Welcome to the West Coast Pro Modifieds

The drama was all set for the final event of the year for the Tim McAmis West Coast Pro Mod series. Pat Stoken was leading for the championship point title, but Wayne Torkelson had a chance to win it at the final race if he could finish two rounds ahead of Stoken or if he could be one round ahead and get low et and top speed. A daunting task but not out of the realm of possibility. Especially since Pat was a surprise first round loser at Mission the week before. Based on final qualifying, which was run under very cool conditions at Edmonton, the two combatants would face off in round two if they were to win there matchups in round one. Pat lead qualifying by a bunch, with a 6.44 run in the first session Saturday. He could not better that run, but no one else was close, as Lee Smith ran a 6.62 for the #2 position. Joe Delehay was #3 after a 6.76 best, and Wayne Torkelson went 6.83

Unfortunately, Sunday arose with cold rainy conditions that were not going to improve, so the event was called at noon Sunday. The title was Pat Stoken's. Congratulations to the Montana team.

The points chase just got a little more interesting. Starting with qualifying and going through elim's

This past weekend at Mission Raceway the Tim McAmis West Coast Pro Mod series competed for the Canadian Tire Pro Mod Shoot-out honors and we had a first time winner for 2004. Lee Smith made his first visit to Mission and of the season and came away with the doe. He defeated Wayne Torkelson who was the class of the field until the final round. Torkelson qualified #1 and was the only driver to run a 6.20, when he went 6.29 in the second and final session Sunday at noon. The scheduled qualifying session were supposed to be run on Saturday but the H20 gods had other plans and the entire day was washed out. So Sunday was going to see five rounds of racing including two sessions of qualifying. The rain the day prior made the teams a bit conservative in the first session, and Lee Smith lead after round one with a soft 6.56. Trevor Lowe was #2 with a

6.69 and first time competitor Duane Grosart was #3 with a career best 6.73/208. Unfortunately for Grosart the exciting in the first 1320 feet was overshadowed by the shutdown's 3000 feet. Duane's chutes did not deploy and the brake pedal only helped to slow the car down to around 70mph before he hit the sand trap hard. The car ended up in the catch net, but miraculously, the only damage was the front nose clip. Duane and the "Blown 55 Chevy" team expect to have the car back on track before the end of the season.

In round two, The performances improved big time, and Pat Stoken threw down the first gauntlet with a solid 6.37/221 that put notice he was loaded for bear in his attempt to try

and put the season championship to bed before they left Mission. He held down a 1000 point lead heading into the final two events and a win here combined with a first round exit by Torkelson would have pretty much wrapped up the 2004 title. Torkelson was up two pairs later and he did not lay down. In fact he went out and ran his best # of the year since the new 20% OD rules came into place. He ripped off a 6.29/223 to nail down the #1 spot in the field. Lee Smith also improved to a solid 6.46 to sit #3 after the final qualifying session.

Sunday's spectators got treated to a huge day of 'Pro Mod Madness'. Including the qualifying in the morning there was three rounds of elimination's on tap. Starting at around 1:30 first round came up. Two qualifiers could not return for first round, Glen May the #8 qualifier broke a couple lifters and Duane Grosart's unfortunate ride into the kitty litter kept both from entering elimination's. Joe Delehay went into Glen's spot and Randy

Vischer took on Lee Smith. Smith and Vischer was the first pairing and this one could have gone either way. Smith in the Corvette got a .03 hole-shot, but got real loose and pedaled the car from 120 feet to around the 500 foot mark where he finally got hold of the track. Vischer was on his best pass of the weekend as crew chief Rob Vischer was getting a handle on the fuel injection system on the 660+ inch Donovan powerplant. His ran a solid 7 flat at 200 but Smith's scoreboard read a 6.84/210 to take an almost 2/10ths win at the finish line. Torkelson took on Delehay, who was working on a low gear setup to get through the tire shake that has plagued the Calgary driver this season. Through qualifying, the team struggled but were close on the last hit. In the first round match-up, Joe and crew chief Ken Eisler came a little loser yet as the Chevy Pickup ran a 6.871, unfortunately for Joe Torkelson stayed strong and ripped off a 6.331/223 to take a easy victory. In a classic Ford vs Chevy match-up, it was red Mustang and red Camaro, Canada Vs US, #7 qualifier vs #2 qualifier, #15 in points vs #1 in points. Kelowna's Keith Korecki faced Montana hitter Pat Stoken in the

