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Final Round Heartbreak!
Bruce Biegler - March 19, 2008
 Could have, should have and would have. There are probably no words more fitting for Ontario drag racers Ken Perry and Raymond Commisso following dramatic twists of fate during last Sunday's ACDelco Gatornationals at Gainesville Florida. Both stalwart Canadian racers came literally within just inches of earning championship titles during the high profile traditional Eastern season-opener for NHRA, only to be ultimately denied.
Ken Perry (from Richmond Hill) was a tower of strength within the event's Top Alcohol Dragster program. His independent "Iceman" team with includes son Adam (crew chief) and wife Barb, were the quickest supercharged entry overall during the event. After qualifying #5 with a 5.392 secs at 265.38 mph they ran consecutive runs of 5.412 secs and 5.423 secs to topple the injected nitro cars of Richard Bourke and Gene Arrigoni during the first two rounds.
 Then in the semi final round they unloaded a simple spectacular 5.363 secs to prevail over Morgan Lucas who was the category's low qualifier. It seemed then that all the momentum was on their side as they entered the final round versus John Finke as a favorite and with lane choice. It was then however that the fickle finger of motorsports dealt them a harsh blow.
Ken jumped to an early lead with a better starting line RT and appeared headed for a sure victory only to have the supercharger fail at about the 1000 ft mark. That opened the door for Finke who slipped by at the stripe to win with a 5.489 secs at 254.71 mph compared to Perry's coasting  5.694 secs at 185.05 mph.
Toronto's Raymond Commisso would suffer a similar final round fate while competing in the first Jegs Pro Mod Challenge event of the season. Raymond entered his all new Vanishing Point-built, R2B2-sponsored Pontiac Firebird in competition for the first time and promptly qualified 3rd with a stout 6.020 secs at 244.34 mph.
After winning a less then spectacular round one single, his talented crew chief Al Billes settled the car down for the next two frames sending Raymond to consecutive laps of 5.950 secs at 247.34 mph (top speed) and then 5.935 secs (low ET) at 246.44 mph while winning over Tony Pontieri and Jay Payne.
The Jegs PM final round appeared on the surface to be a foregone conclusion as Raymond's opponent was Joe Baker, a first time class racer who qualified only 16th. The tree came down and Raymond shot out of the gate on yet another apparent strong run while Baker's supercharged Willys went into violent tire shake. But at just past half track trouble set in for Commisso. The car drifted towards the centerline and clipped a cone and then moved violently right. Raymond truly made a great save by getting the parachutes out just in time -- however the car still clipped the right side guard wall. The outer boundary violations resulted in an automatic DQ and gave the event victory to Baker.
While it's obvious that both Perry and Commisso will suffer some initial disappointment, both teams can take some solace with the serious warning shots they have sent out to their class competitors for the balance of the 2008 racing season.
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
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