Pure Street - Rich Groh's race got off to a rather abnormal start when he qualified "last" out of six cars, with a 13.84 at 72.90 mph. A broken intake valve caused the out-of-character performance; it was the second straight race in which the defending class champion had to deal with valvetrain issues. Rich replaced a cylinder head and made it to his second final of the season after beating Derek Downs, then taking out Brad Meadows with a holeshot in the semis. "This has been a tough season and we've been breaking a lot of parts," Rich said. "The backup cylinder head didn't perform as it should have, but I'm grateful for making it to the final." Despite the loss, Rich said he was pleased that Rich Groh Racing Engines powerplants also made it to final rounds in two other classes.
Factory Stock - Shawn Johnson's tuning gamble paid off with a win in over Jon Paulk in the Factory Stock final. With heat and track conditions at KCIR similar to those at Maple Grove, Shawn deviated only slightly from the engine and chassis settings that took him to victory in Pennsylvania. While others were trying to simply hook on the minimal traction the track gave up, Shawn proceeded to knock down the class e.t. record with an 11.49 on his first qualifying attempt, and carded his quickest 60-footer of the season along the way. "None of my crew could make it for the KC race so my wife helped me with everything, and I thank her for her support. I also need to thank John Gilmour for giving me the fuel regulator off his Mach 1, which got me back to racing after a problem we had in the first round.The track held out good even in the hot temperatures, and the setup we had pulled us through for the win."
Factory Stock - Jon Paulk has taken over the driving duties of the Team JPC "Green Car" that Michael Washington made famous a few years ago, and he said that testing and hard work between races played a major part in getting to his first-ever NMRA final. Jon also benefited from the ladder, as he found himself on the opposite side of class heavyweights Shawn Johnson and Jeff Schmell, and earned his trip to the final round by taking out John Leslie Jr. in the semifinals with an 11.76/114. "Shawn had a fast car and just plain outran me in the final," Jon said. "Thanks to Justin for giving me the opportunity to drive the Green Car, and to my wife for letting me spend all our money to go racing." The runner-up finish moved Jon into third in the points chase.
Modular Muscle - Derek Downs brought his ultra-clean '00 Mustang GT to KCIR intending to gain points, and the win brought him closer to finishing in the Modular Muscle Top-10. To get to the final, Downs squared off against good friend Nick Sprague in round one. This was an emotional pairing for Derek, due to the tremendous amount of time he had invested in working on Nick's car (he did a cam swap and all of the tuning, just so his buddy could make it to the event). "It was like racing my own car," he said. Consistent 12-teen e.t.'s on an 11.91 open-comp-style index and a brilliant .005 reaction time in the semis earned Downs a trip to the finals, where he defeated Tom Motycka's 5.4-powered '96 GT by .06 at the stripe. "I have been racing in Modular Muscle for two years and this was my first time in the finals. To come away with the win is indescribable," Victor said.
Truck And Lightning - Johnny Lightning can be considered Johnny Lucky when it comes to the way in which Lightning ended up in the final round at KCIR. On Friday, Johnny finished up his NHRA license testing and said his truck was running flawlessly. But despite being "ready to race" on Sunday, Johnny's first- and second-round wins were handed to him in the form of red lights by Dave Cole and Randy Henry respectively. After a ladder bye in the semifinals, Johnny squared off with Captain Keith Kohlmann's popular purple Ranger for a highly anticipated final (Keith had been in every Truck and Lightning final leading up to the Kansas City race). But, once again, the red bulb glowed, this time in the Captain's lane. Unfortunately, the victory celebration was short-lived; Johnny's van was broken into while the team ate dinner during a stop on the trip home. While several thousand dollars worth of personal belongings were stolen, Johnny said he looked forward to the next event at Joliet, and added, "We'll get over it and move on."
Wild Street - All hail the king! John Puckett, simply known as "Puckett" to his friends, and even his wife, in his hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, was crowned the King of the Street after running his Wild Street '83 Capri to a 10.93 average e.t. in back-to-back-to-back passes after a 30-mile cruise around Kansas City. While Saturday's oppressive heat apparently didn't have any ill effects on the nitrous-fogged 306 in Puckett's car, it did have a hand in claiming a Wild-Street record, five victims during the tour.
Open Comp - Jeremy Gillam said he had another solid outing with his red '91 LX. The WFC8 Open Comp champ ran eliminations with 10.20s consistently on his 10.15 index and wound up facing his buddy and reigning points champ, Larry Geddes, in the final. "The champ is always a tough competitor, but I cut a great light (.001 to .046 for Larry) and was able to sneak around him on the top end. It was a sweet race," Jeremy said. In the Open Comp points scenario, Jeremy moved up from third to second with the win. He hopes to bring himself within striking distance of Bruce Parker, whose early exit from a second-round red light against Larry might have been a critical stumble in his quest for this year's title.