Hot June Nights

Barona sits back in the hills east of Lakeside, and in June the heat doesn't leave when the sun does. Gates at seven. Steve Sherman's Match Race Madness — two out of three, small tire, ET bracket, 6.50 and 5.80 index, open time trials until the lanes closed.

The billed matchup: John "Master Mechanic" Ziegler and the '72 Camaro against Neto Covarrubias and his "no-show" Nova. Flyer promised spectators would win cash. Nobody mentioned they'd also get a schooling.

Six-thirty: hood off, hat out, sun still doing its worst. The pre-race ritual, 'somebody' is always under the front end. Seven-thirty: buttoned up and in the lanes while the light goes green.

Nine o'clock: under the lights, everybody out of their chairs.

The Schooling

Match Race Madness earns its name. Two out of three hits, antics in the pits, hammers dropping, and a crowd packed close enough to hear the lifters. All of that lands on the 1 second between the last amber and the green, exactly where most of these things actually get decided.

The other lane was crushed by the pressure of the night. Tree'd up, staged, both bulbs lit — and he lurched it! Rolled out of the beam before the green ever came, and the red light on his side ended his race.

The Master Mechanic didn't flinch. No panic, no heroics, no showboating for a crowd that would have loved it. He pulled up, lit his tree, sat there, waited for the green, and ran his lap.

The Pass — 6.11 @ 114

The win was already on the board when he left the line. He went and ran the pass anyway - quicker than anything the Silver Bullet put down across five days of the Pacific Northwest last fall.

Class Dismissed

One guy couldn't sit still for two seconds. The other knew exactly how to maintain composure and when let loose. You take home the win by being the calmest guy in the lanes, and not the maddest lad at the track. John showed up to race that night. The other guy showed up to Match Race Madness.

The trophy went straight onto the intake for a photo before the motor stopped ticking, then rode home to the bench where it'll sit until somebody asks about it.

Effort over trophies. We'll still take the trophy.

Photos & video: ZHP Garage · Silver Bullet: @zhp72

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