The conversation dives into the inaugural Snyder Sportsman Classic at Pomona, highlighting its significance as a rare divisional event at the historic track and the involvement of the Snyder family, owners of In-N-Out Burger. Hosts discuss standout racers like Tanner Theobald, Macy Gordon, and Cooper Chun, noting impressive performances and close competition across multiple classes. They also touch on the challenges of racing in extreme heat at upcoming events in Phoenix and Tucson, the camaraderie among racers, and the unique atmosphere of race track concessions. The episode wraps with reflections on NHRA legends' candid comments about race distances and a preview of the busy racing season ahead.
""There's a drag. Right there. Right there. That's awesome. Like a kid.""
Drag means a race where cars go really fast in a straight line to see who is quickest. It's like a sprint but with cars.
In automotive terms, 'drag' usually refers to drag racing, a type of motor racing where cars compete to be the fastest over a straight, short distance, typically a quarter mile. It focuses on acceleration and top speed in a straight line.
"Um, I'm not a class racer. So baby, that's why, right? And not, certainly not a class racer in, in Southern California,"
A class racer is someone who races cars that fit into a certain group with rules to keep the cars similar, so the race is fair.
A class racer is a competitor who races in a specific class or category defined by rules that limit modifications to ensure fair competition among similar vehicles.
"...Lindsey Snyder Ellingson, um, the owner now races top sportsman, and they sponsor Pomona drag strip..."
Top Sportsman is a category in drag racing where racers use very fast and powerful cars to compete.
Top Sportsman is a popular class in drag racing featuring highly modified cars that run on gasoline or other fuels. It is known for competitive racing with cars capable of very fast elapsed times.
"...they haven't had a divisional there since 2002. Everything since has been, uh, a national event or they, they have had a couple one-off races..."
A divisional is a type of drag race that happens in a certain region. Racers compete in these to earn points and qualify for bigger races.
In drag racing, a divisional is a regional event that is part of a series of races leading up to national championships. These events attract competitive racers and are important for points and standings.
"...Everything since has been, uh, a national event or they, they have had a couple one-off races..."
A national event is a big drag race where racers from all over the country come to compete. It's more important than local or regional races.
A national event in drag racing is a major race that draws competitors from across the country, often part of a national championship series. These events are typically larger and more prestigious than divisional races.
"...That's the first ever Snyder sportsman classic. I believe so..."
A sportsman classic is a special drag race event for racers who compete in sportsman classes, which are more about fun and competition than professional racing.
A sportsman classic is a drag racing event focused on sportsman-level racers, often featuring various classes and emphasizing grassroots competition.
"They got the super comp cars. They got the, the, the alcohol cars."
Super Comp cars are special race cars that try to run a set time on the drag strip. They are fast and use special engines to go really quick.
Super Comp is a popular drag racing class featuring highly modified vehicles that run on a fixed index, typically 8.90 seconds in the quarter mile. These cars often use superchargers or turbochargers and run on racing fuel or alcohol.
"They got the super comp cars. They got the, the, the alcohol cars."
Alcohol cars are race cars that use special fuel made from alcohol to go faster on the track.
Alcohol cars refer to drag racing vehicles that run on methanol or other alcohol-based fuels instead of gasoline. These fuels provide higher performance and cooler combustion temperatures, allowing for more power.
"And, uh, uh, the NHRA has done, I think they've outdone themselves with those 75th anniversary wallets."
NHRA is the main group that runs drag races in the U.S. They make sure races are fair and organize big drag racing events.
The NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) is the largest governing body for drag racing in the United States, organizing events and setting rules for various drag racing classes.
"let's just start with comp eliminator Ryan pretty getting it done in the mountain motor pro stock car."
Comp Eliminator is a drag race group where many kinds of cars race against each other but with special rules to keep it fair.
Comp Eliminator is a drag racing class under NHRA rules that features a wide variety of cars competing with index-based handicaps, allowing different types of vehicles to race competitively.
"... racing and some sick cars, man. Matt dolls, new Mustang, that blue fastback Mustang, small tire looking ..."
The Ford Mustang is a type of car made by Ford. It is designed to be fast and sporty, often used for racing or fun driving. The fastback style means the back of the car slopes down smoothly.
The Ford Mustang is an iconic American muscle car known for its powerful performance and sporty design. The reference to a blue fastback Mustang suggests a classic or modern fastback model, popular among enthusiasts for racing and street performance. Mustangs are often discussed for their blend of heritage, speed, and customization options.
"But like 005 stock, 008 super stock, 008 super comp, 13 super gas, 12 super street, seven top sportsman, 13 top director and 14 sportsman motors."
Super Stock lets drivers make more changes to their cars than Stock racing, but there are still rules to keep things fair.
Super Stock is a drag racing class allowing more modifications than Stock but still with restrictions to keep competition close. It balances performance upgrades with driver skill.
"super gas. We had Brad Pierce in his, uh, uh, what is it? A 58 Corvette. Fun fact about that car. Um, that is an actual Corvette. That's not a, that's not a fiberglass copy Corvette. It's the real deal."
The 1958 Chevrolet Corvette is a famous sports car from America. It was special because it used a lightweight fiberglass body, which was new back then, making it fast and cool-looking.
The 1958 Chevrolet Corvette is a classic American sports car known for its distinctive design and performance. It is notable for being one of the early generations of the Corvette, featuring a fiberglass body which was revolutionary at the time.
"Absolutely. Uh, super gas. We had Brad Pierce in his, uh, uh, what is it? A 58 Corvette."
Super Gas is a type of drag racing where cars race to be as close as possible to a set time without going faster. It’s about being steady and careful, not just fast.
Super Gas is a popular drag racing class that features cars running a fixed index time, typically 9.90 seconds, and requires strict adherence to rules regarding modifications and weight. It emphasizes consistency and driver skill over outright speed.
"Cause in, in round five, he's red, but I think his opponent was more red. It comes back around for the buy in round six. He's red again."
In drag racing, if a driver starts too early and triggers the red light, it means they broke the rules and lose that race.
In drag racing, a 'red light' indicates a false start where a driver leaves the starting line before the green light, resulting in disqualification for that run.
"And, uh, you know, just a, just a nasty, nasty final double breakout deal. And, uh, Brad put a little closer than Eric."
In bracket racing, drivers predict how fast they will run. If they go faster than that prediction, it's called a breakout and usually means they lose.
In bracket drag racing, 'breakout' refers to a driver running quicker than their dial-in time, which results in a loss unless the opponent commits a more serious infraction like a red light.
"hold up. You brought up sportsman motorcycle a little bit. Um, and Clayton Howie gets it done there. Did I not see, uh, uh, some sort of announcement a couple of weeks ago, or a week ago that Clayton Howie's going to be racing pro stock motorcycle as well."
Sportsman Motorcycle is a kind of motorcycle drag race where riders race less modified bikes, making it more about skill than big engine power.
Sportsman Motorcycle is a drag racing category for motorcycles typically featuring less modified or amateur-level bikes, focusing on rider skill and consistency.
"I think he's on a Vance and Heinz bike. Okay. So yeah, I see something."
Vance and Heinz makes special parts for motorcycles that help them go faster in races, especially in drag racing.
Vance and Heinz is a well-known manufacturer of high-performance motorcycle parts and accessories, especially popular in drag racing and sportsman motorcycle racing.
"...David Meyer, big time bracket racer. Doesn't, doesn't hit the divisional scene as often as he should..."
Bracket racing is a type of drag racing where racers guess how fast their car will go and try to run as close to that time as possible without going faster. It helps make races fair even if cars are different speeds.
A bracket racer competes in drag racing using a handicap system called 'bracketing' where each racer predicts their elapsed time, and the race is won by the driver who runs closest to their predicted time without going faster. This levels the playing field between cars with different performance levels.
