World Sand Drag News

After a year of the COVID-19 pandemic we were finally able to make our way back to Southern California to attend the So Cal Sand Drag Association (SCSDA) Mike Williams Sr. Memorial Race in San Jacinto.

It was a highly anticipated race for drivers around the West Coast. A handful of racers mixed in from Mexico and the Midwest promised for some great racing. 

The weather stayed consistent with mid to low 80s during the day and mid to low 50s in the evening.

Friday began with 1 hour of open test and tune and then began the start of the continuation races from the SCSDA’s last event before the pandemic began (January 2020). Top Eliminator along with the Pro 1, 2, and 3 cars still needed to be completed, so the SCSDA decided to run the Pro classes continuation races Friday afternoon (2 T&T passes and then round robin until completion). The Top Eliminator continuation race would be finished during the qualifying sessions for the Mike Williams Sr. Memorial Race.

Here are your Pro classes January 2020 continuation race winners:

After the Pro classes continuation races were completed, track preparations began for the heads up classes to hit the lanes for the first of four sessions of qualifying. Top Alcohol consisted of two total competitors starting the first session. Jim Hammond driving “April’s Dream” was about to make his first pass but unfortunately pulled off the track before pulling into the staging lights due to an oil pressure issue. Bill Peterson Jr. driving “The Villain” would make a solo pass. Even with letting off at the 225ft mark Bill managed a 2.763.

Up next would be Top Eliminator (2.95 Index) where we saw a total of 10 competitors battle it out at this race. Paul Graham was the stand out in this session running closest to the index with a 2.967. 

In A-Fuel there were 6 total entrants, with 5 hitting the track in the first session. Steve Hoffman, coming off a victory in Dome Valley just a month ago, started strong with a 2.808 pass in the first session to claim the top qualifier spot. Greg Johnson and the In Excess Racing team experienced some issues during their warm-up that forced them to sit out the first session.

Pro Mod Unlimited was a two man bout between Jimmy DePasse and Nick Shultzman in his new “Blew By You” machine. 

Here is the qualifying order after the 1st session:

Top Alcohol
1. Bill Peterson Jr. – 2.763
2. Jim Hammond – DNR

Top Eliminator
1. Paul Graham – 2.967
2. Craig Brewster – 3.021
3. David Stidham – 3.149
4. Aaron Bailey – 3.191
5. Ron Moran – 3.218
6. Jamie Regina – 3.328
7. Tristan Graham – 3.623
8. Russ Bailey – 6.548
9. Mark Punos – 2.943
10. Jim Naffziger – 2.907

A-Fuel
1. Steve Hoffman – 2.808
2. Jordan Quintal III – 4.283
3. Mario Taveres – 4.360
4. Dennis Young – 5.524
5. Sally Rasmussen – LBY
6. Greg Johnson – DNR

Pro Mod Unlimited
1. Jimmy DePasse – 2.942
2. Nick Shultzman – 4.673

The Pro Gambler class began their T&T passes after the first session of qualifying. The first two rounds of Gambler eliminations were run, and the second session of qualifying began before we knew it. 

Jim Hammond made his first pass of the weekend but suffered some costly damage, he ran a 2.789 on the run. Bill Peterson Jr. would make his second run of the day after Pro Mod Unlimited and he would run a personal best of 2.599 along with the top speed of the weekend at 136.63mph. 

Top Eliminator had 9 of its competitors make a pass in the second session. Mark Punos with Fast Track Construction, would make the biggest leap in the order jumping from 9th to 3rd qualifier with his 3.035. Paul Graham would run a stand out pass again with a 2.988 on his single, remaining the number 1 qualifier. 

A-Fuel began with Greg Johnson of In Excess Racing, making his first pass of the weekend after blowing a burst panel in warm-up and missing the first session. Johnson would run a 2.812 on his first pass. Top qualifier Steve Hoffman (who ran with Johnson in the second session) ran a 2.883. John Cronin with Slot Guru Products in the “Meltdown II” dragster, would make his first appearance in a couple of years and run a 3.077.

