Millsap Marches to Shreveport Win
Parks Sets ET & MPH Record
Thunder Road Raceway – Gilliam, Louisiana – March 12th
Photos: Max Cackle Photography
The Southwest Junior Fuel Association kicked off its fifth consecutive season with a strong showing at Thunder Road Raceway on March 12th. Fifteen injected front engine dragsters packed the pits and teams were eager to get back on the strip for some heads-up nostalgia drag racing. A sunny seventy degree day and a good turnout of spectators welcomed the junior fuelers to Shreveport; it was time to go racing again.
(Neal Rogers warming up before a Friday night pass)
(Thomas Hixson (left) & Ron Muncy (right) warming up)
The series welcomed two new members, Jeff Jones and Bill Tumlinson, to the group. Jones fielding a Garland, Texas based Hemi powered car owned by Buster Johnson and tuned by Ernie Williford. Jones made an early exit with engine trouble after the first qualifying session, surprising after strong testing results earlier in the month. Bill Tumlinson is the new owner and driver of the ex. Chad Daigre car with a SBC power plant out of Victoria, Texas.
(Jeff Jones in the "Texas Demon" dragster)
Three weeks before the event the entire quarter mile racing surface was ground and with not much action on the strip since, the starting line offered little traction for the hard launching junior fuelers. The call went out to “bring em’ to the lanes” and drivers suited up, crews made their final adjustments and the 2011 SWJFA season was officially underway.
(Mike Millsap)
The qualifying rounds were hit and miss for several teams, some hooking up and clicking off career best passes, others spinning the tires and pedaling their way down. Mike Millsap clicked off the quickest pass of the first session with a 7.67 at 174 mph in the “Sachse Rod Shop” dragster and 2010 Championship Runner-Up Ken Hawkins laid down a 7.72 at 172 mph but then had his hands full at the big end.
(Ken Hawkins and Ross Laird in Q1)
A cloud of smoke and oil filled the air and drivers cockpit as Hawkins lifted and got the chutes out quickly. Hawkins started drifting to the left steadily into the other lane occupied by Ross Laird who went 7.97 at 170 mph. Laird saw Hawkins coming quickly into his lane and attentively got on the brake hard to avoid a collision as Hawkins brought the car to a safe stop, doing a great job to keep it off the wall.
(A look down the track from the starting line)
The crank case pressure at the top end was too much for the puke tank to contain and Hawkins was sprayed down at 170 mph restricting his vision and resulting in the wild top end action. Both drivers made safe exits from the track and returned for the next session.
Brian Briggs of Lake Charles, Louisiana tripped the beams with a career best 7.77 at 168 mph to qualify in the number five spot and hoped for a strong showing in his home state. Ron Muncy also threw up career best numbers with a 7.80 at 168 mph to qualify in the top half of the field. Mike Millsap became the third driver to set career best numbers in qualifying with a 7.59 at 175 mph, good for second position.
(Brian Briggs)
(Ron Muncy (near) and Mike Millsap (far))
Scott Parks stole the show with a jaw dropping pass that set new elapsed time and mile per hour records for the series. Parks’ 7.31 at 185 mph pass easily took the number one qualifying position with a tenth and a half on the field heading into eliminations. Defending series Champion Richard Brady blasted to a strong 7.63 at 175 mph in his final qualifying attempt, claiming the number three spot in a new chassis for 2011. After two completed sessions Ross Laird and Ricky Marshall also occupied a spot in the top half as the teams returned to the pits to prepare for a tricky first round of eliminations.
(Scott Parks)
(Richard Brady)
(Go on board with Neal Rogers in Qualifying Session #1)
Final Qualifying Order:
1) Scott Parks (Burlingame, Kansas) – 7.31 at 183
2) Mike Millsap (Sachse, Texas) – 7.59 at 175
3) Richard Brady (Ft. Worth, Texas) – 7.63 at 175
4) Ken Hawkins (Poolville, Texas) – 7.72 at 172
5) Brian Briggs (Lake Charles, Louisiana) – 7.78 at 168
6) Ron Muncy (Weatherford, Texas) – 7.80 at 168
7) Ross Laird (Ardmore, Oklahoma) – 7.97 at 170
8) Ricky Marshall (Burleson, Texas) – 8.08 at 187
9) Ted McCord (Claremore, Oklahoma) – 8.22 at 169
10) Jeff Jones (Sachse, Texas) – 8.23 at 164
11) Steve Dunkin (Aledo, Texas) – 8.28 at 172
12) Don Scott (Garland, Texas) – 8.31 at 169
13) Thomas Hixson (Roanoke, Texas) – 8.34 at 160
14) Neal Rogers (Luling, Texas) – 8.49 at 154
15) Bill Tumlinson (Victoria, Texas) – 8.56 at 158
First Round Results
Mike Millsap and Richard Brady lined up in a monster match up putting a pair of top qualified cars against each other as Brady got a slight starting line advantage then spun the tires, while Millsap blasted down the thirteen twenty to another career best pass, 7.58 at 175 mph to take the win. Ron Muncy also improved on his career best with a winning 7.77 at 171 mph over Don Scott. Thomas Hixson in the “One Wild Ride” dragster got a big jump on the starting line over Steve Dunkin, but Dunkin ran him down with a 7.97 at 172 mph to take the nod. As racing continued, Scott Parks blasted to a stout 7.45 at 182 mph to take out Neal Rogers in the opening round.
