Mission

If any name in drag racing is synonymous with "go real fast" it is Mission Raceway Park in the Fraser Valley. This fantastic facility is nestled between the mighty Fraser River and the mountains, which give it the best air of perhaps any racetrack anywhere. The track personnel had the track surface set on kill as George had been spreading his magic goo for a couple of days before our race and to walk on the starting line you are inviting the track to pull the shoes off your feet.

This weekend had a lot of firsts for the C.M.D.R.A. not the least of which was our first ever Nitro at Night qualifying session that was a big hit with both racers and fans alike. With the help of 81 Trucking and Paramount Lighting we had the track lit-up as well as strobe lights on the bridge that make for a "Hollywood-like" night race. If you missed this show we're doing it again at the Eagle Motorplex in sunny Ashcroft on the August long-weekend.

The list of who to thank for their help would take up way too much space but I would like to thank the M.R.P. staff for all their help, 81 Trucking and Paramount Lighting for the light show, the staff form Mission Springs Pub for hosting the V.I.P Lounge for the sponsors and all the A.I.M. people for working the gate and giving out cold water to the racers who waited in the staging lanes in the 90+ degree heat.

Not only was there a real good bike race going on that weekend, but we also had a good car race happening. We had Glenn Braid's "C.F.M.I, What's for Free & Just in Time Communications" sponsored blown canso, Canada's quickest street legal car going 7.70-seconds. The Canadian Pro-Street Association brought out about a dozen of the "ass-kickenest" street legal cars in Canada, including Don Murday's gorgeous '57 Vette, that ran in the 7.80's. We had the "Buffy's Toy" blown alcohol funny car and one of my all time favorite cars, Bob Kokotailo's "Kokomotion Henry J." Bob and his wife also had Irene's Nova wishlist car there and were taking handicapped race fans for 13-second rides down the racetrack, much to the delight of the passengers and their families. Bob and Irene could easily take them for 9-second passes but N.H.R.A. rules don't allow for this so there was lots of brake light action at about 1,100 feet.

Now for the bikes and up first is our "Class Glass" trophy series, sponsored by Class Glass of Abbottsford. We had 14 bikes battling it out for the nice, glass trophy and if you think this is a "guy thing", we had two lovely ladies beating up on the boys this weekend. Angela Bedard made it into round 2 on her Yamaha V-Max and Angelina Marsn made it to the semi's on her Honda CBR. The finals came down to Troy Smith and Ron Rowse on a couple of Kawasakies with Troy Smith getting the trophy and running 11.75 in the process

10 bikes squared off in our Street class, which had a good spread of Harleys, and "Metric" bikes. After all was said and done, last year's champ, Dave Galbiati had to chase down David Leblanc on his Suzuki GS1150 with Dave and his ZX1200 winning for the second time this season. Dave and his sponsor, Troy Smith, did a burnout show at the end of theevent that would have made John Force proud. All I can say is that the fans loved it.

Next up was the HeadQuarters Super-gas series led by No.1 qualifier, Mo Coen, on her "Greg Coen Motor Co." sponsored sportster followed by #2 qualifier, John Fyvie on his XL John cut a perfect .400 light in qualifying and ran .041 over his 10.20 index to let everyone else know he would be the man this weekend.
The final was a close one between Mo on her sporty and John on his sporty with John getting the win by .21 thousandths of a second.

The "V.P. Racing Fuels" Super-bike series took center stage and with 20 bikes this meant 5 rounds of tough competition. Qualifying was led by "Imperial Motorcycles" Gord McMartin with a .405 light and Kelowna's Scotty Smith next with a .409 light. The final came down to last year's #1 plate holder, Dan Tempel, and 2-time #1 plate holder Mike Sheehan with Dan running right on his dial-in to take the victory by mere inches at the finish line.

