Smith Wins 2011 WCOPMA Season Opener at Firebird Raceway
Lee Smith (Photos by Steven Bunker; Click image for larger version)
Lee Smith from Salem, Oregon, won the first event of the 2011 West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association season June 25, during the 34th annual Great American Fox Hunt presented by Little Caesars Pizza at Firebird Raceway outside Boise, Idaho.
Eight WCOPMA cars put on a great show for the Firebird Raceway fans in Boise, Idaho. After two rounds of qualifying, Rod Burbage was in the top spot with a 6.12 followed by long time Pro Mod racer John Scialpi with a 6.16. Marc Meadors was in the third spot with a 6.18 and Lee Smith rounded out the top half of the field with a 6.31-seconds pass. Last year’s WCOPMA Champion Bret Williamson was in the number-five spot with a 6.33 then Dan Nickelson, Dan Myers and Jay Diedrich rounded out the bottom half of the field.
In the first round of eliminations Smith got past the 2010 champ with a 6.82 after an exciting pedal fest against Williamson’s 7.81 effort. The next pair was Scialpi versus Myers and Scialpi made his best pass of the weekend to advance with a 6.14. Next up was Burbage and Diedrich, who had been fighting car issues all weekend and Burbage took the easy win with another 6.12. The final pair was Nickelson against Goodguys Rod & Custom Association President Meadors. Nickelson looked to be on a strong pass, but got loose around 300 feet and had to lift while Meadors improved on his qualifying time and went 6.13 for the round win.
The second round placed Burbage vs. Smith and Meadors vs. Scialpi, but Burbage couldn’t make the call so Smith made a hard launch and clicked it early since he knew he had a damaged head gasket that needed to be replaced.
Marc Meadors
The second semi featured a great matchup between Scialpi and Meadors. Meadors did a bad job of red lighting with a .004 reaction time and Scialpi wasn’t too far behind with a .032, then both cars started to shake the tires since the track had gotten significantly better from first round. After a quick pedal job by both drivers Meadors ended up on the winning side with a 6.22 to Scialpi’s 6.32.
Smith and Meadors would face each other in the final round but Smith had a lot of work to do to his car. He knew he needed to pull the head and replace a head gasket, but he also broke his third member on his second round single. With a small crew there was no way he could get it all fixed in time for the final, but then people from Burbage’s and Diedrich’s crews came over and helped Lee get his 1958 Vette ready while Meadors and the Goodguys Racing crew said they would wait for them to get everything fixed because they preferred to race rather than take the easy win.
Lee Smith
Right when the final round was called to the lanes by the announcer both teams were ready to race. As the cars rolled into the beams it was Smith with the reaction-time advantage and lead the whole way to take the win with his best pass of the weekend, going 6.29 at 228.02 mph while Meadors lost traction at the transition and lifted for a 7.73 at 130.03-mph pass.
“That’s drag racing for ya,” Meadors said later. “Sometimes the fastest car doesn’t win. My hat is off to Lee and his team for their deserving win. We thought we had a great shot to win it. We were the quicker and faster car but didn’t put the traction down in the money round.”
The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mods return to action July 1-2, in the 5th annual “Night of Fire” at Champion Raceway in Medford, Oregon.
