Mission Raceway Park is owned and operated by the British Columbia Custom Car Association, Canada's oldest rod and custom car club established in 1952.

September 16, 17, 18, 2006

Despite a valiant effort, rain put an end to the final CMDRA race of 2005. Official results on the CMDRA site. Saturday was a great day, results below:

September 16, 2006
CMDRA track records blitzed

Great racing conditions under sunny skies saw racers in today's three qualifying heats pound out one track record after another.

In Top Fuel, Jason Arkinstall (photo) of Surrey came out number one with an impressive 6.418/219.88 mph clocking just ahead of Maple Ridge's Ron Houniet who laid down a 6.446/215.82 mph charge. Fifteen riders clocked in today after a crash early in the first session that saw Fort St. John rider Mike Scott go down well after the finish line. Both he and the bike contacted the wall resulting in a broken leg for Scott and a very broken drag bike.

Others in Top Fuel include Brian Hall third at 6.620/209.20, John Breckenridge number four with a 6.746/214.89, Rob Smith's 6.757/202.06 good for the five spot, a 6.865/191.28 from John Bryce, Mick Cawthorn in with a 6.919/198.54, Ken Kent's 6.95/200.31 good for eighth, and George Welch the final six second runner in the ninth position at 6.993/178.35.

In Pro Mod, Abbotsford's Terry Schweigert (photo) flew to a 7.184/186.52 mph top qualifying effort. Gord Smith is second out of five bikes at 7.232/189.95 followed by Gary Christopher at 7.278/190.79 and Len Darnell with a 7.387/182.85 on his back-up engine after grenading his good piece in practice Friday. Clint Rabb struggled to a 7.80/186.

Andy Beauchemin (photo below) of Edmonton ran a stellar 6.753/200.80 in Pro Fuel and Rod Anderson leads Pro Drag with a 7.628/169.17.

Ethan Barkley and Tom Tourand came out in the final session this afternoon in Pro Street and showed us just how quick and fast street legal, non-wheelie bar motorcycles can run with an awesome side-by-side race that saw the Alberta ace go 8.580/170.64 beside Tourand's 8.865/165.07!

A total of twelve Destroyers are on hand with Nick Allen of Saskatoon leading the field with a 9.257/141.64. He earlier ran a 9.20 in practice. Dave Toth is two at 9.295/141.46 and Terry Brown third with a 9.327/136.94

Gates open at 8:00 am tomorrow for what should be a record-setting drag bike race. Hope to see you there!

Canadian Biker T.V. will be on site all weekend to shoot for their upcoming season. Heather Ireland will be licensing and racing in the new Harley Davidson Destroyer Series. Check out the website for a 15 min. clip of the first date of the Eastern Destroyer Series in Grand Bend, Ontario.
Go to www.bikertv.ca then click on Biker Video then CMDRA

Who to watch at the CMDRA Season Finale
by Ken Froese

We all anticipate the 6th and final race of the 2006 Power Twins/Parts Canada Canadian Motorcycle Drag Racing Association drag bike series at Mission Raceway on Sept 16-17. The rain has threatened a few times, but never stopped us from completing all five scheduled races to date. The heat was more of an issue with 30 degree temperatures at a number of the events this year. Eight of the twelve classes have racers in the top three spots separated by less than two rounds of racing. The trophy supplier will have to wait until Sunday night before they can start the engraving for the Monday night year-end awards banquet.

Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel Series
Ron Houniet has a good lead in top fuel with 112 points on Mike Scott. Likely Houniet’s 11th straight TF Championship. Scott, in only his 2nd year on a TF Harley is 62 points (3+ rounds) ahead of Ken Kent who is always present in the top three at year end.

Ainsworth Lumber / Core Pipelines Pro Modified Series
Gord Smith will want to regain his #1 plate back from Len Darnell. Smith is 41 points ahead after 5 events. But I don’t expect Darnell will give up too easily in what could be his last year running Pro Mod. Clint Rabb’s Turbo and Nitrous fed Kawasaki has been very quick this year. 40 points behind Darnell gives him a good shot at 2nd overall.

