Stroupe Wins at Champion Raceway
Champion Raceway, Medford, OR- This is a racer friendly track second to none. First, I want to thank Jim Taylor for the way he treats the racers and spectators. You are a Class act, Jim.
Friday was testing only and the track prep was incredible. TEW teams were given every opportunity to make as many passes as they wanted.
Saturday started with a good crowd ready for the show. The Outcast funny car was present doing the Pete Ortiz, Jr. signature half-track burnouts. I have to say that funny cars do look wicked with smoke rolling off the tires. Thanks Pete for the great show. Simon Procopenko was again the J. Ray sponsored low qualifier.
Qualifying Order:
Simon Procopenko 6.48; 205
Butch Stroupe 6.57; 217
Kenny Buzdas 6.77; 219
Pete Ortiz, Jr. 6.88; 207
Curtis Clevenger 7.79; 158
Craig Wilcox Broke
Eliminations:
Buzdas and Ortiz were pretty even with performance all weekend, so when the tree went down Buzdas moved out hard and had Ortiz covered but the clocks said different, 6.27 breakout. Ortiz had some blue smoke at the stripe but took the win. Next was Stroup vs. Clevenger with Stroupe on a mission to reach another final round.
Ortiz did hurt the motor in his funny car so Clevenger was reinstated for this round against Procopenko. Again Procopenko was on the same mission as Stroupe to the final.
Both Stroupe and Procopenko did long burn outs, as they staged the cars the crowd came down to the fence line. Both ran hard, Stroupe a 6.28 to Procopenko's 6.27, but with a red light. Stroupe was the car that rolled into the winner’s circle for photos at the end of a great weekend at Champion Raceway.
This year Stroupe and Procopenko seem to be the drivers battling it out for the TEW point’s championship. At the end of the weekend Stroupe was ahead in points with 257 to Procopenko's 254.
TEW also put on a great 4th of July fireworks show. Special thanks to the Ortiz camp, Procopenko camp and Steve for the one’s that would get us arrested in California. Big Boom!
Thanks to all of the teams that came and put on the show at Champion Raceway.
Curtis
Stroupe wins at Nitro Night of Fire
Sacramento - Wow the last two weeks have gone fast. Sacramento’s Nitro Night of Fire was the first of two weekends full of exciting racing for Top Eliminator West.
Qualifying Order:
Simon Procopenko 6.33; 232
Frank McBee, Jr. 6.36; 219
Butch Stroupe 6.42; 223
Kenny Buzdas 6.51; 222
Curtis Clevenger 8.76; 116
Steve Scott Broke
Simon Procopenko was the number one qualifier receiving the J. Ray sponsored low qualifier bonus.
Eliminations:
For first round we had new to TEW Frank McBee, Jr. with his beautiful front engine blown alcohol dragster. This pass was straight as an arrow, moving him into the next round against Curtis Clevenger’s red light. Butch Stroup advanced with Kenny Buzdas .001 red light.
The semi-final rounds had McBee with the bye and a very clean pass (6.32; 227 mph). Procopenko was going to make it tough on Stroup. This was the race to watch as the Big Dogs of the class staged the crowd stood on their feet. Stroupe (.015 vs. .065) had a better light and Procopenko (6.33 vs. 6.34) had a better ET, but Stroupe took the stripe first.
New to TEW in 2009 we have added the option of removing the index for final round only if both racers agree. This means we will have a true heads up final round with the first one to the stripe winning. Stroupe and the new comer McBee had no problem with the decision to do just that. I was standing in the middle of the two cars when they staged and launched, the engines were on kill. McBee was ahead to 750’ and the car moved hard to the wall and Frank had to lift. Stroupe took the win 6.28; 237.
Great weekend TEW. Thanks for another crowd pleasing show.
Curtis
Funny Car Fever Opens 2009 Season
Friday morning started with rain, not hard but it was enough to get the track wet.
The first qualifying pass proved to be a challenge for most of the teams with almost no one getting down the lanes. Our last qualifying pass scheduled for 9:30 that night was postponed to Saturday mid morning due to a wet and very cold track. Our last qualifying pass was a little better, but everyone still had trouble.
Final Qualifying Order:
Butch Stroupe 6.43 217.38
Kenny Buzdas 6.55 217.25
Jimmy Johnson 6.58 200.99
Matthew Mahoney 6.71 205.08
Steve Scott 6.79 196.89
Curtis Clevenger 7.18 239.29
Simon Procopenko 7.27 175.02
Steve LaBurn 7.90 135.57
Thanks again to J. Ray Concrete for the low qualifier bonus money.
The first round began with Stroupe having rear end problems at the hit which opened the door for LaBurn to take the win. In the next heat, Scott and Mahoney ran side by side with Scott coming out with the win. The best race in the first round was Procopenko and Buzdas. The old man left first with a .063 to a .065 light, good job Simon. Clevenger then took the win against Johnson.
The semi finals started with Clevenger and a .016 light but Procopenko was clearly the car to beat all weekend as he took the stripe. In the next heat LaBurn most definitely won the wheelie contest. He put the wheels 8 feet in the air and ran it out to 100-150 feet before it came down. He then didn’t see Scott and hammered the throttle, backfiring the injectors. It was a crowd pleaser for sure! Something happened to Scott and he just idled down the track. This put Procopenko and LaBurn in the finals.
