CONTENTS VW'S OF THE MONTH VW EVENTS VW TECHNICAL VW CHAT VW CLASSIFIEDS VW POLL QUIZ VW SURVEY SIGN GUESTBOOK VIEW GUESTBOOK VW MULTIMEDIA VW BOARD MAILING LIST ENTER YOUR VW BE AN EDITOR ADD URL VWLINKEXCHANGE BUY A VW? VIDEO REVIEW THE VW FILES DIRTBUGZ REVIEW 98 BEETLE VW ART VW TOYS PICTURES READERS RAP LINKS VW HISTORY OUR SERVICES EDITORS ADVERTISING WEB DESIGN WEB HOSTING CONTACT US UPDATES UPCOMING EDITORS WANTED

If you like this site, please support our advertisers. Banner Advertising comes to VWMAGAZINE.COM the pra world finals Written by Patrick leto co-editor drew vroman photographers Tony brevetti tom bredesen kleto@vwmagazine.com - Email Patrick Leto We arrived in Phoenix on Friday night of what may be the biggest weekend of racing in the country. We were there to take in the PRA (Pro Racing Association) World Finals. Also in Phoenix on that weekend was the Winston Cup Dura Lube 500 and World of Outlaws. There was more racing in Phoenix on that weekend than one could possibility witness. Sunday morning came early, as I couldn't sleep without dreaming of drag racing. After the third round, I got out of bed. We followed Eric Madsen to Speed World in Wittmann, Arizona. We got to the track and got in line under cloudy skies, with a whole string of people suffering from the same sickness I have been afflicted with for the past 20 years. Almost as soon as the gates opened, rain started falling, but soon gave way to a partial clearing. Perfect time to wander over to the car show. While the size of the car show was not overwhelming, the quality of the entries were. It was truly amazing to see these works of art. Surrounding the car show was the swap meet, and here was everything a VW junkie (with heavy emphasis on "junk") could ever want, with price ranges from $1.00 to many hundreds of dollars. I think I caught a glimpse  Eric Madsen sneaking out of there with a find. I saw only about 50 or 60 things I wanted but couldn't afford. 10:00 am rolled around and it was time for test and tune. For people who have never seen these guys race before (my brother included), this was an eye opener. The cars at this event are some of the most beautiful race cars on the planet and they run as good as they look. 12,11 and even 10 second runs kept the spectators - and the racers for that matter - busy for the next 2 hours. We even got to see a New Beetle with what appeared to be a warranty problem. ABOVE Pro Stock - only 2 cars lived through practice and Jack Sacchette won out over Dominick Luppino to win the event, and the championship. Pro Eliminator - now, folks, this class had some real nice race cars and a car and driver that everyone in the VW world is still talking about. That is Muffler Mike, aka Turbo Mike. Rumors around the track that day were that Mike had borrowed this turbo motor to run this event. I have no idea if this is true. I can tell you this - not only did this car do the biggest wheelie I have ever seen, but he also won his class. When this car came to the line, the crowd went wild, including me. The wheelies kept getting bigger and bigger, which made for a real show stoppper. It ended like this: M. Shelden .534 RT , 12.257 ET, 108.28 MPH to S. Smith .532 RT. 12.906 ET, 98.47 MPH. Shelden wheeling his way to victory, you might say. (LEFT) Noon - time to go drag racing. In the Pro Turbo class, round 1 saw Mark Emerald DNF and Chris Bubetz take the win. Then Doug Harvey beat  Dino Bakalos with a quicker reaction time and a 9.662 ET 137.88 MPH to Dino's 10.337 ET 136.28 MPH. With only 4 cars racing in this class, the final round saw Doug Harvey  over Chris Bubetz with a 9.435ET and 144.58 MPH. ABOVE Super Street Eliminator had a full field of beautiful and very fast cars. Sean Geers and Rafael Vasquez worked their way through the field and into the finals, where Geers laid down a 10.367 ET, 127.92 MPH to Vasquez 10.644 ET 112.17 MPH. Geers won the event and the championship. (left) Super Gas is a 11:90 index class and if you are going to win this class, you will run 11:90. Eric Madsen proved that by making near perfect passes every run, to end up in the final round next to John Schuerger, where Madsen did it again with a 11.921 ET 107.52 to Schueger 11.851 ET 105.47 MPH. The championship went to Randy Bowen who finished the year 62 points ahead of teammate Madsen. Now for the Sportsman Elimitnator class - the one not mentioned much by other VW magazines. But Brock's will highlight it, not because I competed in class, but because this is where many of  the previous drivers started and is the foundation of the PRA. This class must have had 15 cars in it, with everything from stock Bugs to Turbo Jetta's. An interesting note: the cars to make it to the semi finals were all Bugs, all running close to the quickest time allowed in the class (which was 12:99).  In the final round, we saw Patrick Leto (me) run against Robert Hemphill  with his 13.124 ET, 100.18 to my 13.193 ET, 95.58 MPH. Leto takes the win with a quicker reaction time. The results from the car show are not in yet. Let's hope they are before this goes to print. If you like this site, please support our advertisers. © 1998 Brock's VW Magazine Online - VWMAGAZINE.COM