4/16/2019
Keith Haney
Rain Ruins Haney's Personal-Best Quest in Bowling Green
Unfortunately for Keith Haney Racing and the rest of the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS) competitors, their event ended before eliminations could begin Apr. 13, due to heavy rain storms forecast at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, KY. The MWPMS, which Haney also owns and promotes, participated as a featured class within the Holley EFI Outlaw Street Car Reunion.
"It's always disappointing when you don't get to finish what you started, and I feel for (OSCR promoter) Tyler Crossnoe. I know what it's like to have to call off something like this after you've put so much time and work and money into making things happen," said the Tulsa-based new car dealer, who was racing at Beech Bend with "Notorious," his nitrous-injected 2014 Pro Mod Camaro.
"It was a great event throughout testing and qualifying for everyone. I know a lot of people made their best runs ever and we were going after one in the final qualifying session, too, but a last-minute problem on the starting line cost us the attempt," Haney explained.
Going into the event, Haney's personal-best effort over the eighth mile stood at 3.70 seconds at just over 204 mph. In Thursday night's opening round of OSCR qualifying Haney placed seventh of 24 MWPMS entries with a 3.72 at 200.98 combination.
"Unfortunately, it got sideways down there at the end of Q1," Haney recalled. "I initially thought I had got on the brakes too hard, but it ended up not being the brakes at all. My transbrake button is right on the edge of my steering wheel, so after I put it in neutral, put my chutes out, and grabbed the steering wheel again while slowing down, I hit the transbrake button by mistake. Well, when it's in neutral and you hit the transbrake, it puts it dead in reverse and that's what locked it up and turned me sideways. It was not the brakes at all."
That glitch wasn't actually discovered until it happened again--though not as severely--at the end of Haney's second qualifying pass on Friday afternoon, after he improved to 3.71 at 201.40 mph and placed ninth of 33 total entries aiming for the 16-car MWPMS field.
"I moved the button from the edge of the steering wheel to the inside after that," Haney said. "But then, when I go up to run Q3, after my burnout I hit the transbrake button and it would not go in reverse.
"So I revved it up really high and finally it caught, I backed up, and I'm already thinking, 'This ain't going to stick,' and sure enough it wouldn't. I lost that opportunity, which was a real downer because we knew the track was there and everybody else was going fast, so we knew that we could ourselves. Just wasn't meant to be, though."
Eventually, Haney's 3.71 slotted him into 12th place and scheduled to race Aaron Wells when the event was cut short before eliminations for any classes were even started.
"Despite a couple of minor problems, I'm proud of what we accomplished here," Haney stated. "We were ready to run a .68 or a .69, which both me and my crew chief, Brandon Switzer, felt was very doable. No matter what, though, we qualified solidly in a very quick Pro Mod field. It's just too bad we didn't get to race on Saturday, because I think you would've seen even more personal-best runs."
And despite not quite making the cut to participate in a special East vs. West Shootout on Friday night that pitted the top five MWPMS qualifiers from both regions against each other in a $10K-to-win team format, Haney was thrilled to witness it from the sidelines. The East-West Shootout featured 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, and so on, with the first team to secure three wins earning a $10,000 purse to be split evenly among teammates.
"Oh man, how cool was that? That whole deal was probably the most fun I've had drag racing in a long time, to be able to sit outside and root on people that I race against," Haney said. "I was cheering on Justin Jones, who beat me in the semi finals at the last race in Texas. I'm out there kissing his car, telling it, 'Come on baby, win this round!'
"It's just things like that, you see all the West racers and their families and friends up there on the West side. All the East Coast racers and their friends are on the East side, and it was great to hear everybody trash talking and cheering their team on.
"And then the West won in the final pair when Justin beat Aryan after he went red; it was just so much fun," Haney repeated. "That East vs. West deal is something that we'll definitely be doing again in the Mid-West Series--and I'll make sure I'm in it next time!"
Keith Haney Racing will return to action with the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Pro Mod Series in two weeks, Apr. 26-27, at Gateway Motorsports Park, near St. Louis.
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ABOUT KEITH HANEY RACING
Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Keith Haney Racing (www.keithhaneyracing.com) fields two cars in the Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS), as well as for select NHRA and PDRA races and one-off special events. Keith Haney Racing appreciates the support of sponsors Summit Racing Equipment, Lucas Oil, Strange Engineering, Kryptonite Kustomz, RacingJunk.com, MoTeC Systems USA, Switzer Dynamics, M&M Transmission, Menscer Motorsports, Total Seal, Mickey Thompson, Browell Bellhousing, and Larry Jeffers Race Cars.
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