HOT ROD Drag Week 2007 Presented by TCI Coverage & Results
All week long HOT ROD Editor-in-Chief David Freiburger will be posting his take on Drag Week 2007. Check back here each day for DF's unique look at Drag Week 2007 and see who's got the right stuff to be this year's champ.
Saturday, Sept. 8:30 am
The HOT ROD staff has nearly gotten the office work under control and is headed to the airport right now to go to Cordova, Illinois, for Drag Week. As it stands right now, we have about 135 pre-entered cars. Some will drop out and others will show up on site without having pre-registered, so we're guessing a total vehicle count of around 100 cars unless the weather turns bad. As it stands, we've got about a 40% chance of rain Monday. But Drag Week goes on--we'll hit the road, rain or shine.
So far it sounds like we'll have Bill Fowler back in his convertible Mustang with "Pontiac Brian" Rock riding shotgun this year. Phil Cooper is thrashing to bring Purple II, his new tube-chassis car, probably without crew guy Crazy Charlie. We also hear that Larry Larson will be back with his blown Nova that ran in 2005. Dustin Hasse has been teasing people with his unknown plans to bring an all-new car. We're thinking Hemi. Speaking of Mopar guys, last year's winner Eddie Miller was last seen changing rings on his new Indy-headed Wedge and thrashing like mad to get it running in time to make it to Illinois from Florida by Sunday. We'll see what happens. Eddie is drama. Finally, there have been rumors of a 6-second Pro Mod car showing up. We'll find out if that's true when the MSD Kickoff Party fires up tomorrow morning.
-DF
Saturday, Sept. 8, 11:15 am
OK, false start. Half the staff is stuck in a plane delay out of Burbank. We're going to arrive about 1 am tonight. Beer is already being consumed, and sleep deprivation is the perfect way to kick off Drag Week, anyway.
-DF
Sunday, Sept. 9, 3:00 pm
We're here at the Cordova track and have just wrapped up tech. We have 121 cars registered, which, if we recall correctly, is exactly the same as we had last year. Lots of familiar faces here and a handful of three-timers, plus a whole bunch of first timers.
There was not much drama in tech this year except for several guys who showed up late and got turned away because they missed the 2 pm cutoff time. Most notably, last year's winner Eddie Miller did not leave Florida until this morning and is not going to be here in time. Sad, because he put tons of work in and would have put on a good show.
As for the other Unlimited heavy hitters, we've got Phil Cooper's Purple II here, plus a new tube-chassis car from Doug Cline, and the Denny Terzich-built black Camaro that didn't survive the drive last year, but that went 7.70 in testing earlier today. We've already seen several small-tire cars in the 8s.
Here are the car counts as of this morningaily Driver, 71 carsUnlimited, 8 carsPro NA 2Pro PA 7Modified NA 4Modified PA 3Small Block NA 9Small Block PA 10Big Block NA 4Big Block PA 4
-DF
Monday Sept 10, 7:20 pm
We just rolled into Union Grove, Wisconsin, after about a 6 hour drive in the rain from Cordova earlier today. The good news is that we got in a full day of racing, and we had the first-ever 7-second passes on Drag Week. Steve (whose last name I need to get) in the black, tube-chassis Camaro with a Procharged big-block ran a 7.64, then hit the road and was seen on the highway in the rain with a trailer behind the car. Phil Cooper in his Purple II Nova blasted a 7.81. He and Crazy Charlie packed up late and have not yet been seen in Wisconsin.
Doc Fox in his yellow Vette pulled a huge wheelstand, and when it came down, the water pump broke off the engine and wrecked the radiator. They're still trying to fix it.
The Hubers with the turbo four banger is normally in the 8s, but he's been having troubles. Jay Brown had blown up his trans last night but got it cured and ran in the 9.6s. We had 4 cars drop out so far, but we'll see how many actually show at the track in the morning.
-DF
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Daily Driver race results from Monday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Unlimited-Pro Street-Modified race results from Monday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Street Race results from Monday.
Wednesday, Sept 12, 8:00 am
It was a late night yesterday and I was too wrecked to write. Yesterday we started out at Union Grove Dragaway, the oldest continuously operated track in the country. It turned out to be the first REAL day of Drag Week, meaning it was the first time that these cars had to race after having been driven 200 miles in the rain the day before. The wear and tear showed up quickly, with lots of wrenching in the pits.
