CB Performance
Pro Stock Nationals

For 2005, July's Pennsylvania race was rained-out, then rescheduled in late October at Virginia Motorsports Park, where twelve Pro Stock VWs showed up and, West Virginia's Warren Skaggs won it!

BY ROBERT K. SMITH

With three successful quarter-mile Pro Stock Nationals in the VW drag racing history books, event organizer Jack Sacchette decided to switch to a new sponsor, CB Performance, thanks to CB's president, Rick Tomlinson. They put a program together with IDRC (Import Drag Racing Circuit), along with contingency sponsors ($5,500 purse), and set the date - Sunday, July 17, 2005, and the place - Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. From all over the country (California, Texas, Midwest, East Coast) came fourteen VW Pro Stock racers on Saturday (with a little rain in the afternoon), there was a driver's meeting that night, and come Sunday morning, the hotel parking lot was drenched (and so was the dragstrip six miles away). Some racers made it to Maple Grove's gate early-on, and just before 8:30 a.m., they got the bad news, that due to more thunderstorms heading toward Maple Grove, thanks to the track's Doppler system, this event was not happening. By 9:30, the skies were not as dark, and it looked like the weather was starting to clear, but when everyone saw the racers (and IDRC crew) return to the hotel, they knew this was a dead player. Since Monday was not an option for this race, everyone headed back to their homes.

Meanwhile, in the Morgantown Holiday Inn lobby, Sacchette met with Warren Hill and Ron Hubbert of ECPRA (East Coast Pro Racing Association) that sanctions and hosts VW Pro Stock races. They talked about the possibility of rescheduling this Pro Stock race later in the year, Virginia Motorsports Park located in Petersburg, Virginia. The purse was raised (thanks to Rick Tomlinson) to $7,000, and the date was Saturday, October 29th.

Three months went by quickly, and before we knew it, we were in Virginia awaiting more 9 and 10 second quarter-mile action by the quickest and fastest "all-motor" (normally aspirated, with no power adders) VWs from across the country. On race day, two cars (from the original July race) did not return, but those racers who did were more than happy to be among fellow VW Pro Stock competitors, who showed the V-8 guys (at this Winner Take All Nationals) what Pro Stock Volkswagens were capable of.

Two racers who made the longest trek included California's Shawn Geers (of Westminster) and his awesome '56 Oval, as well as Don Brown, who decided to only be a part of the Geers crew, and not tow his Pro Stock across the country like he did in July. From Texas came two more contender, Irving's Damon Harmon and his '50 Split Window, and Middlothian's Jogn Strnad to pilot his 2000 New Beetle-bodied Pro Stock. Three Ohioans also made an appearance: Payton's Gene Collier with his '69 Karmann Ghia; Brian Drew and his '69 Bug from Hamilton; and Fairfield's J.D. Curry whose '56 Oval rode tandem with the Geers-mobile. Germantown, Maryland's Troy Mason bought Larry Westmoreland's beautiful '65 Notchback, and brought it to join in on the fun, and speaking of Type 3s, Lyman, South Carolina's Alan Fore came wit his flamed-out '65 Notch. The rest of the lineup consisted of: Oliver Frey, Williamsburg, Viriginia, '55 Oval; Warren Skags, Winfield, West Virginia, '62 Bug; Bill Danner, Lititz, Pennsylvania, Bug; and Denis Elliott, Conyers, Georgia, '57 Oval Window.

First round of qualifying was delayed a little because the track personnel relocated ECPRA's four-scale station just outside the staging lanes. Once each car was weighted, and towed directly into the lanes, with the weather also cooperating, the Pro Stocks were running. But trouble plagued a few participants Bill Danner blew-off two oil filters before qualifying, and decided not to race, leaving only eleven to compete for the 8-car-field. Then Ollie Frey and Denis Elliot broke their trannies; Ollie and his Dad, Helmut quickly returned to their pit to change the gearbox, but Denis had no spare and also let his car sit idle for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Shawn Geers had a parachute mishap (popped out after the burnout) before staging, and could not get his car pre-staged in time to make a pass, and was "bumped" by the track officials, but allowed to make a single, non-qualifier, which was an incredible 9.47 e.t. @ 140+ mph. Alan Fore became Number One qualifier with his 9.609/138.62, followed by Warren Skaggs running 9.805/134.62, and Number 3 went to J.D. Curry's 10.375/124.26 pass. Down the list were fellow Ohioans Brian Drew with his 10.477/130.87, and Gene Collier rolling his Ghia through the lights with a 10.577/122.90 blast. Number 6 was Damon Harmon's 11.245/133.74 posting. Troy Mason came up next with an 11.310/111.94, and John Strnad, who clicked-off an 11.954/80.13. At this time, it was nearly noon.

Round Two went-off around one o'clock, and Ollie Frey did not make the call since he and Helmut were still working on the tranny swap. However, Alan For held the top spot (and posted a 9.636 @ 139.27), Damon Harmon grabbed #2 with an impressive 9.68/138.09, and Warren Skaggs kept his #3 position. This time, Shawn Geers was ready, and ran a 9.897/112.42, while J.D. Curry, Brian Drew, and Gene Collier did not improve on their prior qualifying passes. Troy Mason did, though, with a quicker 10.832/122.21, which put John Strnad at Number 9.

