Southwest United Side by Side Funny Video

UNITED NITRO FUNNY CARS - "Southwest Nitro Shoot-Out" - Tucson Dragway

NOTE: Click on the thumbnails to display the full-size images

What if they held a drag race and no one was there to report on it, post it on social media, on a website, or put up the results on paper? Even worse, what if no one was there with a camera to make a photographic record of the event? Did that race actually exist? Or is it an event consigned to the dustbin of history, lost forever? That fate might have befallen the UNFC Southwest Nitro Shoot Out held at Tucson Dragway. Thankfully, our hard-working correspondent, BIG Bob Snyder was on hand to photograph the action and even provide us with some times and speeds to go with the photos.

(LEFT) Lighting up the tires before making his first pass of the evening, Tim Boychuk blew the dust off his seldom-seen (in the past few years) "Happy Hour" Camaro.

(RIGHT) A good looking pairing led off the United Nitro Funny Cars action, with Canada's Tim Boychuk in the near lane, outrunning the "Quarter Pounder" of Keith Clark and Dale Van Gundy (driven by Geoff Monise). The clocks stopped quickly for Boychuk as he cranked out a very good 5.999 despite an early shutoff 197.02 speed. Monise had to get out of it early, finally stopping the timers at 11.392 - 76.44.

(LEFT) The very photogenic "Speed Sport" Dodge Omni of James Day put down a solid burnout.

(RIGHT) With both cars launching hard, Day, in the near lane, started to pull away from the Camaro-bodied "Problem Child" of Billy Morris. And that was it for the first round of the UNFC (United Nitro Funny Cars) segment of the show. Next up: AA/Fuel Altereds! Eight of them! Stay tuned!

(LEFT) Winner of the shortest tow (distance) award was the Phoenix-area team of Robert and Dylan Winefsky. They whipped their "Nitro Moose" through the burnout procedure before their first round match.

(RIGHT) When the ambers flashed, Winefsky (near lane) left first and easily pulled away from Kevin Knowles (far lane) in the "Neese & Knowles" entry.

(LEFT) The first pair of AA/Fuel Altereds featured Ray Stringer in his "Blown Cent-Less" car, which is actually his Funny Car Chaos car with the body switched to an altered. He got the tires spinning hard on the burnout before his first pass.

(RIGHT) Appearing to be running by herself, Paula Martin behind the wheel of John Aleman's iconic "Sheepherder" AA/FA, is actually late leaving as Ray Stringer's car is almost out of the frame as Paula goes by the tree.

(LEFT) Albuquerque's Lyle Greenberg took the flopper body off and switched to an altered for this event, still running the "Cone Hunter" name.

(RIGHT) Ageless veteran Johnny West brought out his classic-looking "Plan A" '23-T (near lane) and left first against Lyle Greenberg in the far lane. It was a close race to the finish line, with West tripping the winlight with a very good 6.395 - 217.91 pass. A quicker pass of 6.342 - 211.06 wasn't quite quick enough for Greenberg to overcome West's holeshot.

(LEFT) Warming up the tires in a hurry is Eric Gates in his "Agent Orange" car, winner of this year's Good Vibrations March Meet.

(RIGHT) After an even launch, the "Family Legacy" car of Jim Maroney (far lane) pulled away to a convincing win, with a 6.760 - 197.77 over a trailing 10.63 - 74.79 pass by Eric Gates.

(LEFT) Leaving first by a solid margin was Billy Morris (near lane) as he opened the second round of Nitro Funny Car against Tim Boychuk, in the far lane. That quicker reaction time of Morris made the outcome of the race closer than the e.t.'s would suggest.

(RIGHT) The scoreboards lit up with the first side-by-side funny car passes of the evening, with Boychuk turning on the winlight with a very strong 5.755 - 240.65 that covered Morris's competitive, but second best 5.971 - 236.68 time.

(LEFT) Laying down a solid burnout before his second pass was Geoff Monise in the Quarter-Pounder Camaro.

(RIGHT) It looks like an even launch as Monise (near lane) leaves with James Day in the Speed Sport Omni, but at the finish line, it wasn't even close as Day put up a winning 6.159 - 230.25 to easily handle Monise's early shutoff 6.911 - 140.40 effort.

Before they met in the next match, Johnny West (left) and Jim Maroney (right) performed their ritual burnouts.

With flames flickering high out of the pipes, the "Family Legacy" 23-T Ford of Jim Maroney (far lane) launched against the senior statesman of the class, Johnny 'Plan A' West (near lane).

(LEFT) A good side-by-side launch saw Lyle Greenberg (far lane) leaving just ahead of Eric Gates and his "Agent Orange"-mobile in the near lane.

(RIGHT) The scoreboards told the tale, as Lyle Greenberg put on the WINlight by a wide margin, as his 6.133 - 227.65 easily covered Eric Gates' sub-par 8.096 - 110.22 clocking.

Two views of Robert Winefsky in this pair; burning out on the left and launching the "Nitro Moose" hard on the right.

Lots of "Sheepherder" pictures here, starting with a hard burnout (upper left), moving into the stage lights (upper right), and finally, leaving late against Kevin Knowles in the far lane.

(LEFT) Leaving first and running away with the win was Tim Boychuk (near lane), as his 5.829 - 243.50 easily covered James Day's slowing 7.226 - 130.30 pass. Boychuk's 243.50 mph speed was tops of the night.

(RIGHT) Obviously pleased with the result, Boychuk's "Happy Hour" team celebrated on the starting line.

(LEFT) Igniting the hides before the final pass of the evening, New Mexico's Lyle Greenberg makes some noise and smoke.

(RIGHT) Showing that he's got the "Plan A" dialled in, Johnny West turned on the winlight in the final pairing of the evening. It was close on the scoreboards, but West's 6.191 - 226.73 was just enough to cover Lyle Greenberg's very close 6.230 - 204.32 clocking.

"Relaxing" in the pits, with the motor down to the bare block, the "Blown Cent-Less" team of Ray Stringer is still smiling even though it wasn't the most successful race night for them. And that's a wrap for our coverage of the Tucson Dragway Reunion, featuring the United Nitro Funny Cars and a select group of real blown fuel altereds.

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Source: https://www.northernthunder.com/features/2021/UNFC_Tucson.html

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