Since September 11, 2002, flying has been difficult for us. It has less to do with fear and more to do with the fact that we look like terrorists. But on our flight up to NorCal, there was something special in the air that day as the flight attendant rewarded us with extra drinks and all the little bags of cocktail peanuts we could handle.
The good vibrations from the friendly skies ended as soon as we reached Gate One at Infineon Raceway. After waiting 20 minutes for a lowly general admission ticket, we were sent to park in a dirt lot that was just far enough away to make us feel like we were carrying the West Nile up to the Bay Area. But what the hell, at least the recent track renovations looked marv' and the $6 nachos (complete with rubber cheese) were delish.
After we got the Rodney Dangerfield from the NHRA, we were treated to some great racing from a stacked field of most of the country's top dogs. The Venom Team's triple-threat came dangerously close to a total sweep-although they did capture two national records. While Matt Scranton and Jesus Padilla continued to hold the Pro V8 and All Motor classes hostage, a new face jumped up onto the podium in the Street Tire class.
Pro V8MFor what is essentially a dead class, there was some exciting stuff going on in the Pro V8 ranks. In addition to a possible sweep of the series, Matt Scranton has been teetering on the verge of a 6-second blast, which would go nicely with his spot as the first sport compact to run above 200mph. With the exception of an occasional headwind, Infineon Raceway's excellent track conditions looked ripe to drop another record off the vine.
As Scranton assumed his usual place atop the qualifying pole with a 7.092 @ 197.16mph, Craig Paisley nailed a career-best 7.38 @ 184.04mph to claim the second slot. Even more impressive was the fact that Craig flipped this same truck exactly two months prior at Englishtown. After torching the front end of his Accufab Cougar at the Dallas NHRA event, John Mihovetz also made some quick repairs to make the field at Sonoma.
Craig's 7.38 proved to be too much for the V-8 as his motor let go on his next qualifying pass. It's fortunate that Craig's partnership with TRD allows for a spare motor at each race. But it's also unfortunate that no one at TRD thought to send a spare up to Sonoma. On a brighter note, this allowed the boys from TRD to close shop early and go wine tasting. They tell us they've found a '99 Pinot Grigio that's just to die for.
In Round 1 eliminations, all Craig could do was to roll to the line to try to bluff John. Even though the Mercury walked away with an easy win, the Accufab team had some choice words for the Paisley crew as they rolled the Tundra back off the line. But what Craig lacked on the track he more than made up for in the Paddock with a 38-foot rock-star tour bus and a choice spread where the food was even better than the finest trackside delicacies.
In the finals, the Turbonetics Celica easily dispensed with John's Cougar but his 7.221 @ 197.59mph wasn't quite the 6-second blast that everyone wanted to see.
ProThe battle for Pro class supremacy has been a hard-fought one between John Lingenfelter and Grant Downing. Sonoma was shaping up to be good fight as Grant's Venom Tundra took the top spot with a 7.123 while John's Summit Cavalier was right there with a 7.288.
By Chad Sexington
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