 
Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars Adams-Bates (far lane) was a model of consistency during A/Fuel Dragster eliminations recording three 6.2s, the slowest of which was a 6.234. Pictured: final round against Bobby Cottrell. A lot of new faces showed up at Sacramento Raceway’s winner circle Sunday after the conclusion of the Nostalgia Reunion, the third stop for this year’s Heritage Racing Series. With the nitro classes idle for this event, eleven Wallys were up for grabs, but only two point leaders managed to pad their leads. There were eight first time winnners for 2016, including four who were not even in the top ten coming into this event. It turned out to be another dominating performance in A/Fuel Dragster by the Adams-Bates team from Anderson, CA. It was also the third successive win by an injected nitro dragster this year. As he did at Wild Horse Pass in January, Bates swept all honors including #1 qualifier, low ET (6.196), and top speed (229.08) for the class. Bates now has two wins and a runner up under his belt for 2016 and has lengthened his lead to 107 points over second place Drew Austin and Bobby Cottrell. Equally impressive this year has been Kurt Kaemerle who has now won Hot Rod twice in a row to go along with a runner up at Wild Horse Pass back in January. Ed Carey and his ’71 D/G Camaro is also on the march again, backing up his victory at the March Meet with a Wally at the Nostalgia Reunion. Jr. Fuel was won by the #1 qualifier Don Enriquez. Enriquez was supposed to race J. D. Zink in the final round, but Zink was not able to fire for his single in the semis. By rule, the class finished with no runner up, and Don had to merely stage and “take The Tree” for the win. After missing the first two events of the year, Visalia’s Richard Phillips returned to action in fine form at the Nostalgia Reunion. Phillips started off his day with a close win over former 7.0 Pro champion and #1 qualifier, Mike Peck. Mike took a hundredth second advantage off the starting line, but Richard powered past him with a 7.032 to Peck’s 7.077. Phillips continued his 7.0 barrage twice again, the slowest of which was a 7.082. In the final round, Wild Horse Pass winner and number two in points, Richard High, gave Phillips a free pass to the winner’s circle when he went red by -.024. Jason Barta, the reigning 2015 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 champion, rebounded from his round one ouster at the March Meet to win the class at Sacramento Raceway. Brandon Seraphine still leads in points, but Barta, not even in the top ten prior to the Nostalgia Reunion, jumped up all the way to 4th place. In Nostalgia Eliminator 2, Dwight Garland Jr. won his first ever Wally driving his “Helter Skelter” FED. Garland Jr. was sharp on the lights all day, including a perfect .000 against Robert Parkinson in E2. A very deserving Tim Beeman won Nostalgia Eliminator 3. Beeman began eliminations by dispatching the 2015 champion Ed Staute. Then, he finished the day by defeating the #1 qualifier, Wes Morris, in the final round. Dwight Garland Jr. grabbed his first ever Wally by winning NE 2. The path to the winner’s circle was anything but easy as Garland Jr. had to get past #2 qualifier Mike Troxel, Wild Horse Pass winner Gary Ryan, and the always tough Jay Huckleberry. Brandon Frye and Frye Motorsports must love Sacramento Raceway. The team has now won A/G at the Nostalgia Reunion the past two years. Brandon’s RTs were sensational in eliminations, the quickest of which was an .002 against Casey Treur in the semi-finals. Anything slower than a .013 would have meant defeat for the Taft, CA driver. Porterville, CA did OK, too, with Tim Mulviihill taking the B/G Wally. Like Frye, Mulvihill was killer on the lights, recording an .002 against Neal Westbrook in the final round. The Capps family had a great weekend with dad, Mark, winning C/G, and daughter Sabrina making it to the semi-finals of NE 1. The final round of B/G pitted Tim Mulvihill (near lane) against Neal Westbrook. Westbrook ran a near perfect 8.606, but left early by -.024. Mulvihill did his part, too, with a .004 RT coupled to an 8.599 ET. Kurt Kaemerle has lost only one round of eliminations in Hot Rod this year, and that was to Jay Waxler in the final