Southwestern International Raceway

Tucson, AZ

May 25, 26, 27, 2007

Memorial weekend marked the 2nd and 3rd Big Bucks Bracket Races, CIFCA, R1320, Corvette Drags, and Jr. Dragsters Team Race #4 which made for an exciting Saturday and Sunday at SIR. For the racers pleasure a Gambler was thrown in on Friday night along with an open Test and Tune. The two races contested on Friday were the R1320 and the Gambler. The final for the R1320 was between two street legal small block Camaros. Neither driver is a stranger to the winners circle at SIR. In the end, Carl Mapes grabbed the win from Phil Rios when Phil went under his dial by 4 hundredths. Carl’s ’71 Camaro dialed a 14.34 and ran a 14.465 at 94.98 MPH on a .208 reaction time. The ’87 Camaro of Phil dialed a 13.08 and ran 5 under with a 13.04 at 99.66 MPH after his .142 light.

The Friday Gambler had some familiar names and also some not so familiar names at SIR. Many out of town racers came for the Big Bucks Bracket race and got into the Gambler for some extra cash. One of our out of town guests, Becky Phlegar went all the way to the final to face SIR’s two time super Pro Champion, Bill Kidd. Both racers got into the final when their opponents in the semis broke out. Becky and Bill decided to split the cash pot and save their race cars for the Big Bucks race on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, with the track ready to go by 9 AM, the Tucson Corvette Club hosted Super Bash 2007 Corvette Drags. Corvettes from as far away as California, New Mexico, and Colorado and all over Arizona came to play. Five brackets were contested with 47 Corvettes taking on the 1320. The ladies winner was Nancy Olney’s 1998 blue convertible. Bracket two winner was the 2006 Z06 of Kim Kemper from New Mexico. The fastest bracket was Bracket I with Skip Hurliman leading the way in his race prepared 1997 gold and white 600 HP Corvette. Skip also took King of the Hill honors, but he had to face Nancy Olney for the Top Eliminator title. Nancy took the trophy away by running closer to her dial in the final race of the day for Super Bash 2007.

The Jr. Dragsters 8-12 final round put the Avondale, AZ resident, James Roye in the number one spot on Saturday when he had a .091 reaction time and covered the 660’ in 9.061 at 69.93 MPH on his 9.00 dial. Angelica Jimmerson also dialed a 9.00, but ran a 9.148 at 64.28 MPH after her .111 light. The Jr. Dragsters 13-17 once again boys versus girls when the Checker Schucks and Kragen sponsored car of Ericca Martinez broke out to end up #2 against Donny Toia. Donny ran on his dial with an 8 to get the win. Toia, in a borrowed car from the Hawk Family Racing dialed an 8.18 and had a .100 reaction time at 78.98 MPH. Ericca dialed an 8.21, but ran an 8.178 at 80.63 MPH after her .156 light.

The Jr. Dragster Conci race was also won in a borrowed car. This time Michael Pfund borrowed one of Don Toia’s Jr. Dragsters and got the double breakout win. Michael dialed a 10.25 and he ran a 10.248 at 61.29 MPH. Ray Olsson from Tucson dialed a 9.93 and ran a close 9.925 at 63.43 MPH after his .191 light. Only three thousandths of a second separated the two at the stripe.

The final of the No Box Big Bucks Bracket Race found two of our well-known racers going for the big bucks. The 2006 Motorcycle Champion, Craig Wood faced Matt Hawk, the 2006 double champion of both High School and 13-17 Jr. Dragsters. Matt came out victorious when he left with a .018 reaction, dialed a 12.53, and ran a 12.547 at 104.15 MPH. The hard charging Suzuki GSXR of Craig ran an 8.922 on his 8.88 dial at 150.23 MPH after his .025 light.

The Box Big Bucks Bracket Race took seven very tough rounds for Noel Zweigler to put the guaranteed payout in his pocket. Mike Gardner got the number two place when he turned on the red light by .006. Mike let the red falcon go a little and ran an 11.064 on his 11.07 dial at 119.58 MPH. Noel had a .013 light and ran an 11.997 on his 11.97 dial.

The highlight of Saturday was our headliners, the California Independent Funny Car Association. They put on a great show for the crowd and kept them screaming above the roar of the blown alcohol engines. The Perma Cool Burn-out title and $100.00 prize went to the Jim Carter’s 1957 Sweet Justice Machine. Chill Scardino got a hole shot victory over local racer Danny Levitt, Jr. The “Chill Factor” 1990 Daytona bodied funny car had a .038 reaction time as he ran a 7.558 at 184.67 MPH on the 7.50 index. Danny was a little spooked by his .004 light in the semis so he had a cautious .138 light in the final. He ran right on the index with a 3 at 179.18 MPH, but could not catch Chill without going under his index.

Sunday was another guaranteed Big Bucks Bracket Race day even for the Jr. Dragster racers. Borst Automotive put up $1,000.00 for the Jr. Dragster Quick 32. Jake Bolwar from Scottsdale, AZ went home with the lions share when he dialed a 4.49 and ran a 4.517. Eric Dockins from Tucson Also left with his pockets full even though he ran under his dial by five thousandths. Eric dialed a 5.04 and ran a 5.035.

The Sunday No Box Big Bucks final, like Saturday, had a motorcycle and a door car competing. The door car again went to the winners circle. Multi time Division champ, Angelo Phillips from Scottsdale, AZ took out the Suzuki of Lance Samson. Angelo’s 1976 Volare ran a 12.691 on the 12.58 dial at 95.76 MPH after the .052 light. Lance had a better reaction time of .026, but could not run the numbers. He dialed a 9.48 and ran a 9.875 at 136.91 MPH. Two Phoenix residents were in the final for the Box category. Chuck Phelps’ 2005 Yancer R.E.D. took the number one spot from the Black Cherry ’67 Camaro of Larry Spitalli, last years winner of the ET finals. Spitalli had a .006 light, but ran under his dial by almost three hundredths with a 9.966 on the 9.99 dial at 132.80 MPH. Chuck ran a closer 8.574 on his 8.56 dial at 153.02 MPH.

The next race at SIR is an open Test and Tune on Friday, June 1 with gates at 4 PM. Saturday is Team SIR Race #6 and High School Race #6. Gates for Saturday are also at 4 PM.

Bruce Mabry, Track Announcer

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