Sorry for the delay in posting but this webmaster had family matters to take care of for the last couple weeks

Nov 22, 2005

Don goes out in round one at Pomona but is very excitied about the progress the team made in 2005 and are looking forward to 2006.

(W) Larry Miner (eRace Fuels Firebird) 0.048 5.605 253.42
(L) Don Hudson (Red Line Oil/Vasser Chevrolet Ca0.069 6.046 187.34

Don was on a good lick, but the engine let go at half track and he coasted through to the finish line.

Final qualifying

1 8 Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '02 Firebird 5.631 257.53 257.53
2 757 Larry Miner, Woodbridge CA, '02 Firebird 5.634 255.43 255.43
3 2 Jay Payne, Claremont CA, '02 Camaro 5.638 256.11 258.62
4 6515 Brian Hough, Junction City OR, '02 Firebird 5.645 255.39 255.39
5 4 Dennis Taylor, Anaheim CA, '02 Camaro 5.650 256.06 256.06
6 53 Vern Moats, Des Moines IA, '02 Camaro 5.660 256.50 256.50
7 1224 David Ray, Plaistow NH, '01 Avenger 5.667 257.09 257.09
8 727 Ron August Jr, Pleasanton CA, '02 Camaro 5.668 256.45 256.45
9 62 John Weaver, Orting WA, '02 Camaro 5.668 253.80 253.80
10 56 Bernie Harrington, Apple Valley CA, '02 Camaro 5.701 251.02 251.02
11 74 John Patton, Peoria AZ, '02 Firebird 5.704 254.14 254.14
12 64 Hank Coolidge, Sunburst MT, '02 Firebird 5.707 252.99 252.99
13 43 Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina CA, '02 Firebird 5.708 257.24 257.24
14 63 Clint Thompson, Klamath Falls OR, '02 Camaro 5.749 246.35 246.35
15 756 Don Hudson, Stockton CA, '02 Camaro 5.756 231.68 252.14
16 799 Sean Bellemeur, Fullerton CA, '98 Cutlass 5.767 249.90 251.34

------------ Not Qualified ------------

17 497 Brandon Lewis, Broken Arrow OK, '96 Achieva 5.805 250.64 250.64
18 9 Doug Gordon, Paso Robles CA, '02 Camaro 5.812 252.00 252.00
19 67 Tim Nemeth, Chilliwack BC, '02 Camaro 5.839 244.96 246.62
20 73 Bret Williamson, Campbell CA, '01 Corvette 5.862 243.41 243.41
21 6 Tate Branch, Artesia NM, '05 Stratus 5.869 249.49 249.49
22 703 Mark Woznichak, Ontario CA, '02 Camaro 5.894 246.71 246.71
23 7150 Rian Konno, Rosemead CA, '02 Firebird 5.913 219.29 241.63
24 735 Bob Gallio, Anaheim CA, '98 Firebird 5.958 235.15 235.15
25 49 Mike Bell, Ocean View HI, '00 Firebird 5.977 235.72 240.42
26 47 Ron Morrison, Oklahoma City OK, '97 Camaro 6.171 199.05 199.05
27 762 Bil Gallio, Anaheim CA, '02 Camaro 6.203 235.23 235.23
28 7507 Paul Crifasi, Las Vegas NV, '02 Avenger 6.205 227.57 229.98
29 715 Mike Drake, Glendora CA, '01 Avenger 6.300 182.53 182.53

Nov 15, 2005

Las Vegas Lucas Oil event

(photos courtesy Bob Wilson)

This event is the one where the racers see their biggest test of patience (close to 900 cars) and ability. There were 23 cars trying for the eight spots, so the competition was going to be tough.

The first qualifier was Friday afternoon and after waiting for 500 super class cars and a couple hundred in the two Stock classes we were itching to get on the track. Unfortunately the first run did not go as planned as Don overpowered the track in the right lane and got real loose smoking the two half track styrofoam cones dq'ing his run.

That ended Friday with Don in the lofty position of #23 out of 23. The Bump was already a very quick 5.78

Saturday was "D" day and with a bump likely to lower down to the low 5.70's, both the remaining runs had to be keepers. For some reason we were in the right lane again, and were beside Paul Crifasi. This time the run was clean, but the scoreboard lit up with a 5.82/249, and solid run but in Division seven that was only average. It ended up to be good enough for #12 (four outside of the qualified field) spot.