first round in a battle of big inch nitrous monsters. Don't tell the underdog that this one should be over before they get to the 60 foot clock, cause you don't win on paper. In what could only be described as possibly the biggest upset of the year, Keith Korecki bettered his qualifying career best, with a 6.787/207 to get the better of a tire shaking 7.271/216 (big speed) by Stoken. Pat and the boys have had trouble with the surface at Mission for the last couple seasons, but their 6.37 in qualifying made them confident they had a handle on the surface that has endured a weeks worth of steady rain. Now the Stoken's had to hope that Wayne Torkelson would not get the winners check and all the points that would go with being the winner of this event. Heading into Mission, Pat held a solid 1004 point lead and actually had the opportunity to wrap up the title here. But to a fan and journalist there is nothing better than the points chase coming down to the last race of the year. In the last pairing of the first round, #4 Vern Mills and #5 Trevor Lowe faced off. This one could of gone either way based on the performance capabilities of both the drivers and the cars. Trevor got a .064 holeshot on the starting line but shook hard at 100 feet and that was enough for Vern to take the advantage and hold on for a 6.521/209 victory. Trevor was not far back, but his 6.736 was .15 short at the finish line.

Round two................. Stoken's became huge fans of Vern Mills in the semi finals, as Mills faced Torkelson in one semi, and Smith and Korecki were on the other side of the ladder. Vern in his Camaro got a hundredth on the starting line (even though both drivers

were very late), but had to lift early on his run and Wayne in the T-Bird stormed through to an easy 6.406/218.87 win and a spot in the final round. Lee Smith in his Corvette got a hundredth on Korecki in his 'Stang (man a lot of Ford Vs Chevy Match-ups in Pro Mod this weekend), and had enough power to drive away from the Shelby driver, but it was close. Smith's 6.692/213 was a tenth better than the 6.790/207 by Korecki.

That set up the ultimate Ford/ Chevy battle. Two 1950's race cars, a 55 T-Bird with a BAE powerplant between the frame rails and a 58 Corvette with a Alan Johnson blown motor under the hood. Smith was still a decided underdog in this race, as his best had been a 6.46 up to this point and Wayne's tree laps including his final qualifier were not slower than a 6.40. Be remember what I said about not racing on paper. Could this one have a similar result to the first round between Korecki and Stoken.

Final Round............. 6:30pm....... Could Torkelson get the win and move to within 350 points of Stoken, or would Lee Smith get his first win of the season giving Stoken a little more breathing room. Both did solid burnouts, and both looked ready. At the green, Lee

Smith took a huge .069 advantage and got through first gear stronger than in any other pass he made on the weekend. Torkelson was late but looked to be on another 6.20 pass until just past half track, when Wayne said the motor got a bit of a vibration and nosed over a little. He kept his foot in it though, as big points were at stake. By 1100 feet it was obvious he was not going to catch Smith, so he clicked it off and could only watch Lee's scoreboard light up to a solid 6.367/222. Torkelson coasted on to a 6.520/at only 186 mph. Still a great final and the points battle goes on to Edmonton with Pat Stoken holding on to a 553 point lead over Wayne Torkelson. The last event at Edmonton is a double points event, meaning that every round win is worth 400 points and all the qualifying and Low et and mph points are doubled as well. Conceivably, the race could go down to the final round if both cars make the final. In order for Torkelson to overtake Stoken, he would have to win the race and get low et and top mph for the event, or go two round further than Stoken. Certainly is not out of the question based on this weekend's happenings, but Stoken has the series in his own hands. Stay tuned for all the action. If you are in Alberta next weekend, try and make it out to the season finale.