round at Wild Horse Pass in January. Kurt and Jay are currently #1 and #2 in points respectively. Kaemerle returned the favor at Sacramento Raceway, punching out Waxler in the semi final round. Barta is Back! Jason atoned for a dismal season thus far, qualifying #2, then defeating the always stout Dale Taros in the final round. Tim Beeman (far lane) survived a final round double breakout slugfest against Wes Morris: 9.563 to Wes’ 9.503. Brandon Frye (far lane) is the new points leader in A/G. In the final round against Brian Rogers, Brandon had to chase down a quicker-leaving Rogers (7.624 to 7.645). Mark Capps (far lane) defeated March Meet winner, Jim Finn, in the final round of C/G. In that race, Finn went -.024 red, granting Capps an easy, but well-deserved, win. Ed “The Ferret” Carey is quite the hunter, but his prey is fellow D/G competitors. With his win at the Nostalgia Reunion, Carey leapfrogged over Steve Barta into first place, Don Enriquez moved up from 7th to 2nd with his win at the Nostalgia Reunion. Had he not missed the season opener at Wild Horse Pass, one can only speculate whether Brad Woodard would still be leading the points after three races. Richard Phillips got off to a slow start at the Nostalgia Reunion qualifying last in a 10-car field. That all changed starting with eliminations. In the last two rounds of eliminations, Phillips defeated number two in points, Steve Faller, and the leader, Richard High. Included in the weekend’s racing program was the track’s annual Funny Car Fever event featuring nitro funny cars. Oakdale’s Richard Townsend defeated Atascadero’s Don Hudson to win Nostalgia (nitro) Funny Car. Townsend ran his best ET in that final round (6.007). John Weaver had the quickest time at 5.923, while Hudson had top speed at 256.80. Blown alcohol funny car, the California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA), was won by Mike Troxel. There was also a nitro nighttime fire up of “cackle cars” and a car show put on by Jim Hague and the Pleasanton Pushrods Car Club. Oakdale’s Richard Townsend and “Nitroholic” (near lane) defeated Atascadero’s Don Hudson to win Nitro Funny Car. Mike Troxel won blown, alcohol funny car to open the California Independent Funny Car Association’s (CIFCA) 2016 season opener. Story and Photos by Stephen Justice and Wayne Lederer |
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Funny Car Fever’s Nostalgia Reunion is part of NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series. Racers are competing for $30,000 cash, NHRA Wallys and Heritage Series Points. Nitro Funny Cars ♦Richard Townsend’s “Nitroholic” ♦Mendy Fry driving Larry Alleman’s “Smokey’s Darkside” ♦John Weaver driving Cecil Matthews’ “Matthew Motorsports” ♦AA/Supercharged NHRA Wally to all Heritage Series Winners Blown Alcohol CIFCA Funny Cars and Come see the unveiling of the New “2015 CIFCA Champion Funny Car” only at Funny Car Fever Pete Peterson / Mike Motter
Dan Whiteman
Pleasanton Pushrod’s Car Show Saturday 7.0 Pro A/Fuel JR Fuel Nostalgia Eliminator I,II,III A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, Hot Rod Hot Rod
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scroll to the bottom of this page to see the schedule SPECTATOR “Spectator side” ENTRY INFO SATURDAY AND SUNDAY GENERAL ADMISSION “spectator side” RACER AND CREW MEMBER INFORMATION FOR FRIDAY-SUNDAY GATES OPEN: see schedule below RACE ENTRY: $125 PHOTOGRAPHS:Only Hard Card photographers are allowed in the restricted area(beyond the red line, starting line, spectator side of drag strip, push road) If your crew member is found taking photographs in this area they will be asked to leave the facility. You can contact one of our track photographers to obtain photographs of your car. Contact list PAYOUTS: At the Souvenir booth starting 30 minutes after semi final round ends. Bring 1099 Info form completed. 1099 Link to Rule book
Link to Oil down Policy
Link to Policies and Procedures
Event Schedule Please email Allie for a more detailed schedule: sacraceway@gmail.com Thursday March 31 Friday April 1 SATURDAY APRIL 2 SUNDAY APRIL 3 and back in Sac……….Saturday Nite Nostalgia Cackle Fire – 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm
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