Team CANIDAE T/F and T/A Sand Dragsters headed to Avenal CA May 15th-17th for the 2009 Summer Nationals. The T/F team not only had to deal with Geoff Gill and Joe Bettencourt, but also the blistering heat which saw 120 degrees on the team's outside thermometer. The NSDA did an excellent job helping out the Avenal track, which is always fast.
Whipple and the team was able to put down one of their fastest passes ever with a ET of 2.2666 @ 163.3 MPH (
2.26 pass video) enabling them to take yet another #1 qualifying position. Rookie driver Geoff Gill, backed by car owner and master tuner Joe Bettencourt, were close behind with a 2.299 ET. Dennis Rieck finally got his small block chevy back on pace and qualified with a nice 2.451 ET.
Gill/Bettencourt were able to take down Dennis Rieck who unfortunately had too much in the tank and not enough on the nose which resulted in a huge wheel stand ending in a tremendous crash. (
Avenal Drags May 2009 Top fuel Crash video). Dennis was ok and thankfully did not receive any major injuries. Our heartfelt concerns go out to Dennis and the entire Hammer Down crew.
The climatic final round went to Gill/Bettencourt who ran a 2.30 to Whipple's 2.31. The entire CANIDAE Team would like to congratulate the entire Gill/Bettencourt Top Fuel Team for their tremendous accomplishment and consistent blistering elapsed times, as well as their first NSDA win as a team!
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