(Don Scott)
(Thomas Hixson)
(Neal Rogers)
Ted McCord lit the boards with a winning 8.46 at 155 mph in a close pedal fest with Bill Tumlinson. Tumlinson was just one of many who battled for traction throughout the day in Shreveport but overall looked good in his debut event. 2010 Texas State Championships winner Ricky Marshall laid down a 7.73 at 182 mph after a quick pedal job to take the win over Brian Briggs who red lit with trans-brake issues. Briggs had a solid outing with a new motor combination and resulting career best numbers. In the final pair, Ken Hawkins also went red giving the win to Ross Laird who ran an 8.12 at 172 mph in the newly painted “Rain Maker” rail as the first round concluded.
(Bill Tumlinson)
(Ricky Marshall)
Second Round Results
Opening the second round was Steve Dunkin in the “Foolish Pleasure II” who drew the lucky bye run and advanced to the semi on a solo 8.21 at 171 after pedaling at the starting line. Mike Millsap squared off with the “Senior Moment” dragster of Brown & McCord. McCord got almost a tenth at the tree and clicked off an 8.38 at 169 mph but Millsap drove around him with a strong 7.61 at 175 mph to advance. Scott Parks wheeled the “Walden Power Equipment” dragster to another round win taking out Ron Muncy with an incredible 7.35 at 183 mph to Muncy’s 8.14 at 169 mph. In the final pairing, Ricky Marshall was up and took the win over Ross Laird with a 7.83 at 179 mph. Marshall had struggled to find traction at the hit all day but had the horsepower to win races and was moving into the semis.
(Steve Dunkin)
(Ted McCord)
(Scott Parks)
Semi-Final Round Results
After a day of surprises it was down to four cars as Scott Parks and Steve Dunkin lined up in the first pair of the semi. Both cars were spinning the tire at the hit but the Parks horsepower prevailed with a 7.54 at 185 mph to Dunkin’s 8.17 at 170 mph. Parks was advancing to his second final round in as many starts with the SWJFA series. Mike Millsap and Ricky Marshall rolled out next as Marshall’s traction issues continued with big spin at the hit of the throttle while Millsap blasted to another strong 7.61 at 175 mph to advance, clearly having no issues with the starting line.
(Steve Dunkin vs. Scott Parks)
(W) Scott Parks 7.54 @ 185 mph vs. (L) Steve Dunkin 8.17 @ 170 mph
(W) Mike Millsap 7.61 @ 175 mph vs. (L) Ricky Marshall 11.30 @ 74 mph
(Ricky Marshall vs. Mike Millsap)
Final Round Results
Millsap hadn’t tasted junior fuel victory in a few seasons while Parks hoped to notch his first win in the SWJFA series. Parks had the advantage on paper and took his preferred left lane but the sun had set and the track conditions were changing by the minute. Millsap was in the right lane, his preferred lane, as the cars crept into the beams to decide a winner.
Millsap went green with a .001 reaction time at the starting line and hooked up through the thirteen twenty to a third straight 7.61 pass at 175 mph. Parks struck the tires hard at the hit and quickly pedaled it in hopes of chasing Millsap down, but ran out of real estate as his 7.96 at 182 mph wasn’t enough. Parks has been down the left lane several times with no trouble but track conditions finally caught up to the team at the worst time. Parks, Walden and company had nothing to be ashamed of leaving Shreveport with back to back final round appearances in their last two starts and both ends of the SWJFA performance records. Team owner Darrell Walden was surely pleased with the outing overall.
(W) Scott Parks 7.54 @ 185 mph vs. (L) Steve Dunkin 8.17 @ 170 mph
(W) Mike Millsap 7.61 @ 175 mph vs. (L) Ricky Marshall 11.30 @ 74 mph
(Parks strikes the tires at the hit in the final while Millsap hooks up for the win)
“I want to thank Scott for some great driving, my team for their hard work and my crew chief Frank Parks. We thought the facility was great and we made it work. I’d like to thank Neal and Parks Racecars for providing us with a great racecar,” said Walden.
(Walden & Parks - Shreveport SWJFA Runner Up)
Back on the starting line, Millsap’s crew erupted in celebration as the “Sachse Rod Shop” junior fueler took the first win of the 2011 season. Millsap posted by far the most consistent numbers of the event and took a well deserved victory after loosing in his previous four final round appearances dating back to 2008.
“I want to thank my crew of Mike Mauldin and my dad “Pops” for all their hard work. The track crew did the best they could to give us a fast and sticky surface to race on. It was awesome to see fifteen cars at our first event and it’s great to be racing again. We are glad to welcome the new members and look forward a strong season and the competition is going to be tough!” said Millsap.
(Mike Mauldin, Frank "Pops" Millsap and Mike Millsap)
All the competitors had the same starting line to work with, some found a way to make it work while others never got a handle on the starting line. Millsap will be your points leader to kick off the new season and overall the SWJFA hosted a very successful season opener in Shreveport. The SWJFA would like to thank Smiley’s Racing Products, Champion Spark Plugs, Hayden Wheels and Bob McKray Performance for their support in the 2011 season. The next scheduled event will bring the Southwest Junior Fuel Association to Navasota Raceway in Navasota, Texas on Saturday, May 14th.
Click Here to see photos from this event.
