Diedrich set event low ET; looses in semi-finals

Courtesy of Firebaugh Express Racing

Bakersfield, Ca – The third event for the West Coast Hot Rod Association’s (WCHRA) 2010 schedule was held last weekend, July 16-17, at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California. For the Firebaugh Express Racing team it was the second weekend racing in a row, the previous weekend Jay Diedrich won the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association event in Woodburn, Oregon…so the team was on a roll and looking for another great weekend of racing.

The WCHRA events in the summer months are rough since they are all night races and stretch well past midnight and temperatures are still in the 90 degree range. The first of 3 qualifying passes began around 8:00pm Friday night and was an uneventful session as no one made it down the track from A-to-B under power in the Pro Street class, Diedrich ended up in the 3rd spot. The team had to sit out the second session as they found a problem during the warm-up and did not have time to get it fixed. At the end of the second qualifying session Diedrich was sitting in the 5th qualifying spot.

The third and final qualifying round was Diedrich’s last chance to improve on his #5 qualifying position. The car left the line good and was on a descent run but Jay crossed the center line disqualifying his pass and leaving him on the bottom half on qualifying list in the 5th spot.

In the first round Diedrich was paired with number 2 qualifier Scott Oksas in his twin turbo 2009 Mustang. Jay left Scott on the line with more than a 2-tenths head start and led all the way down the 1/4-mile to take the first round win, Diedrich’s event low setting ET of 6.176 @ 238.60 was no match for Oksas’ 6.679 @ 220.96.

In the semi-final round Jay was faced against the Pro Street heavy hitter, Clint Hairston, in his family’s twin turbocharged 2007 GTO. Hairston qualified number 3 with a 6.79 and had a bye in the first round when his opponent, unfortunately, had a crash in the second qualifying session the night before and was not able to make the first round call. Jay was 3-hundreths of a second behind Clint off the line and trailed the whole way only running a 6.524 @ 233.58 to Clint’s winning 6.201 @ 240.32.

That was a tough loss for Diedrich as he knew he had something for Clint and the Hairston Motorsports team. If Jay didn’t leave in second gear he thinks he would’ve run another mid-to-low “teen” pass and gotten the win light and the bye in the final round to capture his second event win in 2 weeks.

The next event(s) for the Firebaugh Express Racing team will be the Nightfire Nationals in Boise, Idaho on August 13-15 and then the following weekend in Denver, Colorado at the Super Chevy Show event. Both events will be run with the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association. Leaving from Denver, if everything is still alright with the car, Diedrich and the Firebaugh Express Racing team are thinking about attending the ADRL’s Dragstock VII in Rockingham, North Carolina on the September 10-11 weekend.

Jay Diedrich & the Firebaugh Express Racing team would like to thank their sponsors:
Diedrich Farms
JB Motorsports
Bunker Race Cars
Earl W. Schott, Inc
Dan Olson Racing Products – www.OlsonMotorsports.com
LHP Racing – www.LHPRacing.com
For more information about the Firebaugh Express Racing team visit their website at www.FirebaughExpressRacing.com.

Photo by Paul Schmitz – www.ReflectionsOfMotorsports.com