Words by Scott Woodruff
Photos by John Ulman
8/5/05

hree months after winning the Mopar Performance SS/AA Hemi Challenge at the Jegs.com NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, LA, Charlie Westcott Jr. struck again with another victory at the inaugural Jeg’s NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals at National Trail Raceway.

Westcott, of Parma, MI, drove his Warfish Barracuda to a final round victory over Steve Baughman of York, PA, who left the starting line early in the final. The Mopar Performance SS/AA Hemi Challenge is a special event for competitors in the top NHRA Super Stock class. The only cars that are eligible to compete in the SS/AA class are specially constructed 1968 Dodge Dart or Plymouth Barracuda factory race cars.

Westcott had the quickest car in qualifying, but had to rely on a little racing luck during eliminations as he spun the tires in the semifinals and broke an engine in the final round. Westcott earned a $5,000 bonus from Mopar Performance for his convincing victory.

"I saw the red-light right away so I knew I had won," said Westcott. "My car was on a pretty good run and then I felt it lay over at half track. It didn't take long for me to figure out that the

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engine was hurt. I'm pretty sure we spun a bearing so I guess I'm pretty lucky that Steve red-lighted."

Westcott was the low qualifier in the 12-car field with an 8.76 and had the quickest run in the opening round of eliminations with an 8.80 against David Barton. He was able to shut off early in the second round after Bob Wolkwitz fouled in his '68 Dart. Westcott had a bye run in the semifinals, but slowed to a 9.12 after his car spun the tires on the starting line.

"We fought the track a little this weekend," he said. "I think I've only made three good passes since Thursday. Since I had a bye run in the in semifinals, I decided to crank up the starting line rpms, but the track wouldn't hold it so we went back to a more conservative tune-up for the final."

Baughman had an eventful day as he upset favored Jim Pancake in round one and then used a starting line holeshot to take out Fred Henson in round two, 8.98 to a quicker 8.93. Baughman then made his way to the final with a victory over Super Stock veteran Dean Mink.