NHRA FMDRS: Olympia resident, Carlson collects first win of year at Renegade Raceway
29 August 1999
YAKIMA, Wash. - 1998 Northwest Division Federal-Mogul Dragster Champion, Dale Carlson of Olympia, Wash. and 1998 runner-up in the Federal-Mogul Funny Car Northwest Division championship, Bucky Austin of Fife, Wash. finally got their first wins of the year in the last race of the 1999 Northwest Division season. Carlson made up for his disappointing season of bad luck and lack of performance with a well-deserved win. In round one, Carlson faced Mike McHargue of Lewiston, Idaho and posted the fastest run ever at Renegade Raceway with a run of 5.674 seconds at 247.99 mph to down McHargue. In the semi-finals, Carlson met up with Mark Hentges of Federal Way, Wash. who had a chance at the Northwest division Federal-Mogul Dragster Championship with a win in Yakima. Hentges made a great run of 5.787 seconds at 243.42 mph but was beat by Carlson's stellar run 5.695 seconds at 247.48 mph to dash Hentges championship hopes and advance to the finals. In the finals, Carlson matched up with Darren Nicholson of Laguna Hills, Calif and won on Nicholson's foul start to take the Federal-Mogul Dragster win. "This is our first lucky break this year," said an ecstatic Carlson. "We have either had good luck or a good car at every race this year and finally we got some luck with a good car. I hope this keeps up next weekend in Indy at the U.S. Nationals." Austin also made-up for a sub-par year with his first win in Federal-Mogul Funny Car this year. In the first round of eliminations, Austin faced John Hyland of Springfield, Ore. and beat him on a hole-shot with a run of 6.088 seconds at 232.64 mph to Hyland's run of 6.064 seconds at 235.69 mph. Round two Austin ran against John Weaver of Hanford, Calif. and posted a new track record for time and speed with a run of 5.856 seconds at 242.48 mph to advance to the finals against Steve Sommer of Nampa, Idaho. Austin again re-wrote the track record for speed with a run of 5.881 seconds at 242.52 mph to win the Federal-Mogul Funny Car title at Renegade Raceway. The following are Saturday's results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Renegade Raceway: FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER ROUND ONE 1) Darren Nicholson, Laguna Hills, CA, 5.734 seconds, 246.47 mph def. 8) Bye 2) Dale Carlson, Olympia, Wash., 5.674, 247.99 def. 7) Mike McHargue, Lewiston, ID, 6.645, 174.87 3) Mark Hentges, Federal Way, Wash., 5.824, 244.06 def. 6) Kim Parker, Graham, Wash., Broke 4) Steve Federlin, Oregon City, OR, 5.940, 233.69 def. 5) Brett Hordemann, Spokane, Wash., 9.711, 89.34 ROUND TWO Dale Carlson, 5.695, 247.48 def. Mark Hentges, 5.787, 243.42 Darren Nicholson, 5.641, 247.97 def. Steve Federlin, 5.956, 234.94 FINAL Dale Carlson, 6.830, 223.81 def. Darren Nicholson, Foul FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR ROUND ONE 1) John Weaver, Hanford, CA, '99 Chevrolet, 5.964 seconds, 237.79 mph def. 8) Dan McGlone, Gladstone, Ore., '98 Chevrolet, Foul 2) Steve Sommer, Nampa, ID, '98 Pontiac, 5.996, 240.32 def. 7) Mitch Myers, Hermiston, Ore., '99 Chevrolet, 6.245, 233.04 3) Pat Austin, Tacoma, Wash., '99 Pontiac, 5.959, 240.32 def. 6) Roger Bateman, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, '97 Pontiac, 5.980, 235.59 5) Bucky Austin, Fife, Wash., '98 Pontiac, 6.088, 232.64 def. 4) John Hyland, Springfield, Ore., '98 Ford, 6.064, 235.69 ROUND TWO Bucky Austin, 5.856, 242.48 def. John Weaver, 5.925, 241.61 Steve Sommer, 6.875, 146.05 def. Pat Austin, Foul FINAL Bucky Austin, 5.881, 242.52 def. Steve Sommer, 7.076, 140.58 COMP ELIMINATOR Jim Kennedy, San Jose, CA, '94 Pontiac, F/A, 9.756, 137.46 def. Clint Salle, Glendive, Montana, '98 Dragster, C/D, 7.230, 186.63 SUPER STOCK Guy Czarniak, Redding, CA, '69 Chevrolet, SS/DA, 9.756, 137.46 def. Jeff Lane, North Bend, Wash., '98 Pontiac, SS/CM, 9.294, 148.76 STOCK ELIMINATOR Chad Loge, '79 Plymouth, 12.000, 109.26 def. Eric Waldo, Richland, Wash., '69 Ford, 10.990, 122.35 SUPER COMP David Chun Jr., 8.956, 148.60 def. John Preston, 8.920, 158.70 SUPER GAS Anthony Castillo, '97 Roadster, 9.906, 148.26 def. Todd Sims, '76 Chevrolet, 9.889, 143.79 SUPER STREET Jeff Jackson, '68 Ford, 10.918, 146.04 def. Ed Hutchinson, '71 Chevrolet, 10.848, 123.82 PRO SPORTSMAN MOTORCYCLE Brian Hudson, 9.086, 145.97 def. J. Glenn Miller, 10.057, 131.81 --30--