Jimmy DePasse would be the only one to make a second session pass for Pro Mod Unlimited, running a 2.993.

Here is the qualifying order after the 2nd session:

Top Alcohol
1. Bill Peterson – 2.599
2. Jim Hammond – 2.789

Top Eliminator
1. Paul Graham – 2.967
2. Craig Brewster – 3.021
3. Mark Punos – 3.035
4. Jamie Regina – 3.106
5. Ron Moran – 3.128
6. David Stidham – 3.149
7. Aaron Bailey – 3.189
8. Tristan Graham – 3.208
9. Russ Bailey – 6.548
10. Jim Naffziger – 2.907
Best run of session: Paul Graham 2.988

A-Fuel
1. Steve Hoffman – 2.808
2. Greg Johnson – 2.812
3. Sally Rasmussen – 2.934
4. John Cronin – 3.077
5. Mario Tavares – 3.730
6. Jordan Quintal III – 3.999
7 Dennis Young – 5.524

Pro Mod Unlimited
1. Jimmy DePasse – 2.942
2. Nick Shultzman – 4.673
Best run of session: Jimmy DePasse 2.993

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The Friday Pro Gambler ran elimination rounds out until completion following the second qualifying session. The Gambler class featured 39 racers and as we all know, it came down to 2. Chris Adamson would get the victory over Kenny Hayes. Hayes would have an issue on the starting line and rolled through the beams due to his trans brake being disengaged. Adamson took the opportunity of Kenny’s mistake and ran it out to a 4.345 on a 4.37 dial.

Friday Pro Gambler
1st Chris Adamson
2nd Kenny Hayes

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After the Friday Pro Gambler finals it was onto the 26 entrant 3.95 Index class which would begin with T&T followed by eliminations till completion. We would see a final round of Shawn Thompson versus Tommy Zavala. Zavala had an important semi-final win against Chris Pintor with a 0.015 light to Pintor’s 0.036 giving Tommy theholeshot win. Zavala continued his reaction time advantage in the final against Thompson running a 4.05 on a pedal job to Thompson’s 4.16. 

3.95 Index
1st Tommy Zavala
2nd Shawn Thompson

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Saturday morning kicked off with the Motorcycle Sport classes with a mix of familiar competitors and a few first timers. The Motorcycle Sport 2 final came down to two regulars at the So Cal Sand Drags with Marcus Riedel against Randy Mings. Mings got the jump on Riedel, but broke out running a 4.83 on a 4.86 dial giving the win over to Marcus. The Motorcycle Sport 1 final came down to LLR Racing’s Nikki Bailey on her single cylinder Honda against Tyler Hanrahan on the Banshee. This final would almost be a heads up start with Bailey dialed a 4.42 and Hanrahan dialed a 4.49. Hanrahan got a killer 0.027 light and pedaled it down to a 4.69 as Nikki bogged it off the line. 

Following the Sport Motorcycle Classes, Top Eliminator hit the track for their third qualifying session. This session would have some added pressure from the 2020 continuation race now running elimination rounds inside the qualifying session. Mark Punos and Jim Naffziger were first up in this matchup from 2020 with Mark Punos solidifying a solid number 2 spot with a 2.968 and simultaneously taking out Jim Naffziger who managed a 3.005. Paul Graham ran his bye run alongside Craig Brewster and used it to push the envelope running one thousandth from perfect with a 2.949 pass. Brewster pushed himself into the number three spot with a 2.990 after Punos and Naffziger bumped him down the pass prior. Tristan Graham stepped up big time with a 3.058 alongside Russ Bailey who went too quick for the class with a 2.903.