"...ringing that last win light in Super Street in the, in the Cavalier wouldn't be surprised to see him down in Tucson..."
Super Street is a type of drag race where regular cars that you can drive on the street race each other, but they have some rules about what parts can be changed.
Super Street is a popular drag racing class that typically features street-legal cars with limited modifications. It emphasizes driver skill and consistency, often using bracket racing rules.
"...Jen Wiens puts it on the board in the number one spot at the minimum index of six, 10 with some change."
The minimum index is the slowest time a racer can run in a race. If they go slower than this, they might not qualify or win.
In bracket drag racing, the minimum index is the slowest allowed elapsed time for a given class or race. Racers must run at or faster than this time to qualify or win, which helps maintain fair competition.
""That's not a look either one of those guys want breaks it out by a foul. And Coop 13 puts it one above pushes him through...""
A 'foul' means a driver started too early or broke a rule at the start of the race, which usually means they lose.
In drag racing, a 'foul' occurs when a driver breaks the rules at the start, such as leaving the starting line before the green light, resulting in disqualification or a loss.
"I asked him today. I'm like, you got 107 degree tune up. He's like, Oh yeah, buddy."
A tune up means making sure the engine is set just right to run its best, like adjusting how much fuel it uses or when it sparks.
A tune up in racing refers to adjusting the engine's settings, such as fuel mixture and ignition timing, to optimize performance for specific conditions like temperature or altitude.
"He's like, Oh yeah, buddy. So, you know, we'll see what the blower car can do this weekend going to be fun to watch."
A blower car has a special device called a supercharger that pushes extra air into the engine to make the car go faster, especially in drag races.
A blower car refers to a vehicle equipped with a supercharger (often called a blower) that forces more air into the engine, increasing power output significantly, commonly used in drag racing.
"But like stock eliminated to the lanes at like 7am or something crazy. Great. That means we got to be up at like three o'clock to wake everybody up."
Stock Eliminated is a racing group where cars are mostly like they came from the factory, with only a few changes allowed, so it's about how well the driver and car work together.
Stock Eliminated is a drag racing class where cars must remain mostly stock with limited modifications, emphasizing driver skill and vehicle reliability.
"Only if Bob Frye comes in and does a little bit of the commentary to make it real good. I hope that's a regular thing..."
Commentary means people talking about the race while it happens to help viewers understand and enjoy it more.
Commentary in motorsports is the live or recorded narration and analysis provided by announcers during a race, offering insights, explanations, and entertainment to viewers.
"I guess he won a funny car that year, Troy. In 96? Was it John Force? It was John Force."
Funny Cars are special drag racing cars that look like regular cars but are built to go very fast in a straight line. They have big engines and light bodies.
Funny Cars are a class of drag racing vehicles characterized by their altered wheelbases and lightweight fiberglass or carbon fiber bodies that resemble production cars. They are known for their extreme speed and loud, powerful engines.
Select text to request an explanation
I don't know what's going on.
Hey, what's going on?
We're in real different time zones this time, huh?
Yeah, it's really early for me here in Hawaii.
You can see.
What time is it right now?
It is 2.30 in the afternoon.
Well, it must have been real early when we were talking earlier.
Yeah, it was four in the morning.
Yeah, so it's been a little bit of a crazy weekend for me.
We got here late Wednesday and evening last week.
We're supposed to fly home yesterday morning, but a crazy storm came through.
It rained every single day of my vacation until today.
But our flights got canceled, so we had to stay an extra day.
I mean, we're soaking up the sun now, but it's going to be a little bit
of a late night getting home.
We're not going to be home till about 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
And my flight doesn't leave for another like seven hours.
And then what?
Quick turnaround to get down to Phoenix?
Yep.
We're leaving for Phoenix on Thursday morning.
Do some racing down in the desert.
Did you see what the temperatures are going to be like down there?
I was, I looked a couple of days ago and I was talking to people like,
man, going to be like 102.
And then now it's like 107, 108, nasty.
Yeah.
Tanner and the crew better get busy getting everything ready for you, huh?
Oh yeah.
You're going to come in like a hired gun, like a pro just flying.
Last minute.
Oh yeah.
I wish that was the case.
I get her drive the rig down on Thursday, so hurry up, restock the bus,
get the trailer all situated and hit the road down to Phoenix for the week.
And then here's another thing.
We're going to drive the rig from Phoenix straight to Tucson.
I'm going to catch a flight home work for three or four days and then fly back
down for the Southwest showdown.
And we got that East versus West race on Thursday.
So it's a, it's a busy, busy, I don't know, month or so coming up of racing too.
So yeah, man.
It's getting exciting.
It's gotten to the like high seventies, almost 80.
I don't know why I look so shiny today.
I'm actually, I'm not like all gross.
Maybe this, I got the wrong kind of ring light setting going on here, but man,
I'm so stoked to see, I mean, you guys got into the lower nineties down there,
right?
Obviously no one wants to race in a hundred degree heat, but, you know,
it's getting warmer up here in Oregon.
We got test in tune first one of the weekend coming up at Woodburn this Saturday.
It's racing season, man.
And, you know, we were kind of starting to tip toe into it the last couple of
weekends, but it feels like it really is finally here and can kind of feel the
energy, you know, so super stoked.
Yeah.
It's a, it's really nice when a NHA TV and motormania get going and something
to watch every weekend.
It really fills the, the boredom void when you're not at the track or not.
I mean, you could do it while you're working like me, but have it all queued
up and tuning in.
That's what I did.
That's what I did a lot, a lot of the weekend.
It was, it was a, it was so stormy that like the town shut down, like the
stores weren't open.
You couldn't go to the beach.
We, we sat here at the resort and eight mostly.
I put down probably 10, put, put on probably 10 pounds.
It's like Benny.
You have to dial up a little bit this weekend.
Oh yeah.
I do want to show you something that I did get.
Check this shirt out that I got.
Nice.
We'll do a little model.
Sick.
Yeah.
I was pretty stoked.
Find a cool shirt.
So yeah, man.
I got from a Hawaii about a track in California, but it's all good.
I want to go check out that track.
If I ever make it to Hawaii, I want to go check out the race track they got over
there.
Oh yeah.
Speaking of, I tried to upload the picture.
I wouldn't load, but I flew over it.
There's a drag.
Right there.
Right there.
That's awesome.
Like a kid.
But I spent a lot of my weekend as much as I could anyway,
watching streams.
We went and did some family stuff and of course hung out with the kiddos and
whatnot, but bouncing back and forth on, on NHRA TV,
watching some footbreak races and footbreak 150.
Some just nasty, nasty bottom, bold foot swapping going on.
Lucas Walker, just doing Lucas Walker things.
Tebow met up up in the final for 25 K and Lucas came out on top.
But, you know, I was talking a couple of weeks ago about,
about Tyler being better in the dragster than the door car,
but he foot swapped his way right through a lot of rounds this weekend.
So I don't know, you know, about my pick and, you know,
when we went over our picks, I picked Tebow to win super comp.
My other guy to watch was Johnny LaBuce and I'm not going to change my pick,
but man, oh man, Johnny LaBuce ain't playing games right now.
He's got quite the start.
What did you tell me?
He had 271 points.
He's, we're three races in.
He's got three events on the board and he's got 271 points, man.
He's got a, you know, Chris was talking about checking those boxes last weekend.
When we talked to him, Johnny's got a win, a runner up and a semi.
So he's checking those boxes and Jeff Adkinson.
Same kind of deal, right?
I think he said like 250 right now.
And so you got a couple of guys who are just coming out swinging, you know,
at a time early in the season when I expect a little more parody kind of people
shaking the rust off and, and you got two guys really already trying to separate
themselves from the field.
