Plueger / Austin / Bateman Racing section

2010

The 2010 season was very busy and quite successful as Bucky went out on his own taking over the Joe Pisano tribute car from Cruz Pedregon. He teamed up with Mark Hentges as the driver and the team started to turn heads starting at Mission Raceway.

Bucky got his first 5 second laps as a Nitro Tuner with a best of 5.9 and then went on to Boise where they were the #1 qualifier and had low et of the event. From there they ran at Pacific Raceway at ripped off a great 5.69 the quickest pass ever in the North West. Then at Bakersfield the team qualified #1 with a 5.85 and went all the way to the final round.

October, 2009

The Plueger Austin team qualify at the top at the Reunion, But go out early. Bateman wins the NFCA series championship for 2009.

Final qualifying

1 611 Garrett Bateman, Tacoma WA, '72 Mustang 5.848 234.37 234.37
2 732 Chris Krabill, Orange CA, '78 Arrow 5.872 242.52 242.52
3 617 Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '77 Arrow 5.889 233.40 233.40
4 6800 Claude D. LaVoie, Sherwood Park AB, '72 GTX 5.940 223.76 223.76
5 400 Mike Savage, Tucson AZ, '70 Barracuda 5.947 239.10 239.10
6 666 Tim Boychuk, Edmonton AB, '77 Firebird 5.956 247.11 247.11
7 71 Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg IN, '78 Arrow 5.964 247.72 247.72
8 7429 Josh Crawford, Oakdale CA, '69 Mustang 5.994 239.74 239.74

Bucky qualified # 3 in the 8 car field with a 5.88/233 mph, and Garrett was #1 with a 5.84/234.

Garrett faced the #8 qualifier Josh Crawford in the opening round, and this one was over early, or should have been, as Bateman had a solid .980 60 foot and was well out in front at 330, then the car got real loose, Garrett could not keep it in his lane, and he crossed the centre line, handing the win to Crawford. Luckily for Bateman there was enough points in the bank and he was crowned the 2009 series champion. Congrat's to the team for their hard work, and securing the Heritage series championship.

Bucky took on Tim Boychuk in round one and the car launched hard but the wheels came u and then unloaded the rear tires as they bllazed for 100 feet, Bucky clicked it off early and, could only watch was Boychuk in the Leong tuned Trans Am streaked away for the win.

August 3, 2009

Bucky wins the Inaugural Nitro Nationals at his home track.

The second big win of the year for Austin as he is the only driver to run in the five's throughout qualifying and elimination's. After leading qualifying, he ripped through the tough field with wins over Mike Savage,John Powers and the legendary Dale Pulde in the final round. The win moves Bucky to within three points (unofficial) of teammate Garrett Bateman in the NFCA point series.

Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars
Round 1
Mike Halstead, .140, 6.060, 235.97 def
Josh Crawford, .101, 6.206, 225.52

Bucky Austin, .175, 5.925, 230.65 def.
Mike Savage, .130, 6.238, 230.80

Dale Pulde, .109, 6.192, 211.46 def.
Garrett Bateman, .097, 6.773, 229.63

John Powers, .148, 6.030, 228.46 def.
Mark Sanders, .188, 7.857 147.29

Round 2
Dale Pulde .084, 6.155, 194.91 def.
Mike Halstead, .171, 6.183, 231.79

Bucky Austin, .194, 5.943, 229.47 def.
John Powers, .106, 6.052, 220.44

Final
Bucky Austin, .198, 5.930, 228.73 def.
Dale Pulde, .137, 6.174, 194.86

Final qualifying Saturday (unofficial)

Both Bucky and Garrett have runs that showed huge ET's. They were suspect though, as both Austin and Plueger stated they were in the 5.90's

1. Bucky Austin 5.62 (No M.P.H.) not valid
2. Garrett Bateman 5.758 239.79 not valid
3. Mike Halstead 5.975 237.50
4. Mark Sanders 5.998 234.17
5. John Powers 6.086 232.79
6. Josh Crawford 6.117 224.73
7. Dale Pulde 6.211 220.91
8. Mike Savage 6.305 224.32

dnq
9. Chris Davis 7.94 (No M.P.H.)

Round one qualifying from Spokane

AA/FC
1. Bucky Austin, 5.946, 228.15
2. Garrett Bateman, 5.998, 224.47
3. Mark Sanders, 6.061, 234.17
4. John Powers, 6.086, 232.79
5. Mike Savage, 6.305, 197.54
6. Dale Pulde, 6.312, 214.04
7. Chris Davis, 7.945, 181.98

July 30, 2009

The first blemish in an undefeated season for the Plueger/Austin/Bateman team.

