Sean Bellemeur Seattle wrap up

Quarter-Finals for Team Meer

ANAHEIM, CA — Having battled his way into every final round he’s qualified for in 2007, Sean “Gone” Bellemeur was anxious to extend his streak at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington. However, the first challenge for his Meer Homes Funny Car was Mother Nature. Persistent rain seemed to be locked over the greater Seattle area, which turned qualifying into a one-shot scramble.

Veterans under pressure have been known to reach deep, so crew chief, Bob DeVour and car owner, Ron Meer, gave it a tune-up that showed all the signs for success. As a result, Sean Bellemeur blasted to the number-one spot, recording a great 5.62-second run at 257.87 mph. Even more rain followed throughout the evening and into race day morning, which increased the challenge of every tuner in the 16-car qualified field. With very little computer data to go on, the track was an unknown until the Pro cars began Eliminations.

Bellemeur was in the third pair of cars, so DeVour was able to see how the first few racers handled the track. Lined up against the 16th qualifier, Sean used a good reaction time at the launch and was never challenged. Though the car was set up similar to qualifying, Bellemeur cruised to a 5.75 at 253.75. DeVour stated, “We just wanted to get through that round and didn’t want to beat ourselves. It shook pretty hard, but all we can do is try to take what the track gives us and run them one at a time.” Team Meer had lane choice in Round 2 against Brian Hough, who coasted through his first match-up when his opponent had problems. At the start, Sean had the quicker reaction time, but Hough drove around him at half track. DeVour added, “We just got behind (the track). We could have been more aggressive, but didn’t want it to shake again.” The Meer Homes team heads to Sonoma, California, for its next challenge this weekend.

Ron Meer Motorsports sends special thanks to Randy Anderson, Chase Knight at Crane Cams, Gary and David Sumek of Lenco, Steve and John at Medlen Motorsports, and Mike Gruber from Valvoline.

Contact: Randy Fish
Email: zoomrf@earthlink.net