Here is the Top Eliminator qualifying order after the 3rd session: 

1. Paul Graham – 2.967
2. Mark Punos – 2.968
3. Craig Brewster – 2.990
4. Jim Naffziger – 3.005
5. Tristan Graham – 3.058
6. Jamie Regina – 3.106
7. Ron Moran – 3.128
8. Aaron Bailey – 3.147
9. David Stidham – 3.149
10. Russ Bailey – 6.548
11. Larry Snow – DNR
Best run of session: Mark Punos 2.968

The Sport Car classes continued after the third Top Eliminator session. Sport 1 had Kevin Williams come out of retirement to compete this weekend. It was a spectacular weekend for Kevin where he would take the Sport 1 win after taking out two tough Gilmore racing Jeeps beating Tim Gilmore in the semis and then facing off against Anthony Lopez in the finals. Kevin got a superhuman 0.003 reaction time against Lopez in the final to take that victory as well proving that his time off in retirement didn’t mean much for this old racer.

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Anthony Lopez was pulling double duty running both Sport 1 and Sport 2. He faced off against former Top Fuel champ Dennis Rieck in the semis of Sport 2, where he would get beat at the tree moving Rieck onto the final against Ron Hess. Hess is a veteran in the late rounds of Sport 2, but was facing an on fire Dennis Rieck. Rieck used that momentum to 0.017 on the tree in his borrowed ride from Scott Whipple to take the win over Hess in the Fiat.

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A highlight of the weekend was the big money Minor vs Whipple Shootout paying $5,000 total to the class. Competition was split into two sides of the ladder with Larry Minor Motorsports Jeeps on one side and Whipple Sand Jeeps on the other. Each respective class would battle it out for a first place prize of $1,000 (runner-up $500). Competition didn’t end there though as the winners of the LMM side and WSJ side faced off in a grand best two out of three final for an extra winner-take-all $2,000. The class was a huge success with tight racing and plenty of shenanigans and fun going down between the two manufacturers. Each round was set Street Outlaw style with chip pulls determining matchups. The Larry Minor Motorsports side of the ladder came down to Kevin Williams (who just won the Sport 1 class) and a tough Charlie Johnson. Kevin went in a little too deep, turning on the red bulb and giving the win over to Johnson. Over on the Whipple Sand Jeep side, Scott Whipple himself went through all of his customers to make it to a final round against Wes Johnson. Whipple used a 0.017 light to get past Wes Johnson setting up the Minor vs Whipple final of Scott Whipple versus Charlie Johnson. First match had Charlie Johnson play a little bit of signature starting line mind games against Scott Whipple and they paid off with a win. He’d have to circle back around and do it one more time to take the bonus $2,000. Scott wouldn’t let those tricks work a second time getting an 0.022 light advantage and held it to the line making the two go to a third round for the Minor vs Whipple Shootout. With $2,000 on the line both competitors made their way up to the line for a third and final time. It appeared Charlie Johnson was having issues with his trans brake, but could it have been staged to throw Whipple off his game? After getting to the line, it was apparent that Johnson was not playing games, his trans brake was gone and he struggled to properly stage his LMM Jeep jumping through the lights as he tried to bring the Rs up. Scott Whipple took the extra $2,000 for the Minor vs Whipple Shootout. Both racers were just excited to take part in this class with Scott giving it up to Larry Minor for co-sponsoring the class with him and giving it up to Larry as the “King” of the sport and simply trying to carry on his legacy. Charlie was happy to have made it to final and explained “The trans brake quit working. Then I tried to footbrake it and suck at footbraking. Haha”

Minor vs Whipple Shootout
1st Scott Whipple
2nd Charlie Johnson

The third round of qualifying for Top Alcohol, A-Fuel, and Pro Mod Unlimited as well as the final session for Top Eliminator was up next. Jim Hammond took over the number one spot with a 2.515 lap. Darrel Cypert joined the class making his first pass of the event with a soft tune, wheelstanding  2.800. 

The final for the 2020 continuation race in Top Eliminator was next with Paul Graham going too quick against Mark Punos running a 2.940 to Punos’ 3.076. Russ Bailey finally got his altered to run within the bracket moving up to the number 4 spot with a 2.998.

In A-Fuel, Greg Johnson rocketed ahead of the class with a 2.779 to take the top spot. Sally Rasmussen wasn’t far behind with a 2.797 hitting the rev limiter at the top end of the track.

