Parks Powers Through Field in Navasota
Navasota Raceway - Navasota, TX - May 14th
The Southwest Junior Fuel Association held their second event of the 2011 racing season on Saturday, May 14th at Navasota Raceway in Navasota, Texas. This was the series’ first visit to the facility and a strong turnout of fans came out to enjoy the perfect weather and heads up old school drag racing action. Twelve cars were on hand to battle for the event crown including the newest SWJFA member, Mike Buchanan, of Wichita, Kansas fielding a 1960’s Jim Davis car with an injected small block powerplant.
Another new face was that of Mark Hollander of College Station, Texas, who returned to competition after a two year hiatus in his small block powered rail. Mike Millsap and the “Sachse Rod Shop” team came into the event leading the points as the winner of the season opener in Shreveport back in March, with Scott Parks nipping at his heels in the Darrell Walden owned dragster and Ricky Marshall rounding out the top three as the teams prepared for the first qualifying session.
(Mark Hollander)
(Mike Millsap (left) and Ron Muncy (right) warming up)
Navasota Raceway is a unique facility known for big crowds and great entertainment but is also notoriously known to have a bumpy and narrow racing surface, which presented a challenge for both the pit crews and drivers, but also supplied that old school vibe as the fans found their seats and qualifying got underway.
Ted McCord in the “Senior Moment” slingshot started the session with a 5.21 at 136 mph which would hold up as the fourth quickest pass of the session. Mike Buchanan tripped the clocks with a nice 5.23 at 132 mph right off the trailer in his first pass with the series which put him in the top half of the field after first session.
2010 SWJFA Champion Richard Brady and second year shoe Brian Briggs also laid down passes in the 5.20 zone. Ricky Marshall laid down a 5.16 at 139 mph on his opening pass to claim a spot in the top half of the field and Ron Muncy clicked off a 5.15 at 134 mph in the “Foolish Pleasure II” slingshot which held up for second quickest of the session. Shreveport runner-up Scott Parks lit the boards with a 5.00 at 117 mph in the “Walden Power Equipment” dragster and lead the field into the final qualifying session.
Ted McCord rolled through the waterbox to start the final round of qualifying and stepped up to a nice 5.134 at 138 mph pass which qualified the Mike Brown owned “Senior Moment” machine in the number four spot, their best starting position to date. Brian Briggs also stepped up to a 5.136 at 137 mph which slotted them in the number five starting spot. Richard Brady was right on their heels with a 5.14 at 139 mph and Ron Muncy put down a solid 5.02 at 139 mph to qualify third, a career best for the veteran wheelman.
(Ron Muncy)
(Thomas Hixson)
Thomas Hixson and the “One Wild Ride” team bested a 5.51 at 130 mph and hoped to step it up in eliminations as did Neal Rogers who’s 5.50 at 115 qualified the “Little Red Rocket” in the ninth position. Victoria, Texas based Bill Tumlinson was making his second straight appearance in his rookie year with the SWJFA and a 5.54 at 135 mph put him in the tenth qualifying position. Mike Millsap ripped down the eighth mile to a 4.94 at 136 mph to be the first to dip into the four second zone, which was followed up by Scott Parks who blasted to a stout 4.76 at 145 mph which easily took the pole. Mark Hollander would round out the twelve car field with a 5.56 at 127 mph and the team of Walden & Parks hoped the momentum of a second straight number one qualifying position would help them seal the deal in Navasota.
(Neal Rogers "Little Red Rocket")
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Scott Parks (Burlingame, Kansas) – 4.76 @ 145
2) Mike Millsap (Sachse, Texas) – 4.94 @ 136
3) Ron Muncy (Weatherford, Texas) - 5.02 @ 139
4) Ted McCord (Claremore, Oklahoma) – 5.134 @ 138
5) Brian Briggs (Lake Charles, Louisiana) – 5.136 @ 137
6) Richard Brady (Ft. Worth, Texas) – 5.14 @ 139
7) Ricky Marshall (Burleson, Texas) – 5.16 @ 139
8) Mike Buchanan (Wichita, Kansas) – 5.23 @ 132
9) Neal Rogers (Luling, Texas) – 5.50 @ 115
10) Thomas Hixson (Roanoke, Texas) – 5.51 @ 130
11) Bill Tumlinson (Victoria, Texas) – 5.54 @ 135
12) Mark Hollander (College Station, Texas) – 5.56 @ 127
(Scott Parks)
First Round Eliminations
After drawing cards to pair the twelve up for first round, a powerhouse match-up rolled through the water to start eliminations. Ricky Marshall lined up against number one qualifier Scott Parks. Marshall posted two top qualifiers and a win in his two starts last season, obviously a contender. Parks still new to the series making only his third start, but already had two runner-up finishes and two top qualifiers in his favor. The drivers bumped in and Marshall got a slight jump off the line but spun the tires at the hit and watched as Parks blasted to a 4.77 at 145 mph to advance.
(Ricky Marshall)
Ted McCord and Thomas Hixson were out next with McCord carrying the momentum of a career best starting position and Hixson hoping to get down in the low five second zone. Hixson got the jump off the line by a slim margin and laid down his best run of the event with a 5.27 at 132 mph, unfortunately it wasn’t enough for McCord’s quicker and winning 5.20 at 138 mph.
(Ted McCord)
Brian Briggs laid down a nice 5.01 at 138 mph to take the first round win over Mark Hollander who got no time after the transbrake failed on the starting line. Richard Brady and Bill Tumlinson laid down side by side 5.42 elapsed times in a close race. Brady’s large starting line advantage gave him the edge he needed to get the nod.
