With less than one week to go before the start of the 24th annual Northwest Nationals, we've gathered all the information that's available so far. The entry list(s) are definitely shorter than in past years, highlighted (or low-lighted depending on how you look at it) by the EIGHT, yes, count 'em, EIGHT entries in Top Alcohol Dragster. Some of the other major categories aren't much healthier and the total car count as of Sunday, July 31st on the official list totals just 325.
Breaking that down by class reveals 16 cars in Top Fuel, 18 in Funny Car, 15 in Pro Stock, the aforementioned 8 in Top Alcohol Dragster, 15 in Top Alcohol Funny Car, 22 in Comp, 32 in Super Stock, 51 in Stock, 58 in Super Comp, 42 in Super Gas, and finally 48 in Super Street for that grand total of 325 competitors. In the "Major" group (Top Alcohol and up) we've got just 72 cars, then 105 in the "class" eliminators, and finally - padding the numbers - 148 cars in the "super" categories.
With an all-run situation in every eliminator below Comp, and only one over-subscribed field above it, the fact is that only TWO cars, nitro funny cars at that, are going home as non-qualifiers at this race. Not much drama going into eliminations, is there? On the bright side, considering the price of gas and diesel, and the still-shrinking economy, it's a bit of an accomplishment to get this many racers together at a location that's not exactly in the heartland of drag racing or near a group of really large population centres.
The Canadian quotient is a little thinner in some areas than in past years, and nowhere is that lack felt more keenly than in Top Alky dragster, with Shawn Cowie out of action for at least the balance of this season after his horrific road accident in Nashville in April, and Don St. Arnaud tending to his oil-patch business and Greg Sereda simply not here, it's up to Ashley Bart to be the canadian contender in this category. And she's had an eminently forgettable season so far. They did get the car untracked a few weeks ago at the Woodburn LODRS race and maybe they're back on track, performance-wise.
The Alberta presence will certainly be felt in Top Alky flopper, with no less than three entries, led by Roger Bateman in the YNot car, John Evanchuk in his Red Wolf entry and Ken Webster in the SynOil car. On paper, the odds on any of these cars winning the event are 5 - 1 and that's just about where I'd rank them too.
Comp Eliminator has the strongest Canadian representation, with 7 out of the 22 entrants hailing from north of the 49th parallel. Among them are two of the most dangerous competitors in the bracket - bar none. Jirka "First in the 5's" Kaplan from Calgary, and Rob Harrison of North Vancouver, the Winternationals winner earlier this year and Division Six All-Star rep last month at Joliet. Joining those two hitters are the 6-second cars of Alberta's Dale Giroux and lower mainland racers Bob Marshall and Terry Spargo. Rounding out the Canuck racers are two darkhorses: Casey Plazier from Edmonton and Mike McKeigue from Fort St. John, BC. The odds on a Canadian car taking home the Comp eliminator Wally are at least as high as the ratio of entries, with my guess being about 3 - 1 on one of them prevailing.
Below Comp eliminator, it's really just bracket racing once eliminations begin, and there certainly should be at least one Canadian winner in those categories, starting with Super Stock, as 10 of 32 entries are from north of the border, and continuing into Stock with 7 of 51, followed by 9 of 58 in Super Comp, 8 of 42 in Super Gas, and finally 7 of 48 in Super Street. The grand total of Canuck competitors in the event adds up to 52 out of the 325 cars entered. Sidenote: The slight majority (27 of 52) of those racers are from BC, and for the first time in... well, forever it seems, no one east of central Alberta is on the entry list.
The media machine won't kick into high gear until the Fram-Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, CA is complete and the NHRA traveling circus starts heading north to Seattle. Then we'll have some more material to add to this page. Until then, here's the entry lists for the top categories.
6016 G/SM Gary Anderson Fox Island WA '05 Cavalier Chev 295 ANDERSON CONSTRUCTION, INC.
6241 B/SMA Casey Plaizier Edmonton AB '04 Cavalier Chev 353 SPECIALTY AUTO / A-1 PERF.