The 2008 Season In Review

For most racing teams a season becomes a roller coaster ride where there are wins and losses and highs and lows. Often a racer's destiny is decided by a few lucky (or unlucky) breaks. For Clint Thompson the season might not have gone perfectly but the team made several final round appearances, won another Divisional Wally, and posted three number one qualifying efforts.

Opening the Season in the Southwest
Thompson began the season at Pomona in February by qualifying ninth with a fine 5.71 but lost in the first round. The team then headed for the desert for a first time trip to Firebird Raceway in Phoenix. After pre race testing on Thursday, Thompson bounced back by qualifying number one with a 5.66 blast and then going all the way to the final where he lost traction against Doug Gordon and ha d to settle for runner up honors. The next stop was at the Nationals in Las Vegas, Nevada where the Cascade Auto Group team qualified in the middle of the pack and again lost in the first round.

The Cascade Team Wins Two in Races in a Row
Thompson opened his season in the Northwest by taking a big win in Woodburn at the Season Opener. Thompson had low ET of the meet and took on Randy Parker in the final. Parker had problems so Thompson made a solo run for the win. Thompson then continued his winning ways a few weeks later in Canada by qualifying number one and winning the NHRA BC Nationals for the third year in a row at Mission Raceway Park. Thompson faced rival Sean O'Bannon in the final round. Both cars left nearly together with Thompson getting a slight edge with a 0.090 reaction time to O'Bannon's 0.097. At the finish line it was Thompson by less than a fender with a 5.68 at 256 MPH to O'Bannon's close 5.69 at 257 MPH.

Thompson then returned to Woodburn where he was in the final again only this time he raced an A/Fuel Dragster! Thomson got out ahead of opponent Brandon Johnson but the blower belt failed at half track and Johnson drove around him. Thompson Returns to the Division TrailAfter three final round appearances, a red-hot Cascade team returned to the division trail in Seattle. Thompson qualified third with a 5.67 and made it to the semifinal round where he faced upset minded Dennis Taylor. Taylor, looking for revenge after losing to Thompson at the Seattle Nationals last year, got his revenge by taking him out in the semi-finals after Thompson smoked the tires.

Thompson then moved on to Woodburn for one of the biggest NHRA Divisional events of the season, the Les Schwab Challenge. This is a race that Thompson has always wanted to win but luck was never on his side and this race would be no different as Thompson smoked the tires at the hit and was forced to shut it down early against Brian Hough.A Return to Seattle for the Defending ChampIt was then back to Seattle for the Schucks Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. Thompson was coming in as the defending champion at a race he also won in 2005. Running a new clutch combination put Thompson a little behind in qualifying, luckily there were only 16 cars running,so Thompson ended up 16th in the show setting up another match up against Sean O'Bannon. Unlike qualifying, Thompson's testing nearly paid off as he pulled a rabbit out of his hat and improved to a 5.67 at 251 mph in round one. Unfortunately, a slow reaction time for Thompson cost him the race as O'Bannon was able to parlay a slight 0.102 to 0.116 starting line advantage and a 5.68 et into a holeshot win.

On to wine country
Thompson then went on to beautiful Sonoma, California, a race Thompson won in 2006. This time he qualified number four and posted a semifinal finish. Thompson's day was ended by perennial hitter Jay Payne in the Valvoline Ford Mustang. Payne got of the line first with a 0.060 to Thompson's uncharacteristic 0.170. At the other end it was Payne with a close 5.68 at 221 hole shot win over Thompson's way quicker 5.61 at 257 MPH. Payne's margin of victory was just about thirteen feet.Thompson heads out on the roadThompson's Cascade team traveled all the way to Brainerd MN for a first time trip to the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. Thompson qualified third and made it to the second round. In the second round Thompson drew 2007 division 5 champion, Paul Anderson. At hit, Thompson automatically handed the win to Anderson as he went red. To add insult to injury, Thompson posted low ET and Top Speed of the event on the run with a stellar 5.57 at 259.91 MPH to Anderson's 5.64 at 256 MPH.

Thompson then headed for Montana where he again qualified on the Pole with a track record 5.73 at 247 MPH. Thompson took out Robert Kanenwisher in round one to set up another semi-final match up with friendly rival Sean O'Bannon. Thompson needed this win in order to make it to the final for a chance to gain the Division 6 points lead at the same time keeping O'Bannon from earning any more points. Unfortunately for Thompson, his car would not fire and all he could do is watch as O'Bannon soloed into the final round. The mandatory safety ignition kill switch turned out to be reason the car wouldn't start. Thompson Finishes Road Trip in DallasThompson then went on to Bakersfield where he qualified eighth but sadly lost in the first round.

After Bakersfield it was on to "Big D" as in Dallas where he qualified in the middle of the pack. After spinning the tires on the first two attempts Thompson qualified eighth with a fine 5.64 at 253.33 MPH. which set up yet another meeting against rival Sean O'Bannon. O'Bannon ran a 5.65 in qualifying so it would be a very competitive race on paper. At the green O'Bannon got a good head start with a 0.064 reaction time to Thompson's 0.223. O'Bannon never looked back as he crossed the stripe first with a 5.68 at 254 MPH to get the hole shot win. Thompson, who got distracted at the tree, recorded a 5.61 at 255 MPH.

Cascade Auto Group Team Returns to Home Track
After a long road trip, the team returned home to Southern Oregon and made their only visit of the year to their home track, Champion Raceway. Thompson ended up in the middle of the field with a 5.84 at 249 MPH to qualify his Monte Carlo in the 4th position. This would set up a first round pairing with California racer Doug Gordon. At the hit Thompson reacted first with an 0.054 reaction time to Gordon's 0.075 but that's as far as Thompson got as he instantly smoked the tires. Meanwhile, Gordon was long gone with a 5.82. "It was heartbreaking as the car just blew the tires right off the starting line" Thompson said.

Cascade Team Wraps up Season in the Southwest
With just two races left on the NHRA schedule, the Thompson Team headed for Las Vegas with big dreams on the line as a win at the famed "Last Chance Divisional" would earn Clint his first Division 6 championship. Sadly, the Thompson team ended the year in disappointment as fate would have it the race they had to win at is the most difficult race of the season as over 20 cars try to qualify for an eight car field. Plagued with ignition troubles Thompson was unable to qualify so he moved on to Pomona hoping a win there would salvage the brutal end of an other otherwise great year. Once again Thompson failed to qualify for the race. "We were in when the final session started with a 5.76. I knew that wouldn't hold as the conditions were improving by the minute." Sure enough, by the time it was Thompson's turn for his final attempt at the Pomona quarter mile, his 5.76 had been bumped out. "I was confident that we could run real good in the last session. The conditions were great. Unfortunately the motor broke an intake rocker as I was pulling up to stage, that left the engine running on only 7 cylinders and it banged the blower about half way through low gear ending my chances at competing on Saturday."

Thompson was still upbeat regardless. "It was a tough way to end the year but I told the crew that even though we didn't end the season like we planned it was still a good year and we were in the hunt for the Northwest Division title all the way down to the last race of the year" Thompson said.

Closing 2008 with a 3rd place finish in Division 6 and a 15th place finish in the National standings, the team will use the short "off season" to get ready for 2009. "We'll be ready for battle again next year with a D-6 championship and a top ten national finish as our goals," said Thompson. As it is with just about every racer who tries to tame the quarter mile, it will be another roller coaster ride but always a good one.