Departments - Missed Races

ocal hotshot Phil Osborne of nearby Naples, FL., defeated Scotty Cannon last Saturday night at Immokalee Regional Raceway with his Thunder Struck '63 Corvette powered by a blown Olds. motor. Osborne, who holds the track mph record at 184, showed he was ready to play when he unloaded a great warm-up pass of 4.10 at 176 mph. Cannon followed in the same lane with a slower 4.24 run.

Osborne and crew thrashed to replace a leaking intake gasket before the first round, as Cannon did the usual between round "stuff," consisting of checking out the computer and signing fans' shirts.

First round came up and Cannon did a long, smoky burnout in the right lane and Osborne in the left. The cars staged, the tree went green and Osborne strapped a 0.476 RT on Cannon, who was behind at a 0.508. Osborne held on for the win as the Corvette slid through the lights with an oil leak for the win at 4.27 slowing at 150.35.

Osborne and his ride.

Osborne and crew fixing a leaking intake gasket prior to the first round.

Cannon was right there with a 4.25 at 175.30 mph, which gave a margin of victory of only 82 ten thousandths of a second to Osborne. This was the closest race of the night.

Cannon adjusting the idle on his Hemi-powered Stude

Between rounds, Osborne and crew fixed the oil leak and Cannon re-jetted the BAE Hemi Stude. Osborne then strapped a 4.09 at 179.07 mph blast on Cannon who ran a consistent 4.26 at 174.83 mph. This effectively ended the match, which was billed as David vs. Goliath, but the drivers came up one more time for the fans to see if Cannon could salvage a win over Osborne.

Cannon and crew between rounds

As luck would have it, this time Cannon wound up on top, as Osborne was unable to hold his supercharged Corvette on the line and left before the tree was activated, giving him a no time. Cannon cruised to his quickest pass of the night at 4.20 at 177 mph.

Cannon's first check out pass

It was pretty cool to come to this drag strip, which occupies an unused finger runway at the Immokalee Regional Airport. Immokalee is located in Southwest Florida, east of Ft. Meyers and Naples. This IHRA-sanctioned 1/8 mile track has become a favorite of racers in both Southwest and Southeast Florida in the short time it has been in operation. A racer told me that they even have a small-block Chevy-powered ice cream churn for the hot summer months. I'll have to go back just to see that.