The Second half of the season (2012) consisted of 4 races; Lewistown Drag strip, Spokane County Raceway, Yellowstone Drag Strip and Renegade Raceway.

Lewistown Dragstrip  8/11/12-8/12/12

On Friday in Lewistown Fred Ray and Chuck Roark displayed at Sparks Auto Plaza which are always great hosts. Sparks Auto Plaza has been a supporter of our race for many years now and we appreciate it! Thanks Sparks Auto Plaza! Saturday Brent Jones, Chuck Roark, and Fred Ray displayed at the car show in downtown Lewistown. We enjoyed seeing many new faces and handing out posters and free passes. The car show was a huge success. Friday late afternoon we all headed back to the racetrack and was joined by Terry Dockter to make our first run on the new asphalt. Yes that’s what I said, Lewistown has NEW asphalt and I might say its mighty smooth. All four cars made nice passes and we were ready for Saturday. All cars made two more runs on Saturday and the track had plenty of spectators. We want to say thank you to the Lewistown Racetrack for all their hard work on all the upgrades to the raceway. We are looking forward to 2013.

Spokane County Raceway: 8/18/12

Our next stop was Spokane Raceway. Chuck Roark, Brent Jones, Elaine Sellers, Terry Dockter and David Spease represented the North West Funny Cars. This was a Chicago style race, all cars made two passes and the fastest two cars went to the final. There were 14 funny cars that showed up for the field. After qualifying was over Elaine had made it to the final round. On the final pass Elaine’s car headed to the center and she had to lift letting the Wild Side Funny Car take the win. It was a great weekend for the NWFC.

Yellowstone Drag Strip: 9/1/12-9/2/12

After Spokane we headed to Billings for the Burn the Point Cruise, Brent and Chuck displayed their cars in downtown Billings. We gave away free passes and posters all night long. Saturday morning Brent Jones, Chuck Roark, Elaine Sellers, and David Spease prepared their cars for the first run of the weekend. We made two passes on Saturday night and the stands were full! We made two more passes on Sunday with the quickest runs being Chuck running a 6.88, Elaine running a 6.95, Brent running a 7.14, David running a 7.30. It was a great weekend. We would like to thank all of the hard working people at Yellowstone Drag Strip for putting this great race together!

Renegade Raceway 9/28/12-9/30/12

Elaine Sellers Represented the North West Funny Cars at Renegade Raceway. She made it into the final against the Zeus funny car and took the win for a Wally! All of us at the NWFC are very proud of Elaine! Girls Rule!

                                                                                                            -Brent and Cassie Jones

  The NWFC Triathlon

  North West Thunder fest- June 22-24

Our first race of the season started out at Spokane County Raceway Park. This was an open show 16 car field Chicago style event. Which means, all cars make two qualifying passes and the two quickest cars go to the final. There were 3 cars from the NWFC joined in this event; Elaine Sellers, Chuck Roark and Brent Jones. All three cars represented the group well, with Chuck qualifying the best @ 6.96, Elaine Sellers @ 7.08, and Brent Jones @ 7.22. Chuck just missed the final round he was #3 qualifier. Elaine fought through some issues with the front end shaking and Brent Jones destroyed two blower belts at the 1,000 ft mark.

            The competition consisted of many different cars from all over the North West including Alters and Funny Cars. There was never a dull moment. We are excited for the next race on August 18 2012! All are hoping to improve their times!

Helena Valley Timing Association-June 30- July 10, 2012

            Our second event started out at the car show at the Broadwater Grounds in Helena Montana. As expected, there was a great turnout of cars and spectators. Chuck Roark, Brent Jones and Fred Ray displayed their cars for the show. We gave away posters, fired up the cars, and let some youngsters sit in the cars.

            Sunday morning we found ourselves at the Helena Airport. Fred Ray, Terry Dockter, Chuck Roark and Brent Jones came to compete. The Helena Valley Timing Association personnel worked hard at prepping the track. The show started with our traditional cackle fest lineup. The pits were full of cars and ready to race.

The race was three rounds of funny cars and alters smoking their tires from the starting line to the finish. The final consisted of Chuck and Brent going head to head with Chuck posting a 5.41 and Brent posting a 5.45. Brent cut the better light and crossed the finish line first. Terry Dockter and Fred Ray also did a great job on navigating the 1/8 mile. We just want to give a special thanks to everyone’s hard work.

  Nitro Nights Under The Lights- June 29-30, July 1^st

            We would like to congratulate Elaine and Ron Sellers on their victory at Renegade Raceway, and for bringing home the Wally! Way to go!

Lost Creek Raceway-July 6-7

            Our third event started out with Brent Jones displaying at Brooks Hanna Ford,  Chuck Roark displaying at Walmart in Butte and Elaine Sellers displaying at the Albertsons in Anaconda. That night around 5:00 we all rolled into Lost Creek Raceway including Fred Ray. We all got our pits set up and got ready to make our first pass at 8:00 that night.

            The evening air was good for the mile high racetrack the corrected elevation was 6900 ft. Fred Ray and Elaine Sellers paired up and made two low 5 second runs. Next up was Chuck Roark and Brent Jones, with Chuck running the quickest run of the weekend a 4.67 and Brent ran a 4.83.

             The next day around noon everyone warmed their cars up preparing to make a run at 1:00. Elaine found out they had no oil pressure and were unable to make the call. Fred Ray and Chuck Roark paired up and Brent Jones had a Bye. With the temperatures in the mid 80s Fred and Chuck made their run. Chuck ran a 4.95 and Fred ran a 5.05. Chuck had difficulties in the slow down area and the car got to bouncing violently and broke a cross member in the chassis and he was done for the weekend. Brent was up next and ran a 4.73.