After a two-hour delay, due t a V-8 oiling down the first half of one lane, and the second half of the other, Round 3 of VW Pro Stock qualifying took place at just after 3:30. The first pair up were Damon Harmon and Ollie Frey, who broke another tranny and coasted through the lights at a frustrating 24,182/58.11, not making the 8 car field. Harmon, on the other hand, did not better his previous run and but safely in the field. When J.D. Curry and Shawn Geers lined up, the crowd watched as they launched, both doing wheel stands, then Geers shot out in front and ran his quickest ever 9.441 @ 141.46 mph, and had his hands full as he lost control through the traps, went right, then left, into the left lane, and rolled! Luckily the cars did not collide, and Geers walked away with a small bruise on his shin, and that was that. He was now Number One Qualifier ... but his car was totaled, and not able to make the eliminations. Since John Strnad was Number 9 earlier, he tried to get in during Q3, and did, bumping Troy Mason out, as Strnad came up with a much quicker 9.882/137.92, good enough to nab the Number 5 spot. Rounding out the field was Brian Drew at #6 with a better 10.084/131.96, J.D. Curry's 10.240/126.65 put him at #7, and Gene Collier was #8 with his first qualifying pass that was a 10.577 e.t. @ 122.21 mph.

Eliminations started near sunset, with Gene Collier having a bye-run because #1 Shawn Geers was out of the running. So Gene took it easy, and clocked a 12.455/123.29. Next up was Warren Skaggs against John Strnad, who reacted quickly with an .044 and 1.297 60-foot, then lost it, tagged the wall, and did a 180, ending up pointing at the tower. Skaggs, however, turned-in a 9.951/136.39 for the win. Then Damon Harmon faced Brian Drew, who red-lit (-.013) and not only did Harmon get the automatic win light, he posted his best ever pass of 9.544 @ 138.94m, with a slow RT of .236 and the rear tires spinning off the line. Alan Fore lined-up against J.D Curry, and when the tree turned green, Curry broke a trans at the starting line, but Fore's pass netted an 11.562/86.73.

At 7:00 p.m., Round 2 saw Warren Skaggs put down another 9-second pass, this time a 9.801/134.58, with an .066 RT, and his opponent, Gene Collier, caught the "bid red eye" with an -.037, and then his car broke. When Alan Fore and his Notch took-on Damon Harmon in his Split Window, the unforgiving track took-out another tranny, via a broken axle in the Notchback, right off the start. Harmon had problems too as he only ran an 11.166 @ 96.87 mph.

The final round happened at 7:30 with Skaggs and Harmon ready to rumble. The track was getting cooler, and a little slippery, so it was anyone's guess as to who would reach the finish line first. Warren left immediately with an .069 RT and 1,349 60-foot, while Damon spun off the line again, saying he "overpowered the track" resulting in a .225 RT and 1.516 60-foot. Skaggs spun a little off the line too, but put down another 9, his quickest ever 9.795 to be exact, at 135,77 mph and won; when Damon realized that he could not catch Warren, he backed-off, and posted a 12.109/85.30 pass.

It pays to be patient and consistent in drag racing, and Warren Skaggs was both here, running 9s in all three round of eliminations, at this 2005 CB Performance Pro Stock Nationals. Not only did Warren take home his share of the winnings ($3,500 cash), he topped Alan Fore by 20 points in the ECPRA Championships and grabbed more money, to the tune of $1,750. But Alan was also a winner, receiving $875 cash for making it into the semi-finals at the CB Pro Stock Nats and ending up #2 in ECPRA points, not to mention setting the new ECPRA quarter-mile records - e.t. at 9.609, and mph at 139.27, on this Saturday at Virginia Motorsports Park.

With any race of this stature, it takes many people to make it happen, and happen it did. Event organizer Jack Sacchette and CB's Rick Tomlinson were both very happy that the rescheduled CB Performance Pro Stock Nationals finally became reality. Even though it was a long day, with cold and windy conditions in the afternoon, plus down-time, two banged-up cars, tranny breakage, and running into the night, it was definitely a race to remember. In addition to paying special thanks to CB Performance for perpetuating this event, Sacchette acknowledges the following for their support: Rancho Performance Transaxles; Auto-Craft Machine; Gene Berg Enterprises, Brothers Machine Service; Ron Lummis Racing; Hot VWs Magazine; JayCee Enterprises; Frey Racing Engines; Geers Engineering; Harmon Racing; Web Cams; Manton Pushrods; Rimco; and the East Coast Pro Racing Association, Sacchette also thanks Chico from California's Quality German Auto for Low ET and Top Sped bonus monies ($200 each), which were both given to Shawn Geers for his incredible 9.441 @ 141.46 blast. A new Perfect Light $300 award was also offered by Tay, Ed, and Kelly of German Auto Werks in Virginia; with nobody getting a perfect .000 reaction time, they gave $150 to John Strnad for his best RT during eliminations, an .044.

For 2006, the CB Performance Pro Stock Nationals will take place in Indiana, on Saturday, August 19th, at Indianapolis Raceway Park, in conjunction with the CSC-DRA (Central States Compact Drag Racing Association) Volksbash, a quarter-mile bracket race and car show affair. For Pro Stock registration and more information, contact Jack Sacchette at his shop, (714) 848-9898, or you could also e-mail him at [email protected], and to check on fees for bracket racing, the car show, or vendor/swap spots, call CSCDRA's Eric Stiner at (317) 413-4454, or visit his web-site <cscdra.com>. It should be awesome, to say the least, so try to make it, we will.