He's late (you know how these *stars* are...LOL.) but: <b>***By special request, live, in person, and nation wide, the Pit Pundit is in the house!***</b> -- Texas Pro Stock Association Message Board

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Date Posted: 06/11/10 1:56pm
Author: Pit Pundit
Subject:

He's late (you know how these *stars* are...LOL.) but: ***By special request, live, in person, and nation wide, the Pit Pundit is in the house!***

On June 5th the TPSA road show rolled into the Greater Houston area for their first event of 2010 at Houston Motorsports Park. As always the Baker family, John Mandabach, and the HMP crew had the facility in tip top shape and the fans were lookin� forward to some wide open, no breakout, side by side, heads up, Texas Pro Stock racing. A quick trip through the pits and we saw Mark Neberman and Mike Morgan (the Godfathers of TPSA), AD Rigmaiden, Sponsor Gary Lidiak, Randy the �Dandy� Elliott and right hand man Austin, and Sammy & Bob of the radio program of the same name were in the tower doin� the play by play. Missing this event were Larry Pearce (family commitments), the �Boxman� Donald Hughes who is recovering from back surgery (maybe an announcement coming soon on a replacement driver), and Kenneth & Lance Abbott. The Bumbera crew planned to help with the scales but weren�t able to make it. They did join the TPSA family as an associate sponsor and we thank them for their support. Meanwhile Lidiak, Elliott, and Austin would pull scale duty.

Ten teams were on hand and knew what to expect concerning the weather conditions that would be prevalent. What was the weather you ask�. You new around here or what?...LOL. The weather in Houston this time of year is always very predictable�hot, humid, with clouds passin� through, then more heat & humidity. After qualifying was complete a familiar car led the pack. Joe Pigford aka �Boss Hog� was the only entry in the .60�s with a 4.677 @ 149.85. Aided by veteran tuner Bill �traveler� Stocklin, Pig�s GXP managed the summer air and hot race track with ease. It looked like Team O�s Richard Otwell was gonna have a lil� something for the �Pig� come eliminations with his 4.703 @ 147.35 during qualifying, but the bullet wasn�t happy and Richard would be unable to make the call for eliminations. Roy Pigford picke HMP to debut his brand new Stroupe GXP �Show Car� with a 4.720 @148.86. His mph indicates the Reher-Morrison bullet is making plenty of steam once he gets the setup figured out. This ride is a thing of beauty with plenty of attention to detail�. If you know Roy you can take one look and tell whose mount you�re looking at. Team O teammate and NRC/Trick Rick powered Rick Cowger in the C&W Racing entry was #4 with a 4.721 @ 143.13. The �Budman� Nickens in the Talley/Nickens Camaro, Clint Crownover�s Cavalier, Eddie the �Dude� in the Winscott/Conrad GTO, Aaron Hubbard in Ol� Blue, Rick Hanson in the spotless black �Vette, and Jr Wilkerson in the Robinson & Wilkerson Racing �Bird rounded out the field.

1st round�It was about 10pm, the weather had cooled off a bit, and the showers had missed the track. The first rattle out of the box had Joe Pigford matched up the Eddie Conrad. Pig moved first and collected another win lite with a 4.668 to end the �Dude� & Gary Winscott�s nite. Next up was Rick Cowger vs. Rick Hanson and Rick H had a .033 rt advantage at the drop of the tree but Cowger would proceed to round 2 with a 4.725. Ol� Blue with lil� Hub in the chair would draw Jr Wilkerson and he would advance with a 4.81 when Jr lifted after getting loose about half track. The two current co points leaders rolled to the lanes. Since we had a tie for the points lead going into this race, the Team O �Bounty� award would be split between whoever could take out the co leaders. One of these teams was guaranteed � of the $$. �Budman� Nickens pulled into the waterbox to face the �Show Car� of Roy Pigford. Pigford showed she�s not all looks (she runs too) when he posted a quicker 4.730 but lost on a holeshot to �Budman�s� 4.738 @ 147.69. The fans loved this one as the margin of victory was about .04. The Nickens/Talley team continues to improve and eased on to round 2. Clint Crownover aka C3 was due to face Richard Otwell but Team O was unable to answer the call. C3 went to round 2 with a 4.78 @ 146.39.

2nd round�Cowger and Crownover were the first pair and Rick posted another 4.72 and a great .414 lite to send C3 back to the trailer. Joe Pigford rolled up beside the Budman, and after nearly identical rt�s pulled away to a 4.67 to 4.72 win. J Pigford also collected the other half of the �Bounty� money with this �w�. Aaron Hubbard drew the bye and moved into the semi�s.

Semi�s�Aaron Hubbard had upset on his mind over the quicker Grand Am of C&W Racing. Burnouts, and staging complete: green lites in both lanes with AH out first. Looked awfully close�could he hold off the top end charge of Cowger? Both cars were a little loose on the top end and the win lite came on for Rick to put him in the final. The time ticket said the margin of victory was .010�pretty good drag race that had the fans on their feet. �Boss Hog� just idled his ride down the 660� to prepare for the final. Joe�s idea of �idling� was a 5.0 @ 111.30.

Final�12:40am. If Cowger could maintain that low .70 performance and produce another stellar rt, he just might be the one to pull off an upset. �Boss Hog� had not missed a beat all nite running like a bracket car and did anyone else notice? His rt�s were markedly improved and more consistent than in the past. That makes for a tough combination to get around. Long smoky, � track burnouts, they back up, crew gets outta the way, and they prestage. Crowd�s at the fence, the other TPSA teams are in the lanes watchin�, the tree goes green in both lanes. Pig�s out first and both cars are "stuck" to beyond the 330'. Around 400� it looks like Cowger is �driving� his ride while Pig�s on rails and truckin� for the finish line. Win lite Pigford�s lane and the scoreboard tells the tale. Joe 4.66 @ 150.10 to Rick�s 4.75 @ 142.59. Once again Joe and �Traveler� Stocklin had saved the best run of the event for the final. Back at the trailer the tickets reveal the rt�s�Joe .438, Rick .460. Congrats to both teams and to all of the TPSA teams for an action packed race.

Our thanks to the Baker family, John Mandabach, and the entire staff @ HMP for another exciting event.

Not sure what the expression means, but if it would help me run a 4.67 in qualifying I'll try to imitate it!

(sorry BS, I couldn't resist)

Bill Stocklin aka "Bad Billy", "Traveler" and others I can't repeat here, attends more drag racing events in a month tuning for various race teams than most of us race in a year. Oh by the way, Bill tuned Frankie Taylor's Pro Mod to another win @ HMP giving the "Traveler" a double.

Joe "Boss Hog" Pigford