Holiday drag

PALMER - That loud rumbling sounds heard off in the distance near the Butte Sunday was not an approaching thunder storm, it was the sound of the Alaska Grizzly snarling as it stretched its legs at Alaska Raceway Park.

Part of four days of racing at the drag strip off the Old Glenn Highway, Jamie Bodenstadt brought his 5,000-horsepower 1923 Model A dragster down from Fairbanks for a head-to-head grudge match against the IHRA national champion Nevada Rattler AA/Nitro fuel dragster driven by Ricky Ruiz.

The two cars are among the fastest in the nation in their division, reaching speeds near 270 mph in the quarter-mile.

This showdown marks the second-straight year the pair brought their battle for West Coast bragging rights to the Valley. Last year Bodenstadt got the best of the Ruiz, winning three of four races.

Ruiz has been waiting for a rematch, so he towed his car up from Sparks, Nev., for today's big race.

The Bodenstadt-Ruiz battle leads the list of action at Alaska Raceway Park today. Gates open at 9 a.m., time trials start at 10 a.m., while racing starts at 11:30.

&#8220I was excited when I heard he was coming back up,” Bodenstadt said. &#8220I beat him last year and will do it again on what I consider my home track.”

Ruiz, who won the IHRA national points title last year, hopes to erase the blemish from last season.

&#8220I want to beat him on his own track,” Ruiz said. &#8220It's would be a big deal for me to come all the way up to Alaska and beat him. Maybe then he'll have to come down to my turf. It could be the start of a fun rivalry.”

They spilt their first two races of the weekend Sunday and will resume their showdown during the Midnight Sun Nitro Fireworks races at the raceway.

There is more at stake in today's races for Bodenstadt. He's held the title as the fastest car in Alaska for several years, guiding his car named the Alaska Grizzly down the track in 5.68 seconds, with a top speed of 258 mph.

Both cars are powered by 498 cubic inch blown and injected aluminum motors and growl like an anger bear when leaving the starting line.

&#8220It's a pure explosion of power when you leave the line,” Bodenstadt said. &#8220You go from 0-100 mph in less than a second, pulling something like four G's.”

Going fast comes at a high price for the nitro-methane fueled dragsters, which drink up every ounce of fuel the 18-gallon tanks will hold during each run.

&#8220Three dollars a gallon for gas would be nice,” Ruiz said. &#8220We spend about $25 a gallon, and use a tank full each pass.”

In addition to the ultra-fast fuel powered cars, a pair of jet cars will be on hand to fly down the track at speeds near 280 mph.

Brad Janishewski will guide Rolling Thunder, a Honda Civic funny car powered by an F-2 jet fighter engine in head-to-head races against the Northern F/X jet dragster driven by Bruce Andrews.

The cars are the only two jet powered dragsters based in Canada and produce the equivalent of 12,000 horsepower.

&#8220They're fast, loud and a whole lot of fun to watch,” track manager Steve Mihalka said. &#8220They light up the afterburners and flames start shooting out the back, and then they launch down the track. It's really impressive.”

Today is also Louie Kirk Memorial Day at the track, in honor of one of the first owners of the raceway, who helped transition it front a dirt track into the only IHRA certified track in Alaska.

His son Rick Kirk will be on hand to make some passes in his NAPA sponsored dragster, which made the fastest pass of the season, going 240 mph the first weekend of racing.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.