And I think it starts this narrative where, you know,
I think early on, because there normally is a lot of parody, there's, there's,
it's like, Hey, it's anybody's game, right?
For, for quite a while anyway.
Yeah.
Right now you're in a situation where it's like you're already chasing Johnny
and you're chasing Jeff Adkinson, right?
And inevitably those people will catch up, people will start to catch up and
that pressure will then shift back to Jeff and back to Johnny where,
where then they're going to have like 84s that they need to replace, you know,
with something better, which is a tough task.
But I love how things are shaping up early.
We'll get through Phoenix and a lot of people have two and two on the board
already.
And, you know, we could see some people up near 400 points, you know,
potentially, you know, high 300s.
And we're just barely getting started.
It's crazy.
We're still in March.
I know, man.
Like you could have somebody with 370 points, 375 points before we get out of
March.
That's crazy.
That would be quite the feat.
I have a question.
So with people putting up scores like this, we're three races in, we're in
March and the scores are already getting pretty high for this point in the
season.
Do you think that deters a lot of people away from, Oh, they're already at
that level.
Maybe I'll just hang around home this time this year.
Or do you think there's people out there that are just like, Nope,
I'm going to go run my own season.
Well, the cards fall where they may are, or what do you think on that?
I mean, I think right now it's early enough that, that probably the ladder,
right?
And, and that's the thing, right?
At some point, these guys are going to run out of claims halfway through
the season and then have to figure out where the hill they're going to drive
to try to beat a 75 or an 85, right?
And, and that's who, who, if you're sitting at, you know, a decent point
score and you got to drive all the way across the country just to try to
beat an 85.
Well, that person, you're probably not going to do that.
You know, most people aren't very few people chase it like that.
So no, I think it's fine.
And, and I think we'll see, you know, there's lots of people that aren't
even on the scoreboard yet.
They haven't even started their, they haven't even started their season.
They're not worried about it.
But so no, I think it's fine.
But that being said, if, if you can come out of the gate regardless of
when you start your season, right?
If you started in Gainesville and at the divisionals or if you're starting
in Phoenix, if you can come out of the gate and in your first three races,
you know, be above 250 points, man, you got to feel good, you know,
going down the, down the stretch here.
You got a lot of, a lot of room to work with.
And you just got no pressure, right?
You can race, you can race a lot of weekends now with zero pressure,
right?
Cause you've already put some marks up that you know are going to stick.
So yeah, kind of fun, man.
It's, it was crazy.
It's normally way earlier than I would even look at the points, but,
but it was like, whoa, man, there's a couple of guys that are super gas
already looking super nasty, right?
I think the top 10 are separated by just a couple of points.
I saw JJ Brock in the top five starting out pretty strong in his
defense of his title.
So yeah, man, going to be a fun one this year.
Oh yeah.
Uh, we did have, uh, the Snyder sportsman classic down in Pomona,
uh, a West coast race.
Um, I'm really excited to talk about this, talk about a few more people
that did check some of those boxes off.
Um, so why don't we jump into it?
Um, it was quite an eventful weekend down there.
Um, lots to talk about.
Tell me a little bit about that event cause like, I don't think I'm,
I'm somewhat embarrassed.
I'm like, what's the Snyder sportsman classic?
Like that's not something that rang a bell with me.
Um, I'm not a class racer.
So baby, that's why, right?
And not, certainly not a class racer in, in Southern California,
but, uh, I didn't really know what it was about.
I was like halfway through the weekend.
I'm still like, is this for points?
Is this not for points?
I didn't really even know what the deal was.
And, and I'm watching practice on Wednesday, qualifying on Thursday.
I'm like, Oh, maybe it's a double and we're still qualifying on Friday.
We're qualified.
I mean, you guys got like 58 time runs this weekend.
Uh, so it was just, um, yeah, I wasn't really that familiar,
I guess with that, the format of that event.
Uh, didn't realize it was for points until, until Sunday.
Um, when I kind of put it all together,
but tell me a little bit about that event.
So, uh, the Snyder family, um, is also the owner of In-N-Out
Burger, uh, the whole, whole shoot match.
So, uh, let me flash back, do some history.
In-N-Out actually started, uh, their business at a drag strip.
So, um, that's pretty significant for the, this race.
Um, Lindsey Snyder Ellingson, um, the owner now races top sportsman,
and they sponsor Pomona drag strip.
Um, and, uh, some of the significance of this race also is they haven't
had a divisional there since 2002.
Um, everything since has been, uh, a national event or they,
they have had a couple one-off races.
Um, just, just random things, but I did hear, um, they are going to
have this event next year again, another divisional.
So, um, to be able to race at Pomona more than two times a year is,
is awesome.
I, uh, I love that.
That's the first ever Snyder sportsman classic.
I believe so.
That's a bold move to call something a classic in its first year,
but, um, it was a great event.
So I imagine it will become a classic, but.
I was two years old when the last one happened.
So my memory on that one isn't too fond.
If, if I'm missing something, someone chiming in the comments,
let us know what we're missing, but, uh, it's pretty cool to have it back.
Um, it's exciting to have more tracks to race divisionals at
than three tracks where you have a double at every single one of them.
Um, so, uh, it's more than a Vegas track championship now.
Um, so that's, that's what I like.
I like visiting different places and trying to hand out.
Uh, David Phillips chiming in, he says, yes, it was the first,
the inaugural sportsman classic.
I can dig it. I can dig it. I like people taking big swings.
And, uh, you know, as like with the summer showdown,
we didn't want to call it the, the first annual because it's like,
you can't call it an annual till the second. So it was the inaugural.
Uh, but I like, so I like just starting right out of the gate with
that kind of confidence calling it the classic.
And it was a pretty classic weekend, man.
Uh, it had everything you'd hope to see in a, you know,
West coast divisional or divisional of any kind for that matter,
a lot of killer racing. You had some, some action of the unfortunate kind.
If you're a racer, if you're a spectator,
let's face it, it's some of the stuff that you come to see. Um,
and glad to see that for those folks who, uh,
who had a little bit of misfortune, they came out of it. All right.
And, uh, you know, they'll get those cars fixed up. Um,
but I saw Maddie clean the front of that top sportsman car off.
And, uh, that was a kind of sad moment.
Yeah. Uh, Maddie Payne,
I had an unfortunate incident in her top sportsman car, um, got into the wall.
I think that car is pretty well toast. Unfortunately.
There's not a lot of front end left on that thing. No, no, sir.
But, uh, hate to see it.
It was like the third race out with her in that car, but, uh,
knowing the Payne family, they'll, they'll have something else in the works.
They got the super comp cars. They got the, the, the alcohol cars.
And I'm sure they'll be back out again with another Brad Anderson powered.
Dot, dot, dot. Yeah. Well, you know, had a super comp car in the sand.
We had a little, uh, little pit, little action in the pits.
Um, people tearing up equipment in the pits and, and, uh, you know,
but the on track stuff obviously overshadows all that.
And, uh, some really killer racing, man.
Where do you want to start when it comes to, uh, comes to the racing?
I, uh, I mean, we could, we could bring in our special guest Tanner.
Be able to bring him in little house, little house guest. Yeah.
I heard out of face for radio. So like,
I'm going to go ahead and kind of just tilt this up because I don't want to get
to see that double chin.
I say that all the time.
A face for radio and a voice for print. Yeah. Exactly.
Appreciate you guys having me on though.
It's a man. Congratulations. We didn't really have a choice.
Yeah.
Well, I didn't think that I was by relation, you know,
I didn't think that I was ever going to be able to get on.
So go pretty fortunate.
