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Wow is all I can say — yesterday was the longest full-on race day in recent memory. We went into round one of qualifying around 7PM and the last Ultra Street car went down the track at 2:17AM. We had some record passes, absolute mineshaft conditions, and 564 tech cards after the first round of competition. No sleep ’til Brooklyn, right? I’ll get right to the details…
Jesse Lambert behind the wheel, Rodney Lambert on the keyboard, and a Mustang up on two wheels. Jesse went for a wild ride during the first round of Outlaw 10.5 last night. Initially, Jesse staged on a single pass and the tree didn't drop, so he dropped the RPMs. He went back on the chip, the tree came down, and at the end of the track this was the result. 4.30s on two wheels through the lights...
Yet you’d never know it from this photo. The left side of the car is slightly pancaked, and there is some other damage, but they are working to fix it. Not sure whether he’ll make it or not, but he’s on the hunt for parts to repair the car.
Jerry Morgano has forever been on the hunt for a 3-second pass from his 450ci small-block twin-turbo Ford. In last n ight’s killer air, he came oh-so-close with a 4.074 at 188.65 mph. Morgano sits fifth in the tight field of 31 cars.
Can’t have a YB Nats without at least one of these. Jim Bersani made a mess on the track, forcing an hour-plus cleanup near midnight.
Steve Drummond’s Pro Mod has been recently redone after a fire at Maryland International Raceway. Steve had a great day yesterday — not only did he snap off a stout 4.04 at 188 mph in the car to land in 10th in the Pro Mod field, he and wife Kathy celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary.
Just moments after he put his new 920-inch nitroused Camaro right at the top of the Pro Mod ladder with an insane 3.741 blast, Cecil County Dragway track owner Jim Halsey came ripping back down the track — still in his firesuit — on the track spray machinery. Halsey and his staff worked nonstop all day and night long to keep the track in top shape.
SPECIAL NOTE:
The race has been called for Saturday. The weather forecast is extremely poor for the rest of the day. The plan is to be on track as early as possible tomorrow morning, run one more round of Pro qualifying, and go right into first round of eliminations after that. They will be doing their best to run it out tomorrow but will run into Monday if necessary.
More coverage to come, they are kicking me out of the tower. I’m going back to my hotel and will be bringing you more as soon as I get there.
With Mike Cerminaro behind the wheel of his ProCharged 2001 Trans Am, Bruce Maichle is able to play crew chief and see how the car reacts from outside the driver’s seat. The BES-powered machine clawed its way to a 5.36 slip-and-slide pass during last night’s lone X275 qualifying session.
With Saturday rained out, perennial player Jamie Stanton finds himself in the 33rd spot in X275 – just outside the bump – with a soft 9.263 pass. He’ll get one more shot at getting into the field tomorrow morning during the final qualifying session before we head into eliminations.
We’re not sure if John Sears is getting paid off to keep the Bruder Brothers out of X275, or if he’s betting on them to lose, but one thing is for sure – he and Monty Mikho are up to something.
John Keesey thrashed like a maniac in the days leading up to the race to get his KBX bullet back under the hood. In round one, he launched the car and immediately headed straight for the wall. It turns out that the allen set screw in the steering shaft worked its way out and left him unable to control the car. he just nosed the edge of the spoiler into the wall and was able to come to a complete stop short of severe damage. The car is repaired and he’s chomping at the bit to get into the field.
Speaking of the Bruders.. Rich was unable to make a clean pass in the Mustang and is in an uncharacteristic 30th of 32 cars entering tomorrow. The track appeared to be hit-or-miss for some guys like night, while others went straight down Broadway.
A 4.69 monster moonshot puts Alex Hays at the top of the Ultra qualifying sheet by a wide margin–his next closest competition is Louie Filippides with a 4.83. Hays has been working on his engine program and it shows.
At 12:40 AM, Phil Hines stormed to the top of the X275 ladder with a 4.41 blast that put the rest of the class on notice this weekend. Hines is well-known for his consistency and driving skill. He’s just ahead of Ron Rhodes’ 4.44 and Andrew Demarco’s 4.54.
Fran Schatz is another racer who was thrashing in the days leading up to the race. He picked up his engine from Weston Machine on Tuesday, worked to get it into the car, then junked the starter during initial fire-up. As of Thursday he had pulled the plug on getting to the event, but there he was for round one of Ultra Street. He’s on the ladder with a respectable 5.15 to place 17th of 32 cars entering Sunday.
Mo Hall disappeared into the night in the first round of Outlaw 10.5, becoming the only racer to crack into the 3s with this 3.99 blast.
How can you not love Frank Saponaro’s Nova wagon? This is one of the cleanest cars around. Saponaro is outgunned in Outlaw 10.5 but the style points count for something. He’s currently 22nd in the field with a 4.82, but there’s a bunch more left in the car. It runs a traditional SBC with a pair of snails.
Jonas Aleshire’s Chris Duncan Race Cars-built screw-blown Corvette stormed to a 3.83 at 193.02 mph to take the 7th spot in Pro Mod.
