Maher Wins Funny Car Fever; Regains Points Lead

Race Report: July 5, 2003

Submitted by: Jim Maher

July 5, 2003 (Rocky Mountain Raceways): The midpoint of The California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA) season was reached over the 4th of July weekend. The CIFCA teams were part of RMR Funny Car Fever and the fans came out in droves. They were blessed with pleasant weather and close side-by-side racing

Dennis La Charite kept his string of low qualifier positions going with a 7.502 effort. He was followed closely by Mike Savage in Jim Broome's Firebird with a 7.513. Michael Irwin won the Perma-Cool Burnout Challenge during qualifying and made it all the way to the final round.

Irwin defeated Savage in the opening round on a holeshot aided 7.63 –7.57 decision. He had to do it again one round later when Savage got back in under the break rule. The results were the same (7.59- 7.54). The bad news for Savage’s competitors is they found the problem why the new car has not been reacting. Irwin’s Strange Behavior Corvette put the brakes on Chill Scardino during the semi-finals. Scardino was cutting personal best lights but he pushed the tree too hard and bulbed out. Scardino did go home with the Good Vibrations Best Package bucks.

The Good Vibrations team of Jim Maher regained the points leads when they pulled thru RMR’s gates and had to go rounds to keep it. Maher got past the first round when Shane Westring broke out with a 7.47. Maher then watched Jeff Seraphine drop out of sight with a faulty ignition and his 7.56 was good for the win. During the semi-finals, La Charite rolled the beams before the tree was activated advancing the Good Vibes team and their 7.54 into their third final of the season.

With the grandstands to capacity, Irwin and Maher paired off for the final round and bragging rights. Irwin got the jump and the Enderle Quick Reaction Time bonus with a .412 light followed by Maher’s .423. The two were glued together with Maher taking a slight lead by mid track. Through the eyes it was Maher first with a 7.55 to a very close 7.58.

A great capper to an outstanding event. Though it’s a very long tow for most of the teams, the fans and competitive racing makes RMR a must stop on the CIFCA circuit. Thanks to Auto Glass Express and Kimball Racing for their support of this race. Special thank to Ron Craft and his untiring crew at RMR for putting on a very organized event.

8858 Painter Ave * Whittier, CA 90602 * 562/945-9730 * cifca.com