World Series Of Drag Racing Ready To Rev-up (1 Viewer)

[shane]

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 53rd World Series of Drag Racing is set for August 25-27, 2006 at Cordova Dragway Park, Cordova, Illinois. With the largest professional show ever to assemble at the oldest continuous drag race in the world, the 2006 World Series is expected to be the biggest ever.

Friday, August 25 is the “Night of Thrills” portion of the weekend spectacular. Featuring several major promotions, the “Night of Thrills” brings a different flavor to the event. Included in the line-up is Draco the Dragonator , The Shockwave Jet Semi, Nitro Fueled Altereds, Pro-Mods, Wheelstanders, six Jet Cars and more. The Night of Thrills gets underway at 7 PM.

Then Saturday, August 26 it is the Pro Finale. The racers in attendance appears to be “the who’s who in drag racing.” In the Top Fuel Dragster category, it is multi-event NHRA Champion Rhonda Hartman-Smith, she will match up against IHRA standout TJ Zizzo. Zizzo is fresh off an IHRA National Event win in Martin, Michigan. In the Nitro Funny Car class, Tony and Cruz Pedregon lead the pack of outstanding drivers. Tony Pedregon is clearly the hottest driver on the circuit with several NHRA wins this season. In addition to the Pedregon’s, are US Nationals Champion Tim Wilkerson and newcomer Mitch King.

A brand new feature also comes to the Pro Finale as Nitro Nostalgia Funny Cars will be attendance. Headlining the class is NHRA star Ron Capps behind the wheel of the 260 mph, throw back to yesteryear, “Hard Times” Funny Car. Also scheduled to return to the drivers seat is former World Champion Ron Colson with the original Chi-Town Hustler. The Pro-Finale also features Nitro Altereds and Nitro Nostalgia Dragsters, along with Supercharged Alcohol Funny Cars, Pro-Mods, Wheelstanders, the Shockwave Jet Semi, the driving return of legendary Arnie the Farmer Beswick, Fireworks and much more. Sportsman racing will take place throughout the day with the Pro Feature at 7 PM.

WHAT:
The 53rd O’Reilly Auto Parts World Series of Drag Racing

WHERE:
Cordova Dragway Park, Cordova, Illinois

WHEN:
Friday and Saturday, August 25-26, 2006

FEATURING:
Friday “Night of Thrills” & Saturday “Pro Finale.” Top Fuel Dragsters, Wheelstanders, Nitro Funny Cars, Jet Semi, Nitro Nostalgia Funny Cars and Dragsters, Jet Funny Cars and Dragsters, Draco the Dragonator, Fireworks and more!

ADMISSION:
Friday $20, Kids (6-12) $5
Saturday $35, Kids (6-12) $5
All tickets include pit pass and parking

TICKETS:
Available at the gate or with a discount in advance at O’Reilly Auto Parts.


Randy we will be bringing your DVD's for ya..lol

 

[Kelly]

Cool....thanks for the heads up.

 

[RAPID]

Sounds great!! I can't wait to run there again this year. Last year we had a personal best against Ricky Ruiz. Lets hope for more records to fall this year.

Rapid

 

[shane]

For those that are coming when you come down return road the first big campsite you see is ours stop by for a beer if you have nothing going on....

Shane {Leaving for cordova shortly} Boyungs

 

[.]

I sure wish I could go. I miss that place and the World Series badly. Thinking back, it's kinda amazing how many cool cars and stars I've seen there in years past. I remember seeing Prudhomme in the Pepsi funny, the Chi-Town Hustler, Hemi Under Glass, Little Red Wagon, Green Mamba, Chevy Rebellion, Paddy Wagon, Cool Bus and all sorts of other bitchin' cars you rarely see any more.

 

[Kelly Andersen]

For those that are coming when you come down return road the first big campsite you see is ours stop by for a beer if you have nothing going on....

Shane {Leaving for cordova shortly} Boyungs

I'll make sure to show the cop's where your at so they know where to go when the trouble starts!! LOL It was nice meeting you at eddyville !!!!

 

[shane]

Hey Kelly was a great time too bad you had other things to do. Yeah the cops know where the trouble is when we are there already..Speaking of the paddy wagon it was there in a guys trailor.The old blue vega one.He never got it out but was awsome to see as i havnt seen it since i was about 7 at the world series many years ago. Tony P set both ends of the track FC record and took home the 3 grand bonus for first 300 mph fc at cordova..If you guys have ever seen the texas bandit wheeliestander its awsome.But it crashed at the top end last night .He rolled it and slammed the guadrail He was alright but the truck is kinda messed up. Also had a 63 vette promod go off the end of the track he did a helluva driving job but ended up in the poatato field.Pretty sure he rolled it havnt had a chance to really see the video yet.