No, drag racing is full of nepotism, man. We're all, we're all about it.
Is that all it is?
Yeah. We're all about it here at the bracket breakdown.
Nepotism is fine.
So, uh, Tan, your, your food's on the ground in Pomona.
Um, one of the cool things that I saw is they had in and out in the
winter circle.
Tell us a little bit about, uh, the aura, the, the,
the winter circle, uh, with the in and out and,
and all of the fun activities.
You know what? And fortunately I've,
I've been in a couple of those situations, you know,
be able to enjoy a winter circle, but like,
I'm not kidding.
I don't know what it is. Uh, and I told multiple people this throughout the weekend,
but it was like, you're in Pomona for a divisional that hasn't happened.
And like, you know, you said 20 some odd years, right?
And it was a completely different feel. I don't,
I love the Pomona national event, but the divisional itself was just like,
almost more relaxed, right?
But, uh, you talk about the winter circle and,
and they really did a good job at making it feel special.
Uh, Lindsay was there. I got a picture with Lindsay. Awesome.
She was super nice. And, uh, yeah, they, they brought all, you know,
the, the in and out drinks and, uh, uh, one of,
I don't know if you guys know Brandy Price, but she, uh,
she brought me a double, double the, to scarf down in the winter circle.
So that was pretty cool.
But yeah, you got this, you got the picture right there of,
of all the winners in that they really just made it feel like, especially,
you got to go over and sign a board over on the track that, that said,
uh, uh, the Snyder classic that they're right there.
It's worth the classic right there. So they,
they really just made it feel like it was something that you accomplished.
And, uh, uh, the NHRA has done,
I think they've outdone themselves with those 75th anniversary wallets.
It was super cool to get my hands on one.
Yes, sir. Uh, I, I'm a little bit jealous to be honest with you.
I missed my opportunity to win one. Uh, but you know what?
If I had a dollar for, for every time somebody asked where you were at
and if they could drive your car, I could probably,
I could probably pay for my entire race season.
Well, I've been enjoying the nice rainy area in Hawaii.
I was going to say less, less tan than Troy does right now.
Sorry. Uh, let's, uh, let's talk about all the other winners, um,
in Pomona, give them their flowers and, uh,
let's just start with comp eliminator Ryan pretty getting it done in the
mountain motor pro stock car. That thing hauled the mail.
I don't know.
I mean, what he's, he's low, low fifties.
I think in that thing at well over 180, you know, um,
I was hoping to see a little bit stronger field, uh, a comp eliminator,
but, um, but still some, some really good racing and some sick cars, man.
Matt dolls, new Mustang, that blue fastback Mustang,
small tire looking thing. I don't know what that thing is,
but super, super sick.
Yeah. You sent me a picture and I should have brought it, um,
put up, but that thing is one of the cleanest.
I'm not a full guy at all. I own Camaro's.
So I'm certainly not a Mustang guy, but when a fastback, you know,
mid sixties fastback has done right as a race car, uh, pretty tough to beat.
And that thing is just ridiculous. He's one best engineered multiple times
with his other cavalier. Um, so I know the insides and out of that thing are
probably, you know, just the same, just perfect in every way.
And it certainly looks like it from the outside.
I'd like to learn a little bit more about that thing, but we'll have to.
Yeah. Good job to Ryan.
Maybe, maybe, uh, maybe Walt can fact check us, but, uh, um, Ryan,
I was talking to him down at the, in the shutdown, he's like, Oh my gosh,
it's been two years since I've won one of these things. Uh, but was it that
same year? Was it two years ago or so that he made a deep run in the world
championship points? Like, or did he win it? I know he's deep in there.
Fun fact, he did win the world championship. Okay. And that's the same
man. He's had himself a little bit of a dry spell.
Yep. Also former world champ Cody Lane in comp one stock eliminator
against our gal Nanette Stein. Uh, she carried the logi Stein team deep,
but, uh, the Hancock and Lane crew pulled through with a win in stock
eliminator. Um, I, I heard Alan Reinhart talking only like 48 more wins
before he catches up to his dad or something like that.
Right around the corner. Yeah. He's sneaking up on it, but, uh,
congrats to Cody Lane. Um, super stock. I think we got a trend going here
former world champ Justin lamb. Uh, Troy, do you want to touch on this?
I think he was, well, he wasn't our pick, but because we didn't know
if he was chasing it, but with a start like this, with a win and a runner up,
how do you bet against JL? I know, man. It's like, I'm going to have to
change my picks now. I'm going to stick with it. And if he ends up making
a run, I'm going to root for him harder than I'll root for Cooter.
Cause I don't know Cooter. I've heard lots of great things about him,
but sorry, brother. I'm going with JL anytime I get the chance.
And, um, you know, he, he was, had some swings on the tree, uh,
which is somewhat uncharacteristic of him, but he put it together in the
final when it mattered. I think he's 008. Um, and Evan turned it, just clicked
it, just a tiny bit red Evan Kowalski. So, um, gave him the kind of the free
ride. I know that's not how, how anybody wants a final round to go,
but, but you're going to take it when you can get them.
And, um, he certainly put himself in the position to deserve the win.
So, uh, yeah, strong start for Justin, uh, debuted that new,
that new paint job, uh, for the new sponsor this year,
had the copo looking sharp and, um, you know, JL doing JL things, man.
I, you know, I, uh, I, I had the opportunity to speak with Justin for a
little bit on Saturday night, I believe. Um, and with that new sponsorship,
uh, whether or not he makes a run, I'm sure that Justin's going to,
you know, he's going to show up and he's going to win races.
That's what Justin lamb does. But, um, I know that he will be at 18 events
this year. Sounds like a run to me.
18 events and I'm sure he's going to make a run.
That sounds like a run to me, man. Um, yeah. And like you say, uh, knowing him,
he's going to be in the mix at the end. So, right. Absolutely.
I, uh, I did notice one thing I, and I can't remember who mentioned it.
Uh, Craig or Chris Johnson, I get them mixed up all the time,
but, uh, the war, there, there's nine classes. Okay.
Including comp comps, winning reaction time was 33. Okay.
All other categories.
The worst winning reaction time, 14.
The reaction times in comp were weird, man. Um, I don't really understand
how that happens. Um, you know, in a class like that where you got to run it out
the back door, um, you got to be good up front. You know, uh, you're not playing
some game or you ain't spot dropping anybody in comp, you know, so there's
no way to cover that up other than, than hope you got a tune up in it that can
make up for it. And, uh, yeah, it seemed like there was a little bit of rust,
uh, maybe on in comp eliminator.
Well, uh, when you know you're fast, I guess you don't got to be that great,
but you're eating up index at that point.
Yep. But like 005 stock, 008 super stock, 008 super comp, 13 super gas,
12 super street, seven top sportsman, 13 top director and 14 sportsman motors.
Like you're, you're 14 on a bike. Are you kidding me? Like that's impressive.
I mean, they all had him dialed in for the final round. That's for sure.
Well, you see, like you talked about Cody, right? He was, he was in the 20s and 30s
and 005, right? Rising to the occasion when the money's on the line.
And, uh, I think he was, he was a little above maybe on his, on his semi
final run, Nanette clicked at red. So he didn't have to run it out, but, um,
you know, Cody's car was clearly able to run the number anytime he needed it to.
And, um, you know, when he wasn't great on the tree, the other person was even
not greater. And so, um, so able to take it all the way to the final and get it done.
Absolutely. Uh, super gas. We had Brad Pierce in his, uh, uh, what is it?
A 58 Corvette. Fun fact about that car. Um, that is an actual Corvette.
That's not a, that's not a fiberglass copy Corvette. It's the real deal.