LaBurn was unable to make the call for final round giving the win to Procopenko.
Top Eliminator West Eliminations Summary
Round 1
W: Steve LaBurn ('91 Don Long - Donv).............6.30....0.255....6.420..195.71...MOV: 11.571
L: Butch Stroupe ('92 Dragster - Chev)............6.30....0.207...18.039...43.61
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W: Steve Scott ('81 Dragster - KB)................6.30....0.119....6.551..176.09...MOV: 0.158
L: Matt Mahoney ('23 Ford - BAR)..................6.30....0.099....6.729..203.98
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W: Simon Procopenko ('02 Uyehara - AJ)............6.30....0.063....6.451..214.12...MOV: 0.053
L: Kenny Buzdas ('05 Sarmento - Chev).............6.30....0.065....6.502..220.05
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W: Curtis Clevenger ('91 Dragster - Chev).........6.30....0.022....8.773..128.40
L: Jimmy Johnson ('07 Sarmento - DART)............6.30....-.280....6.746..200.92-Foul
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Round 2
W: LaBurn.................6.30....0.113....9.567...88.44...MOV: 9.888
L: Scott..................6.30....0.137...19.431...36.51
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W: Procopenko.............6.30....0.102....7.144..141.78...MOV: 0.509
L: Clevenger..............6.30....0.016....7.739..189.21
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Final
W: Procopenko.............6.30....0.088....6.156..234.84
L: LaBurn.................6.30...........no show
Top Eliminator West 2009 Association Points
FCF NN MNF FH Gov. Total
1. 7001 Simon Procopenko 102102
2. 7155 Steve LaBurn 8181
3. 7510 Steve Scott 6464
4. 7869 Curtis Clevenger 6363
5. 733 A Butch Stroupe 4848
6. 7126 Kenny Buzdas 4747
7. 7391 Jimmy Johnson 4646
8. 6182 Matthew Mahoney 4545 |
Top Eliminator West put on a great show, thanks to everyone.
Curtis
J. Ray to Sponsor Low ET
Top Eliminator West is happy to announce that J. Ray Concrete will be posting a $100 bonus to the number one qualifier for each of the 2009 events. TEW would like to thank Jim Ray for his support of our program.
New TEW Forum
Since there were problems with new people unable to sign in to the forum. We have replaced it with a new one. This means everyone will have to sign up again to use it. Click Here
TEW Testing at Sacramento
Top Eliminator West will have a test day at Sacramento Raceway on March 14. So far, the cars that are coming include: Clevengers, Butch Stroupe, Steve Scott, Jim Ray and Rick Brophy. Go to Sacramento Raceway's web site for more testing info. Click Here
TEW: New Changes for 2009
A new season of Top Eliminator West drag racing is upon us and for 2009 TEW has made some changes. Changes in payout, website and event location are all part of the new season of TEW. On top of all that, the points have reset and everyone will be gunning after Curtis Clevenger, the 2008 Champion, who has the privilege of carrying the bulls-eye on his back for the next year.
With help from Rich Bailey, a fellow TEW runner and racer from Oregon, TEW now has a new look and new site to help promote the class. Along with the new look comes new payouts! Every racer loves winning money and TEW will now pay out $1200 to the winner at each event. So if you think you have a bad hot rod, come run with us! Door Slammers, Front or Rear Engine Dragsters, Altereds, and Floppers are all welcome to join us and we look forward to new competitors coming out and running in TEW.
For Fourth of July weekend we have a new event that will be ran at Champion Raceway in Medford, Oregon. With a plan attendance from many Division 6 Runners, TEW is holding its first 16 car show in the history of the class. TEW will compete in front of the Oregon racing fans along with the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association and with four rounds of racing should make for a great show!
TEW made strong showings at Sacramento Raceway in 2008 and now in 2009 we find the schedule spaced further out and easier for racers from long distances to consistently compete. With a more racer budget friendly schedule for 2009 we will find ourselves racing four times at Sacramento Raceway and once at Champion Raceway in Medford, Oregon.
The TEW schedule includes;
• Funny Car Fever April 24 & 25 Sacramento
• Nitro Night of Fire June 26 & 27 Sacramento
• Bi-Mart Night of Fire July 3 & 4 Medford
• Famous Fox Hunt August 14 & 15 Sacramento
• Governors Cup September 18 & 19 Sacramento
Teams appear stronger than ever. We saw many teams make major performance increases in 2008 and the way things have been it only looks to get tougher. Everyone in TEW has high hopes for 2009 and the only thing that will make it better is more racers! Contact us if you are interested in running with us!
See the Top Eliminator West Video Here
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TEW Member News:
New Funny Car Fired Up in Time for
New Web Site!
Here is the first start up on the new engine. I was having an idle check valve problem that is now fixed. Hoping to get out by the end of the year. I'm still about 3k away from going down the track again in my own TEW car. Check it out here
Dragracer 718fc