1 2 Jay Payne, Claremont CA, '02 Camaro 5.680 251.20 253.85
2 43 Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina CA, '00 Monte C 5.687 255.24 255.24
3 757 Larry Miner, Woodbridge CA, '02 Firebird 5.693 251.11 251.81
4 4 Dennis Taylor, Anaheim CA, '02 Camaro 5.723 248.20 248.20
5 237 Von Smith, Oak Ridge TN, '05 Camaro 5.728 248.75 249.58
6 766 Jason Rupert, Yorba Linda CA, '02 Camaro 5.743 249.95 249.95
7 62 John Weaver, Orting WA, '02 Camaro 5.746 249.26 250.13
8 64 Hank Coolidge, Sunburst MT, '02 Firebird 5.753 249.53 249.53

------------ Not Qualified ------------

9 9 Doug Gordon, Paso Robles CA, '02 Camaro 5.756 249.63 250.64
10 73 Bret Williamson, Campbell CA, '01 Corvette 5.788 246.12 246.12
11 49 Mike Bell, Ocean View HI, '00 Firebird 5.816 250.18 250.18
12 756 Don Hudson, Stockton CA, '02 Camaro 5.820 249.16 249.16
13 7306 Jeff Carroll, Santa Barbara CA, '05 Monte Carlo 5.826 244.60 244.60
14 74 John Patton, Peoria AZ, '04 Trans Am 5.976 243.11 243.11
15 8 Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '05 Firebird 5.989 231.52 251.49
16 6 Tate Branch, Artesia NM, '05 Stratus 6.111 184.37 184.37
17 7507 Paul Crifasi, Las Vegas NV, '00 Advenger 6.175 226.66 226.66
18 7704 Dale Van Gundy, Anaheim CA, '98 Camaro 6.246 227.57 227.57
19 715 Mike Drake, Glendora CA, '01 Avenger 6.246 222.69 222.69
20 56 Bernie Harrington, Apple Valley CA, '02 Camaro 6.369 241.89 241.89
21 703 Mark Woznichak, Riverside CA, '02 Camaro 10.000 108.11 108.11

In the final session, Don and the team had to find close to a tenth of a second. Both lanes are equal at the Strip so the tune-up from the first run Saturday would help. In the right lane was Mike Bell, who had run 5.816 as his best. Don went out very aggressive, and hazed the tires just off the starting line, then got a little loose in the mid part of the run. He stayed with it and did improve his et, to the tune of a 5.805/250. Unfortunately it was not quite enough, as the bump spot wound up to be a 5.746.

The two final runs showed some consistency and at Pomona the following weekend, it should help the team to run low 5.70s or 5.60's. Congratulations to Jay Payne who went on to win the event and Steve Gasparelli for the r/u.

Final qualifying

1 2 Jay Payne, Claremont CA, '02 Camaro 5.680 251.20 253.85
2 43 Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina CA, '00 Monte C 5.687 255.24 255.24
3 757 Larry Miner, Woodbridge CA, '02 Firebird 5.693 251.11 251.81
4 4 Dennis Taylor, Anaheim CA, '02 Camaro 5.723 248.20 248.20
5 237 Von Smith, Oak Ridge TN, '05 Camaro 5.728 248.75 249.58
6 9 Doug Gordon, Paso Robles CA, '02 Camaro 5.735 250.13 250.64
7 766 Jason Rupert, Yorba Linda CA, '02 Camaro 5.743 249.95 249.95
8 62 John Weaver, Orting WA, '02 Camaro 5.746 249.26 250.13

------------ Not Qualified ------------

9 64 Hank Coolidge, Sunburst MT, '02 Firebird 5.753 249.53 249.72
10 73 Bret Williamson, Campbell CA, '01 Corvette 5.788 246.12 246.12
11 756 Don Hudson, Stockton CA, '02 Camaro 5.805 250.18 250.18
12 49 Mike Bell, Ocean View HI, '00 Firebird 5.816 250.18 250.18
13 7306 Jeff Carroll, Santa Barbara CA, '05 Monte Carlo 5.826 244.60 244.60
14 8 Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '05 Firebird 5.946 248.43 251.49
15 74 John Patton, Peoria AZ, '04 Trans Am 5.976 243.11 243.11
16 703 Mark Woznichak, Riverside CA, '02 Camaro 5.988 243.02 243.02
17 56 Bernie Harrington, Apple Valley CA, '02 Camaro 6.036 238.85 241.89
18 6 Tate Branch, Artesia NM, '05 Stratus 6.111 184.37 184.37
19 7507 Paul Crifasi, Las Vegas NV, '00 Advenger 6.175 226.66 226.66
20 7704 Dale Van Gundy, Anaheim CA, '98 Camaro 6.246 227.57 227.57
21 715 Mike Drake, Glendora CA, '01 Avenger 6.246 222.69 222.69

Seattle results follow Sonoma results.