And, uh, he, he's pretty dang good in that thing. Uh, he almost got me in Vegas
for my first time racing super grass. He, he goes on the stop at the top end
and then it kicks back off again. So it's like, he slows down and you try to
pace him and then he just takes off again. It's, it's pretty wild.
Has, has he, I think that Brad's probably won a national event in Pomona before.
I think that he, I mean, he's right there in California.
Um, I think that he's had quite a bit of success at that track.
Brad, uh, Brad has definitely had a lot of success, um, in Southern California.
That's for sure. Pomona. Um, I remember him winning a lot of fourth,
four sites events, um, down in Montana. Um, and he's on team West coast for
the Southwest showdown. So, um, good start for, for, uh, Mr. Pierce, um,
especially heading into Tucson here in a couple of weeks, um, good confidence
boost, winning a divisional.
Well, and he had to get his head right in the final, right?
Cause in, in round five, he's red, but I think his opponent was more red.
It comes back around for the buy in round six. He's red again.
Right. So back to back passes. He's turns it red, comes right back around.
He's 13. I think Eric was like 10 or 12 or something like that.
And, uh, you know, just a, just a nasty, nasty final double breakout deal.
And, uh, Brad put a little closer than Eric. So, uh, turned out to be a good
final, but you know, some adversity right there as he gets towards the finish
line in the seven rounder and, uh, able to gather it back up, refocus and, uh,
and execute man. So great job to Brad Pierce.
Yeah. And how cool is it to see Eric Gray is back out in a super gas car?
I would just say that.
And, and from, I, from what Hicks is saying, Bo Hicks,
I think that he's probably going to be running the schedule in division seven.
So pretty cool deal to see stick back out here doing what he probably
really loves doing.
Yeah. He, he, uh, raised a lot of super gas back in the day with,
with, with Cyple and, uh, um, super gas better watch out because sticks back.
I wanted to find a final. Did it? No, not at all. Um,
hold up. You brought up sportsman motorcycle a little bit. Um,
and Clayton Howie gets it done there.
Did I not see, uh, uh, some sort of announcement a couple of weeks ago,
or a week ago that Clayton Howie's going to be racing pro stock motorcycle as well.
Clayton Howie was on a bike in Gainesville. Right. Yeah. Right.
And, uh, that was pretty sick. He, uh, I know he went, he won first round.
I think he went to the semifinals. Um, but he is on, I think he was on the bike
that, uh, I think he's on a Vance and Heinz bike. Okay. So yeah, I see something.
That's what it was. I saw him riding at Gainesville and I'm like, I'm like, wait,
man, you know, I knew something was clicking there.
So that's pretty cool.
Like still rocking the sportsman stuff. And, uh, you know,
it's just sounds like anytime he gets an opportunity to race,
he's going to get on the bike.
Absolutely. With talent like Clayton has, and, uh, if, if he does continue with
Vance and Heinz, it won't be long before he finds a winner circle in,
in the pro stock category. Um, I know that he loves the sportsman stuff.
Um, but when you have an opportunity to go, to go pro, uh, he sure can.
He ran three, three out of the first four rounds.
He runs a 94 with a four and 94 with a three and a 94 with a three.
So, uh, I think he got himself a bracket bike.
Does he run around with Gary Stofer?
Because I think that Gary Stofer breeds pro stock bike riders.
I'm pretty sure that Gage Herrera was kind of brought up through him.
I don't know if Clayton Howie, you know, runs around with him, but I'm,
I'm sure a lot of those Clayton somebody. Okay.
Uh, um, I'm sure they're all a pretty tight knit group.
You know what I'm saying?
You always see the bike guys parked together and,
and they're always helping each other out. So, uh, not surprising there.
We talked about that a couple of weeks ago about just how, how tight knit,
you know, that group is. I mean, we're all race and family,
but like that's a whole nother, that's a whole nother deal, man.
The bike squad, they, uh, you know, it's always funny to me at Woodburn,
cause all the, all the car drivers are like doing their routine and getting in their thing.
And them guys are in the staging lanes in the bike staging lane,
like playing practical jokes on each other until the starters like get in the,
you know, it's like your turn, like they're messing around and having a good time
right up to the very minute they have to strap that helmet on. So pretty cool.
I need to maybe hang out with the bike guys a little more and share in some of the fun.
Uh, something else that, that comes to mind with, uh, with sportsman motorcycle is
they haven't had the opportunity to race at Pomona since 2002.
Like there's not sportsman motorcycle on a national event.
So, uh, that, that, that's a pretty cool feat to say, Hey,
I won Pomona in sportsman motorcycle because someone hasn't done that for 24 years.
Well, it's like, if you win at Pomona now, like Clayton's now one of the winning
as sportsman motorcycle racers in Pomona history, right?
Even if he's only got one, right?
He's, he's one of the greatest to ever do it at Pomona.
That's it. MVP of all time of this week in sportsman motorcycle.
An all time great racer at Pomona, Clayton Halley.
Speaking of MVPs, I do have an MVP for this week.
If we want to jump into that while we're in the middle of this.
Yeah, just do it.
My, my MVP did not win the event, but she went a lot of rounds.
My MVP, the greatest of all time of this week goes to Macy Gordon.
She was double entered top dragster and super comp.
I believe she got down to the semis in both clinic, but I watched a lot of her super
comp rounds watching Tanner, but she was double low dead on, I don't know,
four out of the six runs she was making.
And, and same with the top director, she was just lighten it up.
Double low, double low, double low, and it was just pretty insane.
I'm not going to argue with the man.
You know, anytime you can go a ton of rounds at an HRA race with the long format,
the long turnaround, you guys are getting some hot weather this weekend.
That's a feat in and of itself when you can be doubled up in two different classes
and shift your focus back and forth and back and forth and perform at that level in both classes.
You know, that, you know, you got a driver on your hands and I'm not going to argue with that.
I'll roll, I'll roll with you Macy, the greatest of all time of the week.
You know, a lot of drivers might not look back at, you know, previous round results and stuff like that,
but I kind of like to do a little bit of homework prior to runs.
And I was looking back at Macy's runs and I was like, double low dead on, double low dead on,
and I'm talking sub, sub total, sub 10 total, like two rounds in a row.
And then you go look at other runs and she's might not be double low, but she's still dead on, still dead on.
Like there was multiple rounds. I'll bet of the sixth round she was in.
She probably put a dead on five of them, four or five of them. Am I wrong, Park?
Like it was, she was doing a very good job in Supercom, just unbelievable driving job by Macy.
Well, in the class where you're holding a couple, like no matter what, probably right.
And if you're late and you don't have the track position to be able to tell, right,
to still be able to find the dial and find the number and put it up there
and at least put the pressure in the other lane.
Like sure, I might have been a little late on the tree this round, but I'm still dead on.
So you got to get inside of something, you know, it really speaks to her talent.
Couple, couple more things on Macy while we're at it.
It's, I think the impressive thing to me too is she wasn't hard dialing to 890.
She was, she was getting it to 890 because I was looking at some of her runs.
She was dropping some of them. She was lagging some of them.
It was her putting it on the number.
So I too seen that and the last time I saw all out pass was her first time run.
So she really was doing her job driving, that's for sure.
Well, Park, you mentioned she didn't win the race.
Matter of fact, I think she lost to the eventual winner of the race.
Who won the race in Supercom, Parker?
Uh, some guy, I think his name is Tanner, Tanner Theobald.
Never heard of her, never heard of her.
But, uh, yeah, 10 tell us a little bit about your weekend, how it started.
Um, obviously we know how it ended, but, uh, what was, what was your favorite round of the weekend?
Man, I don't, I don't, I guess my favorite round would probably would have been first round against Bobby Dye.
I feel like I've raced in a dozen times, but, uh, every time we do race, it's always just so good.