            Elaine’s crew had the oil pan off the engine in no time and discovered the oil pump had locked up causing some damage and they were not able to participate for the rest of the weekend. So it was up to Brent and Fred to finish up the show. In the next round both drivers red lit, with Fred running a 5.14 and Brent running a 4.74.

            For the final round with Brent in the right lane and Fred in the left lane, both cars left side by side with Brent crossing the stripe first with a 4.77 against Fred’s 5.09.

           -To view more pictures visit us on facebook! To view our new videos click on our videos link!

                                                                                                                - Brent and Cassie Jones

The 2012 Schedule has changed again! We have added another race at the Spokane County Raceway, August 18, Napa Night of Fire. We would like to thank Craig Smith for putting together a program that our funny cars can fit into. We expect to see many familiar faces, and many new ones. 

                 Chuck Roark recently tried his luck at the Bakersfield March Meet in the 7.0 class. Fred Ray packed his parachutes. Ray Williamson dusted the valve covers off. Matt Meyer bought a new set of cylinder heads. Terry Dockter built another engine. Elaine Sellers has a new engine program and new flames. Brett Briden is just taking it easy. Brent Jones has rebuilt the funny car from top to bottom and plans to test it in may. Winter is getting long, I sure hope spring comes soon so we can go racing! 

                                                                                                    -Brent & Cassie Jones

                            Burn The Point Cruise &Yellowstone Drag Strip

                Friday night started out in downtown Billings at the Burn The Point Cruise where our cars were on display. There were thousands of people looking at the cars. We handed out tickets for the weekend race and NWFC posters, it was a great time.

                    Saturday we all arrived at the track, there was Matt Meyer, Ray Williamson, Fred Ray, Terry Dockter, Chuck Roark, and Brent Jones. This was our first 6 car show, we decided to do the race in a Chicago style format. There would be 3 qualifying runs and the 2 fastest cars would be in the final.

                    8:00 PM rolled around and it was time for 1^st round.Matt vs. Chuck and Chuck was across the finish line first running a ET 7.25 @ 185mph. Matt ran a close ET 7.48 @ 184 mph. Next up was Brent running a ET 7.15 @ 189 mph and Fred’s Et 7.29 @ 177 mph. Then Terry and Ray were up, Terry hit the wall with minor damage to the headers. Ray made a clean pass with the all new Hemi and clutch combination, ET 8.12 @ 155 mph. Ray had some issues with the blower leaking gear oil, instead of taking a chance and hurting the new combination he decided to sit out the rest of the race. Terry needed some extra time to fix his car so he would sit out the next qualifying pass.

                    It was 10:00 PM and we were ready for the 2^nd qualifying pass. Matt and Ray were up 1^st, with Matt running a ET 7.42 @ 189 MPH. Fred lifted early running a ET 7.73 @ 137 MPH. Next Chuck ran a ET 7.11 @ 188 MPH and Brent set the pace for the weekend and ran a ET 7.07 @ 200 MPH, but unfortunately, he broke a valve spring retainer and was done for the weekend.

                    SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! It was a beautiful morning and everyone was busy getting ready. Matt and Terry were up 1^st, Matt made a nice pass running a ET 7.42 @ 188 MPH and Terry’s ET 8.04 @ 152 MPH. Fred ran a ET 7.34 @ 184 MPH and Chuck ran a ET 7.13 @ 188 MPH and that finished up qualifying.

                    Qualifying order

1.    Brent Jones        ET 7.07 @ 200 MPH

2.    Chuck Roark      ET 7.11 @ 188 MPH

3.    Fred Ray            ET 7.29 @ 177 MPH

4.    Matt Meyer         ET 7.42 @ 189 MPH

5.    Terry Dockter     ET 8.04 @ 152 MPH

6.    Ray Williamson   ET 8.12 @ 155 MPH

It was time for the final round with Chuck vs. Fred. The beautiful nova of Fred Ray, and Chuck Roark’s 23T alter were towed to the line. Both cars rolled through the water and did nice burnouts. They both pulled to the line, the tension was high! The light turned green and it was Chuck that left and crossed the finish line 1^st. Chuck’s ET 7.15 @ 192 MPH, and Fred ran a ET 7.37 @ 177 MPH.

We would like to thank Derek Menholt and Dennis Mcknire for inviting us to the race. Everyone at the track did a great job! The traction was great and we all had a great weekend!

                                                                                     Brent W. Jones  

The Drags at Lewistown !!!

            Friday morning started out at Sparks Auto Plaza, they are always a great host to display the cars at. Matt Meyer had his Pontiac firebird and Brent Jones had his olds firenza were there on display. We gave posters away and talked to the people that stopped by. Well 5:00 rolled around and the dealership closed up so we decided to tow the cars down to Main Street and park them along the street. We chatted with a few more folks and had lots of people honking and waving.

            The next morning we found ourselves at the track, it’s the longest running NHRA track there is. There was Terry Docktor, Fred ray, Matt Meyer, and Brent Jones to battle it out on the 1/4 mile. First round was Brent VS Matt, Matt had a fuel problem and shut it off after the burnout so Brent made a single and ran a ET 7.42. Next up was Terry and Fred, Terry made it to the stripe first with a ET 7.48. The next round was Matt VS Terry,  both cars made nice passes with Matt running a ET 7.72 and Terry’s ET 7.52. Brent and Fred were up next, after a couple of nice burnouts they pulled up to the line. Fred smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle, Brent hooked up and ran a ET 7.41. Terry had some engine problems after the second pass and couldn’t make the call for the last pass. So Fred made a single pass for the third round having traction issues. So the final pass was Brent and Matt to battle it out for 1^st and 2^nd place. Both cars left good, but Brent was first to cross the stripe running a ET 7.46 and Matt running a ET 7.82.