August 1, 2005

How prophetic was my prediction that Don and the team were about to turn the corner as they quallified in the top half of the field and went all the way to the semi finals on Sunday at Sonoma for the Autolite Nationals. After the Seattle results I thought they would be close to running with the top hlaf of the pack and go a few rounds, and if fact they proved me right.

In the final qualifier, after sitting # 13 with a 5.87 best, he shattered his previous Funny Car best with a 5.707/254.18 to move into the #7 spot in the field. His first round opponent would be Brett Williamson in round one.

Don's half of the eliminations ladder:

In round one, the team almost duplicated their best qualifier, and ran a 5.71@242 (Don slowed by 12 mph, as he blew out the burst panels at 1200 feet and burned a piston. The actual damaged was a broken lifter that was not found until after the second round win over the "Woz".)

Seattle Carquest Nationals

Photos courtesy Bill Jeffery and Shannon MacDonald

July 29, 2005

This weekend is Don Hudson and the Red Line Oil team's biggest event of the year. It is the Autolite Nationals at their home National event track in Sonoma California. After their best qualifying result of the year at Seattle last week, the team comes into the race with a bunch of confidence, that they will not only make the field but go a few rounds as well.

July 25, 2005

The best results of the season so far at Seattle have the team ready to rip up the track at their home event the Autolite Nationals next weekend.

In his first lap at Seattle, Don made his best run if the year, but it should of been at least a tenth quicker. He ran a 5.884 at only 206.89. In the second run, he only made it to half track and ran a 6.35/171

Here is final qualifying from Seattle.

1 63 Clint Thompson, Klamath Falls OR, '02 Camaro 5.624 253.14 253.14
2 6515 Brian Hough, Junction City OR, '04 Firebird 5.640 256.84 256.84
3 4 Dennis Taylor, Anaheim CA, '05 Camaro 5.655 252.52 252.52
4 9 Doug Gordon, Paso Robles CA, '04 Camaro 5.675 252.66 252.66
5 703 Mark Woznichak, Riverside CA, '02 Camaro 5.692 245.49 252.71
6 43 Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina CA, '02 Firebird 5.705 252.05 252.05
7 64 Hank Coolidge, Sunburst MT, '02 Firebird 5.718 251.91 251.91
8 62 John Weaver, Newport Beach CA, '05 Camaro 5.726 251.06 251.06
9 757 Larry Miner, Lodi CA, '02 Firebird 5.732 255.19 255.19
10 56 Bernie Harrington, Apple Valley CA, '02 Camaro 5.762 247.75 247.75
11 8 Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '05 Firebird 5.780 253.56 253.56
12 67 Tim Nemeth, Chilliwack BC, '03 Camaro 5.855 247.16 247.16
13 756 Don Hudson, Stockton CA, '02 Camaro 5.884 206.89 206.89
14 654 Randy Parker, Graham WA, '02 Camaro 5.912 242.10 242.10
15 6959 Ken Kraus, Great Falls MT, '02 Trans Am 6.057 246.80 246.80
16 6352 John Evanchuk, Edmonton AB, '02 Firebird 6.080 236.80 236.80

------------ Not Qualified ------------

17 6992 Forrest LeBlanc, Kent WA, '02 Avenger 6.097 235.64 235.64
18 625 Nathan Sitko, Edmonton AB, '96 Daytona 6.184 230.25 230.25
19 69 Dave Germain, Toledo WA, '01 Avenger 6.187 227.92 227.92

In round one, Don took on Fellow Californian Doug Gordon. Both drivers had good lights, but the Gordon team had their car dialed in and outran Don 5.66 to 5.86

Not the result the team wanted but they are a ways away from running in the 5.60's

Maybe at Sonoma next weekend, they will inch closer. See you there!

August 4, 2004

Sonoma California------------- What a thrash this past weekend due to the carnage at Seatle last week. We got it all done and headed north to Infineon Raceway. Cool conditions would mean the track and the times would be fast.

The A/Fuelers prooved it would be quick, and a couple BADs had good runs as well. Federln and Will ran in the 5.30's and we managed a 5.48, and best of 5.445 and then in the final session in what was the best conditions, a tire shaking, clicking early, limp 6.63 that wasted your best opportunity. The final ladder had us in the #11 spot and a date with good buddy Larry Miersch. Good omen or not, with the A/Fuelers it is a less than 50-50 crap shoot. Larry ran a career best 5.370 in the thirs session so he will be pumped.

