Jim Israel defeats Rich Takahashi for PRW-sponsored event title & series points lead

By Bob Johnson
L.A. County Raceway Palmdale, Calif. April 23, 2006

2005 Southern California Pro Gas Association shootout champion Jim Israel won Race 3 of the 2006 season when he defeated Rich Takahashi in the final round at L.A. County Raceway. The win for Israel moved him into an early lead in the points chase. As for Takahashi, his return to racing was a very successful one, as he hadn’t race the beautiful King’s Hawaiian Bread-Pontiac since November 2003.

Qualifying for the PRW (Performance Racing Warehouse)-sponsored event was lead by CW Hoefer as he nailed down a perfect 10.200 (10.20 index) with his Olds. Steve Parson’s also qualified with a 10.200, and Bill Ohmer was third with a 10.201. In all, thirteen of the 69 qualifiers went into eliminations running on the index.

Israel went to the final by defeating Randy Kersey, Dana Kinery, Doug Sedmak, Val Torres, before matching up with Jim Sowards in the semifinal.

Takahashi combed through the seven rounds of eliminations by beating Val Torres Jr., Don Haigler, Chris Newman, Doug Crumlich, before getting bye runs in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the final round, Takahashi’s Pontiac rocked in the staging beams, activating the red light. Israel got an automatic win on a 10.19 run, while Takahashi settled for a runner-up finish. Takahashi credits his sponsor King’s Hawaiian Bread, along with his crew of Willie, Pops, John, Dean, Jeff & Ryan for their successful weekend.

Ray's Notes