 

[Kelly]

lol Shane!

Are the results online anywhere?

 

[shane]

Kelly H My borther caught up with Capps and did a quick Interview.. I havnt seen it yet but I know its starts off with Capps saying hi to you

 

[Suzanne]

Capps won over John Smith. Is the only info Ive seen posted so far at the classic funny car board. Congrats To Capps!!

 

[shane]

Well the none of the nostalgia Fc's made good passes.Not that it was there fault the air wasnt very good at all..lol. Zizzo beat R Hartman 2 straight runs when R Hartman blew the motor on first pass and second had some type of mishap about 660 ft out. Tony P went 4.93 at 300 something winning the NITRO Fc title there. Promod driver John Deflorian (sp) won with some stellar runs in the crappy air.. He went 6.33 best i think.If you want the full results i will call the track tommorow and see if they can email me the event time sheets.. Sorry for my spelling and grammer i am tired and going to bed finally..lol

 

[Kelly]

Thanks y'all!

 

[shane]

Ron Capps in Jeff Gaynors flopper defeats John Smith in Sasquatch 6.28 @ 231 to a 6.71 didnt even realize he went that quick hard to tell from behind the video camera sometimes..lol

 

[shane]

World Series Recap

This taken with permission from Cordovadrag.com


Well when I posted the last update last night (or should I say this morning) I intended to have a wrap-up of last night?s event this morning. Somewhere after the 5 1/2 hours of the Pro Show and 3:30 when I left the grounds things got a little blurry. Needless to say I didn't make the call this morning. Here are a few of last night memorable moments.

We started the show with Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick's return to drag racing in his legendary 64 GTO Tameless Tiger. Arnie was sidelined in 2003 following a serious fire in this car at an event in Wentzville, MO. His return to racing at the age of 76 was remarkable due to the severity of his injuries. Running along side him was the legendary Animal Jim in his 79 Mercury Zephyr. The event continued to be memorable as over the course of the evening we set and in some cases shattered six track records. The most important record set was the first 300 mph pass ever at CDP for a Nitro Funny Car set by Tony Pedregon. While over the years we have had several Top Fuel Dragsters in 300+ range (including the still standing IHRA record at 326.63) the funny car mark had continued to elude us. The pass was a side-by-side run with Tony paired up against brother Cruz who ran 289. Everyone in attendance was on the feet following this impressive pass, but nobody was more excited than our track prep guy "The Guru of Glue" Gary Beard. Gary has always considered this a personal goal and last night's record was the result of many years of dedication to the track and the sport. As we move through the list we had records fall in Pro Mod, Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nostalgia Funny Car. The Nostalgia Funny Car record was set by NHRA star Ron Capps who took the weekend off from the points chase to come to Cordova. This class has increased in popularity over the last few years as many of the Pro teams have built cars including the Hartman-Smith team who brought two to this year?s event. For those who remember these cars, it was cool to see them doing "Dry Hops" like they used to. The Top Fuel class trying not to be outdone had tuned their cars like it was a national event. However both cars in their attempts to make a statement tried to put to much power to the track and broke parts or blew the wheels off. The Hartman-Smith team grenaded the motor in the first pass and put a new motor in for the second while TJ Zizzo Had two good passes going but was unable to keep the tires stuck as he hazed the tires just past half track on both runs. However Zizzo was still able to run a 5.188 on his second pass. Later when I was in the pits I talked to Virgil Hartman and he laughed when he said, "usually we don't try this hard for a match race".

The rest of the classes, while not having set records, put together probably the most feature packed show ever held at this track. From the 30-foot fire balls of the Shockwave Jet Semi to the Reher-Morrison Frantic 14 Top Sportsman / Top Dragster cars that run here at various time throughout the year, everyone in attendance got a show that they won't soon forget.

 

[Kelly]

Thanks Shane!

 

[willy]

Here ya go Kell..along with Chi-Town:

 

[willy]

 

[willy]

 

[Kelly]

Wahoo! Thanks, David!

 

[.]

While over the years we have had several Top Fuel Dragsters in 300+ range (including the still standing IHRA record at 326.63)

I was there for that pass. It was Clay Millican at the IHRA Summer Nationals and if I remember correctly it was a 4.61, the quickest IHRA pass at the time. I've got it on video tape somewhere and it was a beautiful night pass.