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Drag Racing is a sport of hard work, long hours, dedication and perseverance. In CIFCA this theme runs throughout the whole group. The event at Las Vegas would test these traits for multiple teams. Qualifying started Saturday night with points leader Dennis Murphy's Ground Zero not making the call as the motor dropped a valve in warm up and the team thrashed to get it fixed. Becky Sylvester's California Rattler lost the gear drive. Once the cars made it to the track most of the cars ran way too quick. The quickest being Pete Ortiz Jr in Jim Boettcher's Wild Thing with a 7.18. 3 of the top 5 in points had issues first round. Points Leader Dennis Murphy did not make the call. The AMP Motorsports team had a transmission failure in the first round of qualifying and Mike Halstead lost the blower belt. All the teams would get the cars repaired for the second round. Jamie Leppanen in the Arizona Thunder ran a 7.52 to take the Sttrange Behavior Corvette the early pole. Eddy Plaizier in the Team Ace Firebird just missed a perfect run when he ran a 7.499. However this run would actually qualify him 7th with a 7.801 which would Award the team the Bar's Leak Revolving Qualifier Award.
The second round of qualifying featured the Perma Cool Burnout Challenge. After all the smoke had cleared the fans decided that Mike Irwin in his Strange Behavior Corvette was the winner. Most of the cars ran well under the index due to the better track conditions. 9 of the 14 cars that ran the session were under the index.
Eliminations started Sunday Night with a Marquee Match Up. First and Second in points met in the first round. Jeff Tildahl in the Ground Zero car faced Paul Peterson in the AMP Motorsports car. The race was won at the starting line as Tildahl went red and both cars broke out. Chill Scardino in the Tim Scardino tuned Team Orange Dodge ran a perfect 7.500 with a .028 light to defeat number 3 in points Mike Halstead. Chill Picked up the Good Vibrations Best Package Award for his efforts. Glenn Tucker received a single when Becky Sylvester could not return after a rear end failure. Jim Carter red lighted away a 7.600 to lose round one to Tony Doca however would return second round.
The second round is where a lot of drama set in. Jamie Leppanen in the Arizona Thunder had a converter failure on the burnout which gave Chill Scardino the round win and the single. Mike Irwin was defeated by first round quick loser Jim Carter when Irwin went red. Carter ran a 7.43. Glenn Tucker in his 55 Chevy cut a .006 light to get the advantage off the start however had to shut the car down when the front end started vibrating and caused the whole front end to wobble and shake. Tucker would get the Enderle Quick Reaction award though for his reaction time. Doing this gave the win to Tony Doca. Paul Peterson had the task of facing the 2005 IBAA champion Team Ace. At the start Plaizier got the hole shot advantage with a .011 light. Peterson hit the throttle and the transmission failed instantly. This was the third of the weekend. Lady luck stepped in as Eddy Plaizier broke out with a 7.48 and Peterson was able to get the car to roll through the lights and get the round win with a 31.00 et.
A mad thrash ensued after the second round as both of AMP Motorsports Transmissions were damaged. Team ACE prepared their car to come back in to race if Peterson could not make the call. The Team got the transmission out of the car in 7 minutes and took it to transmission expert Mike Stewart who completely rebuilt their transmission in record time and the team then thrashed to get it in the car. The cars pulled into the lanes for the semi's. Plaizier and all the other drivers were strapped in their cars. Just as the first pair was to roll around the corner the AMP teamed pulled into the lanes with Peterson in the car ready to run. The first pair pitted Chill Scardino against Tony Doca. Chill got a huge hole shot advantage and took the win light with a 7.60 to a quicker but losing 7.58. The next pair featured Paul Peterson and Jim Carter. Carter got the hole shot with a .014 light to Peterson's .041 light. Peterson was able to drive around him with a 7.51 to Carter's 7.55. The team was lucky just to make the round let a lone run a 7.51.
The final featured Chill Scardino and Paul Peterson. At the green Scardino got a slim hole shot however ran too quick giving the win to Peterson who ran a 7.53 to a quicker but losing 7.48.
In what was a very trying weekend the AMP Motorsports team came out victorious. The team went through a total of 3 transmissions however due to the generous support of Shane from Freeway Building Materials were able to get them repaired and win the event and take over the points lead. The team was also awarded the Cogswell Marine Lucky Dog award for their hard luck that turned into good luck.
The team and CIFCA would like to Thank Mike Stewart of Mike's Transmissions for pulling off an incredible feat helping the Team make the semi final's and eventually get to the winner's circle.
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