UNFC Championship & Spokane Win To Bobby Cottrell!


UNFC Championship & Spokane Win To Bobby Cottrell!

(Photos by Annette Barton and Kim Fuller) – The inaugural season of the United Nitro Funny Cars Championship Series presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports is now complete with the fifth and final event of 2018, held over the weekend at Spokane County Raceway.

With a first round bye run, second-season driver Bobby Cottrell clinched the series championship, driving the “Northwest Hitter” ’69 Camaro nitro funny car with smiling owners Bucky Austin and Mike O’Brien watching from the starting line. Thanks to Good Vibrations Motorsports the team was handed a check for the $10,000 series first place purse.

 

Cottrell dominated the UNFC season with wins at the season opener at Tucson Dragway, the northwest double header July 4that Spokane and at Seattle’s Pacific Raceways. Canadian Tim Boychuk won the forth UNFC race in Edmonton, Alberta in his “Happy Hour” Camaro.

At the Spokane drag strip last weekend, Cottrell’s 5.711/247.59 mph earned him the number one qualifying slot over six other UNFC contenders. He then backed-up that effort with a first round 5.711 bye run, a semi final 5.715 against Legends of Nitro Rookie of the year candidate Billy “the Kid” Morris (above) in the arctic white “Problem Child” nitro funny car owned by former top fuel hydro owner Eddie Knox.

In the first round of competition, veteran funny car owner/driver Wally Giavia defeated former Heritage Series champion Jason Rupert with a massive hole shot with both funny cars carding nearly identical elapsed times of 5.834/233.58 for the “G-Man” to Rupert’s slightly quicker 5.831/253.66.

Going into the final round, after routine maintenance the Bucky Austin-tuned, Bardahl-backed Victory Camaro was ready, while members of Boychuk’s team helped thrash on Giavia’s ’79 Dodge Omni-bodied funny car, under the watchful eye of nitro veteran Pete Jensen.

Cottrell and Giavia lined up and when the light turned green, it was Cottrell out first running his best elapsed time of the weekend 5.695 with a 250.27 mph charge – to an early shutoff for Giavia.  Winner Bobby Cottrell jokingly said of the win, “I know we’re dysfunctional, but we know how to win.”

 

The final standings and payouts in the UNFC Championship Series presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports:

#1 Bobby Cottrell “Northwest Hitter” (488 points) $10,000

#2 Tim Boychuk “Happy Hour” (263 points)    $ 6,000

#3 Jason Rupert “Rolling Thunder” (260 points)    $4,000

#4 Wally Giavia “G-Men”  (243 points)     $3,000

#5 Billy Morris “Problem Child” (212 points)     $2,000

Reportedly, plans are in the works for a second, multi-race United Nitro Funny Car Championship Series to open the season again at Tucson Dragway in early 2019.

The final West Coast nitro funny car event of the season is the California Hot Rod Reunion in October at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

Event runner-up was Wally Giavia in his “G-Men” ’79 Dodge Omni.

 

Bill Windham’s “Shakedown” ’69 Camaro had a strong outing qualifying third with a 5.796/242.98.

 

During qualifying, Billy Morris moved out of the groove, scraping the headers on the Spokane County Raceway guardwall.


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4 thoughts on “UNFC Championship & Spokane Win To Bobby Cottrell!

    1. Darr Hawthorne Post author

      No they are not nostalgia funny cars, those are in museums. These are racing nitro funny cars with 21 gallon pumps, 6:71 superchargers and a single 12 amp mag.

    2. Cody Scollay

      They are cars that have close to big show chassis, single mag motors with big pumps and 6:71 blowers. The big focus of the series was the bodies and trying to make them look like stocks cars again, like in the 60s and 70s. Only problem is as you see is racer will be racers and you see these aerodynamic “69 Camaro” bodies like Cottrell runs.

  1. Patrick

    Hats off to Wally for trying to stay close to the nostalgia look. bodies too tall, too narrow but its their class so be it.

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