Bentson’s 1948 Ford Thames Rescue 1 wins third dragracing
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GILROY – Sirens blare and Captain Clay Bentson – a 23-year veteran of the Gilroy Fire Department – is there.
Light goes green and Bentson, driving in his fire-red 1948 Ford Thames dragracer, is gone.
The 51-year old Gilroyan – GHS Class of ’69 – won his third Good Guys Series Points Championship earlier this month in the C-Gas Vintage Nostalgia dragracing division.
“It’s tough,” said Bentson, whose BFD Rescue 1 racer is always a fan favorite when it lines up against larger muscle-cars like Camaros, Chevy Novas and Ford Fairlanes. “I’ve always done pretty well. I tied for second in C-gas last year which was my first time in that class.”
The 11-year dragracer wrapped up his third series victory at the Nov. 1-3 West Coast Championship Series event at Famosa Raceway in Bakersfield.
“I’m kinda on a four-year cycle,” said Bentson, who won two other championships in 1994 and 1998 with all coming in different classes.
Bentson – who will be presented with the trophy in March to kick off the first race of next season – raced to second-place finishes in the opening event in Bakersfield and then again in the second event at the Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma.
The local dragracer did not seal his third championship until the final race in Bakersfield. Even though he lost in the first round, Bentson’s seventh fastest qualifying time was enough for top honors. There were 17 cars competing for eight qualifying spots.
“My competition was close in points,” Bentson said. “Every run I was sweating bullets. I kept trying to get my car to run quicker.”
The Final C-Gas Standings were Bentson (224 points); Jessie Wooten (194 points); Bret Prichler (190 points) and Mario Braga (174 points. All four dragracers had a statistical chance going into the final race.
In his first qualifier, Bentson was first with a 9.66 on a 9.60 index. On his second run, he was third with a 9.66 again and, on his final run, Bentson ran a 9.67. His time held on for the seventh of eight positions.
“My main goal was to qualify for that race so I did that,” Bentson said. “I was kinda sweating out the qualifying. I didn’t feel comfortable with the 9.66, but it held up.”
One frontrunner did not qualify and another lost in the first round – making it a two-man race between Bentson and Wooten.
“If you can’t qualify it kills ya,” Bentson said. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”
After losing his first-round drag, Bentson stuck around to see if the series championship was still within his grasp. When Wooten’s car stalled in his second-round race, the trophy was Bentson’s.
“That was a sigh of relief,” he said. “When I got down to the end of the track, I heard he’d won. Rather then load up the car and go home, I watched him. He got beat (in the second round).
“I was pretty excited,” said Bentson, who red-lighted in the finals of the first series race and his torque converter failed in the finals of the second race. “I had a chance with two races early in the year.”
Along with his Good Guys trophy, Bentson was the top qualifier and took first place at a non-series drag event in Sacramento two week prior to the Bakersfield finale.
“That was a good tune-up going into Bakersfield,” said Bentson, who will return to the Good Guys Series in March looking to defend his title.
