With the air conditions in the 5,000+ foot corrected range not many people were thinking that the pro mod track record would be broken which was set last year by Bret Williamson at 6.09 seconds. After the first two qualifying sessions Rod Burbage held the top qualifying spot with a 6.11 and the 8-car bump spot was a 6.73, not the typically quick racing the WCOPMA is becoming known for but there was still the final Saturday night qualifying session and that’s when the big numbers were lit up on the score boards.
Rod Burbage would be the first to make a big run when he went 6.07 to reset the track record and following right behind him was Mike Maggio who was on the bump but placed himself into the number two spot with a 6.09, a number that tied the previous track record. Marc Meadors, Lee Smith, Jay Diedrich, Rob Cacioppo and Billy Harper all improved as well but the run that really counted was Bret Williamson’s stunning 5.98 to reclaim himself as the pro mod track record holder and go from the very bottom of the qualifying order straight to the top. At last year’s Nightfire event the 8-car bump spot was a 6.47 and that was nearly be lowered by 2-tenths when the bump spot just to qualify was a 6.29 this past weekend!
In the first round of eliminations Williamson would advance over Diedrich with a 6.20 to a 6.31, Meadors got a lucky break after Smith left the line with a killer .007 RT on the tree and would lead to half track until he banged the blower allowing Meadors to get to the stripe first in 6.36-seconds. Burbage got the win over Harper with a 6.16 to Harper’s 6.30 and Maggio would advance over Radford (who was placed into the field as the first alternate for Randy Walker who couldn’t make the first round call) with a 6.18 to Radford’s 6.31 but with a huge 237 MPH to reset the WCOPMA’s record for a nitrous car MPH.
The second round placed Williamson against Meadors and Burbage against Maggio in the other pair. Williamson got the easy win over Meadors after Marc’s car popped out of gear at the hit of the throttle and Bret took the scenic route down the track with a loose 6.23 to get the win. Then in the other pair Burbage got to the stripe first with a clean and smooth 6.15 to Maggio’s peddling 6.90.
The final round placed Burbage against Williamson with Burbage having lane choice. Williamson had an opportunity to defend his title as the 2010 Nightfire winner but Burbage was dead set on winning his first NHRA Wally trophy of his racing career. When the cars were staged and the tree dropped Burbage was hooked and gone and Williamson shook the tires and could only watch Burbage run an impressive 6.09 which was the low ET for eliminations to take the win and get his first Wally trophy of his racing career.
Next up for the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association is the Super Chevy Show at Bandimere Speedway this August 19-21 weekend. With the races winding down and points starting to be looked at more closely Rod Burbage stretched his lead by over three rounds with his win in Boise. Bret Williamson jumped from fourth place to second place and has a six point lead over Marc Meadors in third place. Burbage, Williamson and Meadors look to have the top 3 places locked up but the battle for the top 8 is still close as Dan Nickelson (4), Lee Smith (5), Jay Diedrich (6), Mike Maggio (7) and Dan Myers (8) are still battling it out.
As always you can follow the action all weekend on our website www.WestCoastOutlawProMods.com. Friday will be an open test session from 12-5pm then three qualifying runs on Saturday scheduled for 1pm, 3pm and 5pm with eliminations being held on Sunday starting at 12 noon. For more information visit our website above or www.Bandimere.com. Watch the living timing from this weekends event at www.1320Go.com.
