Sonoma, Ca – The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association’s 2011 season is half way finished after completing the third event of six last weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. 15 of the toughest competitors on the west coast came to battle it out just to qualify for the 8-car field, let alone go home with the win and the “Wally” on Sunday.
Mike Maggio was running with the WCOPMA for his first time ever and set the bar high early in the weekend during Thursday’s open test session when he was the first pro mod car down the track and ran a very respectable 5.97 pass. Marc Meadors would be the second quickest in testing on Thursday with a 6.06 run. Many others tested on Thursday but only made planned shut off runs to be on the safe side in preparation of the four total qualifying runs on Friday and Saturday.
During the first qualifying session on Friday afternoon Maggio laid down a new association ET record of 5.870 which would keep him in the top qualifying spot through all four sessions. In the second session Rod Burbage would become the second driver in the 5-second zone with a 5.965 run and long time nitro couple racer Dan Nickelson bumped into the third spot with a 6.022. After Friday’s two qualifying sessions were completed the 8-car bump spot was already an impressive 6.359 held by Joe Lepone Jr.
Saturday would host the final two qualifying sessions and there were quite a few big name racers still on the outside looking in. The 2010 WCOPMA champion Bret Williamson would become the third car into the 5’s with a 5.991 which was good enough for the number three qualifying spot in the third qualifying session and Dan Nickelson would get closer to the 5-second zone with an improving 6.010 to stay in the fourth spot. Jay Diedrich finally got a good quarter-mile pass in his new 70.5 Camaro with a 6.103 and Randy Walker ran a career best 6.175 with his brand new nitrous powered 1974 El Camino which was being tuned by Charles Carpenter. Sean Renteria would bump into the field into the number eight spot and lowered the bump spot to a 6.281 edging out Dan Myers and Rob Cacioppo who both ran career best numbers to be in the number nine and ten spots, Myers with a 6.294 and Cacioppo with a 6.309.
The fourth and final qualifying session on Saturday evening would promise to be a good one with guys like Marc Meadors, Monty Berney, Rod Pearce, Joe Lepone Jr., Rob Cacioppo and Dan Myers in the bottom half of the field. Dan Nickelson knew it was only a matter of time before he could secure a sub-six second pass and in the fourth qualifying session that’s exactly what he got after clocking a 5.976 to bump up into the number three spot. As the non qualifiers ran with no one improving, Sean Renteria was feeling good about his spot on the bump holding up with only one more threat to run and that was Good-Guys president Marc Meadors. For Meadors this was his hometown track and one he had been down many times already this year just in testing but minor parts breakage was keeping him from a good qualifying pass all weekend. On the last chance qualifier he bumped into the field with a shaking and peddling 6.109 to land in the number six spot and bumping out his good friend Sean Renteria and lowering the 8-car bump spot to a very stout 6.214 held by Lee Smith.
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Maggio - 5.870/250.78
2) Burbage - 5.937/237.63
3) Nickelson - 5.976/239.70
4) Williamson - 5.991/240.38
5) Diedrich - 6.103/241.20
6) Meadors - 6.109/241.45
7) Walker - 6.175/227.23
8) Smith - 6.214/229.04
-----------------------------------------
9) Renteria - 6.281/223.14
10) Myers - 6.294/197.91
11) Cacioppo - 6.302/223.39
12) Lepone Jr. - 6.359/226.58
13) Berney - 6.372/231.36
14) Pearce - 6.451/221.89
15) Wake - 7.338/198.50
Unfortunately for Randy and Duane Walker their weekend was cut short when they didn’t have the parts to fix their engine after some damage it occurred in the final qualifying session. They thrashed all night and had new valves driven to the track but when the valves arrived they were not to correct ones. That was good news however for the Renteria Brothers as they would be placed into the Walkers spot as an alternate for first round.
The first round was full of surprises and upsets. The first pair out was Burbage and Renteria. Burbage was running career best numbers all weekend with multiple 5-second runs and Renteria was out for the first time with his new screw-blown combo trying to sort out the bugs. When the lights dropped both cars were off until Burbage broke and came to a stop on the track to only watch Renteria take the win as an alternate while running a career best 6.133. We would later find out the Burbage sheered off all the flywheel bolts shortly after the launch. The next pair out was Bret Williamson and Jay Diedrich and this race was over before the tree dropped when Williamson broke a blower belt on the burnout and had to be pushed off while Diedrich took the win with a tire shaking 8.234. After that is was Mike Maggio and Lee Smith. Maggio had been in the 5’s on almost every run down the track during the weekend and Smith only made one good run during qualifying in the first session but this would become the best race of the round. They both left fairly even on the tree (.050 to .058 - Maggio first) and Smith would run a career best 6.172 only to lose to Maggio’s 6.063. In the last pair it was Dan Nickelson and Marc Meadors. Nickelson would get the win with a 6.119 to Meadors 6.649 after a -.009 red light start and driving through tire shake.