            After the race was over I went and looked at the finish line and the cars had been Black tracking clear across the finish line, the cars were a hand full on the top end. We want to thank Sparks Auto Plaza for their support and Kevin Olson and all the people that helped out at the track.

                                                                                                     -Brent Jones

Mile High Drags at Lost Creek Raceway

As the weekend began to approach, the weather forecast was looking good. Things where shaping up to turn out to be another great weekend for the North West Funny Cars. Sharing the weekend was Chuck Haines in his Jet Powered Dragster.

On Friday Chuck Roark and Brent Jones displayed their cars at Brooks Hannah Ford in Butte MT. while Fred Ray and Matt Meyer displayed at the Albertson’s in Anaconda. Friday evening after a day of displaying the cars the guys were ready to make a run.  The air was about as good as it gets. The Lost Creek Raceway crew had done a great job of prepping the surface. Each year the track surface gets better and better.

            The first line-up was Fray Ray against Matt Meyer. Fred Ray with his beautiful 69 Nova had quite a ride when he spun off the line and headed straight for the wall. All turned out well, as he was able to recover and regain control. Next up was Brent Jones and Chuck Roark. Chuck ran a great pass with a 4.72 out of the box and Brent ran a 4.87.

             Saturday, with all the cars worked over and tuned up to run harder. The second pass of the weekend began about 1:30pm after the stands filled. I believe with a record amount of Spectators. This time Matt Meyer was racing Chuck Roark. After Meyers finished his sandwich at the lights he managed to sneak out a 5.14 but was nothing to Chuck’s 4.71 nice straight pass. Brent and Fred both had to pedal on their run. Brent Jones’s car developed mechanical problems but still managed to run a 4.81; he was out the rest of the weekend. After the funny cars the Jet car made his first pass of the day. All went smooth for Chuck Haines’s great looking Jet Car. Next round of Funny Cars was set for 4pm and Steve Cook with his Blown Alcohol Top Dragster stood in to run with Matt Meyers.

Steve Cook had a full weekend with racing 2 cars and pitting a third. We thank you for helping us out on such a busy weekend. With a little confusion at the light Steve Cook left early and after that Meyer still cut a .008 light. He was determined to get a great pass in. With a borrowed motor from Brent Jones and a tune up by Terry Dockter and help from others Meyers was sneaking up on his new combination. Roark was set to run Fred Ray but was shut down on the line because of a split fuel line fitting, afterwards it was a good thing, as they had found pushed out intake gaskets. It had shaped up that 2 cars were out of the race. Not very common for the North West Funny Cars as they take a great deal of pride about always running a good close race.

Now set for the final round was Fred Ray and Matt Meyers. With Meyers tuned up even more than usual was set to give Ray a run for his money. Both cars came off the line hard and ran straight as ever, and Fred Ray took the winners circle.  Meyer did have transmission difficulties in high gear, but would not have been enough to beat Ray. Great Job Fred your car is always running consistent. I would also like to thank Brooks Hannah Ford for all their support with a Brand new very nice F250 tow vehicle; you can’t travel much nicer than that. Also thank you to Albertson’s in Anaconda along with all the Lost Creek crew and all there sponsors for supporting us. Without all the tracks support we could never have this much fun.  

                                                                       - Ray Williamson and Teri Fifield

A Blast from the Past In Helena Montana

           We started the weekend out at the Helena Timing Association’s car show. Fred Ray, Brent Jones and Chuck Roark displayed their cars and drew quite the crowd when they fired the engines up at 2:00. The car show was a family oriented event full of cars, vendors, and even a jump house for the kids.

         Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Drag races at the Helena Airport. Terry Dockter, Brent Jones, Fred Ray, and Chuck Roark started the race off with a cackle fest in front of the packed stands.

            The track put out a very good effort to prep the track for the funny cars but since it only gets used twice a year, it’s pretty slick. For the first round it was Fred vs. Brent, and Chuck vs. Terry. When the smoke cleared on the two passes, Brent and Chuck crossed the stripe first. For the second round, the same pairs went back hoping for better traction. The cars were peddling and spinning the tires and once again Brent and Chuck won the rounds.

For the final round it was Chuck vs. Brent and Terry vs. Fred. Fred used up all of his lane and Terry smoked the tires to the win. Chuck and Brent both had quite a peddle fest with both cars at some point in the lead. Brent crossed the finish line first, but Chuck had the quickest pass of the weekend. We would like to thank Helena Timing Association for all of their effort and a great weekend.

Our next stop is Lost Creek Raceway, we will have cars on 7/15/11 at Albertsons in Anaconda and Brooks Hannah Ford in Butte. Come see us!

                                                                                          -Brent & Cassie Jones

Walla Walla Weekend at the Drags

      The weekend started with Matt Meyer and Brent Jones displaying at the Napa store on Issac St. in Walla Walla on Friday. The Napa store is always a great host with hot dogs, refreshments, and great people to mingle with.

     Saturday morning started out with Brent and Matt each making a test pass to test out the new concrete on the track. Both cars had to abort with the concrete being a little green. This last winter Walla Walla Dragstrip made the whole 1/8 mile concrete. The surface is very nice and very flat and fast.

      Well, at 5:00pm both funny cars pulled up for first round. The track was in very good shape, so both cars were hoping for good ETs. In a flash round one was over with Brent, Lawless Racing, setting a new track record of 4.46 ET, 158 MPH. Matt Meyer had engine trouble that ended his day.

       Round two, Brent paired up with one of the local favorite dragsters. With the win going to Brent and resetting the track record again to a 4.45 ET, 159 MPH.

      The last round was a single by Brent, with an excited crowd wondering if he could do it again. He prevailed and beat the record a third time to a 4.44 ET, 158 MPH. Leaving the new track record set at 4.44 ET at 159 MPH.