He's double low, I'm double low.
We tend to find the number and like just it's always been back and forth with him and I, so that was probably my favorite.
Um, but I don't know that my favorite round came in Supercom.
Uh, it was probably in Super street and I actually fell on the losing side of it, but that car was not good.
And so I kind of had to deal with something that wasn't great.
And I had to like override a throttle stop that I've never done before and make your race look completely different.
Fell a few thousand short, but like that was really fun.
I had so much fun in super street this weekend, but Supercom, obviously to come out with a 75th anniversary while I was pretty cool.
I talked to somebody else who grabbed one of those, uh, this weekend and I asked him if it was as cool as it looks in pictures and they were like,
it's the best thing I've ever, best trophy I've ever won.
So what do you think about it?
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
My, my wife, she's not a hundred percent.
I mean, she's sold on the aesthetics of it, but, uh, she says it doesn't match anything else.
So I don't know if we're going to put it somewhere else or what, but yeah, they've, like I said, the NHA really outdid themselves.
I think that it, it's cool to see something silver with the diamond and I think that it turned out very nice.
So you just got to win more than one.
So you can have like either end or like spread them out.
You know, you just got to get more than one so you can blend them in.
You're asking a lot now.
I know, but you started out strong, man.
And like you said, you know, you came in, you were, you were qualified two on the sheet.
I think you put it dead too.
You come right back around first round, you're 15 dead, two to be 17 total.
Then you're four, you're 13, miss it a little bit against McCann, uh, 33, but you put it dead five.
And, uh, good enough to get it done.
Uh, and then you're eight, right?
Eight and three above Chris, man.
He missed it just a little bit.
Um, cool to see Chris out there mixing it up and, uh, you know, the boys still got it, but, uh, he misses it and you didn't.
And, uh, you know, in the end, that's all she wrote.
Yeah, it was pretty cool being able to race Chris in the final.
Uh, he doesn't, he or he hasn't, I'm sure he will, but he hasn't made it to a bunch of races in the last, you know, handful of years.
Five years or so since he's kind of been doing the, the West coast classic deal and, uh, the Southwest showdown, but his car's done.
He's been showing up and he's been driving very well.
So it was cool to race him in the final.
Uh, he came over to the pit area before the round and it was fun to, you know, throw some blows at each other and, and he's, he's just a good friend, man.
Well, and, and he started, I think he was either rolling some in the box or he just wasn't seeing the tree as much, but I think his first four rounds, he wasn't any worse than nine.
Right.
So he's getting nasty on the tree out of the box.
And then like I said, he started, then he just kind of went to the twenties and the thirties.
So I don't know what, what happened there.
If the sunlight was, was playing tricks on him or whatever, but, uh, definitely started out strong and that's got to feel good for him, especially like you say, not.
Not competing as much as he'd want to, right?
He's got a million things going on.
He's got a big giant race, his flagship race coming up in like a week and all kinds of stuff to finish planning for that.
And, uh, cool to see him take a little break and get out there.
It's almost a good thing that he didn't win.
Uh, did you imagine showing up to the Southwest showdown and Chris is over there just tooting his horn about, oh yeah, look at me.
I go, you know, win an NHRA race.
Like stuff's easy type deal, you know, but.
Yeah.
So it spared you guys a little bit, I guess.
Yeah.
Worked out for the best.
Yeah.
I'm just, uh, I'm curious if the promoter side and Chris came out in the final round.
Did you guys, uh, chop it up at all?
That wasn't three cars.
Yeah.
He hit me and Macy up about a split.
So you came out with a couple hundred bucks.
Yeah.
Out of their own pockets.
Out of their own pockets.
Yeah.
We got taxed on it too.
So, yeah.
And then, uh, you spent it all at the concession stand after the race.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Double doubles.
Trevor Harcamo said Tanner picked up a few mile power, but a couple of double doubles putting back down.
He's not wrong.
That's funny, man.
And the concessions are no joke, man.
Like, uh, you know, I know like people make fun of the people that go and get the pistons or the tires or, or sign up for the VIP club.
I'll never go to a big race that has a, like a top eliminator club and not get those tickets because the amount of money you save on beer and food by buying the big package, it pays for itself twice over before the weekends over.
I couldn't imagine if I wouldn't have bought that ticket the last time I went to Vegas, how much I would have spent on hot dogs and beer.
It would have been a thousand dollars, right?
But for 400 bucks, I got as much food and drink as I wanted for four days and they feed you good.
The concession stands are crazy, man.
I'm sure that you guys were actively watching the live timing.
But, uh, Lindsay Schneider, uh, put on, if you, if you're a trip zip, you can go get yourself a double, double from their, their stand down there.
I'm pretty sure she probably almost went broke doing that.
There was, every time I turned around, it was Alan Reinhart telling everybody that, you know, so-and-so is double O.
So that was, that was pretty cool of her, but just a little bit of incentive, right?
Well, and he buys the cheap donuts these days.
He buys like the Walmart little wimpy packs of donuts these days.
He's always like, come get your bag of donuts.
And like, I would much rather go get a double, double than one.
We're going to have to talk to him about that, aren't we?
Expired bags of cheap donuts, man.
You mean the donuts?
Yeah. Yeah.
Like, which are fine, right?
But he doesn't even get like hostess brand.
He gets like great value.
He gets like generic ones, dude.
They're not even the good ones.
I wasn't going to save this segment that I've been dreaming up for a little later, but-
I don't know anything about this, Tanner.
This is like just his wild idea.
He's just launching on his radio.
I think my mom's calling.
I got to go guys.
Sun's almost set.
I got to go home.
Yeah.
But I've had this idea in my head of rating the top track snacks.
And I'm not talking the double O.
Oh, I was going to say.
I know a few.
I could let you all in to some secrets on, you know.
I'm actually talking track food.
So around the room, and I'll start, tell me your favorite track food from the concession stand, though.
It has to be like, you can't bring this food.
So I'm going to start Boise ice cream stand.
I'll wear that place out.
This is my brother.
I take $100 with me just so I can go there two, three, maybe four times a day and get, and get my track ice cream.
Tanner, what about you?
Well, if you took that first pick of Boise, we'll go, we'll go clear down south to Tucson that also has ice cream.
And they'll make it in any flavor you want.
Sorry guys, I got stuff popping up.
I hope you can hear me.
Yeah, you're good.
Tucson, they've got, they've got a shake shack down there that they'll make it in any flavor.
And you'll find me over there just as often as I was at the end and outstanding in Pamela.
I don't have near the perspective that either you have.
You guys have been way more race tracks than I have, but, and I got a pick two here.
Like I 57 drag strip in Illinois has a pulled pork sandwich that's on the menu like all the time.
And like it's legit barbecue slow roasted hand pull, you know, they put their fingers in it and make it all tasty.
And it's, it's ridiculous.
But the trip zip cafe at Woodburn in the last couple of years, they brought in a real chef chef Garrett Miller.
It's ridiculous.
Like we have stuffed French toast specials for breakfast.
They'll do steak and salmon surf and turf dinner specials, cordon blues, like crazy stuff that you wouldn't get at a race track.
But they do that like every weekend and the burgers and all that stuff, all the standard stuff, the, the world famous corn dogs, all that stuff's great.
But the type of specials that they run for dinner at Woodburn, it's so good.
We didn't have concessions open last year for my race.
Thank God we had a taco truck and we put those guys to work.
But next time you're at Woodburn, make sure you stop by the trip zip cafe.
Check out what chef Garrett's doing because it's it's next level food that you don't get at race tracks.
Hot dogs and hugs, is it?
No, I know that Woodburn was on my schedule one time at least this year, but we're going to have to hit that two or three more just because of their snacks.