Dateline Mission Raceway............................... Garrett does go to the final, but loses to another rookie in the class, Edmonton's Tim Boychuk. A close final with Boychuk going 5.83 to Garrettt's 5.88. In the biggest upset of the day, Boychuk got a holeshot win over the "Hitter" with a 5.90 to a 5.86 for Ausitn. The margin of victory was less than .004 .

Final qualifing

Full results with photos next weekend.

July 5, 2009

The winning ways continue for the Plueger/Austin two car Funny Car team. After dominating wins at the March Meet, Spokane and Sacramento, the teams returned to Sacramento for the Nitro Night of Fire event. Garrett Bateman gets his third win of the year running in the 6.0's and "5's" through eliminations. Bucky qualified #3 but was upset on a holeshot in round one.

Report and photos from Mark King:

Final qualifying:

1. Garrett Bateman 5.855 @ 240.69

2. Leah Pruett-LeDuc 5.935 @ 249.42

3. Bucky Austin 6.031 @ 232.06

#4 Mark Sanders 6.124 @ 236.14

#5 Mendy Fry 6.145 @ 233.82

#6 Dennis LaCharite i6.149 @ 228.46.

#7 Josh Crawford 6.279 @ 232.78

#8 Chris Bennett "Pure Heaven" 6.436 @ 224.49

In the upset of the opening round, #6 Qualifier Dennis LaCharite in the "Back In Black" Pontiac GTO defeated #3 Qualifier Bucky Austin in the "Northwest Hitter" Plymouth Arrow on a hole shot with a 6.273 @ 233.27 to the trailing and quicker Austin's 6.262 @ 233.11.

#1 Qualifier Garrett Bateman in the "Plueger & Gyger" Ford Mustang defeated Chris Bennett in the "Pure Heaven" Chevrolet Camaro with a 6.077 @ 230.36 to Bennett's 6.497 @ 224.32.

In the final pairing of the round #2 Qualifier Leah Pruett-LeDuc in the "Heart Breaker" Ford Mustang defeated #7 Qualifier Josh Crawford in his Ford Mustang with a 6.073 @ 250.37 when Crawford red lit ending his day early.

Round 2

Garrett Bateman in the "Plueger & Gyger" Ford Mustang defeated Mendy Fry in "McCain's Bomb Squad" Plymouth Duster with a 5.941 @ 232.34 to Fry's trailing 6.200 @ 239.67.

Final round

Bateman .161 5.963 @ 237.97 def. Pruett .079 6.063 @ 246.62.

This was the second Heritage series event and the Plueger /Austin / Bateman team have won both. They have a busy schedule coming up with Mission and Spokane in the next three weeks and then Boise's Nightfire Nationals the second week of August.

May 20, 2009

Well the team is 3-0 so far this year and it does not like there wil be any let up

(Rich Carlson photos from Spokane)

Spokane's season opener saw Bucky be the top dog in qualifying with a track record 5.92/236mph in qualifying.

Final qualifying

1. 617 Bucky Austin Fife, WA ’79 Arrow 5.926 234.57 * Track Record ET2. 611 Garrett Bateman Tacoma, WA ’73 Mustang 5.943 230.963. 6006 Mark Sanders Maple Valley, WA ’70 Nova 6.294 227.734. 7130 Todd Lesenko Cave Creek, AZ ’73 Camaro 6.636 186.105. 600 Tom Stevenson Stony Plain, AB ’71 Mustang 9.634 87.35

In eliminations Garrett was the one standing at the top as he took out Bucky in the final with a quicker track record 5.88

Win: Garrett Bateman, Tacoma, Wash., 5.889* sec. 230.44 mph * Track ET Record

R/U: Bucky Austin, Fife, Wash., 6.030 sec., 230.17 mph

April, 2009

(Mark King Photos)

...........after a dominating March Meet where Bucky absolutely dominated the field, the next two events 'Funny Car Fever" at Sacramento and the season opener at Spokane Raceway, Garrett Bateman took over the winning reigns and was equally as dominant at Sacramento as Bucky was at Bakersfield, having a tenth on the field, and defeating Chris Krabill in the final with a 5.81 a track record. Bucky could not get a handle on the tricky Sacramento surface as he overpowered it on every run. He only had one lap in the good lane (the right and overpowered the track). Garrett on the other hand ran quick enough to get in the top half of the field and had lane choice for round one. That made all the difference as he got the right lane, and as they say, it was all over.