        A special thanks to Jeff Rybarczyk the track manager, and the owners, and all the people working the track at Walla Walla Dragstrip for a great weekend. 

       Our Next destination is at the Helena MT 6/25/11 car show at the historic Broadwater grounds, and the race 6/26/11 at the Rocky Mountain Training Track near the Helena Airport. The cars attending are: Terry Dockter, Fred Ray, Chuck Roark, and Brent Jones. It’s sure to be a Blast From The Past. See You there!

The Blowout In Walla Walla 9/17/2010

               Brent Jones and Matt Meyer made the trip to Walla Walla Washington arriving Thursday night and Friday morning. On Friday by noon the cars were on display at the Napa store in downtown Walla Walla also accompanied by some of the local racers. With the local radio station sending some funny car noise over the radio waves. We had a great turnout with plenty of people admiring the cars and looking forward to the races. The Napa store was a great host and we sure appreciated it. 

                  Friday night under the lights we decided to make a test pass. So around 8:00 pm both cars lined up, with the track being a little on the green side. Jones skated to a 4.80 at 148 MPH and Meyer to a 4.98 at 134 MPH. 

                    Saturday morning the weather forecast was looking threatening for the afternoon. So at 5:00 the funny cars lined up again with the air conditions being pretty good, other then the high humidity, we were hoping for pretty good numbers. Jones ran a 4.69 at 148 MPH and Meyer with a bang and a cloud of smoke ran a 5.07 at 119 MPH. With flames flickering under Meyers body Jones climbed out of his car and ran over and helped the track official put the fire out. The cars were towed back to the pits and the damage on Meyers car was assessed, and the cylinder wall had failed. Then the rain came. Jones was planning on making a third pass but the rain never stopped. So the cars were loaded up and headed for home on Sunday in the rain. We always enjoy coming to Walla Walla, the track is always prepped good and the track members are always great to work with. We appreciate all their hard work. See you next year! 

                                                                                   - Brent and Cassie Jones

Lewistown Dragstrip 8/15/2010

The long Lewistown Drag Race weekend started out wet and finished bright and sunny. The car display in Lewistown was a good time to get caught up on what had been happening this summer. The sky was cloudy and dripped rain all day. Fred, Brent and Dave all showed their cars Friday, visiting with people who stopped to look at the cars.  

  Saturday was Race Day and was spent under cover or in a motor home trying to stay dry.

Sunday didn’t’ disappoint us, the clouds cleared and the big Montana sky showed herself with a nice hot day. There were no big winners or big losers on race day. The tires smoked and the transmissions broke, and but fun was had by all. Fred, Terry and Brent all made it down the track safely and Matt Meyer made his final two passes in his attempt to get his own funny car license.

The crowd loved the fast cars and the loud burnouts. All in all it was the perfect way to spend the weekend. 

                                                                                                 - Marj Ray 

Click on the pics!

Lost Creek Raceway 7/30-7/31 2010

      The weekend started out on Friday with Ray Williamson displaying in Butte at the Dairy Queen parking lot. Brent Jones and Fred Ray displayed at the Albertson’s in Anaconda, both showings went over well and there were plenty of posters handed out. David Spease was unable to come to the race because of a family emergency. Bob Logue from Ulm Montana filled in with his Blown Alcohol Dragster.

      Friday night as the sun went down Brent and Fred lined up and made a nice pass under the lights with Brent getting to the finish line first. Matt Meyer made two licensing passes that went very well.

      Saturday at 2:00 it was Fred Ray against Ray Williamson and Brent Jones against Bob Logue.  Fred and Ray were dodging raindrops as they went down the track with Ray taking the win. Brent and Bob completed their burnouts and Mother Nature decided to whip up one heck of a storm. The rain poured, and the wind blew, destroying many awnings in the pits and blowing everyone’s stuff around. Even the flagpole was bent in half and had to be cutoff. Brent’s funny and Bob’s dragster were towed back to their pits. The rain stopped the sun came out and dried the track and we were ready to go again.

    Second round the pairings were the same with Bob and Brent going first with Brent taking the win. Ray and Fred lined up again with the same results as first round. So that set up the pairing for the final round with Brent VS Ray for first and second place and Fred VS Bob for third and fourth place. 

      The final round was spectacular with Bob Loague running the fastest ET of the weekend 4.831 beating Fred Ray; this just wasn’t Fred’s weekend.  The second quickest pass of the weekend was Ray Williamson in the final with a 4.835 but red lit it away giving the win to Brent with a 4.94 ET.

      We would like to give special thanks to Bob Loague for filling in for Dave. All of the cars ran great giving the spectators their moneys worth, and Lost Creek Raceway reported their largest crowd, making the weekend unforgettable. We would also like to give a big thanks to all the spectators who showed up to watch, they are the ones who make this all possible. Another thanks to all of the Lost Creek Raceway staff for a great job on the track. We are looking forward to next year.

                                                                                                                                                  -Brent and Cassie Jones

-Thanks to Joy Loague for the pictures! 

