YB.com - Where the weak are killed and eaten

5-18-2008 – Fontana, CA – Team Accufab overcame huge odds to reach the final round with both of their cars at this past weekend’s Pacific Street Car Association California Nationals at AAA Dragway at California Speedway in Fontana. The Team is comprised of multi-time PSCA Champion Ed Thornton of Chino Hills, Ca with his black 1957 Chevy Twin Turbo and John Mihovetz of Ontario, Ca with his Twin Turbocharged 2002 Mercury Cougar. Though Thornton has been the PSCA’s Hughes Performance Pro Street Champion a record 4 times, Mihovetz has been the class of the field thus far during their 2008 campaign reaching all 3 finals so far winning 2 over his teammate at Fontana and taking 2nd place in Las Vegas.

Both cars struggled with unseasonably hot weather which made the track difficult for many to master. The Cougar led the Accufab team with a 6.709 at 218.80 which held down the number 2 spot for the class. Meanwhile the 1957 Chevy struggled to get grip on the racetrack and could only muster a snaillike 6.966 at 214.01 for the number 6 slot of the 12 car program.

Round 1 pitted the 1957 Chevy against the Supercharged Small Block Corvette of Karl Wilson. Thornton took an easy victory when Wilson’s car stumbled at the starting line allowing Thornton to run uncontested through the traps with a 6.799 217.14. Mihovetz in the Cougar faced off against Canadian Jay Syvertsen in his powerful Supercharged 38 Chevrolet. Syvertsen left first and had the Cougar trailing by more than a car length at 100 feet but suddenly the Chevy spun the tires and got out of shape tapping the left retaining wall and allowing Mihovetz to speed by with a 6.726 216.13. The run was not without incident as the head gasket was irreparably damaged on the Cougar during...

Bluebaugh Racing’s Team AutoTrader headed for the Pacific Street Cars Associations (PSCA) California Nationals this past weekend May 16-18, 2008 at the California Speedway with high hopes. Crew Chief, Deborah Woodard said, after winning the Las Vegas Nationals we finally have consistent runs and solid data. The Team was looking forward to stepping up the AutoTrader Monte Carlo and having a productive weekend. Instead the weekend turned into a thrash on the car and fist full of problems. Fortunately good friends and sponsors came to the rescue.

Bluebaugh said you know its going to be one of those weekends’s when the transmission in the truck burns up with a fully loaded trailer 300 miles from home before the race has even started. The team managed to limp into the California Speedway to start a day of test and tune with little sleep. During testing a rocker stud on the exhaust pulled out of the head creating an internal nitrous explosion in the AutoTrader Monte Carlo. Woodard said, when the exhaust valve won’t open the nitrous has to go somewhere. We got lucky in that no cylinders were damaged.

Bluebaugh and Woodard worked late into Friday night with the help of Toy Factory Racing to try and repair the head to no avail. On Saturday, Woodard found David Beckley, through fellow racer Randy Haggerty. Woodard said, I was really worried because once you start trying to weld on these heads, the aluminum goes soft and nothing will hold. Trying to combat a rocker stud problem on short notice is a worst case scenario. Beckley applied a most creative....

It's the middle of May in southern California and one would expect the weather to be slightly overcast with temperatures in the low-to-mid '70s for the Borla Performance sponsored California Nationals at Cal Dragway. Not the case last weekend as triple digits temperatures and an unrelenting sun gave the racers of the PSCA fits. Parts breakage and between round thrashes were more prevalent than usual as the difficult racing surface and extreme heat took their toll.

For the first time this season a blower car topped the Hughes Performance Pro Street qualifying field. Bob Griffith in the 2001 Viper was able navigate the tough conditions as his crew detuned the car to a 6.61 @ 216 MPH to grab the number one spot. Although the car has been very consistent, the team was plagued by parts failures that likely dated back to the last race in Vegas when a dead cylinder resulted in unexpected detonation. A bent wrist pin and collapsed ring lands warranted the replacement of two complete rod/pistons following the Friday night test session. Also struggling with mechanical problems was current point's leader John Mihovetz who was able to salvage a 6.70 @ 219 MPH during qualifying to secure the #2 spot. The Vegas race also seemed to take its toll on both Team Accufab cars as the Cougar required new cylinder heads while the 57 Chevy driven by Ed Thornton essentially had to start from ground zero after failing to pull the chutes the entire weekend in Vegas. Welder extraordinaire Jeremy Hanger and his Dad Jerry put their Jerry's Transmission Studebaker in the #3 spot with a 6.72 @ 213 MPH. Some recent assistance from their good Friends Chuck and Del Worsham yielded marked improvements in the blower and chassis department. "This deal is for my family to go out and have fun and this new found performance is helping us do that" said crew chief and owner Jerry Hanger. The newly formed team of Hairston Motorsports and Bowman Motorsports secured the fourth and fifth positions respectively, with less than stellar performance as compared to their typical runs. The balance of the field included standouts such as Ed Thornton, Randy Hagerty, Giuseppe Gentile and Kelly Bluebaugh (all who were victims of the track and weather conditions).