NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - SPORTSMAN NOTEBOOK
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MONDAY FINAL RESULTS -
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SATURDAY - QUALIFYING ENDS, ELIMINATIONS BEGIN
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FRIDAY - WESTCOTT WINS MOPAR HEMI SHOOTOUT PRIZE
If the annual Mopar Super Stock Hemi Challenge had been a boxing match, it would have been halted by the fifth round. As it was, the SS/AH racers who participated in the annual Indy event had to endure three full days of punishment by Charlie Westcott Jr., who drove his War Fish Barracuda to the SS/AH class title at Indy for the third time in the last four years. While most of his opponents were running in the 8.8-second zone, Westcott, and his father, Charlie Sr., were cranking out 8.6-second runs with alarming consistency. In the final round Charlie Jr., defeated his old nemesis Bucky Hess, 8.65 to 8.86.
"This car is for sale but the price just went up," said
Westcott, who collected a $15,000 bonus from Mopar Performance, $10,000
for winning the Hemi Challenge and an additional $5,000 for claiming
the overall 2008 Hemi Challenge series title. "I had the field covered
today but that doesn't always guarantee a victory. You can't win if you
don't have a fast car, but you can lose even if you've got the quickest
car so I had to do my job as a driver. I think the final round was
right about where I wanted to be. I had a decent light and my car ran
exactly what it should have run. Other than having my dad in the final
we did just what we wanted to do this weekend."
Westcott runs his operation like a Pro Stock team, constantly developing new parts, making countless dyno pulls and generally working long hours in order to squeeze every ounce of performance from his 426 Hemi engines. The results were evident at Indy as he qualified his camouflaged Barracuda in the top spot with an 8.63. Westcott's father, Charlie Sr., whose Barracuda is equipped with a four-speed, was second quickest with an 8.68 and ran over 155-mph during the event. During eliminations, which were held on a warm and muggy day at O'Reilly Raceway Park, Westcott Jr., stormed through eliminations to take wins over Al Smyth, Don Bales, and John Rains. His closest brush with defeat came in the semifinals where he was left flat-footed on the starting line by Rains, .009 to .135. Rains, whose Heli-Hemi Dart is powered by a Westcott engine, held the lead most of the way down track buy was finally passed in the last few feet. Westcott won with a 8.69, holding off Rains' 8.82 by just seven-thousandths.
"I was just trying to keep it interesting," Westcott joked. "Seriously, I wasn't trying to be that late. I just missed the Tree. It probably looked a little worse than it was because when I left I jerked the wheel a bit and it made a move towards the centerline so I probably lost a hundredth or two right there.
"Right now, there is no one within 60 horsepower of us," said the always outspoken Westcott. "Some of them would be better off if they just put their stuff up for sale."
Hess, who broke his best engine two weeks ago in
Hess got a free pass in the opening round after Joe Teuton broke his Southland Dodge entry. A round later, Hess stopped Bob Wolkwitz, 8.82 to 8.91 and in the quarterfinals, Hess got another free run when Darrel Marvel couldn't make the call with his Barracuda. The semifinals featured a great match up as Hess downed Jim Pancake's Dart, 8.84 to 8.89.
"I got to the final, but I was still behind by a tenth and a half," said Hess. "If I had my good motor I could have run with Charlie but not this one. I went further than I probably should have but I can't help thinking about how things might have turned out differently."
With 28 drivers answering the bell for the opening round of eliminations, this year's field was the largest in the history of the Mopar Hemi Challenge. The most incredible race of the day involved Charlie Westcott Sr. and Jim Pancake. Westcott had a huge performance advantage but gave up nearly three-tenths to Pancake's Carriage Town Dart. Pancake posted an 8.85 to defeat Westcott's 8.70 in a race that wasn't even as close as it looked.-Kevin McKenna
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FRIDAY - MOPAR HEMI SHOOTOUT KICKS OFF
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THURSDAY - QUALIFYING BEGINS, MOPAR HEMI SHOOTOUT QUALIFYING BEGINS
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