Helena Timing Association: Blast From the Past

  He may not look the part, but Brent Jones is a grizzled veteran of the drag wars with over 20 years building, tuning and driving race cars,  His funny car success has ranged from season champion in the International Blown Alcohol Association to wins in the highly competitive California Independent Funny car Association.  But the Helena event has to be one of his most unusual wins.
    The weekend began with the "Blast from the Past" car show held on the grounds of the old Broad water Hotel with hundreds of sweet rides parked on the Babcock family grounds under perfect blue skies and a warm sun.
    Among the many trailers on the grounds was the 224x Dynojet chassis dynomometer brought in by TNT performance from Ronan.  It immediately caught Mr. Jones eye and he just had to see how hard a supercharged big block on methanol could spin the drum.  The dyno owners agreed, the glass body was lifted off the flopper, and the tube-framed chassis was strapped down.  A huge crowd gathered and they were clearly expecting something big when the Chevy engine began  straining against the dyno, tires smoking, the engine struggling to gain only 5000 rpm.  Something was clearly wrong and Brent shut it down.       
      It was soon discovered the drum brake was clamped on and it's a wonder nothing broke on the car or dyno.  After a couple hours of troubleshooting and fussing with a pesky solenoid, Brent and crew member Kelly Brown repaired the dyno and the 509 inch Chevy was fired again.  This time the crowd was electrified with the strongest pull the dyno had ever seen, registering well over 1000 horsepower and showing a 200 mph pass with the tires smoking.  Impressive.
    Sunday was another blue-bird day and the track personnel were working hard to season the all asphalt track and fighting the old set of timers purchased at a bargain price.
     Four North West Funny Cars were on the grounds, Fred
Ray's Nova, the Matt Meyer car driven by Ray Williamson, Dave Spease's Phantom car, and of course the Lawless Firenza.
    By first run for the funnies the lights were almost working and Williamson put away Spease despite a lot of spinning.  Jones slipped by Ray and the first round was in the books.
   By second round the timers were too questionable to use for the featured flyers, so all agreed it would be more dependable to use an arm-drop start.  Fitting right in to the theme "Blast from the Past", the drivers were excited to do something they may have never done before and it worked pretty darn well.  Jones got by Williamson with a spinning but straight run, and Ray smoked right by Spease.
   Third round had Spease and Jones on the line and Jones black-tracked the full eighth mile to put away Spease.  Then the day finished for the floppers when Williamson got by Ray.
    Without times or win lights it could have been difficult to determine which car won (we don't really care who wins, do we, it's just for fun and show, right?)  but when the track handed over a beautiful plaque labeled "Top Funny Car" the four drivers agreed that Jones had prevailed in each pairing so carried home the trophy.

                                                                 Walla Walla, Washington
                                                                   June 18, 19, 20,  2010

      Each of our series of stories on the North West Funny Cars have  featured one particular member and that has been easy as different members have had their day.
    Well, this one is for you, Ray, but not leaving out Blake and Matt and the rest of your hard-working team. 
   The Exotic Logic crew, Ray Williamson, Blake Martinez and Matt Meyer have put down a series of runs that have exceeded even their own hopes.  The same drivetrain that powered the "Logic" car seems to be pretty happy in the new Meyer owned chassis.  It is  believed that a more forward engine location has at least contributed to the improved times, but let's just say that our crew of mad scientists have combined exotic logic, great effort, good driving and maybe a little magic to find some very real on-track performance.
     The weekend began with a display graciously hosted by the Milton-Freewater NAPA store where the two cars were thoroughly examined by a series of potential fans and some little guys got to sit in the cockpit of the race cars.
    That evening at the track, the Lawless Racing entry, built, tuned and driven by Brent Jones, laid down a nice 4.74 test pass on a cold track, while the Meyer-owned and beautifully flamed flopper gave the new owner his first taste of funny car madness with a licensing pass.  After a brief burnout, Matt left the line like he was trying to beat John Force, but as per the rules, pedaled it early for a perfect first attempt.
    Saturday the crews learned they wouldn't get to pound the ground until the beginning of eliminations at 5:00 pm.    When that time finally arrived, Williamson was back in the seat of the Meyer car to face Jones.  Brent put down a 4.67 at 151 to slip by Ray's spinning 4.7 pass to notch a win in the best of three contest. 
     The cars were scheduled to return at 6:30 but threatening rain pushed the track operators to try a run at 6:00.   Both teams rose to the challenge and right on time the crowd was treated to trade-mark long, smoky burnouts, but as they backed up the sprinkles began and all the drivers could see was the dreaded throat slash and they reluctantly shoved the fuel control to turn off the thundering engines.  It was soon apparent the storm was going to last a while so the cars went in the trailers.
    Both teams readily agreed to return on Sunday to finish the contest and just after 11:00 am they were in the lights.  Williamson made what might be one of the best runs of his career when he put together a .030 reaction, a 1.01 60 foot and a 4.59 elapsed time to slip by Jones .049 light, 1.09 60 foot and 4.70 run.  Contratulations on a classic flopper duel guys, it was the kind of matchup that keeps the fans in the stands and the track operators inviting us back.
    After just over an hour turn-around, both teams were ready to settle the best of three tussle.  This writer happens to know that Jones put in his "A" tuneup and was ready to rumble.  Both cars were in both staging beams when suddenly the red bulb flashed in Jones' lane, Williamson saw amber and left, Brent could only react and follow.  Williamson would have been hard to match with another great light, .040, another stellar 60 foot of 1.04 and pulling the lights with a 4.60 at 152 mile per hour. 
     The Jones car was not deep staged and most observers agree it never moved, both stage lights were still on when Williamson got green and Jones could only see red.  Track operators admitted they had been fighting the left lane light all day.   We must say that despite our disappointment in the malfunction and that Jones didn't even get to see the numbers for what was probably a very fast pass, the Walla Walla track personnel do a great job of prepping the track, helping out the competitors and organizing the race.
     It was no way to finish the day, but the fans got to see some great passes, both cars performed beautifully and looked good doing it, and we're all looking forward to our September return to Walla Walla

   Phillips County Motor Sports, June 6 2010 

The Dockter is In

  The good "Dockter" was indeed in. In his altered, deep in the fours, in command of the race and in danger of breaking the track record. His first pass set the stage when the primered coupe popped the wheels off the line and broke the front wing on touchdown with the gas pedal firmly planted even after the transmission seal loosed fluid on the tires and track. His subsequent runs were a little less dramatic but with a 4.56, another 4.56 and a 4.54, threatening the track record of 4.50 with bracket-like consistency.