In Big Block Power Adder, Curt Johnson in his white Chevelle seemed to have the field covered until the trans blew up at Da Grove. He found a TH400 with a buddy in Rockford, Illinois, and once it got to the track, a bunch of guys ganged up on it and had it swapped in 45 minutes. But the new trans is slipping to 10-second times in the 8-second car, so there will have to be another solution today. The glitch has put Jay Brown back in striking distance of the win with his blown FE 69 Mach 1 running mid 9s.
We also saw blown head gaskets, broken rockers, junk shifters, a few more blown transmissions, and more.
Phil Cooper in his Unlimited Purple II Nova came back strong with more 7.80s passes...wow! However, the Hot Rod team insisted that Phil's crew chief ride in the race car, per the rules, rather than in another car that he had entered with his wife. Sadly, they chose not to do that, and have packed it up and gone home. That leaves Unlimited to Steve Roth in his 7.60-capable Camaro and Larry Larson in his 8.0-second Nova as the heavy hitters. We've followed both on them on the highway to ensure they are legit.
If the Unlimited cars don't make it all the way, then the overall win could go to Roger Tangorra in Modified or to either Ev Bernardo or Dan Marks in Small Block Power Adder. All are in the mid 8s. In Pro Street, Mike Thompson, Jack Miller, and Michael Roy are also all in the running. We have more 8-second cars than ever. It's going to be a super tight race.
As it stands now, the bump for the 32-car open comp race in Daily Driver is around 12.80. Our quickest Daily Driver cars are both in the 10.80s.
This morning we are at Wisconsin International Raceway. Today's events will once again change the face of the competition. More updates tonight.
-DF
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Daily Driver race results from Tuesday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Unlimited-Pro Street-Modified race results from Tuesday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Street Race results from Tuesday.
Wednesday, September 12th, 1:30 pm
The Hot Rod staff just left Wisconsin International Raceway after another day of the drags. The air was cold, and track conditions saw many cars slow by a few tenths. Exceptions are Jay Brown's incredible blown FE Mach 1 (Power Adder Big Block), running 9.34 before getting very sideways in the lights. Ross Stomp put the perfect tune on Doc Fox's Vette (Modified Power Adder) ran its best ever 8.97.
Doug Cline, who had built a new Unlimited car, dropped out today. We started with 14 cars out, and may have lost a few more after racing today.
Today's drive is a long one. The host hotel is about 220 miles away, though many racers say they will go the entire 360 miles to the next track in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Others will stop in Dubuque, then go 100 miles in the morning to get to the track.
Go to www.powertv.com and www.1320video.com to see more daily Drag Week coverage.
-DF
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Daily Driver race results from Wednesday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Unlimited-Pro Street-Modified race results from Wednesday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Street Race results from Wednesday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Daily Driver race results from Thursday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Unlimited-Pro Street-Modified race results from Thursday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Street Race results from Thursday.
Friday, September 14, 8:15 am
It was a rough night last night. Not because of the drive from Cedar Falls to Cordova, but because all the racers and the HRM staff gathered in the hotel parking lot for an impromptu guzzle-fest that went until 2 in the morning. It was like Drag Week was over...but that's today. Tonight could be real ugly.
Yesterday's Cedar Falls race didn't bring too many surprises, with most cars performing as they have all week. The eye opener was Ev Bernardo in Small Block Power Adder with his SN95 Mustang loaded with a twin turbo Chevy. He's been strong all week, running 8.60s, but came up with an 8.36 yesterday. He had some new tires shipped to Cordova and has 7s in mind today.
Jack Miller in Pro Street blasted a best-ever 8.43 in Cedar Falls, then lunched his Powerglide on the next pass. A lot of guys hung back to help him last night, and we hope to see him at Cordova today.
Everyone is holding their breath today to see if the Denny Terzich entry can run another 7-second pass, as the car has run 7s every single day. It would seem he's got the win locked up, but as every Drag Week racer knows, it's not over until it's over.
Today's finale at Cordova will be a killer, with most racers planning to make one safe pass to secure the win, then let it all hang out. Boost is going up and nitrous jets are coming out. It's 52 degrees and sunny right now and the track is at full prep, so this is gonna be good.
-DF
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Daily Driver race results from Friday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Unlimited-Pro Street-Modified race results from Friday.
Click here to view and/or print a PDF of Street Race results from Friday.
PRESENTED BYCO-SPONSORED BYKICKOFF AND GRAND FINALE HOSTED BYDAILY DRIVER CLASS SPONSORSPONSORS
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Photo Gallery: Coverage from HOT ROD Drag Week 2007 - HOT ROD Magazine



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