Screamin' Eagle Pro Fuel Series
Despite a heart stopping crash in Ft. St. John (our hearts, not his), Toni Froehling holds a 21 point lead over Andy Beauchemin. Beauchemin has been focusing on his Top Fuel program, which may give Froehling the chance he needs to hold on to #1. John Breckenridge is in 3rd, 113 points behind Beauchemin.

Screamin' Eagle Pro Dragster Series
Woody Smith, who didn’t receive his fuel license until the 2nd race of the season, is in 1st with a 33 point lead over Neighbor Dave Stickle. Smith has qualified #1 twice since earning his license and will be hard to catch if he continues in Mission. Doug Casson will be chasing Stickle from the 3rd place standing trying to make up a 43 point deficit.

Screamin' Eagle V-Rod Destroyer Series (East & West)
The battle to win the #1 plate in the first season of Harley Davidson’s very popular “out of the box” V-Rod Destroyer class continues to heat up. In the Western series, Dave Toth is just one round, 20 points ahead of Nick Allen. Both have swapped ET and MPH records back and forth this year looking for every possible advantage. With 20 points for a new record, expect both to be pulling out all the stops for the last race. Terry Brown is in the hunt too, back just 46 points in 3rd. Terry has run over 143MPH this year and is capable of setting a few records also.

The Eastern Destroyer series has been just as close, and will be decided in Mission after their last event in Quebec was rained out. The separation between 1-2-3 is almost identical to the western series. Mike Duncan in 1st just 19 points ahead Rene Giroux. Martin Dube is 43 points back in 3rd place.

After both series champions are crowned, they will square off in an East vs West final to determine the overall Canadian Champion.

Pro Street Series
Ethan Barkley is holding on to a 1st place standing despite developing a whole new program this year, switching from a proven nitrous setup to a leading edge Turbo’ed GSXR 1000. Barkley sold his nitrous set up to Ken Froese who has used it to chase him all year. But with a 43 point lead, and getting faster at every event, it’s not likely Froese will catch him. Glen Fraser, 87 points back in 3rd, and Tom Tourand who have both recently been running in the 8’s could have an effect on the final outcome.

Godoy's Insurance Only Modified Series
Jeff Knowles, John Fyvie and Kim Beauchemin are 1-2-3 with less than 1 round between them. Last man (or woman) standing in Mission should also be the 2006 champion.

Core Pipelines / Ainsworth Lumber Super Gas Series
Jeff Knowles has a 58 point lead going into the last race over Dean Larouche. Both have wins from the last two races, but Knowles will have to lose in the early rounds in order for Larouche to catch him. Ted Fuller is 165 points back in 3rd. Too far to catch 2nd, but he could still be factor in final outcome if he meets Knowles or Larouche in the early rounds.

McNeney & McNeney Super Bike Series
Burke Forster has a 23 point lead on Len Darnell. Forster will want to qualify well to keep his point lead greater than 20 points for the eliminations on Sunday. That way he will have a one round cushion on Darnell. Don Fergin, who placed 2nd last year is 125 points back in 3rd. Too far to catch 2nd, but he will be more concerned about his team mate Greg Westling who is just 17 points behind him.

Screamin' Eagle Stock XL (883) Series
Patti Brandle swore she would be back in Mission to defend her title after she crashed in Edmonton. But she is 15 points behind Christine Sweder. I know Sweder is looking forward to the side by side race to finish what she missed out on in Edmonton when Patty was not able to make the final.

Mission Springs Brewing Company Street Series
Ethan Barkley is in good shape with an 82 point lead over last years champion Ken Froese. Looks like the race will be for 2nd place. Gerald Beatch fresh from a win in Edmonton is now just 13 points back in 3rd place. To quote Tom Tourand, “Pay back’s a Beatch”.