|
Thursday Mar.25-Mon Mar
29, 2004 PSCA Orme Bros. Shootout LVMS
|
|
Hi resolution impages The trip down Reno to Vegas via The Extraterrestrial Hwy Thurs. March 25 |
Video frame captures
|
Our third journey south to a Pacific Street Car Association race at Las Vegas was a trip. Driving time over three days (I like to stop, take pictures, gamble etc) was about 24 hours each way. If you've never done it I highly recommend it, especially the part from Reno to Vegas. The sights are amazing for a dude from big tree country as you can regularly see a road stretch nearly twenty miles out the front window with not a vehicle in sight. I drove at 85mph for almost half an hour before I saw another car on one stretch. Doing it alone is interesting to say the least.
THE STRIP at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a most excellent place to go drag racing. Despite the fact this is a thin air altitude track, the prep here is the best in the sport. No doubt about it, when manager Chris Blair and assistant Cliff Ricci sit down to decide how to mix the sticky stuff, then how to lay it on, then how to scrub it in...well the crew here can do it better than anybody. Some racers have actually called the place too good as in testing they learn very little since few other tracks can match the consistency of either LVMS lane. Because of the fact horsepower is down a bit here it means that with the correct setup and the right conditions racers can lay it down like they can at few other places. The results are quick and fast runs...and often spectacular wheelstands.
It was here we saw cars go on the bumper more than once, but the topper was in round one of Pro Street when Alta Loma California Pro Street shoe Clint Hairston came through the lights in his twin turbo small block '72 Camaro on a seven flat pass at 194mph...with the front wheels two feet in the air!
And there was the big soft spoken Ed Thornton proving he truly is the kingpin of west coast Pro Street racing by winning yet again. The ex-Bob Reiger '57 Chevy hammering out mid-six second near 220mph runs on nearly every pass down the race track.
To top it off for us Northwest dudes and dudettes it was two of 'our' racers making it to the final rounds. Barry Hobson in Pro Street and Trevor Willms in Heavy Street. Hosbson in the ex-Rick Distefano Pro Mod Baretta had little more than a big all-motor Steve Schmidt piece that ran as well as 7.34/178. "I was coming to run Super Comp at the National Event next weekend, so figured I may as well try this too". It was his first try at any Pro Street event and the Seattle driver went out Sunday night for a steak dinner with a big smile on his face.
For Willms it was an exercise in frustration as his pretty Nova was plagued by converter problems all three days, not to mention a slight problem with his tent (see photos). Through it all his big entourage had an awesome time here, his ride attracting the glowing appreciation of the southwest fans and racers alike.
Another story of local interest was the 33 hour nonstop tow from Dawson Creek B.C. by Dale Pedersen and team who ran a best ever ET qualifying four in Outlaw Street with an awesome 8.03/173.21. His massive twin turbo Chevy powered '83 Regal complete with full interior was up against full tilt, tube frame nitrous rockets making his performance even more outstanding. Pedersen lost a close one in the opening stanza, and later had a local casino owner thank him for the effort and offering a weekend sponsorship if he ever returned!
Was it the biggest street car race the west coast has ever seen? Maybe, maybe not, but rest assured the STRIP will be the place to be Labor Day Sept. 3-5 and November19-21 as the PSCA comes back twice more in '04. HH is already planning to make the finals, we'll see about the other.
Before you check out the mulititude of images we present we want to thank our host Chris Blair and his crew from track officals to tower staff who always go the full nine yards for HH, guest announcer Mike English who talked us up all weekend and Mel Roth of the PSCA who once again took great care of us.
In a few short weeks we'll be putting together a west coast street legal documentary video. It will feature a year's worth of video the likes of which will showcase the quality of left coast competition. The best of the southwest plus the wildest runs from the northwest groups. All the left coast big guns in one place at one time. Thornton, Braid, Bowman, Murray, Lane...this list goes on and on! It's never been done before, so get your big screens ready as in true HH style, that plasma puppy'll need a transfusion when it's finished playing this one!
Digital Images
Please note that many of these links simply go to the first of
many other pages of images. Unfortunately I was brain dead and the hi
res pics are quite large. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I hope
their size does not cause too many problems with viewing as I may have
to redo everything smaller if so. Most of the racing shots I did with
the video camera, which are not as clear as the hi rez photos, but you
get the idea. Due to high traffic we have not posted any video.
Also please note that we are quite new to most of these rides and do not know many names. We tried our very best to identify who we could when we could as even the result sheets can sometimes be incorrect. If there was a question in our minds we did not include a caption. If we got it wrong or you know who it is we'll try our best to make corrections but this has already taken a few days to do so we may or may not be able to do it quickly.