Photo courtesy of Costabile Productions
KENT, Wash. (August 12, 2015) – Shinny bits of metal are great when they are jingling in your pocked as coins. They are less desirable when they are inside the block of your racing motor. That’s just what Johnny Ahten had after his first qualifying run at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways last weekend. A wrist pin broke near the finish line under power and the number five cylinder became a disaster zone.
“Our 5.474/250.04 in the first session put us in the fourth position, but it was costly,” said Johnny Ahten. “The wrist pin failure meant we had to change motors between rounds, and the thrash was on. When they called Alcohol Funny Cars to the lanes we still had yet to put the magnetos on. Luckily, there was oil down and it gave us time to complete the motor change. The plan was to go to a thousand feet with the backup motor. The run went well with a 5.459/245.23, making me wish I had kept my foot in it. That put us in the number five spot after Friday qualifying. It was a positive sign after the destruction of the first session. ”
For Saturday’s final qualifying session the decision was made to crank it up a bit, and try move up the ladder. The Stump Puller had other ideas, as large clouds of smoke poured from the Goodyear’s at the hit. That put Johnny in the eighth spot and a first round meeting with CleanBoost Oil teammate Garrett Bateman. At the start of the race Bateman got off the line first, but Johnny pulled ahead at the two hundred foot mark by a car length. The two A/Fuel warriors battled to-and- fro down the quarter mile. In the end, Bateman’s 5.333/269.03 got the win over Ahten’s 5.354/264.39.
“This was the closest race of the weekend in the class,” added Ahten. “We are bummed about the early exit, but the experience was a very encouraging. I now have about ten runs on this new chassis and I am feeling more comfortable in the new Stump Puller. I would like to give my guys a gold medal, because we were a man down this weekend. My dad and crew chief Al Ahten, along with racing partner Howard Katano, Bob Ahten, and Kevin Colvell were amazing. The engine swap after the first session proved small is mighty.”
The broken parts are off to be repaired because every now and again a small sacrifice to the aluminum gods is needed. The next race for the Island Renovations/Combust Filters dragster will be back at Pacific Raceways for the Regional race on the 21-23rd of August. To stay informed with the latest please visit: www.facebook.com/JohnnyAhtenRacing
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