Blown Madness at Kennedale!
by Danny White (10/11/98)
The Texas Quick 8 Association came to Kennedale for their monthly race,
the last one of the year for Kennedale. Nine teams came to qualify for eight spots. The
number one spot went to Frankie "Mad Man" Taylor with an awesome 4.19, 171.65,
in a brand new blown 98 Firebird owned by Jim Brooks. In the first session, Taylor ran a
400 foot shutoff run of 4.33, 138.49, on a checkout pass. The second qualified spot was
taken by Gaylen Smith in the temperamental Texas Bounty Hunter '95 Camaro with a BAE hemi
at a pedaling 4.30, 159.13. Jim Brooks in his awesome looking Big Jim '97 Lumina was the
number three qualifier at great 4.32, 164.85, on his best pass ever. The beautiful Stove
Parts Firebird of Roger Martin with son Nathan driving garnered the number four spot with
their best ever run of 4.44, 156.89.
Jamie Satterwhite in the Satterwhite Racing '69 RS Camaro was the fifth
qualifier at a good 4.55, 157.37. Grant Hensley in the G-Force Racing Trans Am owned by
Grant and Linda Hensley was number six with problemed 4.74, 155.04. Rookie racer Steve
Torrance in his first race was the number seven qualifier at 5.85, 93.14, on an early
shutoff run in the Torrance Racing '94 Grand Am. The final spot was taken by Tommy Adams
on a troubled 5.85, 120.26, pass in his 506 C.I. '69 Camaro. The only non qualifier was
the Cutlass Ciera of Earl Folse, who was returning from a crash two months ago at Sealy.
Earl ran a 6.35 at 103.
The first round started with Nathan Martin taking on Jamie Satterwhite.
The two left side by side, but Satterwhite's beautiful pearl blue and white Camaro got
crossed up and shut off early. Chassis builder Nathan Martin motored by Satterwhite with a
super 4.43, 155.38, to the Camaro's coasting 9.07, 47.42. Jim Brooks raced Grant Hensley
next in their nitrous powered cars by Hans Fuestal. The cars both ran 1.06 60-foot times
until problems set in for Hensley. Brooks, who is returning from medical layoff, took the
Big Jim Lumina to a pedaling 4.56, 140.21, run over Grant Hensley's tire shaking shutoff
run of 6.43, 75.36. It was a disappointing finish for Hensley, who won the TQ8A race the
week before at San Antonio.
Number one qualifier Frankie Taylor ran a fishtailing 4.26, 140.21, to
cover Adams' motor-banging but improving 5.64, 120.59. Adams nitrous system problems
continued. The last race of the round was the strangest of the night as seasoned racer
Gaylen Smith faced rookie Steve Torrance. The heavily favored Smith showed that Murphy 's
Law reigns eternal as he drove into tire shake so terrible that it broke the Monoque wheel
in two! The Camaro went to the right slightly, then left and straight toward the wall!
Smith fought it back, spinning out with a 180 in the middle of the track! Torrance motored
to a shutoff, but winning 5.85, 93.11, in the Torrance Racing Grand Am.
The semi finals opened with Jim Brooks winning over Steve Torrance with
a 4.46, 145, run over the crossed up, shutting off Torrance at 5.28, 114. Frankie Taylor
flexed his muscles with a super 4.20, 168, run over Nathan Martin and his 4.56 effort in
the Stove Parts Firebird.
The final round was held at 1:00 a.m. under super conditions
-- 66 degrees and low humidity. Jim Brooks owned both cars in the finals. One had
Brooks' own 698" nitrous Pontiac; the other had Taylor's 526" blown Pontiac with
an injector hat taller than the roof! The Mad Man did his usual super burnout, backing up
Jungle Jim style at 40 miles per hour. Brooks did a nice burnout and backed up at a normal
pace. The two staged side by side, Brooks purging the nitrous system while Frankie brought
up the RPMs. The green light dropped and the two left side by side. They stayed that way
until Taylor passed Brooks on his way to a new track record of 4.17 seconds at 171 miles
per hour. Brooks shut off to a 4.84, 115 pass.
The win at Kennedale left Taylor in first place in the TQ8A series.
Gaylen Smith is in second as the TQ8A season winds down.
Danny White
ddgw@valornet.com
