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There was no luck involved in the final, however, as Janis overcame
a .013 holeshot by Alan Pittman in his blown '41 Willys to post a 6.236-secs
win at 228.85 mph to Pittman's 6.374/224.06 combination. Janis' pass
also set top speed of the meet.
"I always said we had luck earlier in the year, but this one was really
lucky," Janis conceded. "We ran good up until we ran Mike Faucher and
kicked a rod out. There's no way I had enough stuff on the spare motor
and there's no way I would've had enough time to change it. But then
we came back and just kept thrashin' and thrashin' and thinking that
maybe someone would oil the track -- God forbid -- and Jim Head did
and gave us just enough time. Turned out the motor that was in the trailer
for the last five months was faster than the one I'd been running. It
worked out good."
HAHN HAS HOT HAND IN SHOOTOUT
There was no doubt who had the car to beat in the Mopar Performance
Parts Pro Mod Shootout, staged within Saturday's qualifying sessions
for the top eight points leaders going into the event. Although the
Shootout ladder was determined by his fourth-place standing, Fred Hahn
served notice he was loaded for bear with a pole-sitting 6.200-secs
qualifying pass at 225.48 mph.
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| Fred Hahn launches hard on his way to another
6.20 at the IHRA Mopar Performance Parts World Finals. |
Hahn's supercharged Summit Racing 2001 Corvette slowed slightly to
a 6.299 at 221.92 mph in beating Ed Hoover's '63 'Vette in the opening
match, but regained a little to 6.218 at 224.40 in the semis against
Mike Janis, who got a little loose at mid-track and posted a losing
6.290 at 227.34 mph.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ladder, Shannon "The Iceman" Jenkins
was a model of consistency as he qualified his nitrous-boosted Western
Beef '68 Camaro third at 6.261, then ran 6.275 in disposing of Quain
Stott in the first round, and 6.270 in his semi-final win over Alan
Pittman.
When the Shootout final went green, Hahn jumped out to a .031 holeshot
and held that margin to the finish as both drivers carded identical
6.245-sec passes that were only one mph apart.
"Obviously, the driver won us that one. But he's been doing that all
year," Oddy said. To which Hahn replied, "The driver never wins. The
team wins. Jimmy and the boys give me a good race car. When you've got
a good race car, then the driver can do his part, hopefully."
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