Up next was the "Greg Coen Motor Co." Modified series. Our series sponsor qualified #1 with his Kosman Big Twin at an 8.96 seconds that ended up being low E.T and also ran high mile an hour at 149.60. When the dust settled on Sunday the final was between Greg Coen's Big Twin and rookie Ross Cuthbertson, from Fort St. John's "Drag-On Racing", Greg left first and never looked back, taking Ross out with a 9.11 to a 7.33. In a wonderful display of support for association Greg, who with wife Mo, sponsor our Modified series through their Greg Coen Motor Co. refused to accept his winners cheque and donated the funds back to the association. A double thanks goes out to these two stellar individuals.

Pro-Stock eliminator took to the tarmac next and qualifying was led by Lee Uhrich's "Jarz" backed 140 C.I. sportster. Lee, fresh off a victory in Seattle the weekend before, crushed the E.T. records at Mission, which now stands at 8.12 seconds. #2 qualifier was last year's champ, Rick Dawson, on his H.D. of Yorkton Big Twin, followed by Nino Pace on Spike's "Haney Hawgs" backed entry and Toni Froeling from Sumner Washington. The final was between Uhrich and Dawson. Lee left on Rick and ran an 8.16 to back up his 8.12 record run. Congrats to Lee and his lovely wife Paivi who after a catastrophic engine explosion have come back with a vengeance with victories in Seattle and Mission.

The superfast Pro-Mod bikes had their turn next and they were led by Len Darnell from Vancouver, Washington on his "Time Machine" Suzuki with a 7.38 at 182.85 M.P.H. This E.T. would have qualified Len #3 in Top Fuel and his 182.85 M.P.H. would have led the fuel bikes on Saturday. The final on Sunday came down to Steve Tuggle's "Turbo Technologies" Suzuki and Dan Boehm's Edmonton based Kawasaki with Tuggle taking the victory at an 8.18

The carbureted fuel bikes had their time to play and qualifying was led by "Panic Racing/Future Cycle" Chris Gartman at a very respectable 7.84 seconds. Although only 3 Pro-Dragsters made the event all three were in the 7-second zone. Steve Huff made the trek north from Seattle on his "S&S, Downtown H.D., Znetix" sponsored sportster and ran a personal best of 7.89 to follow Chris and George with George running low E.T. of the event at a 7.768 to take the win.

And of course, last but not least, the "Delkron" Top Fuel series. Qualifying was lead by Steve Hiedner an his "Liberty Racing/Bardahl/Cycle Barn" 117 C.I. Pro-Fuel bike at a 7.15, #2 was Dave O'Hara on his "Neighbourhood Cycle" bike and 4 time champ Ron Houniet on his "Fastlane Racing/Diamond Stereo/Mission Springs/V.P.Fuels/Pro-Lift/Ballistic Bikewear" special. I could write a whole story on this class by itself, but space won't allow it. Dave O'Hara took one of the wildest rides I've ever seen on Sunday, rocking back and forth like a nitro-crazed brahma bull. It finally shot into the air like a trident missile with Dave getting it under control and riding it out like a pro. To say Dave's eyes were as big a plates would be an understatement. Now to the race itself. What can you say about Ron Houniet and his crew that hasn't already been said. He and his crew didn't get all their parts to complete the new weekend frames, PRP powered ride 'till the Monday before our race and fired it for the first time on Friday. Having never ridden the bike before Ron had trouble keeping the candles lit past 1,000 feet and still qualified #3 which had everyone else going "Oh No". When Ron met Edmonton's Ken Kent on his "Prairie Fire" H.D. of Edmonton in the final, Ron's "Fastlane" bike went 6.83 at 200.7 m.p.h. So for Ron, and crew, he has won all 3 races this year on 3 different bikes, 2 of which he had never ridden in competition and now owns all 4 C.M.D.R.A. records. Ken Kent runner-upped with a solid 7.40-second pass.

Well that's it for now. I'd like to thank Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts, Mission Springs Pub, HeadQuarters, Greg Coen Motor Co., V.P. Racing Fuels, Class Glass, Delkron and last but not least Trev Deeley for supplying the trophies. A hearty job well done to the Mission staff and all the volunteers at the C.M.D.R.A. without whose support these events wouldn't be possible.

Your Starter

Brian Healy