Thursday Night, Under The Lights At Irwindale: An Even Dozen For Dalcorp Racing

It was another one of those perfect September evenings at Irwindale Dragstrip last Thursday night. The Dalcorp Race Team took full advantage of the night, making a dozen runs between the Chevy Cobalt and VW Manx. With several friends and family there, it was a relaxed, no pressure night of burnin' rubber and enjoying some great racing. Both cars didn't miss a beat all night. Even with changing conditions, they ran very consistently and put down some great numbers.

Some of the pictures this week are courtesy of Mike Morgan Photography and we really appreciate him donating some cool shots. Mike is one of the highest paid and highly regarded drag racing photographers in the business and it's a privilege to have his photos on our blog. You can check out his work at http://www.bowtie0069.fotki.com/ and contact him at 626-335-9025 or 626-221-4935 (email: bowtie0069@aol.com) to arrange any of your individual photography needs. Thanks, Mike!

AJ on a run...It's all good! (photo by Mike Morgan)

Mike Morgan making the GNP Cobalt look good!

...another great shot...thanks, Mike.

Focus..."Burn out to turn out". That's how you win.

Gordon "Lug Nutz" Stewart calls the action on

Thursday nights at Irwindale. Yeah, he's the guy

you see on ESPN...

Erica gave the crowd several John Force burn outs

throughout the evening. Hey, someone has to do it!

AJ was happy with that run...

Paul Althouse's beautiful Camaro with his son

Danny behind the wheel. And yes, it's as fast

as it looks!

Erica and Gordon sharing a moment between rounds.

Bro and sis enjoying the night...

Cousin Lindsay and a friend spending some time

in the staging lanes with Erica.

This looks like something out of "Close Encounters

of the Third Kind"....

Eileen Pandeles went rounds and ended up winning

"King of the Hill" in her '65 Chevelle...or should

I say "Queen of the Hill".

A huge crowd showed Erica and the Cobalt

a lot of love Thursday night.

....back in the 60's again?

The ladies love to come by for some photo ops

in the Cobalt. "Smile!"

Team Dalcorp sees red at final Summit Race - Cobalt and Manx run strong numbers

No, it wasn't an altercation with another competitor, an official, or a rules or track issue that had Dalcorp Racing upset. What had AJ and Erica Nocita upset was the red light staring at them on the starting line Christmas tree during the first round of eliminations on Sunday. Both cars ran great numbers in the morning test session at the Summit Series final event at Irwindale with almost matching season best runs. Erica's GNP Cobalt ran a 6.67 @ nearly 114 mph on the 1/8 mile, while AJ put down two 7.37's @ 90 mph. Everyone was encouraged by the morning's performance and were ready for eliminations. Unfortunately, they were a little too ready. Erica went .490 red (.500 being perfect) and handed Kenny Snow the victory. The win locked up the series points championship for Kenny in Super Pro and we want to congratulate him on a great season (You owe us one, Kenny!). If Erica's .490 was "pink," AJ's light was a little more on the red side at .450. Since the track was getting hotter, AJ spun the tires a little and the performance fell off a tic, but still ran a 7.40. With both cars out of eliminations, it was time to have a little brother and sister fun. The two lined up next to each other for a time only run and bragging rights. Again, both cars made great passes and Erica won the reaction time battle with a .540 light. Overall it was a good, safe day.

We'll be running this Thursday night at Irwindale, so if you're at the track stop by and say hi. Hope to see you there.


....test session - Sunday morning.

7.37 e.t. Not a bad run!

...hurry up and wait...


Second run during the morning test session.
Another 7.37....lookin' good.




I wonder if the dial in is what caused the trouble.
Notice the numbers on the lower left of the window...
......6.66.....that can't be good!

The color every driver hates to see....RED!

"B" ridin' back with Erica. No seat but still
lookin' good!

Brother and sister making some time only runs.

Lining up for bragging rights...Erica comes out
on top, but both made good, clean runs.

Thursday Night at Irwindale Dragstrip - A touch of nostalgia in the air...