It's so good.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
I've had salmon and shrimp like multiple times, you know, like just crazy stuff.
Steaks, you know, New York strip steak or something.
I mean, it's just like, it's just next level stuff and stuff French toast or chicken fried steak stuff in the mornings.
Like isn't it funny like we, we go to Woodburn, we go to Tucson, we go to Boise like all these, all these tracks have these great snack shacks.
Right.
But then you go to Vegas and like 90% of the time they don't even have anything open.
What do they do?
I think they're selling themselves short.
I think there's something to do with like the union down there, like all the people who work for the concessions at Vegas are part of a union.
And so I think there's usually all kinds of drama around that.
And that's why the thing like the VIP club tickets, you're in the tent, you don't even go to the concession stand and they were feeding us brisket and like fresh cornbread and all this catered stuff.
Like it was, it made those hot dogs and corn dogs.
Like no way I'm paying nine bucks for one of those, you know, $14 beers when you get free ones in the VIP shack all day long.
It was, it's well worth the money, man, because you get some real food.
Well, if you're telling me there's a union problem, I know Justin Lam just got spotted.
We need to fix concessions in Vegas.
Yeah, it's, well, that's why like Peter can't open it for the spring fling because it's a whole separate deal.
And that's why there's no food at the fling.
If Justin's in charge, could you imagine Chris Lam on like a tricycle hot dog deal cruising around the pits on hot dogs, everybody?
I'd buy one.
I'd buy a lamb dog.
We got a couple more categories to get through Tanner.
Nice job, man.
Way to kick things off.
I hope, I hope you can get her done a couple more times, whether it's in Super Comp or in the Swiss Army Knife Trans Am that y'all got.
But hell the job this weekend, man.
Congratulations.
Thank you guys.
I appreciate you having me on.
It's pretty cool what you guys are doing.
It's nice to, you guys are, you know, giving some people some recognition and it's, it's always nice to see that, you know, from, for anybody that's one.
So appreciate it guys.
Thank you.
Yeah, you can hang out if you want.
We, we're just going to get off the food and get to a couple more categories.
We love doing it, man.
West Coast has its own show, right. And, and this is way more about everybody else than it ever was for us and just kind of a wild hair idea that we've, we've had a ton of fun doing so far now I think we're going to stop anytime soon.
See, see Bob Beals says anything from Woodburn.
Bob knows Bob knows.
So in Bob, we trust in Bob, we trust.
He was, he was turning on some wind lines down there and in Pomona to long ways from home, but maybe we'll see him in Phoenix.
Some other people we may see in Phoenix.
David Meyer, big time bracket racer.
Doesn't, doesn't hit the divisional scene as often as he should, but ringing that last win light in Super Street in the, in the Cavalier wouldn't be surprised to see him down in Tucson.
I don't know if there's Super Street in, in at the Phoenix National, but for sure we'll see him in Tucson.
Top sportsman, Jeff Gillette, someone who isn't uncommon to see on the division or national side on the West Coast, when in a round, when in a race, excuse me, but yeah, good for Jeff beat Joe Stott standard in the final.
Just a, just a really good race there.
It wasn't that great of a race. I think standard shook the tires or something.
I was looking at top dragster.
He ran like an 18 at 50 mile an hour.
So, well, Jeff, Jeff did a good job getting there.
He did get there.
He did get there. I didn't, that was, that was cold only man. I shouldn't have called you out like that.
I was getting it mixed up with the top dragster final and that one, that one was a good one.
You mean bottom dragster?
You know, 70, 60 dragsters.
Koop Chun has a bottom dragster that he enters in top dragster.
Jen Wiens puts it on the board in the number one spot at the minimum index of six, 10 with some change.
Koop Chun puts her in the old 39 spot out of 39 spots.
I'm like, man, I called him. I called him on my home.
I'm like, dude, I'm like, I was looking for a sheet and I hadn't had a chance to pull up drag race central yet.
And I'm like, re in the last spot. He's like, Oh, you know, I was and, and there was one other 750 dragster.
I think the next one closest was like 710 or, you know, seven flat.
So way at the bottom of the sheet driving.
He was trying to drag the shift out to catch that next position.
Ridiculous.
And, you know, and we've talked about it with Koop and you run out of superlatives with this guy.
And but you don't even really need him. I just look at the facts and look at the run sheets.
This guy driving in front all day knows how to back that car into any, it doesn't matter what the person next to him's down or how fast they run him.
He'll back it in there. He'll put it on the number.
I don't know if you saw his string of lights.
Dude was never worse than 18. And you throw the 18 out and he's, and he's not worse than 13.
He's won 18987 and 13 on the tree. Just filthy, filthy.
Just putting together 20 total packages left and right. And, and I think in top dragster 20 total is going to get it done a lot of the time.
So I think, I think Cooper's just playing the, the package game unnecessarily happened to drive the finish line because when you're getting chased by one and a half seconds, it's fairly difficult.
But for Coop, nothing's impossible. He gets chased a lot. And he was, I was right in the wheelhouse.
I mean, yeah, he's 58, 56, 56, 58, 59. Right. I mean, he's putting it wherever he needs to put it. Damon, Damon boosted Monte, right, who can, who can get it done.
He knows how to boogie works his way through the round somehow. He's all over the place on the tree. 11, he's 36, he's 33.
You know, comes up pretty decent 15 to a 13 in the final looking pretty good. 20 mile an hour stripe and he's down nine mile an hour and he's still 20 mile an hour faster.
That's not a look either one of those guys want breaks it out by a foul.
And Coop 13 puts it one above pushes him through and Coop Chun man in the 760 760 top dragster grabbing one of those diamond wallies.
I heard that that win was was all because of Casey pleasure. If it wasn't for Casey, Cooper wouldn't be where he is today.
You knew you knew that was coming from Casey.
Yeah, but now pretty cool. Pretty cool to see that.
And I, like I said, talk to Coop that starts six weeks on the road for him. So we'll probably be talking quite a bit about Coop Chun. I anticipate that he'll be doing doing Coop Chun things.
I know that Dylan house getting things loaded up right now to make their debut. He's my pick for top dragster world champion this year. I know he's focused. I asked him today. I'm like, you got 107 degree tune up.
He's like, Oh yeah, buddy. So, you know, we'll see what the blower car can do this weekend going to be fun to watch.
So we've bounced it to Tucson in a couple weeks and Parker had mentioned the East, West, West shootout two winners from this weekend participating in that so Cooper and Brad Pierce. So that's good. Good news.
Dude, I saw they shuffled the field a little bit look like Dustin words got in there who has wrecked shop down there multiple times.
The crew is looking stout man. I mean, I know that the other crew is stout to you know you got names like Sarah and go Lydie and a lot of others on there but
Like you say you got you got Parker you got Whitfield you got Marco you got Brad you got Dustin words you got Henry Roberson like these are all dudes that have cashed a lot of big checks.
And if the if the East Coast thinks they're going to come in and have any light work to do. I think they got another thing coming, you know, and they can certainly do it, you know, if they went, if they went 12 for 16.
That wouldn't surprise me but if they go for 16 that won't surprise me either. Right like it's going to be stout that first round is going to be a lot of fun.
Absolutely.
Well, if there's nothing else from Pomona. I'd just like to say, or, or give the safety track and track staff around of applause. They were dealt a lot of difficult, difficult conditions and, and events and timing system problems and they got it done.
And hats off to those guys and gals helping make it us make it possible for us to go racing.
Thank you guys.
Pretty much wraps wraps it up for me for Pomona, moving on to Phoenix, getting excited for that. The fields are looking pretty light. We did talk about the weather. I know that stock and super gas, all the fields are like half full right now.
