The Chicken Choker Chronicles:
Lebanon Valley
Late reaction time! Luck!
Bounty $! Early reaction time!
By Len Cottrell
[Len Cottrell has been sending updates on his and Tim
Slagle's Chicken Chokers Federal Mogul Dragster team this year as they
chase NHRA Division 1 fame and glory. Here's the update from Lebanon
Valley, NY. bp]
Lebanon Valley, NY -- Another exciting weekend at the races. We were invaded by some out of division cars with the likes of Mike Gunderson, defending Division 2 champion from Florida, and Rob Wenderland, Division 5 champion from Colorado driving the late Mike Troxel's last car.
We ended up qualifying with a 5.74, #6 out of 14 entries. Our performance was off a bit and this left us potentially paired up with Wenderland for the first round, Bozzelli for the semifinals, and Gunderson in the finals -- all previous Division champions!
In round one, Tim was late out of the gate, but Wenderland was slowing on the top end and we came around him for the win with a 5.74.
We then had Bozzelli, who had still not lost a single round of eliminations yet this year and had a $300 bonus bounty reward for the first car to beat him. Tim was late out of the gate but then Bozzelli's ignition started missing in the middle of the track and we drove around him with a 5.72 for the win and the bounty!
We then had lane choice over Gunderson who had advanced to the finals with a 5.75 run over the #1 qualifier, Art Gallant. In the finals, we ran a 5.75 time against Gunderson's 5.79 time, but lost as Tim left two tenths before the green light came on and we were disqualified!
Since Tim has been driving, we have attended six divisional races and made it to three finals, so eventually we will win.
Next stop is Numidia, Pennsylvania (one hour north of Harrisburg) on July 27/28.
Len Cottrell
len.cottrell@lmco.com