Here is final qualifying

Fuel Funny Car
1. Mendy Fry...........McCain's Bomb Squad...........6.003..235.60
2. Kris Krabill........Gary Turner's Pedaler.........6.008..242.78
3. John Powers.........Powers's Steel................6.213..224.07
4. Mike Savage.........Candies and Hughes............6.325..215.37
5. Garrett Bateman.....Plueger and Gyger.............6.784..149.01
6. Leah Pruett-Leduc...Holy Toledo...................7.230..147.06
7. Mark Sanders........Mr. Explosive.................7.282..216.64
8. Josh Crawford.....................................7.660..110.70
9. Michael Halstead....Nitro Charger.................7.674..203.24
10. Steve Nichols.......Mill Road Boys...............7.995..106.80
11. Bucky Austin........Northwest Hitter.............8.230..109.23
12. Sean Dale...........Revellution..................9.464..133.95
13. Jim Adolph......................................10.113...78.75
14. Dennis LaCharite....Back in Black...............10.118...81.60

Elims.

Bucky went red in round one but Bateman went low for the round and continued his winning ways for the rest of the day going low every round and getting his first ever win.

Round 1
W: Fry...................0.104....5.963..239.92
L: LaCharite.............0.175...6..290...22.63
-
W: Savage................0.157....6.603..182.05
L: Austin................-.026....7.145..143.61-Foul
-
W: Bateman...............0.140....5.877..237.58...MOV: 0.322
L: Nichols...............0.093....6.246..227.04
-
W: Krabill...............0.156....6.005..242.28
L: Adolph.......................no show
-
W: Sanders...............0.156....6.047..237.40...MOV: 1.962
L: Crawford..............0.119....8.046..122.94
-
W: Powers................0.144....6.271..230.09...MOV: 3.829
L: Dale..................0.163...10.081...83.80
-
W: Pruett-Leduc..........0.988.........took light
L: Halstead.....................no show
-
Round 2
W: Fry...................0.130....5.949..241.95
L: Bye..........................
-
W: Bateman...............0.222....5.816..239.61...MOV: 0.358
L: Savage................0.188....6.208..223.54
-
W: Krabill...............0.093....5.946..243.44...MOV: 0.577
L: Sanders...............0.162....6.454..215.05
-
W: Powers................0.143....6.035..231.46...MOV: 15.745
L: Pruett-Leduc..........0.233...21.690...42.35
-
Round 3
W: Bateman...............0.123....5.831..240.23...MOV: 3.754
L: Fry...................0.291....9.417...87.39
-
W: Krabill...............0.085....5.969..243.20...MOV: 2.932
L: Powers................0.101....8.885...92.63
-
Final
W: Bateman...............0.127....9.276...92.82
L: Krabill......................no show

March 2009

Paul Grant Photos

What a weekend!!!

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.

Courtesy of Bill Groak

It was deja vu all over again. Seriously, it could have been 1966, 1972 or even 2008 as perfect weather, packed stands and incredible drag racing competition all added up to another wildly successful March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, Calif. And speaking of 2008, the 2009 winner were certainly familiar: Bucky Austin once again claimed the Nostalgia Funny Car category and the Harris family continuing its winning ways as Brett Harris took the Nostalgia Top Fuel title. Both racers also got a good jump on the competition as the March Meet is also the season opener for the NHRA's eight-race Hot Rod Heritage Series.
Austin, who won the Hot Rod Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Car championship last year, beat Garrett Bateman, Tacoma, Wash., in the Funny Car final with a record-breaking time of 5.72 seconds at a blistering 246.77 mph. Garrett finished with a 5.85 time at 245.36 mph. Both Austin and Bateman ran on cars owned by Steve Plueger.

Fife, Wash. may be home for Austin, but he now owns Bakersfield. He's on the roll of lifetime here, winning four times in the two years at the legendary Auto Club Famoso, including two March Meets and two California Hot Rod Reunions. And he's set a new record in each race, including Sunday's with the lowest elapsed time (ET) in Nostalgia Funny history (5.72).

"We've accomplished a lot here in Bakersfield," Austin said after the race, "but it takes a good car, a great crew and a little luck. Everything has to go right.My hat's off to Steve (Plueger) and the whole team."

