Ahten Goes to Semifinals at Phoenix Regional

Racing is an inexact science. Sometimes things break, snap or wiggle loose. Such was the case at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park last weekend for the LODRS Regional race with Johnny Ahten. Making it to the semi-finals, Ahten was paired against Chris Demke. After a routine burnout, Ahten found that he could not get the car to go into reverse. Something had wiggled loose on the burnout and he had no choice but to abort the run. Demke went on to the final while Ahten returned to the pits.

“I’m disappointed in the fact that we did not get a chance to race Demke,” said Ahten. “We had the Stump Puller loaded up and I feel we would have given him a great race and move on. We got back to the pits and diagnosed the problem in no time. We spent five days in Phoenix which included a few test passes on Thursday. We will get things together and right for the Vegas races.”

Ahten and Island Renovations / Combust Filters dragster’s runs on Thursday were limited due to traction issues. This dictated that Friday’s only qualifying session was to be on a soft tune-up. A 5.647/218.83 was the result. Saturday’s first session produced an improved 5.386/268.92 which landed Ahten in the #3 position. In the final qualifying session a 5.387/264.23 showed consistency, but Ahten fell to the #4 position. This meant a first round match up with Derik Milanesio, with Ahten having lane choice. Both drivers shared identical reaction times but the Stump Puller marched down the quarter mile with a 5.418/264.75 to win over a faltering 7.469/187.57 by Milanesio. This set up a semi-final battle with Chris Demke with Ahten picking the lane.

This is when the clutch pedal somehow decided it didn’t want to work well with others after the burnout. A helpless Ahten tried to get the car to back up to no avail. The ever upbeat Ahten was still positive of the weekend’s progress. “We are happy with our performance on a difficult racing surface, and I know we will be ready for the Vegas National event and Regional race. My crew did a fantastic job and I especially want to thank Don St. Arnaud who helped us work on the car,” added Ahten.

Johnny Ahten and the Stump Puller will rest up and prepare for the bright lights and tricky track that is Vegas. The Phoenix LODRS Regional race will be remembered as a positive experience, with a bit of racing irony thrown in. Race car parts break, snap and sometimes wiggle loose, but for Johnny Ahten, the only thing he plans on keeping loose is his temperament.