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| left to right Hollis, Bobbie, daughter Debbie son-in-law Brad Pierce |
Hollis races son-in-law Brad in the Final Round at the Jegs Sportsman Nationals
Fontana, California. "No,
it should have been my trophy" said Brad Pierce!!!
Colleasure’s
strategy change pays off with first national event win
by John Jodauga
They say that the definition of insanity is to keeping
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Hollis Colleasure was staring in the face of such
a dilemma as he examined his 30-plus year racing career and was wondering why he had never gone past the fifth round at a
national event. “I tried everything that I could think of to improve my record in the late rounds,” said Colleasure.
“Lots of time on the practice tree, talking to other racers, consultations with sports psychologists and anything else
you could think of. Finally, it dawned on me that I just don’t have the ability to focus for more than five rounds.
So rather than keep beating my head against the wall, I figured out the only way I was going to win was to shorten the race.”
Colleasure’s plans were much bigger in scope
than just readjusting his throttle-stop or delay box settings as he hired a local firm from the Inland Empire to create conditions
like a windstorm during the weekend of the NHRA Jegs SPORTSnationals in Fontana. “They had giant fans set up about a
mile from the track so that they couldn’t be seen by the spectators or participants. We also planted piles of paper
near the finish line that would be blown through the beams and mess up the finish line clockings. Because winds like this
from the Cajon Pass are so commonplace, the NHRA officials never suspected a thing.”
After
about 30 top-notch competitors, such as multi-national champion Mike Ferderer, angrily pulled out of the event following the
announcement that the remainder of the race would be run under a 1/8th-mile format, Colleasure had eliminated two rounds of
competition from the program and was rubbing his hands in anticipation of his first victory.
“Running
the 1/8th-mile also helped my finish line driving as well,” said Colleasure. “The less time it takes to make a
run, the less time I have to over-think the situation and make a mistake. It cost me a lot in out-of-the-pocket expenses,
but the results speak for themselves.”
The key race: “For me, it actually was the first round of Super Comp, when
we had the wind machines really cranked up and it was blowing the cars all over the place at the finish line. That’s
when they decided to switch to the 1/8th-mile format and everything played into our hands.”
The runner-up: Three-time national event winner Brad Pierce announced that he was finished for the
season after losing to Colleasure in the final. “We needed the win money to keep racing for the rest of the year. Hollis
knew that, and you’d figure he would have cut us some slack. But he didn’t, and so we’re done.”
Did you know: Colleasure’s daughter, Debbie, the wife of runner-up
Brad Pierce, not only works in the Production Department for National DRAGSTER, but also has her own side business, which
manufactures custom-made license plate frames. Said Debbie, “We usually get most of our sales at the parking lots of
the local gyms. Sometimes people buy them for their friends, and we install them right there in the parking lot. It’s
always fun to see the expression on their faces when they look through the window and see that their cars have new license
plate frames.”
Quotable: “From having raced with Brad
so much, I know that he’s very comfortable with his car, and he usually has a pretty good idea when his engine is going
to go back to full throttle on the run. My daughter Debbie helped me out by adding a half-second to Brad’s timer without
telling him. Seeing the look on his face when I passed him earlier than expected made me laugh so hard that it was all I could
do to keep my car in the groove.” – Hollis Colleasure
Best packages:
Because of the windy conditions that prevailed through the weekend, it was determined by NHRA Division 7 officials that the
finish line beams were not trustworthy enough to determine the best package winners. Thus, Hollis Colleasure was not given
his check for the Strange Engineering “Perfectly Strange” award that he thought he had won with his .001/6.630
clocking on the 1/8th-mile 6.30 index in the second round.
About the winning car
Colleasure refused to give credit or acknowledge any help that he may have received from the aftermarket
industry during his three decades of racing. “I hadn’t won a race up until now, so as far as I’m concerned,
I’m not about to endorse anybody’s components. If you want to give credit to anybody, it should be the Acme Mega-Fan
company that we hired to create the fake windstorm.”
Upper photo Final Round Cecil County
Dragway, Rising Sun Maryland. Lower photo Final Round Auto Club Raceway, Fontana, California. Lower right photo Hollis with winners Wally at Cecil County Dragway.
71 NEW CAR NUMBER FOR 2009
Being Division 7 Super Gas Champion in 2008
allows us to change our race car number to 71 for the 2009 racing season. The number 7 designates the division and the number
1 designates the position finished. Hollis has a favorite saying "Even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a
while", which he usually says after a close race. Moonchin 28 who created this artwork, captured the spirit of the quote.
This art work will be placed on the hood scoop of the race car, on the pit bikes and the car hauler.
WINNERS CIRCLE CECIL COUNTY
Cecile County Raceway in Rising Sun Maryland is one of
our favorite tracks. The summer of 2008 was spent racing in Division 1 ( New England ) and doing alot of sight seeing. We
were sort of adopted by the Mid Atlantic Pro Gas Association and followed the group from track to track. What made Cecil County
so special was the pig bar-b-que by Uncle Buck. The Mid Atlantic Pro Gas Association puts out a spread better than the best
casinos in Las Vegas. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and the people were really great. Photo is
the winners circle. We won the Pro Gas Race on Saturday and two weeks later the Division race.
Belle Rose, La. March 20-21 Thanks to SOUTHLAND PEFORMANCE PARTS &
MACHINE. At the Sportsman Nationals at Belle Rose, La. we hurt parts during
the burn out in the first time trial run. Sid Bonnecarrere owner of Southland Performance Gary, LA. helped up locate the parts
we needed to fix the car and told his guy's to keep the machine shop open as long as we needed it. We finished at
the machine shop and made it back to the track at midnight. Jesse Serna and Joe Harper stayed up late and helped Bobbie
and myself put the race car back together. It was 6:30 AM and the sun was starting to rise when we finally finished, because
of these guys we were able to make first round. We couldn't have done it with out your help. Thanks again
one and all for an effort way above the average!
While traveling through Arizona we picked up a a new crew member
at Tucson's "Tripple T "truck stop. Billy Ray Catus who's only duty is to remind Bobbie to remove the hood
scoop plug from the scoop before first round of eliminations. Since he's been on the crew no hood scoop mistakes
have been made. Good job Billy Ray........
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