    The North West Funny Cars began the weekend at the car show in downtown Malta where the breezy but beautiful weather brought out the metal flake and chrome in abundance. Lots of cars from swift current and other Canadian sites added to the Montana collection of rods, roadsters and radical race cars. Members of the NWFC had the privilege and responsibility of judging the car show and had a difficult time choosing among the many sweet rides. 

  After the two previous June events at PCMS were rained out, racers and fans joyfully awoke to a bluebird Sunday and the enthusiasm ran as high as the rpm of the engines powering down the mostly concrete track.

   The floppers were scheduled to run first round just after lunch, and at 1:00 they were being tugged into the lanes, ready to rumble. 

    First round, first pair matched Terry Dockter with former crew member Ray Williamson, the latter driving the newly assembled and beautifully flamed entry owned by Matt Meyer. Terry shocked the troops with the first of his three4.50's but the Williamson crew had obviously put more than a little" exotic logic" into their entry with a great 4.64. Combine that with a hole shot and the new machine logged it's first win.

   Second pair matched Brent Jones against David Spease, with the Lawless Firenza outrunning the Phantom car with a 4.77 over a 5.75. 

  Second round placed Dockter and Jones at the head of the lanes and Doc unloaded another 4.56 while Jones improved to a 4.69 and was able to parlay his early leave into a win. 

  Spease improved to a 5.48and notched a win when Williamson rolled the lights and got a no-time. 

   Anticipation ran high for the Williamson/Jones match up and it did not disappoint with the old "Exotic Logic" drive train pushing the Meyer flame job to a great 4.60 while Jones ran a 4.74. An early light gave the "Lawless" car a hole shot win by .008. That my friends, was a drag race.

  The Dockter continued his dominance over the field with is 4.54 and all the funny car crews were impressed but a little disappointed that the North West Funny Cars didn't quite go home with the track record. Take notice, diggers, funny cars rule and we will be back.

                                                                                                 ---Steve Wheat

A New Race Season 2010

    Members of the NWFC are busy in their garages getting their cars ready for the 2010 season. 
     Ray Williamson is putting together a hemi for his Exotic Logic entry so both he and Terry Docktor will be running the big Chryslers this year.
    Brent Jones has a new block and has purchased his first-ever set of aluminum heads and hopes it will be enough to run with the hemis.
    Fred Ray had his Nova running well last year and needs little to be up and ready for the season.
   Dave Spease worked on his tune-up all last year and kept improving so as always, he will be a contender in 2010.
   One of Williamson's/Docktor's crew members, Matt Meyer, has purchased a complete chassis and will use Ray's big Chevy for power.  He hopes to make some of the later races this year and we welcome him to the group.
    Check out the schedule for 2010.  With return visits to Malta, Lost Creek (Anaconda) and Lewistown in Montana, and Walla Walla in Washington we have added a race in Helena for the first time.  It will be a slick, airport track but that puts the race directly the capable hands of the drivers so pedal-fests may rule the day. This also gives another chance for fans to see us this side of the mountains.
      The show Sat./race Sun. format in the beautiful little town of Walla Walla last year was really a great weekend and we go there twice this year.  We're looking forward to a return visit and we hope some of you do too.
    The new posters are just about ready so we will be handing them out to friends and businesses very soon.
    See ya at the races!
                                                                                              --Steve Wheat


                                      

                                             Malta Redux     

     The scheduled race in Malta was rained out in June for the second year in a row so we made it up in September for the second year in a row.  And can you believe the race was once again affected by rain?
     The Pillips County Motorsports Association has worked hard and long to improve the old county airport and now is just 150 feet short of being an eighth mile of concrete.  They have been using a rubber drag the full length and improved times have resulted.  The track record dropped to 4.50 over this weekend when good air and a warm track combined to allow it.
    Four cars from the North West Funny cars pulled into Malta Friday night and Saturday morning with the plan to make one pass Saturday and three on Sunday. 
     The first pair Saturday put Ray Williamson up against Brent Jones, the track was freshly coated with VHT and everyone was expecting a good race and fast times.  No disappointment here as Jones got there first with a 4.67 against Williamson's just trailing 4.74. 
   Second pair  was Terry Docktor against Fred Ray with Fred pulling off a holeshot win, his 5.02 somehow staying ahead of Terry's 4.88, with the Docktor's big hemi screaming by just over the finish line.
    Sunday was planned as the big show, with the continuing $10,000 bracket race and the funny cars filling the pits with cars and the stands with fans.  The floppers were scheduled to make their first pass at about 1:00, but trouble with the timers pushed everything back an hour or more. 
  Finally the call came for the fiberglass flyers and Williamson and Docktor lit them off and did their smoky burnouts, much to the delight of the crowd.  Unfortunately, Williamson's Exotic Logic entry died at the end of the smoker and when the crew went to the car, Docktor had to shut off and wait.  Once the track was clear, Terry spun his way into the opposite lane but pedaled it back to finish with a 6.04 on the single.
   There was some concern that the track had gone greasy, but veteran drivers Ray and Jones signaled for the start and lit up the engines and pretty soon were lighting up the tires.  Ray slid through with an 8.59 and Jones somehow wrestled the beast to a 4.76. 
    Jones had to make a welding repair to the steering mount and called for a wire-feed while the other crews did their normal turn-around.  Meanwhile the bracket cars were trying to get their deal done before the low clouds turned into rain.  Track operators finally cancelled the remaining two runs for the North Westers and had to delay finishing the bracket contest.  Track officials assured the funny car guys that everything was okay, we'd done our  best and we'd  be coming back.
    Reluctantly, the flopper crews loaded up and headed home, the schedule complete, the season over. 