The second round had Maggio vs. Diedrich and Renteria vs. Nickelson. Maggio took advantage of the conditions and ran low ET of the event and set a new WCOPMA ET record with a 5.849 to take the win over Diedrich. In the other pair Nickelson would improve on his first round number by a little bit with a 6.078 to advance over Renteria who ran a 6.265.
After the second round a couple cars made some test passes and Lee Smith made an excellent 6.11 run with his roots blown 481x engine, Marc Meadors became the 5th driver in the “5’s” during the weekend with a 5.98 test run, Jay Diedrich ran a 6.13 and Joe Lepone Jr. ran another low 6.30-pass in Derrol Hubbard’s 70.5 nitrous Camaro.
The final round was number one and three qualifiers with Mike Maggio facing Dan Nickelson. (An interesting side note is that Maggio actually got into pro mod racing after buying Nickelson’s old Corvette a couple years back which Mike’s son, Wade, now drives). Everyone gathered around the starting line to see if Nickelson could stop Mike Maggio and the MagCo Drilling 70.5 Camaro which was on a roll all weekend. As the drivers staged Nickelson left way early before the tree was activated handing the win to Maggio who also had a -.100 red light start but backed it with another sub 6-second pass at 5.894 at almost 252 MPH to cap off a great weekend and take the event win.
The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association would like to thank Infineon Raceway for the excellent track conditions all weekend long, the racers that showed up to race and put on a great show and all the fans that came out to watch the action.
Thank you to all of our 2011 season sponsors:
Red Line Oil – Red Line Synthetic Oil
RBS Superchargers – Welcome to RBS Superchargers
Hoosier Tires – Hoosier Racing Tire -- Tires Designed For Champions
Spec-Rite Torque Converters – Spec Rite Torque Converters
GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association – Goodguys Rod & Custom Association
Pacific Repair Services – commercial kitchen repair
R.E. Borrmann’s Steel Co. – R.E. Borrmann's Steel Company
Ramona Martial Arts – RamonaTangSooDo
Quality Pit Solutions – Quality Pit Solutions
Our next event is Firebird Raceway’s “Nightfire Nationals” event in Boise, Idaho. It will be our second stop in Boise this season. For more information visit West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association or Firebird Raceway.
Mike Maggio was running with the WCOPMA for his first time ever and set the bar high early in the weekend during Thursday’s open test session when he was the first pro mod car down the track and ran a very respectable 5.97 pass. Marc Meadors would be the second quickest in testing on Thursday with a 6.06 run. Many others tested on Thursday but only made planned shut off runs to be on the safe side in preparation of the four total qualifying runs on Friday and Saturday.
During the first qualifying session on Friday afternoon Maggio laid down a new association ET record of 5.870 which would keep him in the top qualifying spot through all four sessions. In the second session Rod Burbage would become the second driver in the 5-second zone with a 5.965 run and long time nitro couple racer Dan Nickelson bumped into the third spot with a 6.022. After Friday’s two qualifying sessions were completed the 8-car bump spot was already an impressive 6.359 held by Joe Lepone Jr.
Saturday would host the final two qualifying sessions and there were quite a few big name racers still on the outside looking in. The 2010 WCOPMA champion Bret Williamson would become the third car into the 5’s with a 5.991 which was good enough for the number three qualifying spot in the third qualifying session and Dan Nickelson would get closer to the 5-second zone with an improving 6.010 to stay in the fourth spot. Jay Diedrich finally got a good quarter-mile pass in his new 70.5 Camaro with a 6.103 and Randy Walker ran a career best 6.175 with his brand new nitrous powered 1974 El Camino which was being tuned by Charles Carpenter. Sean Renteria would bump into the field into the number eight spot and lowered the bump spot to a 6.281 edging out Dan Myers and Rob Cacioppo who both ran career best numbers to be in the number nine and ten spots, Myers with a 6.294 and Cacioppo with a 6.309.
The fourth and final qualifying session on Saturday evening would promise to be a good one with guys like Marc Meadors, Monty Berney, Rod Pearce, Joe Lepone Jr., Rob Cacioppo and Dan Myers in the bottom half of the field. Dan Nickelson knew it was only a matter of time before he could secure a sub-six second pass and in the fourth qualifying session that’s exactly what he got after clocking a 5.976 to bump up into the number three spot. As the non qualifiers ran with no one improving, Sean Renteria was feeling good about his spot on the bump holding up with only one more threat to run and that was Good-Guys president Marc Meadors. For Meadors this was his hometown track and one he had been down many times already this year just in testing but minor parts breakage was keeping him from a good qualifying pass all weekend. On the last chance qualifier he bumped into the field with a shaking and peddling 6.109 to land in the number six spot and bumping out his good friend Sean Renteria and lowering the 8-car bump spot to a very stout 6.214 held by Lee Smith.
