In what would be reminiscent of the old match racing days when funny car racers would travel great distances to compete in races hundreds of miles apart on the same weekend, Clint Thompson pulled off what would be seemingly impossible these days. Thompson and his crew pulled an all nighter as he wrapped up a week long rain delayed race in Oklahoma on Thursday and then drove nearly 1000 miles to Reynolds, Georgia to compete at the Division 2 event held at Silver Dollar Raceway on Saturday and Sunday.
Beginning in In Noble, Oklahoma, at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held at Thunder Valley Raceway Park, Thompson was determined to stick around for nearly a week and hopefully win the event. “It’s been a long week. I feel like we have been here a month” Thompson said jokingly. Last weekend before the rain moved in, Thompson qualified fifth with a 5.84 at 248 MPH.
When race day finally arrived, he faced Ron Morrison in round one. At the light, Thompson was first out of the gate and never looked back as he scored the win with a 5.79 at 247 MPH to Morrison’s trailing 6.03 at 239 MPH. In the Semifinal round Thompson took on Canada’s Roger Bateman. Batement got the starting line advantage and never looked back as he took the stripe with a 5.66 at 253 MPH to Thompson’s 5.76 at 254 MPH.
After the semifinal finish in Noble, Thompson’s team loaded up and got on the interstate headed for Georgia, three states away. They made it to Silver Dollar Raceway in time to qualify and ended up sixth with a 5.81 at 246 MPH.
In the first round, Thompson took on Mark Billington. Both cars left together as they had identical reaction times. Unfortunately for Thompson, he began experiencing problems and had to abandon the run giving the win to Billington who ran a 5.69 at 255 MPH to Thompson’s 6.08 at 186 MPH. “I lost the round after being plagued by ignition troubles in qualifying and in round one” Thompson said.
Thompson’s reasoning for their overnight jaunt back to the east coast was an attempt to catch Steve Gasparelli for the Division 6 Championship. Gasparelli beat Brian Hough in the first round in Reynolds which kept Thompson in second place going into Las Vegas for the last divisional event of the year. Gasparelli and Thompson are now both out of races to claim. Hough can claim points at Vegas if he goes to the final round and will take over second place in the Northwest Division if he wins.
Thompson will be at the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona as well as the Las Vegas divisional to try and keep Hough from advancing. Thompson’s team can still earn points towards their goal of a top ten finish Nationally at the two remaining national events.
It’s been quite an extensive road trip for the Klamath Falls, Oregon based team. “We’ve been on the road now for five weeks and run six races in six weekends in a row. We’ve had fun and seen a lot of country traveling in 23 states on this tour. The crew did great, My wife has been a real trooper to put up with all of us, feed us, do our wash , AND work on the car. It’s been fun but we’re all tired now and still have 2300 miles to go to get home. Six days there and then off to Vegas for three more weeks on the road” Thompson said.
In addition, Thompson thanked everyone that made the tour possible. “Thanks to my wife Danette and crew members Ronn Boehlke, Hal Westerlund, Vic Miller, Ross Davison, And Dan Hix for their help. Thanks to Bob Miner of Miner Bros. Racing engines for getting us the parts we needed to get fixed after Medford so we could make the trip.”
Beginning in In Noble, Oklahoma, at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held at Thunder Valley Raceway Park, Thompson was determined to stick around for nearly a week and hopefully win the event. “It’s been a long week. I feel like we have been here a month” Thompson said jokingly. Last weekend before the rain moved in, Thompson qualified fifth with a 5.84 at 248 MPH.
When race day finally arrived, he faced Ron Morrison in round one. At the light, Thompson was first out of the gate and never looked back as he scored the win with a 5.79 at 247 MPH to Morrison’s trailing 6.03 at 239 MPH. In the Semifinal round Thompson took on Canada’s Roger Bateman. Batement got the starting line advantage and never looked back as he took the stripe with a 5.66 at 253 MPH to Thompson’s 5.76 at 254 MPH.
After the semifinal finish in Noble, Thompson’s team loaded up and got on the interstate headed for Georgia, three states away. They made it to Silver Dollar Raceway in time to qualify and ended up sixth with a 5.81 at 246 MPH.
In the first round, Thompson took on Mark Billington. Both cars left together as they had identical reaction times. Unfortunately for Thompson, he began experiencing problems and had to abandon the run giving the win to Billington who ran a 5.69 at 255 MPH to Thompson’s 6.08 at 186 MPH. “I lost the round after being plagued by ignition troubles in qualifying and in round one” Thompson said.
Thompson’s reasoning for their overnight jaunt back to the east coast was an attempt to catch Steve Gasparelli for the Division 6 Championship. Gasparelli beat Brian Hough in the first round in Reynolds which kept Thompson in second place going into Las Vegas for the last divisional event of the year. Gasparelli and Thompson are now both out of races to claim. Hough can claim points at Vegas if he goes to the final round and will take over second place in the Northwest Division if he wins.
Thompson will be at the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona as well as the Las Vegas divisional to try and keep Hough from advancing. Thompson’s team can still earn points towards their goal of a top ten finish Nationally at the two remaining national events.
It’s been quite an extensive road trip for the Klamath Falls, Oregon based team. “We’ve been on the road now for five weeks and run six races in six weekends in a row. We’ve had fun and seen a lot of country traveling in 23 states on this tour. The crew did great, My wife has been a real trooper to put up with all of us, feed us, do our wash , AND work on the car. It’s been fun but we’re all tired now and still have 2300 miles to go to get home. Six days there and then off to Vegas for three more weeks on the road” Thompson said.
In addition, Thompson thanked everyone that made the tour possible. “Thanks to my wife Danette and crew members Ronn Boehlke, Hal Westerlund, Vic Miller, Ross Davison, And Dan Hix for their help. Thanks to Bob Miner of Miner Bros. Racing engines for getting us the parts we needed to get fixed after Medford so we could make the trip.”