Funny Car eliminations summary

Round 1:

Lee Paul Jennings Jr, Hilmar CA, '69 Camaro, Left lane, (0.033) 5.992 221.34 def. Ed Dougan, Brea CA, '74 Camaro, (0.112) 5.933
238.60

Mark Sanders, Maple Valley WA, '70 Nova, Right lane, (0.243) 5.887 243.70 def. Terry Capp, Edmonton AB, '77 Firebird, (0.547) 5.858
247.72

Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '79 Arrow, Left lane, (0.174) 5.754 246.23 def. Dennis Taylor, Anahiem CA, '72 Charger, (0.200) 7.565 115.41

Garrett Bateman, Tacoma WA, '72 Mustang, Left lane, (0.150) 5.820 237.02 def. Chris Krabill, Orange CA, '78 Arrow, (0.124) 5.870
246.91

Round 2:

G Bateman, Left lane, (0.161) 5.862 240.96 def. M Sanders, (0.140) 6.047 238.22

B Austin, Left lane, (0.157) 5.789 242.06 def. L Jennings Jr, (0.078) 5.876 244.56

Round 3:

B Austin, Left lane, (0.162) 5.723 246.77 def. G Bateman, (0.155) 5.853 245.36

Low ET: Bucky Austin 5.723 seconds
Top Speed: Terry Capp 248.13 MPH

Qualifying Order

1 617 Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '79 Arrow 5.778 245.96 245.96
2 611 Garrett Bateman, Tacoma WA, '72 Mustang 5.804 242.45 244.43
3 627 Terry Capp, Edmonton AB, '77 Firebird 5.866 248.13 248.13
4 720 Lee Paul Jennings Jr, Hilmar CA, '69 Camaro 5.875 224.21 224.21
5 739 Ed Dougan, Brea CA, '74 Camaro 5.897 240.77 240.77
6 6006 Mark Sanders, Maple Valley WA, '70 Nova 5.917 243.50 243.50
7 732 Chris Krabill, Orange CA, '78 Arrow 5.924 243.77 243.77
8 714 Dennis Taylor, Anahiem CA, '72 Charger 5.962 224.83 224.83

------------ Not Qualified ------------

9 8 Mike Halstead, Fontana CA, '69 Daytona 6.014 240.06 240.06
10 7140 Jack Wright, Oakhurst CA, '70 Challanger 6.034 229.94 229.94
11 797 Stephen Romanazzi, Visalia CA, '77 Firebird 6.042 227.90 227.90
12 781 Mendy Fry, Aliso Viejo CA, '73 Duster 6.106 229.00 229.00
13 520 Dennis La Charite, Rolling Hills Estates CA, ' 6.108 238.15 238.15
14 724 Dale Pulde, Sylmar CA, '77 Trans Am 6.145 232.37 232.37
15 748 Bob Godfrey, Moreno Valley CA, '69 Camaro 6.159 235.60 235.60
16 7925 Craig Michael, Las Vegas NV, '72 Satellite 6.181 223.21 223.21
17 601 Tom Padilla, Arlington WA, '72 Plymouth 6.216 235.72 235.72
18 736 Dan Horan Jr, Sylmar CA, '66 Mustang 6.249 204.63 204.63
19 7773 Leah Pruett-LeDuc, Cherry Valley CA, '65 Jeeps 6.303 224.21 224.21
20 756 Nate Bugg, Orange CA, '71 Barracuda 6.312 224.83 224.83
21 708 Mike Adams, Scottsdale AZ, '79 Corvette 6.330 215.20 215.20
22 709 James Day, Ehrenberg AZ, '77 Arrow 6.436 215.15 215.15
23 7130 Todd Lesenko, Cave Creek AZ, '73 Camaro 6.474 222.22 222.22
24 750 Kirk Kuhns, Yorba Linda CA, '69 Camaro 6.536 186.64 198.45
25 168 Steve Nichols, Newark DE, '70 Camaro 6.588 222.71 222.71
26 400 Mike Savage, Tucson AZ, '70 Barracuda 6.663 203.43 203.43
27 7800 John Powers, Phoenix AZ, '77 Camaro 6.748 163.99 163.99
28 735 Jeff Utterback, Santa Monica CA, '71 Vega 6.875 148.07 148.07
29 730 Jeff Bennett, Las Vegas NV, '69 Camaro 7.212 152.25 152.25

February 2009

The big racing news is Bucky has a new team mate in Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car racing. Garrett Bateman will drive the Plueger/Gyger Mustang this season. The oorigianl plan was for Garrett to drive the new A/Fuel dragster but the time to assemble the new car was was prohibitive, and when the Plueger's Mustang became available the decision was made to run as a two car team. Garrett got licensed at Vegas during pre season testing, and the team tested the end of February prior to the 51st March Meet.

January and February 2009 archives

2008 results

January and February 2009 archives

2008 results