Final Elimination's -------------We needed a stronger run that our best in qualifying or a misque by Miersch to get a win cause he is sharp at the tree. We got the break we needed when his car would not fire giving us a free ride to the second round run Sunday morning.

-----Second round-------

In round two Sunday at 12:00 noon we faced The 'Kid' Morgan Lucas who was in one of his last runs in the class, as he was going to start his licensing in Top Fuel for Joe Amato in the next two weeks. We wanted to give him a good send off and whip his butt, even though the odds were in his favor. He had the Norm Grimes tuned machine 'haulin asphalt' and was as good as Don at the tree. When the lights came down Morgan actually good the jump by .016 and was long gone, as we had it set on kill and spun the tires hard. "ya we were trying to run a 4.99 on that one", Don in jest stated. In reality we wanted a mid to high 5.30 on that lap and hoped that Morgan slowed. His 5.28 would have been a tough nut to crack".

A second round finish against the competition this weekend is an about average result.

Morgan went on to win the event over Duane Shields, and we applaud his, Norm Grimes and papa Forrest's effort and wish the Lucas family all the success in the world, as they hit the Top Fuel trail. Be safe Morgan!

Look for us to make a few big announcements in the coming weeks on the balance of our schedule.

July 25, 2004

(Bill Jeffery Photos)

Seattle was a spur of the moment road trip for the team, as Don was in the throws of moving to a new home and just recovering from pneumonia. Crew chief Fred Shirmer said lets hit the road and see what the new surface at Pacific was like. Hot conditions were possibly going to playinto the BAD's and we felt we had a good cance to make some noise.

Weather was scorching, through qualifying except for the morning session on Saturday and the A/Fuelers took advantage of it. We struggled in the first two rounds but picked up a bunch of Saturday morning as well and ran a 5.480/258.67 to sit #10 in the field.

Here is the final qualifying from Seattle.

Final Eliminations--------- We had to take on Joey Severance, one of the toughest BAD driver in the country. He won Division 6 last year and was racing at his home track. It was extremely hot in the first round at 5:00 pm Saturday, and Severance had lane choice, he took the left lane but both were about the same. Don had a slight holeshot, .006 and both cars were side by side for the first half of the track. At the 1000 foot mark something started to go away on the Chase Chevrolet Dragster and it banged big time. Joey drove around don for a 13/100ths of a second win. Based on our et to the 1000 foot mark we would have run around a 5.52-55 so it is likely Severance would have nipped us in the lights anyway. The $1500.00 earned with probably pay for the repairs to the block and maybe a rod or two. We had a lot of work to do now to get ready for Sonoma.

July 5, 2004

June 19, 2004 Photos are up from Woodburn

June 14, 2004 Sunday Eliminations Woodburn Dragstrip

First round , we faced Division 6 2003 champ Joey Severance. Joey had an unreal .004 light but spun the tires and we got loose at half track and came close to the center line but managed to stay in our lane and came up with a 5.423/241 to Joe's 6.237. In round two we faced one of those A/Fuel cars (the only one left in the field as Lucas and Lawrence both lost in round one) . Myer's has been tough but we though we could run a mid 5.30 and hoped a good rt would put us in the final. NOT! We did leave on Myers' but even a perfect light and a career best by up to 4/100's would not have given us the win as Myers' set a new track record, a 5.260/269 to our good but not enough 5.387/255. A semi final finish in this field is good but we still went home disappointed. But the good new is we are only one round behind or good buddy Chris Demke in Division 7 and are still in the top ten in National points.

June 14, 2004 Woodburn Qualifying

14 cars are attempting to qualify this weekend for what will be one of our toughest divisional event tests of the season. Six or seven top ten TAD's are here in what will be a 5.40 bump spot. The conditions for the weekend were cool and moist so the A/Fuelers will have the power advantage. In the first session we ran a 5.45 which was good enough for the #5 spot. Morgan (the little bugger) lead with a track record 5.309/270. On Saturday, we had to step it up 'cause we knew the rest of the field would. Sure enough the field was unreal. The "kid bumped up the track record and recorded the first 5.20 pass at a Div. 6 event with a 5.297, Myers went 5.331 and we went 5.398 this was only good enough for # 5. What a tough field. One more round of qualifying, and we wanted to make a statement to all the blown cars out there. We did what we wanted to accomplish and ran our career best 5.377/261.32 (both personal best's). We ended up #3 in the field.