Race # 6 in the # 8 race series at Boise Idaho gave Wayne Torkelson his first win of the year and moved him back into second place in the standings.

Qualifying saw all eight cars enter make the field for elimination's Sunday. Wayne lead the eight car field with a solid 6.48/218. Three blown cars and five nitrous cars were in attendance.

The Pro Mods were one of three feature classes at the Nightfire National's, as Fuel Altereds and Nostalgia Top Fuel also competed in front of the huge crowd. This is the 'biggest event' of the season at Boise, as bracket cars also invaded the Idaho facility. The top four cars in qualifying have been the most dominant cars throughout the season and there was only one upset in round one. Vern Mills just squeaked past Dennis Radford who was on a solid lap but drove through the clutch, and though he had enough in the bank, but Vern Mills got past Dennis at 1100 feet for a car length victory. Wayne Torkelson ran close to his qualifying time and defeated first time competitor Scott Bailey in his cool Blown Chevelle. Pat Stoken ended up with a single when Dan Vogt broke their motor in the final qualifying round and John Scialpi ran his best lap a 6.50 in defeating Lee Smith who was close with a 6.66. In the semi finals, Vern Mills could not repeat his first round numbers, when he shook hard. Wayne Torkelson would have been tough to beat as he repeated to a solid 6.51 sending him to the final round. Two time event winner, Pat Stoken ran low et up up to the semis, with a 6.46 to defeat John Scialpi who clicked it early after shaking and getting loose.

The final pitted the two quickest cars of the weekend, and it was the classic Blower vs Nitrous car, first and second in points battle. The race was close at the start but Wayne Torkelson was on his game and crew chief Wayne Sr. had the screws turned, when the Red Line Oil team ripped off a low et matching 6.46 to defeats Stoken's slowing 6.97 giving the 55 T-Bird team their first win of the year, and some momentum heading into the last two races of the year.

1. Wayne Torkelson 6.48-218.02
2. 2. Pat Stoken 6.48-217.65
3. 3. John Scialpi 6.51-215.25
4. 4. Dennis Radford 6.52-216.71
5. 5. Vern Mills 6.54-220.75
6. 6. Lee Smith 6.649-217.91
7. 7. Dan Vogt 6.868-204.22
8. 8. Scott Bailey 7.223-199.91

John Scialpi 6.51-215.25
Dennis Radford 6.52-213.37
Vern Mills 6.59-214.79
Pat Stoken 6.77-213.67
Wayne Torkelson 6.99-194.63
Lee Smith 8.44-132.43

The "Big Dog" rolls to his first win in Western Canada. Photo gallery is now up.

Carl accepting the cheque for the biggest payout in WCPM history, $4,000.00 to win. Thanks in part to TIm McAmis (series sponsor), and all the association sponsors in 2004. The purses and prize money is great! Too bad more cars that were supposed to attend Mission did not make the trek, supporting a track that went out of their way to make it a bigger field. For that, the members in attendance thank Mission Raceway. Even Carl was surprised the payout was that big and in US dollars

As you can see by the holeshot Carl had, it was pretty much over at the starting line. Read the story below to find out why Glen was so late!

