving the cool whip camaro he's got like 75 fox bodies and a couple fads i mean
he's got like a million cars um and if he don't got any of his cars then he can drive one of charlie
lockhart's trucks you know he's got they got blower truck s tens and um they he got all the cars i
don't know what he's gonna bring um you know josh pickett spring fleeing million dollars in my final
list um last or a finalist last year runnered up to coop and uh and he can wheel that s 10 um
as good as anybody the og cg chris galitian the house jeff taylor
reppin east coast uh nowadays uh that one still bothers me yeah you know um it is what it is i
suppose uh i love jeff i think he's a west coaster he lives on the east coast but yeah
willy wood will hollerman like when he's on i mean it's nasty bro it's gonna be uh it's gonna be fun
to watch so i don't think they're live streaming this year right or is bank shift's gonna be there
oh it it's gotta be live it better be live stream not we will figure out a way yeah make it live
for everybody to watch yeah i really hope it will be it's gonna be a lot of fun um the format's
kind of crazy because after the first round it could get all whacked up and then you could have
one team cannibalizing their own people right depending on how the ladders go uh so i'm hoping
for a dog fight you know to the end um but we'll see man um we'll see i i would say advantage
advantage might go to the east coast just from a experience standpoint in big money
bracket racing right none of the people on the west coast except maybe chris whitfield
um race as much big money bracket racing as anybody on the east coast team they just there's
just so much of it out there right any saturday night you got four ten granders to pick from
so a lot more experienced big money bracket racing but the size of the check don't really
mean nothing really so uh man i'm just pumped for i'm stoked and it's finally here and we'll see
we'll see how it goes but the i'm going west coast all the way i i'm not trying to make excuses
for us that's not my point but all of these names you see i feel like on on the on the east coast
team i feel like all these names you see you can pull up motormania any weekend and you're going to
see them at a tv race you're going to see in them at a flying race you're going to see them at any
big money race that there is that's being live stream yeah and those races are big paying races
okay um for the west coast we're racing the southwest showdown and this is a big race for us
on the west coast we have the fling we have the west coast bracket races and the Thanksgiving race
um yep there's there's very few big money races um uh we're we're starting to get some more with
like you with with your summer showdown um boise's got the longest uh uh what am i trying to say here
the longest ten-year bracket race yep with uh gosh the night fire nationals night fire nationals
yes so um they're they're racing for a lot more bigger money more often than us uh but i think the
equalizer we have is to what you said right this is our race right this is the west coast race
a lot of the people on that list either have never been to this race or have only been there
a couple times right jeff sarah has been flying out the last few years a few different times um
some of these guys have been there but twosan ain't gulfport right we've got elevation we got
different air there's no barometer out here um and so i think for us that may be a little bit
of an equalizer anybody on the west coast team knows how to tune for twosan um the east coast
guys are smart they'll get it they'll figure it out i think they have a pretty good idea what
they're doing obviously but um but they don't have as many laps at twosan raceway as as anybody
as anybody on the west coast team so um you know a little bit of an equalizer maybe if if the big
money experience is an advantage to the east the familiarity with the conditions and the venue
and that race in particular you know maybe equalizes it back out to the west um and you know
that's it man we could talk about it all day but it's time it's just time to do it it's coming up
this weekend and uh super pumped to to see how it goes as a as a fan of bracket racing
and watching uh motor mania uh i'm i'm excited to meet a lot of these guys in person um it's
gonna be fun i think it's gonna be uh pretty lighthearted just kidding but uh it is definitely
gonna be fun to to mix it up with those guys yep it's uh the only thing mason from the from the
southwest showdown and west coast west coast bracket races is an announcer from the west coast
come on chris we gotta get troi down there it's all i'm saying i know you and greg hornet buddies
and he does a great job um so it's gonna be great um are you telling me are you telling me that
ryan leghorn on team east coast is gonna be announcing this race yeah man how much and he's
gonna do a great job he does a great job wait how much more sway to the east coast can we get i'm
taking low blows man it's gonna be awesome and it's a great program it's a great format um you know
10 000 5000 to kick things off on friday 15 and 75 on saturday 10 and five again on sunday
he's got the 5k pro 32 shootout and 20k to win shootout um as well so lots and lots of money
up for grabs um entry fees super reasonable um and it's 100 guaranteed so um hell of a program
that chris and the team have been able to put together at west coast bracket races
it's one that everybody looks forward to and i know a lot of people here from morgan that are