Division 7 Points

TAD Final round results, Division 7 Lucas oil event #4

------Semi Finals-------

--------Finals---------

Sunday 23, 2004 I bet you guessed by the home page header, that we got the win!!!! It one of the easier final round results (meaning it was over by 60 feet), as Don ran a 5.53 in the final round and the young gun ( Morgan Lucas) smoked the tires just after the launch. The weekend's start sure made this event victory sweet, considering the way we struggled in qualifying. Getting in on the last session and then running '53, '52 '53 in the three rounds today is a credit to the team. I big thank you to Fred, Bob, Kevin, Wade, Wayne, Frank and Greg for their hard work and perseverance. The next event for the team is scheduled to be Sonoma July 2-4, but don't be surprised if we head North to battle the boys in Division 6 in June.

Saturday May 22, 2004 Saturday dawned as a pretty good day at the "Patch", and we were very optimistic that our day would be better than it was on Friday. The first qualifying session on Saturday, we were the third pairing out again (good or bad omen?), and we were lined up again the "Nitro Cowboy" Dennis Swearingen. Both of us did not get the run we wanted on Friday and were looking for redemption. We detuned the car from yesterday, but it still blazed the tires from 20 feet to 600 feet. It went through the traps with a 5.92 at 250mph. The crew had to wait for the smoke to clear to see the scoreboard. One session left to get into the field, as #9 does not get you anything except an early drive home. And we did not want to leave early as crew member/chef extraordinaire Kevin Vornhagen said he was going to top the awesome 'ribs' from Friday night with 'steaks and sausage' tonight. Mmmm, and they say they want the driver to slim down! Ya, keep on feeding Don these meals and we'll need a shoe horn to get him in and out of the car. So more changes to the tune-up, as we keep on having to back down the car, it is making so much power. A 5.70 would probably get us in the field but we sure don't want to race #1 or #2 first thing Sunday. We put in what we thought would be a high 5.50 tune-up, and when the car trucked on down through the finish line the timers lit up to a 5.634/257.80 mph, #6 by the end of qualifying. It would have been a 5.5 something if the driver would not have rolled the beams to an uninspiring 1.05 60 foot. We will face Darryl Hitchman in round one, not an easy task by any stretch, but the A/Fuelers are more susceptible to traction problems here than the BAD's (ya, look at our first two laps and say that with a straight face!). We got a prety good base line for out first round match-up and are confident we will be around for the later rounds.

Sunday results

Friday May 21, 2004 Friday qualifying session #1 (go to the home page for the Bakersfield preview)

11 cars line up to qualify in TAD, 6 A/Fuelers and 5 BADs. We are the third pair out, with ex-boat driver Eric Morris in the other lane. The burn-out is good, and that is as far as the good part goes. Don brings the rpm's up, stages the car, launches and smoked and rattled and finally went into severe tire shake. He stopped the car on track and did not get a time slip. Ouch that was bad shake! Where did that caome from, well we had it a little too hopped up as we felt the track was going to be a little tighter than it was, due to the cool weather. We'll change the tune-up for Saturday and make a couple good laps at 2 and 5pm

Here is the order after Friday. Ya, that us at the bottom of the list!

Sunday May 2, 2004

Sacramento Lucas Oil Event

Sunday May 2, 2004 First round against Morgan and we got this deal figured out (at least for this round) as we go out and run a 5.69 at 243. In round two, we faced "Fast Jack" Beckman who won his first ever round in TAD. We got by Beckman skating, shaking smoking and all over the lane, but it was closer than expected at Jack left first and we had to chase him down. For the final round, Demke got lane choice and with all the delays in the day by the time we ran the temperature had drop substantially and the track cooled by 30 degrees. We adjusted our hot weather tune-up a bit, but not enough as Demke ran low et of the weekend, a 5.54 to our 5.67. Still a pretty good weekend for the team and we never hurt anything. The big decision to make is whether or not me make the long trek to Mission Raceway next weekend for their Divisional event. Stay tuned!

Saturday May 1, 2004 Nothing like leaving to the last run to get down the track. On a hot slippery track at Sacramento we squeeze your self into the field with a last ditch stellar 5.98/234 mph. The first to runs were a matter of trying to navigate a very hot track, and we did not do a very good job of it. We decided to try something a little different and it barely got the job done. Hopefully in our first round of elimination's against out good buddy Morgan Lucas, we can develop our all new greasy hot track tune up and run in the 5.60's or better. Demke's got it figured out, so if we want this event we better figure it out.

Summit Nationals, the Strip @ Las Vegas Motorspeedway

April 5, 2004

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