And you can't enter anymore, but the deadline to drop is still Wednesday. So I don't see it staying as full as it is right now. I think people are going to drop it's going to be hot. It's going to be greasy. It's going to be miserable.
But Tanner and I are going to go try our hand at sticking it out.
I just barely got off the phone with a party rental. They're dropping off a pool to our pit area on Friday. So top that off and, and you know, we can have some refreshing water.
I love it. It'd be cool if that was true.
I don't think though, I don't think the water would stay in it very long. We might have to fill up the firebird lake again and bring our pontoon boat. But hopefully we all stay cool. Everybody plan ahead, bring lots of water, bring lots of shade.
And I don't know if you guys have seen the schedule or not, but it looks like we're running pros at like nine o'clock in the morning to get them in and sportsman before them. So we're starting real early and maybe running real late for the sportsman categories.
But like stock eliminated to the lanes at like 7am or something crazy.
Great. That means we got to be up at like three o'clock to wake everybody up.
I think they should, I know it probably within the desert right the swings. It happens quick. So once the sun goes down, I know the temp just falls out the bottom falls out but especially in tracks that are kind of out off the beaten path.
I would love, especially in the middle of the summer, like first round at midnight.
And like, let's just rock it through the night. I think a lot of people would come to party like that. Right. And I think it'd be a different kind of atmosphere in the stands and, you know, they're not going to do it.
But if I was running the show, we'd be starting, we'd be starting first round at 11pm.
And we'd run her through the night and we'd have us a heck of a party. But I'm going to be watching it. You know, I think we're going to have a lot of people go up and smoke.
It'll be interesting to see how people play the games and, you know, we're going to, we're going to pull all the timing out the entire way, you know, down to get those things down the track.
So it'll be fun, man. And it's too bad that the field won't be as full because you'd get to see a lot more of that gamesmanship.
But even still, you can't control that. The people that show up can't control what the other people do. And, you know, someone's going to show up and they're going to figure it out and they're going to get it done.
Yeah, it'll be, it'll be definitely fun to watch the pros navigate their way down the track. I think the.
From the cover of our pool. Yeah, from the cover of the pool. And we could put it on top of the trailer so we could have a view.
But I think this weekend it'll be a lot of footage for NHRA thrills and spills.
Only if Bob Frye comes in and does a little bit of the commentary to make it real good.
I hope that's a regular thing that happens throughout the season.
Didn't it just sound so normal? Like he should just take it back, man.
Bob was a little bit before my time, but Tanner and I used to watch Drag Racing 96 every night for like, I don't know, three, four years.
But we got that whole tape. We're talking VHS memorized. And I'm pretty sure Bob Frye was one of the top end announcers.
So I wouldn't doubt it.
I guess he won a funny car that year, Troy.
In 96? Was it John Force?
It was John Force.
Yeah. Well, I was like, man, there was a couple of curveballs in there.
It's funny. I don't have it anymore. I had an old monster truck tape.
And Steve Evans was one of the announcers for that.
It was a TNN production, Diamond P Sports production.
And I don't remember who else was with that, but we didn't get to see a lot of Drag Racing.
We didn't have cable for a lot of years.
When we did, we'd watch it of course on TNN, but I would watch that monster truck video five times a day forever.
And so like, I still just hear Steve Evans in my head all the time, like I just can't shake it.
And so always cool when the old schoolers, you know, come back.
I know Alan's been, he's been just as active as he ever was since he's, since he hasn't been on the pros.
I saw a weird announcement that he's going back to IHRA as an announcer, which totally blows my mind.
I haven't texted him yet to get the down low skinny on that.
I had also, you know, heard rumors, nothing confirmed by any means that there might be some spaces for him along the way on the 75th anniversary.
He's been such a big part of telling the story of NHRA for so long.
So that wouldn't surprise me either.
So I don't know what's going on behind the scenes between the two sanctioning bodies and Alan Reinhart and all that.
But going to be fun to watch this year.
And I hope they keep bringing people back like Bob and others who've been a part of it.
Troy, you know what's going to be crazy is in like 30 years, someone's going to be having their own podcast.
They're going to be like, remember that announcer from Seattle at the national events at Troy guy?
Man, I don't know.
That'd be cool.
Total good.
Yeah, total good.
I can't believe they let him come back so many times.
No, well, and like, just that kind of stuff, man, that that's how we, we, when we think about the sport, right, you think about guys like Bob or Alan or Steve or McClellan, right?
And, and just there's such an association with the storytellers of the sport.
And I think we've got some good ones coming in behind them and, and, you know, we'll see how it all goes.
But yeah, it's pretty cool to hear Gage Gilbert from there in Vegas.
He did a lot of the announcing there in Pomona and he's one of the young guys coming up seems to be doing a very good job.
He does a great job.
Yeah, he does a great job and he's got a good sense of humor and, you know, he talks to the people in the pits.
And so he can, he can tell little jokes or tell stories and no, Gage does a great job.
It doesn't matter how long Gage announces for.
He will always be Gage the intern though.
Well, I heard Mike James get on the mic too and like, that's a dude I love listening the way Mike calls races and, and, and announces I wish he did it more.
You know, I give you get to hear him usually at the fling and a couple other things.
Love here and Mike on the, on the, on the PA.
So yeah, pretty good mix this weekend, Pomona.
Well, that pretty much wraps it up for me.
Any final thoughts, Troy, Tanner, what you got?
Well, did you guys see the, the, the interview with Bernstein and Amato and Don Gartlett's.
You should look at it.
I don't think that went the way the NHRA was hoping it would go.
They bring on three legends, right?
They're in Gainesville.
They're doing the big Hall of Fame deal with the, with the drag race and Hall of Fame,
garlic staying and everyone's going to the museum and they're bringing all the legends back, right?
And they're putting everybody on tour and, and they put Kenny and Joe Amato.
Joe Amato is my favorite of all time.
You know, maybe force, I guess, but Amato's my guy and, and Kenny and Joe and Gartlett's get up there and proceed to rail on 1000 feet for like an hour.
And how the, if the NHRA knows what's good for them, they'll go back to 1320 and this will never, I mean, they just went on and on and on.
And they're there for the NHRA to talk about all the great things of NHRA and it got sideways real quick.
And then three guys just went on and on about how it needs to go back to quarter mile.
So, I don't know how they, oh dude, I mean, I was just like, oh no, this is not, you know, if you're Galvin or you're, you know, somebody in the truck, you're watching them, you know, on camera, you got to just be, you know,
shaking your head and I don't want to speak for those guys and, and who knows, maybe it's no big deal.
Those guys are in their right to say and feel, you know, however they want to feel and it's probably not going to change anything, but it was just an interesting, it was an interesting conversation, man, because it got sideways real quick.
So what you're saying is that segment's also going to end up on NHRA thrills and spills?
It might, it might, man, or they'll put it on the blooper reel or something.
Yeah, I don't, I don't think they followed the script.
Well, I'm excited to see how this weekend goes down in Phoenix.
Do a little bit of a preview for Tucson the following week.
Maybe grab another winner.
Hopefully, maybe we just have ourselves as guests again next week 10.
But double up the Theobald double up, man.
The double double the double double and shout out to everyone who's been hanging out with us on YouTube.
I see Walt in there as reliable as ever.
And a couple other cats in there. I know Gary and Trevor Harkham up.
My boy Brett Sawa, Tracy Chuns out there in Facebook land.
So shout out to everybody who's who's been hanging out with us today.
One thing, one request, I want you to put your favorite tracks next in the comments so we can further review where our racing schedule needs to go.
We're in Woodburn a couple times this year now.
So let us know what snacks we need to go get.
That's all for this week.
We'll see you all next Monday.
Bye.
Request an explanation for:
2 cars
2 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
