Well, folks, there was high drama in the high desert today! Just two months ago the outcome of the point's race had begun to look like a foregone conclusion. That picture has changed dramatically in the last couple of events and as of today there are now three potential contenders for the overall point's championship for this season.
Dave Dowdell has proved that he is actually human and has been in a bit of a slump for the last couple of races. Getting knocked out in the first round of the last two events has seriously opened the door to a couple of challengers - today's winner - Donna King - and Steve Navar. There is only thirty points separating the three of them as we head into our last event of the season next month. It is anybody's guess as to who our 2nd annual WCCC champion will be!
The weather today was just about perfect - low 80's and a mild breeze. It gets even better - we were the only organized event for the day so everyone got in plenty of passes prior to eliminations.
Safety issues became even more paramount than usual when a 17-year old driver crashed into the left barrier in her alcohol dragster and then flipped two and-a-half times before landing upside down. The rescue squad was immediately on it. The driver was successfully removed and transported to a local hospital for observation and we are very happy to report that she is doing just fine - although she was quite shaken and very upset that the dragster was significantly damaged. This event happened just prior to our eliminations so you can rightfully discern that we were extra alert.
After five rounds of eliminations here are the final results:
| Winner: | Donna King | |
| Runner-up: | Chris DiDomizio | |
| Semi-Finalists: | Steve Navar | Gary Brown |
| Best Reaction Time: | Donna King | (.501) |
Eliminations began right around noon. In Round 1, Donna faced off with another of our more experienced racers - Jerry Huck. Jerry had some bad luck getting to the track earlier due to problems getting his trailered C3 to the track. He was only able to get in one run prior to eliminations so you would have thought that he would have a hard time dialing.
Donna ran a 13.54 to a 13.47 dial. Jerry dialed a 12.65 and ran a 12.68 which was pretty impressive given only one practice run. Slight problem: he got treed by Donna who pulled off a near perfect reaction time of .501 and that was enough for her to win the first round.
In the second round Donna was up against Pat McSwain. The outcome of this race was decided at the top end of the track. This was a pretty close race and Patrick broke out by .004 thousandths. Despite that, Donna had him at the stripe. Talk about a door-banger of a race!
The semi-finals found Donna and I facing off to see which of us would be going to the finals. I was 3-0 against her in previous competitions but I was not feeling at all cocky about it. She dialed a 13.47 to my 12.39 so she was off the line first. I kept my foot in it all the way and found myself making enough ground on her to almost catch her at the finish line. Her 13.59 was more than enough as I broke out by .005 thousandths with a 12.385. Oh, did I mention that she treed the heck out of me: her .537 light to my sleepy .709 !
Dave DiDomizio, who was the runner-up in last month's event, made it to the finals. The final numbers didn't matter as he lit the "Red Bulb of Death" and it was all over. Donna had won her second WCCC event!
In the meantime, Dave Dowdell got knocked out in the first round. He fouled and lost to Dave White who broke out but won the event. By a clerical error in the tower, Dave was mistakenly placed on the ladder for the next round…with apologies to Dave White who should have been awarded that position. Steve Navar also went several rounds today and his good performance improved his position to be in contention for the overall championship.
As always, we want to offer many thanks to all who helped out today including Steve Cool, Alice and Mike Villeneuve, Gary Combs and his bride for helping to set up registration and then take it down again. Dave Dowdell also helped out by taking many pictures today. Steve Cool helped introduce newcomer Dave White to our sport.
There were lots of smiles today amongst our drivers and their guests. It's always good to see our regular drivers and also the newer drivers who are getting hooked on our sport. It was a good mix of folks. This was definitely one of our more dramatic race-days and the point's race has definitely heated up! Next month's race should be very exciting as the outcome is now totally uncertain! Should be lots of fun!