By Jim McCombe
More than 200 Northern California drag racers convened on the Sonoma Valley drag strip at Infineon Raceway, Oct. 8, for the weekly running of the Wednesday Night Drags. Participants included members of the NorCal Corvette Club, who raced for a $100 cash prize for the person who got the best reaction time in the first round of eliminations.
The prized was claimed by Napa's Tony Brackett in his 2003 Corvette with a .036 reaction time in his race against Fairfield's David Pelayo, who was driving his new 2008 ZO6 Corvette.
In other racing action, Santa Rosa's Jorge Valencia ended weeks of frustration which included several runner-up finishes by winning the Street class in his 1974 Chevy Luv pickup. Santa Rosa's Jim Arnold nabbed his first-ever win in the Motorcycle class by stopping Petaluma's Bill McGrath, who was also making his first-ever final round showing.
The next Wednesday Night Drags event will take place on Oct. 15 at Infineon Raceway. Gates open at 3 p.m. For more information, call 800-870-RACE.
Wednesday Night Drags Thanksgiving Food Drive
Infineon Raceway is partnering with the Wednesday Night Drags program to help collect food items for the 8th annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Any spectator or drag racer who brings four or more non-perishable food items to the Wednesday Night Drags events on Oct. 15, 22 or 29, will receive a $10 voucher which can be redeemed at any Wednesday Night Drags event in 2009. All food items will be donated to Friends in Sonoma Helping (FISH) in Sonoma and Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) in Petaluma. For more information, call Jennifer Imbimbo at (707) 933-3981.
High School
Winner: Sean Riggio (San Lorenzo) 89 Mustang .205 RT 16.000 (14.80) 65.51
Runner-up: David Lemos (Windsor) 08 Dodge .726 RT 18.800 (15.10) 59.72
Sport Street
Winner: Ron Love (Petaluma) 03 PT Cruiser .091 RT 14.760 (14.78) 91.79
Runner-up: Pete Bens (Sebastopol) 05 WRX .082 RT 14.578 break out (14.60) 93.32
Street
Winner: Jorge Valencia (Santa Rosa) 74 Chevy Luv .078 RT 11.953 (11.94) 109.15
Runner-up: Steve Romans (Hayward) 01 Chevy Truck .095 RT 15.425 break out (15.43) 84.78
Jack Pot
Winner: Mitch Whorton (Napa) 72 Chevy Wagon .078 RT 12.559 (12.38) 89.20
Runner-up: John Murphy (Menlo Park) 55 Chevy .075 RT 11.474 (10.90) 118.96
Motorcycle
Winner: Jim Arnold (Santa Rosa) 06 Yamaha .337 RT 11.313 (11.20) 107.62
Runner-up: Bill McGrath (Petaluma) 06 Suzuki .411 RT 12.058 (11.59) 116.20
Comp Rod
Winner: Doug McCay (Rodeo) 79 Capri .055 RT 10.142 (10.13) 114.90
Runner-up: Chris Simas (Napa) 72 Chevelle .080 RT 12.757 (12.73) 104.40
NorCal Corvettes
Winner: Scott Swafford (Napa) 99 Corvette .450 RT 14.009 ET (13.90 dial in) 98.99 mph
Runner-up: Rich Willhoff (Woodland) 06 Corvette .262 RT (broke on the starting line)
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