Jimmy DePasse switched vehicles for the third Pro Mod Unlimited session piloting Dave Huffman’s Jeep hoping to improve his best of the weekend. Unfortunately, he went hard left towards the guardrail and had to lift off. Nick Shultzman also continued to experience some new car blues and was unable to improve his time either.

Here is the qualifying order after the 3rd/4th session:

Top Alcohol
1. Jim Hammnd – 2.515
2. Bill Peterson – 2.599
3. Darrell Cypert – 2.800

Top Eliminator Q4
1. Paul Graham – 2.967
2. Mark Punos – 2.968
3. Craig Brewster – 2.990
4. Russ Bailey – 2.998
5. Jim Naffziger – 3.005
6. Jamie Regina – 3.052
7. Tristan Graham – 3.058
8. Ron Moran – 3.128
9. Aaron Bailey – 3.147
10. David Stidham – 3.149
11. Larry Snow – DNR
Best run of session: Russ Bailey 2.998

A-Fuel
1. Greg Johnson – 2.779
2. Sally Rasmussen – 2.797
3. Steve Hoffman – 2.808
4. John Cronin – 3.077
5. Mario Tavares – 3.730
6. Jordan Quintal III – 3.999
7. Dennis Young – 5.524

Pro Mod Unlimited
1. Jimmy DePasse – 2.942
2. Nick Shultzman – 4.673
Best run of session: Jimmy DePasse 4.15

Saturday Pro Gambler test and tune commenced before the final session heads-up classes hit the track. In the final Top Alcohol qualifying session Darrell Cypert made good use of his wheelie bar making a 2.663 lap with half track wheelie.

Greg Johnson raised the bar again running a 2.708 in the final session just knocking on those 60s. John Cronin experienced a staging foul on what looked like would have been a great pass. His team would have to come up with a solution for his dragster’s wide spoked front wheels for Sunday’s eliminations. Hoffman stepped up running a 2.778 to take back the number 2 spot from Sally Rasmussen. Mario Tavares in the 4CH machine made a nearly full pull and managed a 2.919 showing that this inline 4 hemi certainly has a lot of potential.

In Pro Mod Unlimited, Jimmy Depasse once again had traction issues sending him towards the wall. Nick Shultman managed to make a full pull, but only ran a 3.711 with an extremely fat tune up. 

Final qualifying order:

Top Alcohol
1) Jim Hammnd – 2.515
2) Bill Peterson – 2.599
3) Darrell Cypert – 2.663
Best of session: Darrell Cypert 2.663

Top Eliminator
1) Paul Graham – 2.967
2) Mark Punos – 2.968
3) Craig Brewster – 2.990
4) Russ Bailey – 2.998
5) Jim Naffziger – 3.005
6) Jamie Regina – 3.052
7) Tristan Graham – 3.058
8) Ron Moran – 3.128
9) Aaron Bailey – 3.147
10) David Stidham – 3.149
11) Larry Snow – DNR

A-Fuel
1) Greg Johnson – 2.708
2) Steve Hoffman – 2.778
3) Sally Rasmussen – 2.797
4) Mario Tavares – 2.919
5) John Cronin – 3.077
6) Jordan Quintal III – 3.999
7) Dennis Young – 5.524

Pro Mod Unlimited
1) Jimmy DePasse – 2.942
2) Nick Shultzman – 3.711
Best run of session: Nick Shultzman 3.711

The Pro Gambler class finished the night out with a massive field even larger than Friday’s class. Battling late into the night, it came down to two out of state racers, Kenny Hayes out of Buckeye, Arizona and Chris Wells out of Vancouver, Washington. This round was going to come down to reaction time with both vehicles being some of the quicker competitors in the class. An abnormally long light left both Wells and Hayes with slower than normal reaction times. At the stripe it was Chris Wells with the win as Kenny Hayes broke out. The winnings from this class would certainly pay the fuel bills for Chris and his long haul back to Washington.