already on their journey down to tucson so um if uh if you're on the fence uh there is a friday
night racer appreciation barbecue and a dinner from larice uh if i was on the fence that would
put me over the fence i'm sure you could tell by my bullish figure here but uh it's gonna be uh
walz says it's gonna be great i'll be watching while pulling into the water box in bell rose
from what i hear bell rose is gonna be toasty i hear it's gonna be just as hot as phoenix
but they are gonna have about 100 more humidity than phoenix ever will have so uh good luck out
there while make sure you uh pack your swimming suit because you're gonna need a
take a splash to cool off once in a while yeah mid 90s this weekend um i just got us that we have
a correction to make you got a message from former super gas world champ paul nero uh
mike mendenhall mike mendenhall is the one who ran top dragster not rob and rob is from
los angeles not arizona so um this is record this is why we don't get paid the big bucks
that's why we get paid the medium bucks but we got people out there right we know people are
watching right somebody's watching that is big so shout out paul thanks for the correction uh
keeping us honest here on the bracket breakdown um saw him down in phoenix uh not sure where he's
i would imagine he'll be at the fling um and uh we'll see how that goes but um yeah it's
game time man look i got a tan it's racing season we're ready to go you've already lost your voice
it's on yeah i uh i was screaming for tanner to win but uh tan you let us down you did
no you did you let you let us down that's why you're not on the show this week tanner
you have to win to be on this show um i get a pass because it's like i'm i'm part of the
it's my show right it's mine and parker shows that we don't have to win because it's our show
but you have to win to be well you have i have already been almost kicked off the show
yeah and it's my own show so uh you gotta you gotta do something good so you do well uh i can't
wait to to talk to you next monday night about all the events happening and uh hopefully i'll have
a couple big checks behind me this is my master bedroom so we'll put them on this wall right up
here i think my wife oh look at so see polnero again keeping me honest i don't i don't know what
i'm talking about he's a top former top dragster world champ not super gas world champ um and he's
on his way to tucson no so um go get him paul uh you're you're a champ that's all that matters
you're a champ in my book and you could probably get it done in super gas tube so
but you don't have that car anymore that sweet sweet roadster um that was a beautiful hot rod but
the the rad torque dragsters looking pretty sharp too uh him and sandy's cars are looking pretty good
so and they're fast so um thanks for the correction we got we got our editor-in-chief
paul miro out there keeping us honest uh here tonight so and they what two weeks we're at
promona for the summer winter nationals oh yeah right so well we got twos on this week
we got the fling next week oh so three weeks we got three weeks yep there really is the summer
winter nationals yeah yeah it really is what's crazy uh i think i'll be i mean i won't be because
i went to hawaii but my family will be racing eight weekends in a row it's pretty crazy that's a
schedule buddy and you watch it'll end up being 52 and foggy for the winter nationals um a quick
shout out my brother travis actually bring uh builds the trophies for the southwest showdown
and he also built them for the spring fling races so shout out to trav hopefully i can
bring one of those home uh another thing i would like to shout out tanner was not the only field
ball motor sports team member in the final this last weekend my nephew narks got it done
on juniors on sunday my niece alba uh lost a close one in the final on saturday so shout out to those
guys and gals for for bringing home some hardware for the above motorsports again so uh well i can't
join the team man i'm not good enough everybody from top to bottoms is too good but you got all
these winners and and finalists like the next whenever you need a slot slot in somebody that's
third fourth round right just like good mid-pack guy you know go a couple rounds maybe hit the
semis whenever you need to feel that spot on the team that's when you need to hit up your boy
i've already got the t-shirt and the hoodie um you know so let me know when we need to check one
of what filled the boxes for third or fourth round we know who to call yeah i don't know but
i don't want to make it that far uh to meet him i'd have to get there first to lose to him but
yes sir all right will you all see you all next week have a good week peace later
About this episode
Bracket Breakdown swings from a hot weekend of sportsman eliminations to a big preview of the Southwest Showdown/East vs West showdown. The hosts trade stories from LeGrand, Oregon, shout out sponsors and racers (including Cooper Chun’s breakout Top Dragster win and Val Torres Jr’s Super Gas victory), and recap Phoenix results across Stock Eliminator, Super Stock, Super Comp, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, and Super Gas. They also debate track conditions, points momentum, and which coast has the edge—then build hype for a high-dollar, multi-day format with plenty of bragging rights.
Original notes
Full recap of the Natty in Phoenix, The Southwest Showdown kicks off and racing in Redding.
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