Nitro Night of Fire, Sacramento Raceway Park, June 26 and 27
Exciting all new Nitro Night of Fire this year. Gates open at 10:00 Friday with test and tune from 12:00 to 4:00. Qualifying will start at approximately 5:00. TEW will have one round of qualifying Friday evening with the final qualifying round Saturday late morning. Eliminations beginning approximately 2:00 PM.
A Note to racers wanting to race at any TEW race:
Top Eliminator West does not collect any "membership" dues, nor do you have to sign up to compete in advance. A participation fee of $150 is collected prior to any qualifying rounds. The money collected is distributed back to the racers as part of the purse.
Night of Fire, Champion Raceway in Medford on the July 4th
New to Top Eliminator West for 2009, is the Night of Fire at Champion Raceway in Medford Oregon. Gates will open at 5:00 PM Friday for a test and tune session that will go until 11:00. On Saturday, Gates open at 8:00 AM, with first qualifying rounds commencing at 10:00 AM, first TEW passes will be at approximately 11:00 AM. There will be a total of two qualifying passes for this event. As in typical Champion Raceway fashion all racers and fans will be treated to a spectacular fireworks display at the end of the event. Also on the schedule are jet funny cars and pro mods.
Funny Car Fever Opens 2009 Season
Friday morning started with rain, not hard but it was enough to get the track wet.
The first qualifying pass proved to be a challenge for most of the teams with almost no one getting down the lanes. Our last qualifying pass scheduled for 9:30 that night was postponed to Saturday mid morning due to a wet and very cold track. Our last qualifying pass was a little better, but everyone still had trouble.
Final Qualifying Order:
Butch Stroupe 6.43 217.38
Kenny Buzdas 6.55 217.25
Jimmy Johnson 6.58 200.99
Matthew Mahoney 6.71 205.08
Steve Scott 6.79 196.89
Curtis Clevenger 7.18 239.29
Simon Procopenko 7.27 175.02
Steve LaBurn 7.90 135.57
Thanks again to J. Ray Concrete for the low qualifier bonus money.
The first round began with Stroupe having rear end problems at the hit which opened the door for LaBurn to take the win. In the next heat, Scott and Mahoney ran side by side with Scott coming out with the win. The best race in the first round was Procopenko and Buzdas. The old man left first with a .063 to a .065 light, good job Simon. Clevenger then took the win against Johnson.
The semi finals started with Clevenger and a .016 light but Procopenko was clearly the car to beat all weekend as he took the stripe. In the next heat LaBurn most definitely won the wheelie contest. He put the wheels 8 feet in the air and ran it out to 100-150 feet before it came down. He then didn’t see Scott and hammered the throttle, backfiring the injectors. It was a crowd pleaser for sure! Something happened to Scott and he just idled down the track. This put Procopenko and LaBurn in the finals.
LaBurn was unable to make the call for final round giving the win to Procopenko.
Top Eliminator West Eliminations Summary
Round 1
W: Steve LaBurn ('91 Don Long - Donv).............6.30....0.255....6.420..195.71...MOV: 11.571
L: Butch Stroupe ('92 Dragster - Chev)............6.30....0.207...18.039...43.61
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W: Steve Scott ('81 Dragster - KB)................6.30....0.119....6.551..176.09...MOV: 0.158
L: Matt Mahoney ('23 Ford - BAR)..................6.30....0.099....6.729..203.98
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W: Simon Procopenko ('02 Uyehara - AJ)............6.30....0.063....6.451..214.12...MOV: 0.053
L: Kenny Buzdas ('05 Sarmento - Chev).............6.30....0.065....6.502..220.05
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W: Curtis Clevenger ('91 Dragster - Chev).........6.30....0.022....8.773..128.40
L: Jimmy Johnson ('07 Sarmento - DART)............6.30....-.280....6.746..200.92-Foul
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Round 2
W: LaBurn.................6.30....0.113....9.567...88.44...MOV: 9.888
L: Scott..................6.30....0.137...19.431...36.51
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W: Procopenko.............6.30....0.102....7.144..141.78...MOV: 0.509
L: Clevenger..............6.30....0.016....7.739..189.21
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Final
W: Procopenko.............6.30....0.088....6.156..234.84
L: LaBurn.................6.30...........no show
Top Eliminator West 2009 Association Points
FCF NN MNF FH Gov. Total
1. 7001 Simon Procopenko 102102
2. 7155 Steve LaBurn 8181
3. 7510 Steve Scott 6464
4. 7869 Curtis Clevenger 6363
5. 733 A Butch Stroupe 4848
6. 7126 Kenny Buzdas 4747
7. 7391 Jimmy Johnson 4646
8. 6182 Matthew Mahoney 4545 |
Top Eliminator West put on a great show, thanks to everyone.