Wheelin' Walla Walla Weekend

     Wow.  Walla Walla turned out to be almost as good as the Billings event, with a huge street rod meet beginning the show on Saturday and ending at the track Sunday.
    Walla Walla is a charming little town with vineyards and wine bars, old buildings and good weather.  Add in hundreds of beautiful cars and you've got car guy heaven. 
     Saturday night the town was rockin' with street bands and live music in every bar with most of the hot rods still around too.
    Representing the North West Funny Cars was David Spease who hauled in from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and Brent Jones who trekked down the Lochsa River Canyon from Stevensville, Montana.  Many lively conversations were held all day with fans and not a few showed up Friday night and for the main event on Sunday.
   Jones elected to make a test pass Saturday night, both to find out just how slippery it might be off the concrete pad, and to please the track operators and crowd who showed up for the test and tune.  The car was moving around on the cool, green asphalt but recorded a 4.64.
   First round came at about 1:00 pm and Jones unloaded a 4.59 at 153 to defeat Spease's 4.99 at 139.  Both cars were black-tracking the whole way, although the concrete was really pretty good.
     After barely enough time to cool off, both cars staged for the second round of the match.  Jones slipped a little to a 4.61 and Spease improved to a valiant, but losing 4.87.
     As the bracket cars narrowed the field there were fewer races to run so the call for final round had to be delayed with bicycle races and other fun stuff so the funny cars could get their iron back to 100 degrees. 
  At 4:00 the two cars pushed into the lanes for the last run of the day, and as Spease's transmission failure slowed him to a 6.70, Jones ran away with a 4.62.
     The formula of an all-day car show followed by a track event seems to work pretty well, with lots of first timers making their way to the race.  The Walla Walla Weekend will move to an earlier date next year and with the success of this race we're hoping the track can afford to bring four of us next year.  You won't want to miss it.

Yellowstone Raceway

September 5-6, 2009

     Though Brent Jones set low e.t. and won the final of the North West Funny Cars segment of the Yellowstone Raceway Labor Day event, a lot of credit is due to Fred Ray, whose Nova is not only pretty but going faster at every event. And we can't ignore the very solid numbers and competitive passes turned in by David Spease and Ray Williamson. The group agreed to toss the 7.50 index and the result was some pretty good numbers.
      The cruise scene in Billings has always been up and down 2nd and 3rd Streets North in an area called the point, so the huge street event held Friday night Sept 4th used the traditional name, "Burning the Point". Members of the International Mustang Convention were in town and helped boost the number of cruisers to nearly 600 cars, and several blocks of Broadway were blocked off and full of race cars, including all four NWFC entries, a live band, vendors and just a whole lot of car fans. This event is credited with helping promote over 3000 admissions in the front gate at Yellowstone Raceway Saturday night. Add in race crews and families and you've got one large, raucous crowd enjoying one of the best race events of the season.
First round for the NWFC group put Spease and Jones on the hot but sticky track and the Lawless entry unloaded a 7.36 to get past the Phantom's fishtailing 7.87. Ray served notice he was in the fight when his 7.59 got him around Williamson's 7.84.
      When the call came for second pass the air was better and the crowd was hopped up on jet car runs, Ed Jones' wheelstander and the pair of low six second top alcohol cars.
Williamson improved to a 7.76 but was no match for Jones' 7.39, and Spease's rail to rail 8.27 couldn't keep up with Ray's 7.66. Everybody was blacktracking the full 1320 on good air and less bite.
Sunday was another beautiful Big Sky day and Ray drew Williamson's tuned up entry and they put on a show with monster burnouts and a side-by-side 7.59 win for Ray over Williamson's 7.68. The second pairing of Spease and Jones resulted in a heat of the day 7.32 win for Jones over Spease on an out of shape 7.74.
      The group had agreed to a Chicago style event with the two fastest cars in the final, so third and fourth had to be settled first. Spease unloaded a 7.69 holeshot win over "Exotic Logic" which ran a solid 7.55.
The final was one of the best fender to fender drag races the group has seen this season with Ray getting out on Jones with a .035 light and a 7.48 pass. It took every bit of a 7.37 for Jones to get around him right at the stripe.
The North West Funny Cars group would like to give all the credit in the world to Gordy Harthorn and the Yellowstone Raceway crew for a national event quality track and a well organized program. An entry survey said over 80 per cent of those 3000 spectators had never been there before, but we'd like to think we showed them a good fast time and they will be back. We'd like nothing better to run there several times a season. Anybody agree?


                                                                                                                         -Steve Wheat        

Lewistown Drag Strip

August 8,2009

     The weather report for the weekend of the race in Lewistown wasn't too encouraging except maybe for Sunday. But we were hoping for a one day event on Saturday and there was a good chance it would rain.
When we unloaded the cars at Dean Newton GMC Cadillac on Friday to show them for the day to attract attention for the race, it was misting heavily and we didn't expect many fans to show up. As the day went on, the weather improved and so did the attendance. Lots of people of all ages came by to look at the funny cars but what made the day was an entire pre-school class and their teachers. Some of the little ones were still using baby-talk but they were all fascinated with the cars and asked lots of good questions. The kicker was when some of them showed up again later with their parents. Doing displays for sponsors adds a day to our race trips, but it draws a lot of attention.
Saturday dawned overcast but without rain and we hoped it would hold until our 3:00 pm running time. After anxiously waiting for the call, Brent Jones and Ray Williamson pulled into the staging lanes, with Fred Ray and Terry Dockter right behind. After the pledge of allegiance we fired the first pair and the pulled into the beams. Williamson rolled the lights and the starter should have hit the button but hesitated, Jones was on the converter too long already so backed off, but then made a rolling pass. Our show was not off to a great start.
     The second pair got us back on track with Ray spinning into the sevens with a 7.97 against The Docktor's game 8.41, his hemi-powered coupe making black tracks as well.
     A couple hours later Jones and Ray began the second round, and Brent laid down a nice 7.49 to defeat Ray's rail-to-rail 8.95. Second pair saw Williamson's 8.38 take out Docktor's 8.95 but losing a powerglide in the process.
Williamson's crew dug in to swapping a transmission while the others serviced their cars and waited for the third heat.
     To keep the crowd from getting restless, a popular burn-out contest was held. Lewistown Raceway built a pad just for burnouts and what guys were willing to do to their cars for a hundred-buck prize was tire-popping impressive.
Williamsons crew did't even test fire their entry before rolling into the lanes but their confidense was rewarded when the big Chevy fired right off and made a spinning 8.38 against Doc's 8.15.
     So the final pairing was the two fastest runners, Jones and Ray. Brent spun through the timers with a 7.56 and Fred took another wild ride to a 9.42.
As the two finalists were towed around the road course back to the pits, curtains of rain began to move toward the track, but we didn't care. The show was over.