(Bill Tumlinson)
Ron Muncy and Mike Millsap lined up in another close opening round pair. Muncy used a .068 holeshot and a 5.00 at 140 mph pass to take the win and put the points leader on the trailer as Millsap’s quicker but loosing 4.98 at 138 mph came up just short at the stripe. Mike Buchanan and Neal Rogers were the final pair out and Buchanan notched his first series round win with a 5.45 at 127 mph over Rogers’ 6.59 at 86 mph after Rogers went red at the starting line.
(Mike Millsap)
(Mike Buchanan)
First Round Results
(W) Scott Parks (.504 rt) 4.77 @ 145 mph vs. (L) Ricky Marshall (.466 rt) 8.81 @ 42 mph
(W) Ted McCord (.467 rt) 5.20 @ 138 mph vs. (L) Thomas Hixson (.461 rt) 5.27 @ 132 mph
(W) Brian Briggs (.482 rt) 5.01 @ 138 mph vs. (L) Mark Hollander (No Time)
(W) Richard Brady (.475 rt) 5.42 @ 136 mph vs. (L) Bill Tumlinson (.773 rt) 5.42 @ 129 mph
(W) Ron Muncy (.515 rt) 5.00 @ 140 mph vs. (L) Mike Millsap (.583 rt) 4.98 @ 138 mph
(W) Mike Buchanan (.610 rt) 5.45 @ 127 mph vs. (L) Neal Rogers (.386 rt) 6.59 @ 86 mph
Second Round Eliminations
The second round brought back the six winners as Ron Muncy and Brian Briggs rolled through first in the closest race of the round. Muncy again earned the holeshot advantage and needed all he could get as the two went side by side through the traps. Muncy’s 5.139 at 120 mph was just enough to get the win over Briggs’ 5.136 @ 128 mph as Muncy headed to the semi-finals for the first time this season.
(Bryan Briggs)
Scott Parks and Ted McCord staged up next and this one was decided on the starting line as McCord went red by .045 and Parks posted a 5.01 at 127 mph to advance to his second semi-final of the season. McCord took a shot at the tree and just missed by a tick as Parks moved into the final four.
(Richard Brady)
In the last pair of second round, Richard Brady lined up against Mike Buchanan. Brady appeared to take a huge starting line advantage but actually had lit the red bulb, fouling by .027 at the starting line and automatically advancing Buchanan to the semi-final in his first appearance with the series. A tough break for the defending series Champion but great news for the newcomer Buchanan. Some heavy hitting names found themselves on the trailer with Parks, Muncy and Buchanan moving on into the late rounds.
Second Round Results
(W) Ron Muncy (.472 rt) 5.139 @ 120 mph vs. (L) Brian Briggs (.500 rt) 5.136 @ 128 mph
(W) Scott Parks (.487 rt) 5.01 @ 127 mph vs. (L) Ted McCord (.355 rt) 5.31 @ 111 mph
(W) Mike Buchanan (1.19 rt) 5.78 @ 125 mph vs. (L) Richard Brady (.373 rt) 5.27 @ 138 mph
Semi-Final & Final Round Eliminations
The semi-final got a little funky as the first pair brought Scott Parks and Mike Buchanan through the waterbox. Buchanan’s dragster lost fire after the burnout and came to a stop halfway down the track, which forced Parks to shutoff for safety reasons. Ron Muncy had drawn the bye run which would advance him straight to the final round, so with Buchanan unable to re-fire the two soon to be semi-final winners (Parks & Muncy) decided to simply run the final right there on the spot.
(Ron Muncy)
(Scott Parks)
Muncy fired up the “Foolish Pleasure II” slingshot and laid down a long smoky burnout and Parks fired up his machine as Muncy was backing up, without repeating the burnout process. This would be Ron Muncy’s first SWJFA final round appearance while Parks was making his second straight final still searching for his first win. As the cars crept into the beams it was the veteran vs. the kid and for the third straight time, Muncy got the advantage off the starting line.
The cars were side by side early and as they neared the stripe Parks had the advantage and took the win light with a 4.80 at 146 mph (top speed of the meet) to Muncy’s 5.03 at 142 mph. This marked the first SWJFA win for the Walden & Parks team of Kileen, Texas and propelled them into the points lead after two of six scheduled events this season. For Muncy and company it was a solid outing and for a driver in his seventies to leave on each of his opponents and lay down consistent 5.0 passes there was plenty to be proud of in the “Foolish Pleasure” pits.
Final Round Results
(W) Scott Parks (.521 rt) 4.80 @ 146 mph vs. (L) Ron Muncy (.477 rt) 5.03 @ 142 mph
(Congratulations to the entire Walden & Parks team!)
Congratulations to all the participants of the event at Navasota Raceway and to both Scott Parks and Ron Muncy on your final round appearances. Parks now leads the points standings by twenty seven points over Mike Millsap and Ron Muncy jumped into the top three with his runner-up as Ted McCord and Richard Brady round out the top five.
The Southwest Junior Fuel Association would like to thank Smiley’s Racing Products, Champion Spark Plugs, Bob McKray Performance, RPM Performance and Competition Sales of Dallas for their support of the series. The next stop of the 2011 SWJFA tour brings the series to North Star Dragway for their annual Anniversary Race to be held Saturday, July 2nd in Denton, Texas.
