Race 6 of 6 - The Final Governor's Cup

The Final Governor’s Cup at Sacramento Raceway Park Submitted by: James Maher September 29, 2023

The California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA) held their final race of the 2023 season at Sacramento Raceway Park. Fifteen CIFCA teams came out shooting for eight qualifying spots on the 5.90 / 1000ft index. James Maher, Tony Trimp & Rick Alvarado entered the race with a shot at winning the CIFCA points championship presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports. Mark Tarabochia and Pete Ortiz competed in a best of three match race and Tarabochia won two of three.

Qualifying Order 1. James Maher 5.938 176.56mph 2. Jim Maher 5.975 177.65mph 3. Mike Troxel 5.975 176.07mph 4.Rick Alvarado 5.989 176.86mph 5. Christian Marshall 5.995 176.86mph 6. Tony Trimp 6.002 179.30mph 7. Bobby Cottrell 6.015 176.72mph 8. Joacim Ljungberg 6.048 148.35mph DNQ 9. Shaun Bryan 6.121 177.81 mph 10. Ken Breneisen 7.191 97.87mph

Qualifying started off strong with James Maher, going to the System 1 number one qualifier spot with a 5.938. Jim Maher & Mike Troxel qualified number two and three respectively, both qualifying with a 5.975. Rick Alvarado qualified fourth with a 5.989 and Chirstian Marshall 5.995 took the fifth spot. Tony Trimp 6.002 was good for the number six spot and Bobby Cottrell, NHRA NFC Heritage series champion, slipped into the number seven spot 6.015. Joacim Ljungberg, who won the first CIFCA race of the year, squeezed into the number eight spot with a 6.048. Shaun Bryan & Ken Breneisen just missed the 8-car field.

First round of eliminations had some tight racing as Cottrell’s 6.019 got past Troxel’s 6.060. Tony Trimp slipped by Jim Maher, Maher was .036 on the tree to Trimp’s .060. but at the stripe it was all Tony. His 5.917 beat Maher’s 6.016. Alvarado cut a descent .046 light over Ljungberg’s .116 and Alvarado got the win with a 6.008 over the swede’s 5.751 which was way to quick for the 5.90 index. James Maher’s 5.971 held off Marshall’s 6.043 to keep his champion hopes alive.

In the semi-finals a huge match up for second place in the CIFCA points. Tony Trimp cut a descent .038 light to Alvarado’s .088 but gave up too much at the finish line. He clicked it off early to a 6.080 at 162mph and Alvarado drove around him clocking a 6.000 at 176mph. The margin of victory .030 in favor of Alvarado as he punched his ticket in the final round. Cottrell .036 was off the line first to Maher’s tardy.171. and on the big end it was Cottrell with a 5.966 to Maher’s quicker but losing 5.925. Maher have lost the race, but he clinched his second CIFCA Championship.

In the final round, Rick Alvarado gave it his best shot, with a .008 to get the Enderle quick reaction time award but broke out by .006! He went 5.894 on the 5.90 index. Cottrell was right there for the win with a .034 light and 5.953 to claim his first CIFCA win and the final Governor’s Cup Trophy.

Thanks to all our sponsors for supporting CIFCA this season. Good Vibrations Motorsports, Enderle Fuel injection, Billet Connection, Mike’s Transmission, SCE Gaskets, Specialty Fasteners, System One Fuel Filters, Control Cables Inc, and Stith Printing Inc. Special thanks to the Smith family at Sacramento Raceway for hosting the circuit over all these years. We will miss racing at Sacramento Raceway. It was a very good run.