Saturday Pro Gambler
1st Chris Wells
2nd Kenny Hayes

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Sunday morning kicked off with the junior classes. The Pee Wee final came down to third generation racer Reed Adamson facing off against Jolene Dawson. Reed got the reaction time advantage off the line, but ran too quick against a charging Jolene Dawson giving the over to her on a breakout decision.
The Juniors class came down to a family affair as Peña Racing dominated the class. Dominic and Maddox Peña faced off in the double elimination final. They each went one and one, but the final round saw Maddox take the Juniors win.
The Junior Dragster class had Aiden Shultzman in his new Jr. dragster running against Reece Sadler in her Polaris RZR. Aiden bogged off the line leading to a slow light, which gave Reece the extra assurance for a win. Reece told us she had a lot of fun and that her favorite part of racing was “Going fast!”

Next up, we’d see the Pro Motorcycle divisions. Coming down the semis in Motorcycle Pro 2 it was all Mings Racing with Randy Mings and Caleb Mings squaring off to get into the final round to face Tyler Hanrahan who had the bye. Caleb was a little tardy on the tree and threw away a great pass against his father who beat him off the line and held him all the way to the finish. Moving into the final round, Tyler Hanrahan pulled out all the stops against Randy Mings doing his trademark double bulb procedure. Randy didn’t seem phased and pulled a double bulb back, but bogged off the line handing an easy win over to Tyler Hanrahan in Motorcycle Pro 2.

Motorcycle Pro 1 saw some new faces and a few that hadn’t been at the track in while. This class saw Tessa Nunes return to familiar final rounds as she took out Joey Weaver in the semis running a nice 4.38 on a 4.37 dial. Mike Brock took out Tyler Hanrahan on his MP1 bike en route to a final round appearance. Tyler had the reaction time advantage, but Brock drove around him with a 3.71 on a 3.69 dial. This meant the final round was going to be close with both competitors righton their dials. It was going to come down to reaction time and Mike Brock took the advantage at the tree and held it to the finish line running a 3.704 on a 3.69 dial for the Motorcycle Pro 1 win.

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The Pro 1 final came down to a battle of the Chrises with Chris Wells facing off against Chris Pintor. Wells was seeking to double up after his Pro Gambler win on Saturday and Pintor was looking for his first victory of the event. Wells handed it over to him on staging foul.

Pro 2 was shaping up to be a storybook ending as Mike Williams Jr. was going round after round in his father’s “White Lightning” Jeep. Luck was on his side as he raced in memory of his father Mike Williams Sr. getting the easy path to the final via a bye after Sam Montgomery red lit against him in the quarter finals. He’d face a hot Scott Simpson in the Tounget Motorsports dune Jeep. Simpson used a 0.043 reaction time advantage over Tommy Zavala in the semis to advance to the final. Simpson continued his reaction time advantages with a 0.064 light in the final against Mike Williams Jr. which was enough to upset that storybook ending for Williams. 

Pro 3 saw Wes Gilmore returning to form in the “Ratitude” Jeep. Wes had not competed in this Jeep for over 5 years, but wasn’t skipping a beat getting the reaction time advantage nearly every round in route to making it to the finals to face the ever tough Jeff Adamson. Jeff took out some heavy hitters including Charlie Johnson in the quarter finals to earn himself a bye to the final. Wes Gilmore once again hit the tree hard with a 0.064 light advantage over Adamson to take the Pro 3 win.

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Prior to heads-up eliminations, a memorial service was held in Mike Williams Sr.’s honor with his son Mike Williams Jr. and family in tow making an idle pass down the sand strip. Mike Sr. loved racing and his racing family and will be missed.

First round of Top Alcohol had the number 1 qualifier Jim Hammond on a bye run pass running a nice 2.526 at 128.16mph. The first round matchup of Darrel Cypert versus Bill Peterson Jr. was going to be a close one with Cypert improving each pass down the track while Peterson who ran a career best 2.599 for the number two spot had been a touch inconsistent in running those numbers. Off the line, Cypert had a massive wheelstand that kept climbing and climbing. Eventually he had let out and came crashing down, breaking the front axle of his Top Alcohol dragster as Peterson in “The Villian” went past him with a 2.760. Cypert was able to keep the car straight and shut down safely, but certainly would be sore the next day after such a cold ride. That set up the final of Jim Hammond in “April’s Dream” versus Bill Peterson Jr. in “The Villian”. Peterson would have to step up to take on the consistent 2.5x machine of Hammond and he certainly did, running a 2.61 in the final, but came up just short of Jim Hammond’s 2.592.