The Story------------- Carl Spiering overcame the hot conditions and ran 6.30's and low .40's through all four rounds on Sunday to take the win at the Pepsi Pro Mod Challenge as Mission Raceway. The #2 qualifier took on local Jay Syvertsen in round one at noon Sunday and this one was over fairly quick when Jay was a tenth back at the hit and then blazed the tires 150 feet out then hit the 330 foot cone sending it flying in the air. Spiering rolled on through with a 6.373@220 to advance to round two. In other first round pairings, Pat Stoken defeated Vern Mills in the battle of early model Camaro's (their third face-off in the first four races), Stoken ripped off a 6.437/220.31 and Mills shook and clicked it early. Glen Kerunsky defeated Dan Vogt 6.366/220 to a 7.03, Wayne Torkelson ran an on and off the throttle 7.69

to get the lucky win over alternate Keith Korecki who stalled right at the hit. He ran his run after re-firing and went 7.0, making Torkelson's win that much luckier. Joe Delehay defeated Kip DuPuis 6.877 to a slowing 8.48 and John Scialpi ran his best lap of the weekend with a 6.387/223.71 to get by Trevor Lowe (left) who ran an amazing 6.789 197 shot, in what was a wheels up, guardrail hugging, wheels up again run that had the fans going wild. Round two at 1:30 in very hot conditions saw Spiering blast off another amazing 6.30 when he went 6.365 against an off the throttle 8.13 by Scialpi. Glen Kerunsky defeated Joe Dehehay (below) in a very close race in the second pair out when Glen left with a .036 rt and ran a 6.560 to Joe's game 6.634. Both driver went 214 mph. In the semi

finals, Glen Kerunsky got the odd car bye based on his #1 qualifying spot and Carl Spiering raced Wayne Torkelson. Torkelson got off the starting line first and was along for a wild 6.809 pass that came up 4/10ths shot of Spiering's solid 6.402. The final round had the #'s 1 and 2 driver face each other in what should have been a great final round, but it ended in strange fashion. Both cars did a burn out and after the burnout I looked up and noticed the scoreboards were still lit up with the runs from the previous bracket final. I tried to get the attention of the starter, but he did not notice the scoreboards until just before the two stage were ready to stage. Both were held for about 10 seconds until the clocks were reset and they slowly rolled in. Both cars prestaged and then Spiering lit both bulbs, Glen was rolling forward and as soon as he flickered the bottom beam and finally had it completely light, within 1/2 a second the lights flashed yellow. Both cars drivers were completely surprise by the quick green, but Spiering had been staged two or three seconds longer and reacted quicker with a .214 light. Unfortunately, for Kerunsky he was still getting set and rolling forward to stage and when he reacted it was a race losing .613 light. Making his run a non factor event if he were the break the existing track record (6.267). Spiering was off and went 6.415/218.92 to Kerunsky's tire smoking 6.577/205. It was not the final everyone was hoping for, but even with a head up start, it is likely the two runs would not have been any different giving the edge to Spiering by over a tenth and a half.

The "CC Racing, Canadian Pro Mod Challenge" $250.00 low qualifier bonus awarded to Glen Kerunsky who went 6.332 in the first round of qualifying that held up all day Saturday. Thanks to the "Challenge" series sponsors (from left to right), Bill Jeffery (Jet Tools Canada), Jan Bobrowski (RJ Enterprises), Glen, Tim McAmis, and Glen May (CC Racing)

June 27,2004 Glen Kerunsky qualify's #1 on a very hot track at Mission Raceway Park. His 6.332 was just a hair quicker than the 6.335 by Carl 'Big Dog' Spiering. 13 cars navigated the hot greasy track that reached temperatures of 128 degrees in three qualifying sessions Saturday afternoon in front of a pretty good crowd at the Pepsi Pro Mod Challenge. Kerunsky's 6.332 was just enough to earn the "Canadian Pro Mod Challenge" $250.00 low qualifer bonus. Glen May had the highlight of the weekend in the first round of qualifying when he won the $100.00 "big burnout bonus" sponsored by Lucas Oil Canada. His 700 foot burnout was absolutley incredible, but was not planned. "Ya the throttle stuck and it took me a bit to release the pedal. It sure had my attention". The truck got completely sideways before he got it under control. He rolled to a stop just past the fnish line. Dan Vogt rounds out the 12 car field, when his last ditch 6.74 got the Saskachewan based team in the show on Sunday. They had struggled to a 7.0 best before the final round. Heading into the last session the bump was only a 6.98 (Keith Korecki). Korecki improved in the last session to a 6.84, but that number for the Kelowna based Pro Mod driver was only good enough for the 1st alternate position. Other numbers from a few of the teams are as follows: Torkelson and Stoken l went 6.41, Scialpi went 6.45 Kip DupUis ran a 6.51, Trevor Lowe went 6.54 and Joe Delehay blasted to a last ditch 6.52 to sit #7 in the field.

