SCSDA Talley Metal Supply Jim DePasse Memorial Race - Day 1

Friday January 31st, 2020

Day one in San Jacinto, CA started with gorgeous weather in the mid to high 70s. Racing action kicked off with some Pro Motorcycle and Pro Car Test and Tune. The track surface looked amazing thanks to some new dirt being brought in from offsite. The test and tune session showed that the new dirt was working well for all competitors. As the afternoon rolled around, the big cars took to the track. Bill Peterson was first out in the new Top Alcohol Villain dragster. Bill made a quick 60′ licensing burp and luckily that’s all that was planned as the car made a move towards the guardrail. Jimmy DePasse was up next running the Fuelish American colors in honor of his dad. Jimmy’s plans to make big moves this weekend started out a little slow with only a 2.955 pass, but he said that the team was looking to take small steps to the big numbers instead of going gung-ho from the beginning. Top Alcohol was rounded out by veteran Jim Hammond and Jake Morton back from his year long hiatus out of the sand. Jim rolled through the lights not getting a time, but Morton showed that they came back meaning business running a 2.465 off the trailer. Unfortunately he would backfire the motor in the shutdown.

Six Top Eliminator cars made the call for round one of qualifying. Most were SCSDA regulars with the exception of Kyle Farwick out of Ohio. Farwick’s first pass was a violent one standing the car up right out of the gate and quickly having to get out of it. He would have to wait till round two to get a decent pass on the new track surface. Tommy Zavala’s new Blown Looney had issues on its maiden voyage only running a 3.427. Jim Naffziger behind the wheel of Terry Crawford’s Yabba Dabba Doo dragster ran a stellar 2.965 pass, but it wasn’t quite enough for number one. Paul Graham went right to the top in his blue buggy running 2.959.

A Fuel started with three competitors in the lanes, but attrition knocked out Greg Johnson and Dennis Young before they could make a pass due to varying mechanical issues. Sally Rasmussen soloed the first session with an awesome 2.836 blast.

Round two of qualifying saw Peterson come back out and make his first full pass in the new car running a 2.854 while hurting the motor. Jim Hammond made the call and this time was able to hold the car back at the start. He went number two running a 2.475. Morton would not make it back for the second session leaving Jimmy DePasse to run a 2.866 to finish out the field.

Second round for Top Eliminator saw quite a few breakouts with Punos, Naffziger, and Farwick all running too quick for the 2.95 index. The rest of the field continued, but no changes to the qualifying order were made as the first session times still held to be better.

A Fuel had the full field of three cars return plus the addition of Mason Lauffer’s new turbo Honda powered setup. Sally Rasmussen ran the best pass of the session with a 3.005. Greg Johnson and Mason Lauffer ran very close in their four cylinder buggies with Johnson mustering just a bit more with a 3.455 pass to Lauffer’s 3.475. Dennis Young in his Pound Sand dragster was last up and unfortunately experienced some issues idling down most of the track and only running a 7.547.

Qualifying Results (After Round 2)

Top Alcohol
1. Jake Morton 2.465
2. Jim Hammond 2.475
3. Bill Peterson Jr. 2.854
4. Jimmy DePasse 2.866

Top Eliminator
1. Paul Graham 2.959
2. Jim Naffziger 2.965
3. Aaron Bailey 2.996
4. Mark Punos 3.005
5. Tommy Zavala 3.427
6. Kyle Farwick 5.278

A/Fuel
1. Sally Rasmussen 2.836
2. Greg Johnson 3.455
3. Mason Lauffer 3.475
4. Dennis Young 7.547

Pro Gambler

The Pro Gambler class saw a tough 26 car field stacked with West Coast natives and out-of-towners from Ohio, Nick Manlove and Larry Monnig. Unfortunately for the Ohio group, they would both go out early and have to try to better their luck at the casino. The rest of the field would battle it down to the semis where Team Hardcore had to face off against each other with Brandon Montgomery coming out on top in the black and orange truck. On the other side of the ladder Kenny Hayes faced off against Justin Adamson with Kenny taking the win there. In Hayes vs Montgomery final it was a double breakout decision favoring Kenny Hayes as the victor.

3.95 Index

The 3.95 Index saw a full field of fast cars running right on the index. It came down to a battle of the Jeeps as Chris Pintor and Jeff Adamson faced off. Chris pulled ahead with a reaction time advantage of 0.098RT to Adamson’s uncharacteristic 0.153RT and finished it off with 4.012 to a breakout for Adamson.