Top Alcohol
1st Jim Hammond
2nd Bill Peterson Jr.

Top Eliminator was set on a very competitive 10 car field. Attrition in the class took effect immediately in the first round as Paul Graham received a legal single with David Stidham in “The Grinch” Jeep unable to make the first round call. Paul still laid out a stellar 2.987 pass on his single. His son Tristan Graham took out Missouri racer Russ Bailey on a 3.022 to 3.002 holeshot the pass right after. Craig Brewster singled into the next round with competitor Ron Moran unable to make the call. Jamie Regina pushed too hard and experienced issues about half track allowing Jim Naffziger to burp the car at the finish line to a 3.047 early shut off. Mark Punos rounded out the first round scheduled to face Aaron Bailey who suffered engine damage that put him out for the weekend. Round 2 had Paul Graham getting another earned bye, but a timing system error didn’t give any data on the run. Tristan tried to make another round to face his father in the semis, but Craig Brewster had other plans, running a best of the weekend 2.961 to take Tristan Graham out. Vegas teammates Mark Punos and Jim Naffziger faced off in the quarter finals with the win going over to Naffziger on the better 2.993 ET to Punos’ 3.04. In the semis Paul Graham ran his first sub 2.9x pas sof the weekend at the worst possible time as Craig Brewster’s 3.021 was just enough to best his 3.023. Jim Naffziger used his semi final bye to test the track and ran a 2.939 breakout pass on his single to help set him up for a tough final round matchup against Brewster. The final round was a close one with Criag Brewster getting a slight reaction time advantage over Naffziger 0.024 to 0.044 and was able to force the breakout on Naffziger who ran a 2.940 to Brewster’s 2.98.

Top Eliminator
1st Craig Brewster
2nd Jim Naffziger

Much like Top Eliminator, A-Fuel had its share of attrition in the first round. Greg Johnson earned the first round bye and ran a rocketing 2.774. Sally Rasmussen was up next alongside Jordan Quintal III who couldn’t make the call giving the easy win to Rasmussen who ran a 3.003. Mario Tavares was there for the picking in his new 4CH powered machine as he roasted the tires right at the hit and coasted to a 5.04. He was set to face John Cronin who in the lanes lost his clutch and consequently couldn’t start his A-Fuel “Meltdown II” dragster let alone make a pass down the track. Last pair up was Steve Hoffman versus Dennis Young. Dennis his VW dragster on Saturday and was unable to make an appearance alongside Hoffman who ran a 2.806 on his legal single. The semis had Tavares matched up with Johnson. Tavares broke right off the line as his team still were working through the kinks of the new inline 4 hemi. Johnson didn’t look back with another fast lap of a 2.784. Hoffman and Rasmussen had a repeat of their final in Dome Valley just a few weeks ago and the result was the same. Steve Hoffman put together a 2.795 to take out Sally Rasmussen who struggled to a 3.23.  The number 1 and 2 qualifiers were set for what should have been a  climactic final round. Instead, we saw a rather odd bout with Steve Hoffman leaving way early and throwing away a 2.84 to Johsnon’s 3.33. Johnson also jumped the light and perhaps had a subpar run due to being caught off guard from Hoffman’s massive jump off the line.

A-Fuel
1st Greg Johnson
2nd Steve Hoffman

The Pro Mod Unlimited final was set to be interesting as both competitors were struggling this weekend. DePasse, now in teammate Dave Huffman’s Jeep, was having issues going from A to B without healing to the guardrail or center line, while Shutlzman was struggling to run a representative pass with his new combo. It ended up being a wild final with DePasse pedalling his Jeep to a losing 3.475 against Shultzman’s 3.40 while still struggling with an ultra fat tune.

Pro Mod Unlimited
1st Nick Shultzman
2nd Jimmy DePasse