The 2007 version of the CARS RV & Marine & Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals at Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway was record shattering on pretty well any front you can think of. On track, drag racers shattered records (both track and for Canada) and area racing fans responded with the biggest crowd in Canadian and IHRA drag racing history!

The event was (simply put) “Terry-ific” as Knoll Gas/Torco Race Fuels Nitro action produced two first time circuit winners with Terry McMillen and Terry Haddock emerging victorious in Top Fuel and Funny Car respectively.

For Terry McMillen, a long time and popular veteran on the IHRA Alcohol Funny Car circuit, the enormous Top Fuel win came in his first season in the class and in only his 4th start. McMillen, who is from Indiana, denied a rather unreal event bid by class newcomer Jeff O’Neill who had a shocking R/UP finish in his very first start in the class driving Bruce Litton’s #2 Lucas Oil sponsored car. McMillen charged to a final round 4.729 secs at 291.45 mph driving the Torco Mach Series Accelerator dragster while O’Neill fell of his earlier pace to a losing 6.043 secs.

McMillen’s first ever IHRA Ironman came from the #7 qualified slot and included round wins over Mike Strasburg as well as his teammate Doug Foley. O’Neill qualified 6th and then upset TJ Zizzo and Scotty Cannon to advance to the final round.

TF was paced by Foley who ran the 2nd quickest time ever on Canadian soil at a superb 4.581 secs. TJ Zizzo matched that with the fastest speed ever recorded in Canada at 326.16 mph.

Terry Haddock’s win in Nitro Funny Car was a truly rewarding one for the long-time and independent circuit supporter who is from Washington State. After getting a easy single in round one, Haddock got progressively quicker on Sunday and topped things off with a final round 5.104 secs at 291.45 mph to beat a tire-smoking effort by Dale Creasy Jr.

Nitro Funny Car at Edmonton also produced Canadian record performances when North Carolina’s Bob Gilbertson rattled both ends of the record with an impressive 4.831 secs at 312.13 mph driving his Dodge Stratus. Gilbertson however lost out in round one to Creasy when his car did a pretty big wheelstand at about half track.

Kudos go to local racer Randy Bykowsky – who managed to qualify in NFC at his first ever IHRA national event. Randy’s steadily improving team got in on the bump with their Chevy Monte Carlo however a mechanical glitch forced them to shutoff on the line in round one.

Pro Modified class racing was a truly ferocious affair which featured a Can-Am final round battle between Carl Spiering and Ed Hoover. Spiering moved first driving he Eaton-sponsored Chevy Camaro (.029 to .065) however Hoover’s Al Billes engine program prevailed (this time) at mid track as Hoover won a very close 6.151 to 6.198 secs decision.

Hoover’s win driving the Paul Trussell-owned Corvette was his 2nd of the season on the IHRA tour and included rounds wins over Mike Castellana, Kenny Lang and Pat Stoken.

Spiering’s strong R/UP finish included a #2 qualifying effort (6.103 secs) and top speed of the meet at 235.27 mph. It was in fact Carl’s first national event appearance of the season.

Canada’s Kenny Lang (from Winnipeg) had a superb event – qualifying on the pole with a low ET shot of 6.102 secs but he lost out in round two when the car went into tire shake.

PM class racing produced the event’s most harrowing moment when Canadian racer Ross Hogenson clipped the guardwall hard during Saturday’s qualifying. The apparent cause was a blown rear slick. Hogenson (who is from Lethbridge) was thankfully not injured as he quickly got the parachutes out but his nitrous-injected Corvette received some severe damage.

Alcohol Funny Car racing saw Ohio’s Mark Thomas extend his overall points lead with his 3rd win of the season. Thomas won for the 2nd time in his career at Edmonton when he topped legendary Alberta-based driver Roger Bateman in the final round. Thomas skipped to a winning 5.950 secs at 241.84 mph while Bateman went .065 red driving Brian Friesen’s Nobel Smile Camaro.

Thomas’ victory came from the #4 qualified position and he beat John Evanchuk and Terry Monroe in earlier competition.

Robbie Atchison qualified on the pole in the class when he went 5.887 secs at 241.97 mph driving the Erickson Manufacturing-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo. Robbie was however gunned down by a quicker leaving Roger Bateman in round two.

Pro Stock racing at Edmonton was a short field with only 14 cars entered. That did not however take away from the performance highlights and ultimate victory by Virginia-based Ford Corba pilot Robert Patrick.

Patrick prevailed in a simply sensation final round winning over defending World Champion Pete Berner in a razor thin decision -- 6.418 secs 214.79 mph to 6.419 secs 216.10 mph. Patrick’s final round ET was in fact low ET of the event.

Class runner-up Berner had qualified his GTO on the pole (at 6.424 secs) and he also set a new track speed record at 217.32 mph.

Professional racing at the Rocky Mountain Nationals also included added attractions for local talents in Nitro Bike and Pro Nostalgia eliminators.

Canada’s premier Nitro Bike rider, Ron Houniet (from Maple Ridge BC) ran roughshod over the 12-bike field as he won in dominant style. Houniet ran a final round 6.522 secs at 211.73 mph to turn back Rob Smith (Langley BC) who went 6.683 secs at 195.48 mph. Houniet rattled off low ET in round two at a thrilling 6.485 secs and he also was credited with top speed at 214.66 mph.

Eddy Plaizier prevailed in the 7.50 indexed Pro Nostalgia Funny Car class winning his 2nd career IHRA Ironman. Plaizier drove his ultra-cool ACE-sponsored ’37 Chevy-bodied car past Jason Bussey’s Dodge Daytona during the Saturday night feature final round.

The Edmonton event included for the first time in IHRA history some TAD class cars as local racers Ed Douglas and Greg Sereda made some demonstration laps. The event was organized by DragRaceCanada’s NitroMoose brand and supported by team sponsors Vision Projects and World Financial Group. It is hoped that the Edmonton effort will help to set a baseline for possible future TAD competition in IHRA racing at Canadian events.

Special awards and Shootout winners from the CARS RV & Marine & Motorsport Rocky Mountain Nationals were:

Best Engineered Car: ET Lorne McDonald Lethbridge, Alberta '66 Pontiac

Best Appearing Car: PM Joe Delehay Calgary, Alberta '68 Camaro

Best Appearing Crew: QR Aaron Giroux Canyon Creek, Alberta '99 AE

DRM Editor's Choice: SR Warren Neitsch Edmonton, Alberta '02 PT Cruiser

Jon Kaase Pro Stock Tuning Challenge -- John Montecalvo - 6.473

Wayne-Dalton "Turn on the Lights" -- Ronnie Humphrey - 0.000

Last Man Standing Top Fuel Friday T.J. Zizzo - Saturday Doug Foley

Nitro Funny Car Friday Terry Haddock - Saturday Bob Gilbertson

Pro Modified Friday Scott Cannon Jr. - Saturday Kenny Lang

Alcohol Funny Car Friday Rob Atchison - Saturday Roger Bateman

Quarter-Max Pro Stock Challenge Friday Pete Berner - Saturday Pete Berner