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Maggio - 5.870/250.78
2) Burbage - 5.937/237.63
3) Nickelson - 5.976/239.70
4) Williamson - 5.991/240.38
5) Diedrich - 6.103/241.20
6) Meadors - 6.109/241.45
7) Walker - 6.175/227.23
8) Smith - 6.214/229.04
-----------------------------------------
9) Renteria - 6.281/223.14
10) Myers - 6.294/197.91
11) Cacioppo - 6.302/223.39
12) Lepone Jr. - 6.359/226.58
13) Berney - 6.372/231.36
14) Pearce - 6.451/221.89
15) Wake - 7.338/198.50
Unfortunately for Randy and Duane Walker their weekend was cut short when they didn’t have the parts to fix their engine after some damage it occurred in the final qualifying session. They thrashed all night and had new valves driven to the track but when the valves arrived they were not to correct ones. That was good news however for the Renteria Brothers as they would be placed into the Walkers spot as an alternate for first round.
The first round was full of surprises and upsets. The first pair out was Burbage and Renteria. Burbage was running career best numbers all weekend with multiple 5-second runs and Renteria was out for the first time with his new screw-blown combo trying to sort out the bugs. When the lights dropped both cars were off until Burbage broke and came to a stop on the track to only watch Renteria take the win as an alternate while running a career best 6.133. We would later find out the Burbage sheered off all the flywheel bolts shortly after the launch. The next pair out was Bret Williamson and Jay Diedrich and this race was over before the tree dropped when Williamson broke a blower belt on the burnout and had to be pushed off while Diedrich took the win with a tire shaking 8.234. After that is was Mike Maggio and Lee Smith. Maggio had been in the 5’s on almost every run down the track during the weekend and Smith only made one good run during qualifying in the first session but this would become the best race of the round. They both left fairly even on the tree (.050 to .058 - Maggio first) and Smith would run a career best 6.172 only to lose to Maggio’s 6.063. In the last pair it was Dan Nickelson and Marc Meadors. Nickelson would get the win with a 6.119 to Meadors 6.649 after a -.009 red light start and driving through tire shake.
The second round had Maggio vs. Diedrich and Renteria vs. Nickelson. Maggio took advantage of the conditions and ran low ET of the event and set a new WCOPMA ET record with a 5.849 to take the win over Diedrich. In the other pair Nickelson would improve on his first round number by a little bit with a 6.078 to advance over Renteria who ran a 6.265.
After the second round a couple cars made some test passes and Lee Smith made an excellent 6.11 run with his roots blown 481x engine, Marc Meadors became the 5th driver in the “5’s” during the weekend with a 5.98 test run, Jay Diedrich ran a 6.13 and Joe Lepone Jr. ran another low 6.30-pass in Derrol Hubbard’s 70.5 nitrous Camaro.
The final round was number one and three qualifiers with Mike Maggio facing Dan Nickelson. (An interesting side note is that Maggio actually got into pro mod racing after buying Nickelson’s old Corvette a couple years back which Mike’s son, Wade, now drives). Everyone gathered around the starting line to see if Nickelson could stop Mike Maggio and the MagCo Drilling 70.5 Camaro which was on a roll all weekend. As the drivers staged Nickelson left way early before the tree was activated handing the win to Maggio who also had a -.100 red light start but backed it with another sub 6-second pass at 5.894 at almost 252 MPH to cap off a great weekend and take the event win.
The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association would like to thank Infineon Raceway for the excellent track conditions all weekend long, the racers that showed up to race and put on a great show and all the fans that came out to watch the action.
Thank you to all of our 2011 season sponsors:
Red Line Oil – Red Line Synthetic Oil
RBS Superchargers – Welcome to RBS Superchargers
Hoosier Tires – Hoosier Racing Tire -- Tires Designed For Champions
Spec-Rite Torque Converters – Spec Rite Torque Converters
GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association – Goodguys Rod & Custom Association
Pacific Repair Services – commercial kitchen repair
R.E. Borrmann’s Steel Co. – R.E. Borrmann's Steel Company
Ramona Martial Arts – RamonaTangSooDo
Quality Pit Solutions – Quality Pit Solutions
Our next event is Firebird Raceway’s “Nightfire Nationals” event in Boise, Idaho. It will be our second stop in Boise this season. For more information visit West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association or Firebird Raceway.
