Recapping North Star Dragway’s Huge EX275 Season Finale

colletta

Photos by Chris Graves & Carl Oberman

Arguably the biggest splash made in X275 racing in 2013 was the four race Evolution Custom Auto EX275 series that debuted this season at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas. Guaranteeing a five figure payout to the winner with healthy payouts through ten spots, the EX275 program not only had the biggest payouts in the southwest, but also brought major attention to small tire drag radial racing in Texas and the surrounding states. The racers proved their thanks for such a program with fields of over 32 cars at each of the four events held this season.

EX275Unknown2The EX275 Finals were held on October 25th and 26th at NSD and welcomed 45 cars to battle for a spot in the 32 car field and also hosted a Radial Vs. The World class for the first time, a preview of things to come in 2014. The pits were full, the egos were on the line, the cars were ready and the drivers were hungry for benjamins as three action packed rounds of qualifying got underway under the lights on Friday night in North Texas.

Friday night’s qualifying rounds made X275 racing history when Arkansas native Shane Fisher wheeled his 400 cubic inch, turbocharged, Ford-powered Mustang to a world record elapsed time, a 4.52 at 160 mph. After everyone picked their jaws up off the floor, many other teams dipped into the 4.50 and low 4.60 zone. Jason Michalak laid down a 4.58 at 154 mph in the Bad9er Racing Camaro and two time EX275 winner Taylor Lastor clicked off a strong 4.58 at 156 mph. Chase Driskell and Rich Bruder rounded out the top five qualifiers after three intense qualifying rounds, with Dennis Bell on the number thirty two position bump spot at a 4.95.

EX275ShaneFisher2

On Saturday, the final qualifying session was concluded with Scott Pearson making a move into the field with a 4.93 at 147 mph, bumping Bell. Shane Fisher’s record elapsed time stood for the top spot as the quickest thirty two cars on the property returned to the pits to prepare for the tough elimination rounds to come.  Fisher looked very strong and hoped to capitalize on his runner-up effort from the August EX275 event with a win in the fourth and final race of the season.  

A fierce first round of eliminations was wrapped up with some strong numbers put up on the board. Multi-time NMCA Nostalgia Pro Street Champion Jeff Colletta wheeled his 582 CI BBC nitrous-assisted Mustang to a 4.59 at only 150 mph on a competition single. Two Time EX275 event winner Taylor Lastor clicked off a 4.60 at 155 mph in his first gen Camaro to take out Miguel Varela, while Houston, Texas native Tyler Stubbe laid down a nice 4.61 at 155 mph to take the nod over Mike Cantu’s 4.72 at 153 mph.

Shane Fisher and Bob Bales both used a 4.64 elapsed time to earn round one wins over their opponents.  Chris Swain took a huge holeshot win in the opening round as his 4.82 at 150 mph held off Jason Brock’s much quicker 4.68 at 151 mph, and C.J. Peddy also earned a holeshot win in round one when his 4.79 at 148 mph was enough to defeat Dwayne Barbaree’s 4.69 at 154 mph.  

EX275JeffCollettaShortly after the second round of eliminations got underway, mother nature laid down a massive downpour across the North Texas region which put an end to the racing for the day.  The track staff and racers agreed to call it a night and pick up where the pairings left off the following day, for a classic Sunday finale.

Overnight, lightning strikes had damaged the track timing equipment and with the help of Radial Vs. The World competitor Randy Westmoreland as well as Kelly and Monica Duncan, repairs were able to be made and the racing continued!

Upon the conclusion of the carried over second round, two heavy hitters were out early. Lastor ran into mechanical issues before staging and Daniel Pachar streaked to a 4.70 at 154 mph to advance. Michalak and the Bad9er Camaro met their demise as the car fell off at the hit and Javier Carmona took the upset win to move into the quarter finals. Chip Raderchak drilled Stubbe off the starting line and used a 4.90 at 151 mph to take out Stubbe’s quicker 4.72 at 154 mph. Colletta laid down the quickest pass of the round with a 4.64 at 154 mph to put C.J. Peddy on the trailer.  

EX275PatrickClenney

In the first pair of the quarter finals, Carmona and Florida’s Patrick Clenney did battle in the closest race of the round. Clenney took a slight starting line advantage but his 4.725 at 151 mph pass came up just short to Carmona’s 4.711 at 151 mph.  In the next pair, Fisher, the number one qualifier and new X275 world record elapsed time holder, broke on the starting line after his burnout and Raderchak advanced to the semis in his first gen Camaro on a wheel standing 4.84 at 150 mph. Chase Driskell had been going rounds and running well but flying under the radar until he moved into the semi-finals with a strong 4.64 at 152 mph to defeat the red lighting Joe Johnson. In the final pair, Colletta also clicked off a 4.64 at 150 mph to defeat Daniel Pachar’s red lighting 4.68 at 155 mph.

With just four cars remaining in competition, the semi-final round got underway as the teams were getting into the big money payout rounds at this point and the pressure was on. Carmona was off the line first by a very slim margin over Colletta but by half-track Colletta was pulling ahead and yet another 4.64 at 155 mph advanced him to the final round over Carmona’s 4.71 at 151 mph. His opponent would be the winner between Driskell and Raderchak.  Raderchak was off the line first but was forced to pedal and his 4.87 at 136 mph was no match for Driskell’s 4.64 at 153 mph. 

The sun had set, the stars were out and the moon bright in the sky as an extremely long weekend of racing was about to conclude with $15,000 in cash going home with the winner. Would Chase Driskell keep the big pay in the lone star state or would Colletta take the biggest payout in Texas across the border back home to Louisiana? After their burnouts the crews carefully pulled their drivers into the stage beams. At the flash of amber, Driskell was off the line first with a .426 reaction time to Colletta’s .452. At half-track the cars were side by side with Colletta coming on strong at the top end and at the stripe, Colletta took the win with a 4.60 at 156 mph to Driskell’s 4.67 at 153 mph.

EX275JeffCollettaWinnerCircle

“I have the best crew anyone could ask for, including Terry Williams, Kenny Lafferty and Fast Jack Vanover. There are plenty of other people who help me out and I appreciate each and every one of them – we couldn’t have done it without all the support. I want to thank Gene Nicodemus at North Star Dragway, Marty Robertson at Evolution Custom Auto, and the track crew for providing such a nice purse and an awesome track to race on. It’s feels great to bring the money home to south Louisiana,” said Colletta.  

RVWKennyHubbardWinnerIn the eight car Radial Vs. The World class, after four qualifying sessions Arkansas’ Justin Martin led the qualifying with a stout 4.43 at 175 mph followed closely by Josh Lindsay’s 4.48 at 175 mph. After two rounds of eliminations, Kenny Hubbard and Randy Westmoreland met in the final round to battle for the $5,000 payday.

Westmoreland knew he had transmission issues heading into the final and gave it his best to get a starting line advantage, but jumped the tree with a .372 reaction time while Hubbard blasted to a 4.41 at 181 mph to take the win in his blown Camaro.  

After a highly successful inaugural season for the Evolution Custom Auto EX275 program at North Star Dragway, the plan for track owner Gene Nicodemus is to come out next year bigger and better than before.

Nicodemus is dedicated to providing the best racing facility and track prep possible to produce world record performances and have happy racers leaving the gates at the end of the weekend with smiles on their faces. Details on the 2014 EX275 program will be announced soon so make your plans to catch these events, whether you’re a racer or a fan, you won’t be disappointed! Watch www.northstar-dragway.com for more info!  

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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