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Congratulations to all our West PRO Division racers for creating the best
PRO Division event in the history of MMRA. By almost any measure, this
one was simply the best.
Starting on Friday morning, the racers brought great
attitudes and patiently worked with officials as we squeezed every trailer
into a tight pit area. Fortunately many teams had "carpooled",
allowing us to fit 28 cars into about 19 pit slots. Next, throughout
practice the drivers all showed tremendous patience and poise, as we did not
lose even a single car in practice, despite several hours of track time over
two days.
Qualifying provided a great upset as veteran Larry Theobald
from Alaska stole the glory from the young hotshoes and took home the
beautiful pole award courtesy of Jerry Waller Racing. Larry's time of
16.567 seconds had the track workers in awe of our small cars.
Click
here for a full qualifying rundown.
After a great start to the weekend, all that remained was
the big race with the NASCAR West Series. The tempo and excitement
clearly picked up as the big cars integrated into the program. The
grandstands filled with fans as the Speedvision team took up positions with
their cameras. It was showtime and the PRO Division stole the show.
After Larry drew a 10 car invert pill, Washington state
driver Brad Zahnow inherited the pole for the start of the race.
Outside polesitter and 2004 West Future Stars champion Doff Cooksey took the
lead early and held on for several laps. Canadian Michael Kipp did a
great job of working up through the field and took the lead for several laps
before taking a wild ride down the frontstretch, ending up backwards in turn
one.
Coming into the race, 4 of the top 5 points leaders were
John Klayum, Rick Johnston, Dan Johnston, and Todd Taverner. Even with
an invert and several cautions, these four managed to make their way to the
front where they put on a great show for the fans. As the race wound
down, John Klayum was running third and knew he would win the championship
if he could hold his position so he gave the top two cars some room "just in
case".
Going into turn 3 on the final lap, Klayum needed every bit
of that room as the leaders tangled and Klayum headed off the outside of the
track sideways. Seemingly as if pulled by a tether from the flagstand,
Klayum dropped a gear and slithered out of the dirt clawing toward the
finish. No one could hear his car as he crossed the line first because
the fans were on their feet screaming. They had seen the best show of
the night - period.
If you weren't there - you missed the best PRO Division
event in the history of MMRA. Here are a few photos from the weekend
to give you an idea of what it was like.
Click here - Some of the Baby Grands lined up for practice
Click here -
MMRA officials - Vic Johnson, Pete Neimeier, Jeff Overton
Click here -
Great turnout from the Colorado folks - some of the best looking racers in
MMRA ;-)
Click here - NASCAR West Series car coming through the MMRA pit area
Click here -
The "big" cars
Click here -
MMRA pit area
Click here
- LOTS of folks up there in the grandstands
Click here
- Second place finisher Dan Johnston in post race tech
Click here
- Dan Johnston's "secret switch"
Click here - The "Hardware" for the top finishers
Click here -
Brad Zahnow "Seriously honey, I'm starting on the pole"
Click here
- Hi Res photo of all our cars on the backstretch
Click here
- "Hello Ricky"
Click here -
Hoosier shod Baby Grands head down the backstretch past the GoodYear Truck
Click here -
Dana Pruhs being introduced to the crowd before the race
Click here
for the finishing orders and payout schedule
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