Pro Stock points leader Jason Grima showed just why he is leading the championship with a top qualifying performance on day one of the Fuchs Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway.
Grima’s 7.016 (pictured above, image thanks to Dave Reid) fended off Aaron Tremayne and Wayne Daley for the honours following the first qualifying session.
It was a massive turn around from the 2012 Fuchs Winternationals, where Grima missed the field, and the Sydneysider said it was a good feeling to know they were in the show and with a competitive race car.
“It’s good to get the first one out of the way and get a good run straight up,” he said. “It’s all in the team work, they all think about getting everything right. Having James (Grima) and Brandon (Huhtala) together, they are unbelievable with their set ups.
“Whether or not we go into the sixes will depend on the humidity. James and Brandon will let me know what they think and go from there.
“I hope to be both lucky and good this weekend for PC Group and Jerry Bickel Race Components.”
The field was anchored by Ian Brown’s 7.124, making it the quickest 16 car field in Pro Stock history already, despite there being three sessions left.
In the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship, Greg Leahy was king of the hill in the Competition category with a 6.53 second run from his BB/Funny Car putting him 0.70 seconds underneath the index and also well under the existing national record of 6.73.
Nick Panagiotlaris held on to number one spot in Super Stock with an 8.33 going 0.59 under the index and also under the national record. Not so fortunate was Mark Ashford (pictured below, image thanks to Fred Dwyer), who crashed his Nissan 200SX on the top end of Willowbank Raceway. Ashford escaped injury but the Nissan will need plenty of work.
The run of national record passes continued with Corey Buttigieg’s Harley Davidson V-Rod belting out an 8.55 to be number one in Competition Bike, while Robert Rigoli’s Mitsubishi Eclipse hot footed to a 6.95 in Super Compact, 0.72 under the index for CC/SM.
With qualifying wrapping up for many of the sportsman categories today, eliminations will begin tomorrow (Saturday), while the majority of pro qualifying, with the exception of Pro Stock, begins as well.
