Twenty funny cars showed up for the 16-car CIFCA field

CIFCA Race Report

Submitted by: Jim Maher

Aug 21, 2004 (Southwestern Int’l Raceway): There are always a few special feature races that local fans look forward to. In the desert of southern Arizona one of those events is the August Cactus Clash. This event features nostalgia and current fuel funny cars along with the California Independent Funny Car Association.

Twenty funny cars showed up for the 16-car CIFCA field. Local favorite Tony D’Oca placed John Stanton in the top slot with a 7.523. Lyle Larkin staked claim to the Perma-Cool Burnout Challenge.

The AMP Motorsports team driven by Paul Peterson got their first taste of victory last month and showed it wasn’t a fluke. They once again found themselves in the money round after dealing fatal blows to some heavy hitters. Peterson took down D’Oca in the opening frame on a 7.56 – 7.60 decision. He then sent Jim Maher packing with a .405 reaction time coupled with a 7.61 elapsed time. During the semi-finals, Peterson duplicated his .405 light again and placed a 7.53 on the scoreboards to end Chill Scardino’s day. This also scored them the Good Vibrations Best Package bonus (.043 seconds).

Also wrecking havoc was your current DragParts.com points leader Dennis La Charite. He ran his slowest time of the day (7.59) in the first round against Adam Sorokin but it was good enough for the win light. La Charite’s 1969 Corvette then defeated the 57’ Chevy of Steven Romanazzi (7.53 –7.61). These are two of the most gorgeous funny cars on the circuit. During the semi’s, the Back in Black team got real close to the 7.50 index with a 7.51 to hold back a re-instated D’Oca.

Back in Black versus AMP Motorsports. Both have wins under their belts and are now first and second in points, respectively. Mike, Steve & Dennis Kooiman are some of the faces behind the scenes that prep the AMP Avenger. At 1am, it was all left up to the drivers. Both drivers staged, then went deep. They were either cautious or distracted as both drivers were off their game when the LEDs flashed yellow. Peterson was out first and kept a car length on La Charite stopping the timers first with a 7.54 to a quicker 7.53. This was a great final round to an evening of close side-by-side racing.

The AMP Motorsports team also pocketed the Enderle Quick Reaction Time bucks with their pair of .405 lights while Maher scored the Bar’s Leaks Revolving Qualifier bonus. Special thank to Wendy Brorsen and the entire SIR staff for promoting and hosting a great annual event.