National: Ron August Jr. Pomona final report

AUGUST AND CREW MOTOVITED AFTER LACK-LUSTER SEASON START

Pomona, Calif. -- They say that Rome was not built in a day; well 'they' were absolutely right.

When Ron August Jr. and the Lescure Company Top Alcohol Funny Car team entered their 2008 Ford Mustang bodied Funny Car for the 50th running of the NHRA Kragen O'Reilly Winternationals held in Pomona, Calif., their intention was to compete side-by-side with some of the best TAFC teams in drag racing. After a round one exit on Saturday afternoon, the Pleasanton, Calif. based team realizes their quest to regain the performance this car once had will take patience and time.

The team hit Auto Club Raceway Thursday with a renewed attitude, new parts and even a new team member. Legendary Alcohol Funny Car tuner Les Davenport joined the Lescure -- August Motorsports team as a tuning consultant, hoping to find whatever gremlins have been plaguing the once competitive flopper. Davenport told team driver Ron August Jr. to make his first pass down the quarter mile just like he had at the end of last season. August was inclined to listen to his request.

"I told Les, 'we'll do our best. I'm not sure if we can repeat our pathetic efforts from last season, but we'll give it our best attempt," August said with a chuckle. A 5.788 second elapsed time was the end result. The run served as a base-line in which Davenport could use to work his tuning magic. "Les changed a few things with the timing and fuel and when we'd fire it up in the pits, it seemed like the engine was humming well. But once we hit the track, the car kept popping and banging, slipping and sliding just like it did last season. It's like there is a switch in the body of the car which we flip to the off position. It's very frustrating, but I think Les found some things with this car."

The Lescure Company Inc. TAFC team ended up qualifying for the 16-car field in the 12th position, which set up a round one race with fellow NHRA Division 7 racer Doug Gordon, the TAFC winner last season in Seattle. Both drivers were on their game, recording conservative 0.05 second reaction times, however the MB Cabinets TAFC of Doug Gordon ran hot, straight and normal; recording a solid 5.590 second elapsed time to take the round one win. The August driven flopper on the other hand shook, rattled and rolled to a disappointing 8.011 second effort.

"We love to race and we are all very fortunate to have such a hobby," noted August. "But we also are hard working guys who love to compete. At this time, the car is just not ready to compete with the best out there. But, I'm confident Les found some things he can work with for our next race. We're going to take some time off the track to focus on working and building our top fuel team.

We'll be back for the Las Vegas National Event in April. And I'm sure we'll be dealt back in the game."

-source: august motorports