Lost Creek Raceway

July 18,2009

       Want to hear some excuses why it took so long to post this story? I've got some good ones. Since the Anaconda race took place on the same weekend as the Northwest Nationals in Seattle, which this writer tries to attend every year, I had to make up for it by loading up the recently acquired LT1 6-speed Camaro and driving to Seattle for the Good Guys event the following weekend. And I had to drive on Thursday so I could attend events on Friday. And Friday night many of the street rods raced their cars out at Pacific Raceways. This writer loves to see cars in motion and can look at only so many cars sitting, no matter how beautiful, and the night at the track was really pretty exciting.
And the sailing has been exceptionally good on Flathead Lake, with hot sun and nice breezes, and the only thing as fun for this guy as drag racing is sailing. Enough excuses? Okay, back to Lost Creek Raceway.

     As the season began we had some pretty anxious North West Funny Car drivers, since the first race was rained out in Malta, and the only one of us who got to drive his car before Anaconda on July 18 was Dave Spease who made runs in Spokane. After a winter of rebuilding engines, painting bodies and otherwise preparing for the season, then a long tow to Malta, it was pretty disappointing to sit around for two days in the rain.
The four cars of Spease, Fred Ray, Ray Williamson and Brent Jones displayed in Anaconda on Friday and the show drew a lot of fans to the Albertson's parking lot.

      Friday night at the track only one funny car made a test pass, with Jones' Firenza making a solid run, but the clocks malfuncioned so no time was recorded.Saturday was round-robin race day for the funny cars, with best passes being Ray, 5.04, Williamson 5.05, Spease 5.09 and Jones 4.87. The final was Ray and Jones, with Jones making his best pass while Ray absolutely boiled the tires at the hit.Fred Ray has his  540 engine rebuilt and installed in his pretty Nova and is fully capable of running those high fours. Traction held him back at this race, but I've been saying all spring that Fred is loaded for bear and the rest of us are looking a little furry. Fred and his wife Marge have been solid performers for the group since it's inception and now would like to turn on some more win lights. They surely will.
       Ray Williamson has been flirting with a hemi/clutch combination for the Exotic Logic car but showed up with the Chevy/glide set-up and despite a new transformer-coil malfunctioning, the old coil sparked some good runs.
Spease's Phantom car was showing some blowby while running low fives and a recent tear-down revealed a damaged block which is being repaired as we speak.Jones kept his car in the fours all day with runs of 4.91, 4.90 and the final 4.87.Next race? August 7-8-9 in Lewistown, Montana.

                                                                                                                               -Steve Wheat

April, 21, 2009

         When finally we begin to feel some heat in the sun, we start thinking track temperatures. When burning rubber smells better than burning leaves, we know spring, and racing, may be at hand. Members of the North West Funny Cars have been doing their spring chores and Dave Spease has his car together and running with Brent Jones giving an assist on the re-built engine. Brent has his motor ready to install and as soon as he can get his crew away from his new toy maybe his car will get assembled. Fred Ray will show up with a brand new 540 in his pretty little Nova and Terry Docktor will be using a hemi in his car this season. Ray Williamson bought some hemi parts himself and would like to add a clutch and trans, but will run the Chevy and Glide this year.
        Both Spease and Jones have fresh paint to show off at the first race in Malta.
So far there are races for sure in Malta, Lewistown, Anaconda and Billings, with a possible in Minot in July. It'll be nice to get another crack at that nice track in Billings. Once the schedule is finalized the new poster will go to the printer and we'll have them available. And hey, while you're checking out the website, introduce yourself and tell us what you're thinking, or building in your garage, whatever, let us know you are out there.


                                                                                                              -Steve Wheat 

January 22, 2009

     Members of the North West Funny Cars have been busy getting ready for next season. Work is being done on posters which will be printed once the schedule is finalized. There will be a race in Malta in June and we can all hope it doesn't rain for that event. June is a rainy month in many parts of Montana but we can't let that stop us from scheduling a race then. There will likely be a race in Helena, a first for our group, and Lewistown will have us back for another event.

There are plans for a race in Yakima like the Nitro Nights last year and the organizers have indicated they will invite our group to participate. We may not have the Rocky Mountain Invitational at Lost Creek this year, that is nitrous outlaws vs. alcohol funnies, but hopefully there will be at least one funny car show just the same. Brent Jones is rebuilding his 509 inch Chevy with a new billet crankshaft and at the same time is helping David Spease get his engine ready for action. Members who are reading this, let us know what changes you have made for the year and we'll post it on the site. Cassie Jones has re-worked the web site and it looks great and has some added features. Thanks, Cassie. It's hard to imagine drag racing in the middle of such a winter, but just thinking about it seems to melt some of the ice.

                                                                                            - Steve Wheat



Fast Times On The High Line

                                                         By Steve Wheat