The 1^st annual ROAR West Coast Championship is in the books. The event went off without a hitch. Starting off on Friday it was test and tune day, right away record runs were being laid down. Some of the top runners on Friday included Chris Smith with his extreme car running 1.1’s. Josh Wood from Dallas Texas started off the day with his extreme car in the 1.2’s. Jimmy “Rainman” Schauer running 1.2’s with his extreme car as well. Jimmy also laid down a 1.38 with 3 cell E/TF rail. Mark Rollings laid down some mid 1.5’s with his N/TF rail. Mike self running his nitro funny car laid down a 1.72 and a few more 1.7 passes. Kurt Gawne from Chi-Town ran 1.7’s with his nitro funny car. Needless to say awesome numbers were being laid down all day.

On to Saturday’s qualifying starting off with Bracket Class it was long time racer making his return to the track Tommy Acosta with a very nice .006 reaction time to take the number one spot. Jim “Rainman” Schauer tales the number one spot in super gas with a very nice 1.72 second pass. In the 10.5 class it was none other than Tim Smith taking the number one spot with an incredible 1.72 second pass. On to them crazy Electric Funny cars it was long time crew chief Jim Skinner trying his hand at driving which he did in a big way. He took the number one spot with a 1.40!! In Electric Top Fuel it was none other them Jim “Rainman” Schauer blasting his way to the number one spot with a blistering 1.34. On to the noise makers known as Nitro Funny car it was Kurk Gawne from Chi-Town taking the number one spot with a very nice 1.74 second pass. Nitro Top Fuel was up next with Mark Rollings taking the number one spot with a 1.65 second pass. Last but not least in the Extreme class it was Chris Smith taking the number one spot with an insane 1.15 second pass!!!!   

After four rounds of qualifying it was on to eliminations. Starting off with Bracket it was number one qualifier Tommy Acosta making his way to the finals to meet up with Dean Butts. This race was over when the lights dropped as Dean Butts turns on the red bulb giving the win to Tommy. In Super Gas it was the number one qualifier Jimmy “Rainman” Schauer taking on Kenny Wilkins. This one was also over at the start as jimmy’s car does not move and Kenny runs straight down the track taking the win with a 1.84 second pass. In the 10.5 class it was once again number one qualifier Tim Smith making it to the finals to take on his teammate number two qualifier Gabe Hernandez. Tim cuts a light on Gabe and stays ahead to take the win with a 1.78. In the crazy Electric Funny car class it was number one qualifier Jim Skinner making it to the finals to take on Brian Boudakian. This one was over at the start as Jim’s car has a problem on the starting line and Brian screams down the track with a very nice 1.49 second pass. In the Electric Top Fuel class it was Mark Rollings and Chris Smith making their way to the finals where Chris takes the win right away as Mark turns on the red bulb. Chris runs a great 1.37 second pass. In the Nitro Funny car class it came down the Self brothers taking on one another where Mike Self takes the win over Junior Self with a nice 1.78 second pass. In Nitro Top Fuel it was none other than number one qualifier Mark Rollings making his way to the finals to take on first time nitro racer Kenny Wilkins coming from the number 7 spot. Kenny cuts a light on Mark but Mark comes around on the big end taking the win. To end the day it was none other than the Extreme Class were it was the number one qualifier Chris Smith taking on Jimmy “Rainman” Schauer. The light drop and before you know it jimmy’s going thru the traps and Chris is bouncing off the wall giving the win to jimmy. Jimmy ran a very impressive 1.23 second on his winning effort.

After the racing action came to a stop the buzz around the pits was still going on. A truly awesome event to start off the year. Many records were set, in fact every class set records as this was the first national event under the Roar association. Setting the bar high for the rest of the world to chase.

Congratulations to the top qualifiers, winners and record setters. The MHRA would like to thank all the racers, sponsors and all the people who made this event possible and unforgettable.