Curtis
J. Ray to Sponsor Low ET
Top Eliminator West is happy to announce that J. Ray Concrete will be posting a $100 bonus to the number one qualifier for each of the 2009 events. TEW would like to thank Jim Ray for his support of our program.
New TEW Forum
Since there were problems with new people unable to sign in to the forum. We have replaced it with a new one. This means everyone will have to sign up again to use it. Click Here
TEW Testing at Sacramento
Top Eliminator West will have a test day at Sacramento Raceway on March 14. So far, the cars that are coming include: Clevengers, Butch Stroupe, Steve Scott, Jim Ray and Rick Brophy. Go to Sacramento Raceway's web site for more testing info. Click Here
TEW: New Changes for 2009
A new season of Top Eliminator West drag racing is upon us and for 2009 TEW has made some changes. Changes in payout, website and event location are all part of the new season of TEW. On top of all that, the points have reset and everyone will be gunning after Curtis Clevenger, the 2008 Champion, who has the privilege of carrying the bulls-eye on his back for the next year.
With help from Rich Bailey, a fellow TEW runner and racer from Oregon, TEW now has a new look and new site to help promote the class. Along with the new look comes new payouts! Every racer loves winning money and TEW will now pay out $1200 to the winner at each event. So if you think you have a bad hot rod, come run with us! Door Slammers, Front or Rear Engine Dragsters, Altereds, and Floppers are all welcome to join us and we look forward to new competitors coming out and running in TEW.
For Fourth of July weekend we have a new event that will be ran at Champion Raceway in Medford, Oregon. With a plan attendance from many Division 6 Runners, TEW is holding its first 16 car show in the history of the class. TEW will compete in front of the Oregon racing fans along with the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association and with four rounds of racing should make for a great show!
TEW made strong showings at Sacramento Raceway in 2008 and now in 2009 we find the schedule spaced further out and easier for racers from long distances to consistently compete. With a more racer budget friendly schedule for 2009 we will find ourselves racing four times at Sacramento Raceway and once at Champion Raceway in Medford, Oregon.
The TEW schedule includes;
• Funny Car Fever April 24 & 25 Sacramento
• Nitro Night of Fire June 26 & 27 Sacramento
• Bi-Mart Night of Fire July 3 & 4 Medford
• Famous Fox Hunt August 14 & 15 Sacramento
• Governors Cup September 18 & 19 Sacramento
Teams appear stronger than ever. We saw many teams make major performance increases in 2008 and the way things have been it only looks to get tougher. Everyone in TEW has high hopes for 2009 and the only thing that will make it better is more racers! Contact us if you are interested in running with us!
See the Top Eliminator West Video Here
Welcome to the New TEW Site
In 2009 Top Eliminator West is unveiling a new site in an effort tokeep racers and fans up-to-date about the Top Eliminator West Drag Racing Series and the racing action at all TEW events through out the season.
This year we promise to keep on top of it so there's something new every week including stories about reason event and even driver profiles. This site is still under construction. We hope you like the new look.
Submit Your News!
If you have news or a picture to share and you are a Top Eliminator West race team, sponsor or track, please Contact us and we will post it! The picture or news should be drag racing related.
TEW Member News:
New Funny Car Fired Up in Time for
New Web Site!
Here is the first start up on the new engine. I was having an idle check valve problem that is now fixed. Hoping to get out by the end of the year. I'm still about 3k away from going down the track again in my own TEW car. Check it out here
Dragracer 718fc