Testing at MRP was fairly uneventful, with no big numbers but a bunch of short squirts. I did not see every run but probably 95% of them. Pat Stoken made one lap (that I saw) and went to 330 feet. It shook a bit, but launched pretty hard. Vern Mills new Camaro has new striping on the car, and he made two short hits. Keith Korecki made one 60 footer, and then a 300 foot shot. It was pretty good. He came back for one more at the end of the day but the batteries were low and the car would not turn over enough to fire. Dan Vogt made two 7.0 laps. They were hoping for more. Kip DuPuis was a surprise entrant as the rumor was he was going to only one or two events. I guess this and the National next weekend are two of them. I saw one run and it was an on and off the throttle wild ride that ended up with a 7.60 time slip. John Sciapli made one strong 300 footer. Jay Syvertsen made two short launches with his new Scialpi powerplant. Joe Delehay made two short launches as well. One was a real squirley shot that he had to lift on and the other sounded real flat (and fat) and Joe lifted. The others on the property include Wayne Torkelson, Trevor Lowe, Carl Spiering, Glen Kerunsky and Glen May. Steve Cartier Should arrive Saturday Morning and Randy Vischer (even though it is rumored he would not be here. Stay tuned!!!!

June 20, 2004 The Salt Lake City final results:

The full story up tonight.

#1 Dennis Radford 6.519/216.03 def. #8 Dan Vogt -.019 7.103/201.92

#4 Wayne Torkelson 6.661/212.26 def. #5 Vern Mills. -.088 6.776/206.99

#2 Pat Stoken 6.496/ 217.54 def. #7 Perry Thyr 7.161/197.23

#3 Kirk Kuhns 6.58/220.53 def. #6 Randy Vischer 7.431/192.26

Dennis Radford .101 6.523/214.69 def. -.018 Torkelson 6.651/213.37

Pat Stoken .052 6.492 def. Wayne Kirk Kuhns .072 6.562/215.52

Pat Stoken .007 6.446/217.18 def. Dennis Radford .042 7.516/133.39

Final Qualifying . With the rain and cancellation of Friday night qualifying the decision was made to cut down the qualifying to two rounds Saturday afternoon and then run elimination's starting at the scheduled 6:00pm. The meant the winner and R/u would have five rounds of racing in one day, a huge task but the teams were ready to put on a good show for the fans. Eight cars were on hand to qualify and race in the eight car field, so teams wanted to make sure they ran solidly but would not hurt anything in qualifying so they could make final eliminations. Pat Stoken nailed it in round one of qualifying with a great 6.516. Dennis Radford and Wayne Torkelson followed Stroken with runs in the 6.60's to siit #2 and 3 after one round. In the second session right in the heat of the day, Radford ripped off a new track record 6.504. The field ended up with three cars in the 6.50's including Kirk Kuhns who improved to a 6.594 in the final round. Here is the final qualifying order:

1. Dennis Radford , Ore. 2. Pat Stoken, Montana 3. Kirk Kuhns, California 4. Wayne Torkelson Ohio 5. Vern Mills, Montana 0 6. Randy Vischer, Mont. 7. Perry Thyr , Alberta 0 8. Dan Vogt, Sask.

6.504/216.72 6.516/216.55 6.594/217.75 6.691/212.46 6.736/207.08 6.993/197.93 7.024/198.98 10.498/84.26

Boise Race #1 results

Billings Race #2 results