There's something about being at your local dragstrip on a warm summer night that really strikes a chord with racers - especially the old guys who grew up in this area 40 or so years ago. The smell of high octane fuel, burning rubber, the sounds of the strip and good friends seem to work like a time machine and take us "back to the good old days." The GNP Chevelle was rockin' last Thursday night and putting down some good numbers on one of those warm, summer evenings. AJ did a great job driving given the slippery track conditions, while "Pato" and John Pandeles finally found the gremlin that had been giving us fits over the past several weeks. It was great to see one of our friends, Ron Walker, out with his Ford Falcon (you won't see the "F" word in many of our blogs!) making some nice mid 7 second runs. Ron's really done a great job with the Falcon and hasn't had to break the bank to do it. There's hope for us all when we see the numbers Ron runs with his low budget hot rod. Nice goin', Ron.

We'll be racing the final Summit Series race of the year on Sunday, September 14th at Irwindale, so we hope to see you out there. We'll be filming that race with our in-car camera and should have some footage on the blog soon. Wish us luck!

On a bit of a side note, Kimberly Nocita, the youngest daughter of the Dalcorp/AREA 51 gang just opened at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts in Covina in the stage play "Gypsy." Kim plays the role of "Dainty June," the sister of Gypsy Rose Lee in the show, which is directed and choreographed by Angelo Collado. The theater was recently remodeled and is absolutely beautiful. There is a small bar area and lounge in the balcony area and there isn't a bad seat in the house. The performance runs through October 12th with tickets available online www.covinacenter.com or by phone 626- 331- 8133. There are shows every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and a matinee on Sunday afternoons. Hope to see you at the show!

"The Juice"...It's Go Time!

This could be any drag strip in the 60's...except for

"My other car is a Cobalt".

John Pandeles dodging flying parts on the

starting line. Never take your eyes off the

car that's running. (Glad it wasn't our car

spitting parts out the back!)

AJ checking in after a wild ride on a slippery

track.

Ron "the racer" Walker puttin' it down in his Falcon.

Total concentration produced a good run.

....I love black and white....

Car Night Thunders at Dalcorp/AREA 51 - Hansen's T/F Dragster Brings Hundreds To Tears!

Tears of joy were on the cheeks of many car guys and gals last Thursday night as Dalcorp/AREA 51, The Finish Line and WR Racing hosted the weekly meeting of "Car Night." What brought tears to so many? The nitro fuel burning in Bob Hansen's T/F nostalgia dragster, The Wynn's Spoiler. Bob was nice enough to take time out of his schedule to fire up his beautifully restored dragster - not once, but twice! The Spoiler was campaigned back in the mid 60's and held the national T/F record in 1966. What a treat to not only get to see a piece of drag racing history, but to HEAR it!

One of the coolest things about Car Night is that so many people come out to admire the wide variety of cars on display. We were privileged to have the editor-publisher of Garage Style Magazine, Don Weberg, visit the shops and spend some time talking with us about GSM. His magazine is a must-read for anyone who has an interest in cars and all that goes with them. Check out their web site at www.garagestylemagazine.com.

We also want to thank our sponsors that help make all this happen: Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Barney's and The Only Place in Town Cafe, BG Oil Products and Chris Shevlin of Chicago Title Insurance. You guys ROCK! If you missed out on this event, you missed out. Plan to put it on your calendar for next year (as soon as we announce the date) and enjoy one of the coolest and most laid back evenings of the year. Thanks to all who brought their cars out to share with us and help make this year's Car Night event one of the best ever.


Fred giving "The Hulk" a run for his money!

....the calm before the storm.

That's about $150 bucks goin' into that tank!!!

There was something for everyone at this year's Car Night.


It was fun to just hang out in the street and watch
the cars show up!

Kristy got to help Bob Hansen fire up the nitro-burning
"Wynn's Spoiler".

This could be 1966....

Bob's getting ready to "make her bark!"

Who had more fun than Kristy?

Like mother, like son...Dane's ready!

Some Arcadia class of '67 alums...Lynn, Mark, Geo
and Fred. What's with the shirts, guys?



WR Racing was decked out...the shop looked awesome!


John Marconi even made an appearance from the
Marconi Automotive Museum in O.C.

"The Hulk" was blinged out and ready to party!

One of the many families who took advantage of
a photo op with "The Hulk".

Twice in one night...Bob "lit er' up" again! 1966?

...it doesn't get much better than this...


"Dad, can I have one of these?"

John Vellejos and his dad, Mike, fired up their
injected alcohol car and rattled some cages!!!

Mike making sure John didn't take it around
the block for a spin!!!