It’s race day here in St. Louis, and today, the term “race” is going to have a double meaning, as we’ll als0 be racing against the clock with some weather headed into the area in the later afternoon hours. Officials have announced that turnaround time will be minimal, with eliminations set to get underway at around 2:30 p.m. central. Stay tuned here to Dragzine for news, notes, photos, and results!
Local favorite John DeFlorian Jr. concluded qualifying in X-Treme Pro Stock in third with his 4.100 best from Friday.
Image/s missing.
Mick Recchia (left) in his very cool faux rag top '69 Camaro, ended up tenth in the Pro X-Treme order with his 3.773 best and will face Todd Martin in round one. Dan Millen (right) made a nice run in the heat of the day with a 3.788 at 202.52 mph. Tim Tindle rolled to the quickest run of the round in the heat and humidity with his 3.713 in the final session.
Image/s missing.
Mike Murillo made his best run of the weekend in another exciting side-by-side pairing with Todd Moyer with a 4.044. Todd Hoerner (right), who became the first mountain motor Pro Stock racer to win an event utilizing Electronic Fuel Injection at the ADRL event here last year, finished qualifying seventh with his best of 4.136
Final Qualifying Order
Pro Extreme
1. Brandon Pesz 3.628 2. Frankie Taylor 3.686 3. Tim Tindle 3.703 4. Quain Stott 3.707 5. Terry Leggett 3.714 6. Todd Martin 3.725 7. Dan Millen 3.725 8. Randell Reid 3.741 9. Duane Rister 3.758 10. Todd Tutterow 3.765 11. Mike Recchia 3.773 12. Jon Stouffer 3.891 13. Danny Lowry 3.930 14. Aaron Wells 4.071 15. Neal Wantye 4.114
Pro Nitrous
1. Jeff Naiser 3.851 2. Bob Rahaim 3.869 3. Robert Mathis 3.936 4. Bill Glidden 3.950 5. Duke Snyder 3.957 6. Keith Haney 4.040 7. Blake Housley 4.073 8. Ron Muenks 5.357
X-Treme Pro Stock
1. Dean Goforth 4.083 2. Kevin Bealko 4.088 3. John Deflorian Jr. 4.100 4. Matt Bertsch 4.100 5. Richard Penland 4.125 6. Cary Goforth 4.130 7. Todd Hoerner 4.136 8. Rocky Watford 4.160 9. Rick Cowger 4.180
Pro Turbo
1. Todd Moyer 3.908 2. Mike Murillo 4.044
X-Treme Pro Mod
1. Kevin Rivenbark 3.935 2. T.J. Tindle 3.949 3. Ron Muenks 3.959 4. Keith Haney 3.990 5. Dan Stevenson 4.172 6. Tim Savell 6.830
The Keith Haney Racing crew has been working overtime this weekend, as regular driver Monroe Guest and fill-in Doug Reisterer were unable to make it to St. Louis. Add that to a shortage of crew for the weekend and one driver for two cars and you’ve got the recipe for a busy couple of days. Haney fell to Robert Mathis in the first round of Pro Nitrous and to Ron Muenks in X-Treme Pro Mod.In the first round of Pro X-Treme, Danny Lowry brought the crowd to their feet when his twin-turbo Mustang hiked the front wheels down track and began motoring toward the centerline. Lowry mowed down several timing blocks, giving the automatic win to Quain Stott, who was already well ahead by the point Lowry got loose.
Image/s missing.
Mike Recchia put together a nice 3.81 in the first round. Recchia received a break single when the Todd Martin team, fresh off an all-hands-on-deck thrash in the pits, couldn't get their Mustang to fire. Bob Rahaim made the best run of the opening round of Pro Nitrous with his 3.886. Rahaim will face Robert Mathis in the next round in what should be a great battle.Because there are only two Pro Turbo cars on the property, their final will be contested later this evevening. In the meantime, Mike Murillo took another crack at the Gateway surface, this time coming up just inches short of the threes with a 4.000.The hardest working couple in drag racing, Billy and Shannon Glidden, are moving to the next round in Pro Nitrous thanks to the always-feisty Glidden’s starting line prowess. The second-generation racer was better off the line and sent Duke Snyder home on a holeshot, 3.94 to 3.93.
Billy Glidden took down No. 1 qualifier Jeff Naiser in the semis on holeshot, but puffs out of the pipes on the big end spelled disaster for his final round hopes. With Glidden unable to make the call, Bob Rahaim only had to take the tree to earn the Pro Nitrous crown. But taking the tree isn’t what Rahaim had in mind, as the silver Camaro rocked out low elapsed time of the weekend at 3.84 seconds on the single.
Image/s missing.
Dan Stevenson (left) hiked the front wheels and began to wander, forcing him to lift and allowing Ron Muenks to sail into the X-Treme Pro Mod final with his 3.91. Muenks will face Kevin Rivenbark in the final.
Image/s missing.
The second round of Pro X-Treme was one of holeshots, as Quain Stott, Todd Tutterow, and Brandon Pesx (pictured) all moved on with runs slower than their opponents. The lone racer to dominate both ends of the race track was Tim Tindle and his killer .015 light paired with a 3.74 that sent Mike Recchia home. The gap you see here was all that Todd Hoerner needed to make it two-in-a-row here at Gateway, as he was.004 on the tree and 4.14 on the race track, leaving the 4.10 posted by Dean Goforth a bit short.Tim Tindle and Brandon Pesz both dipped into the 3.60’s in the semis of Pro X-Treme as they advanced on the final round. Pesz will have lane choice with his 3.690.Kevin Rivenbark was well out on Ron Muenks who was dead-late with a .210 light, and that was all she wrote, as Rivenbark scored a 3.92 to 3.91 holeshot win in Pro Mod.Todd Moyer owns both he and Mike Murillo’s race cars, so the Pro Turbo win was going back to Texas one way or the other, but they still had to contest the final, and this one was all Moyer, as Murillo struggled early and clicked it off.
The Gateway facility is known for delivering the big numbers, and add to that some intense competition, and you’ve got the recipe for an exciting weekend of racing in the shadow of the famous Gateway Arch.
Greetings from the Gateway to the West! We’re about an hour away from the first of three rounds of qualifying here at the Gateway Motorsports Park. We’ve been met with clear skies and relatively cool (for this time of year, anyway) temperatures in the mid 80’s, which should make for some great numbers on the track as we get closer to nightfall.
Image/s missing.
Missouri native and veteran NMRA racer Jim Brown is on hand with his 10.5W-clad Ford Mustang to make some laps under race conditions in the Top Sportsman class. Brown, who has struggled with engine woes in recent seasons, spent the last several months rebuilding the supercharged big block Ford powerplant, and his efforts have already paid dividends with a 6.97-second lap. But most importantly, As Brown told us, 'we didn't break anything.' If everything goes well over the next few weeks, Brown is confident he can hurt some feelings in Chicago next month at the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl in Super Street 10.5W. ' Dean Goforth, in his new Chevrolet Camaro, cruised to the provisional pole in X-Treme Pro Stock with a 4.083 in the heat of the day in the first session.In the lane opposite of Goforth, Kevin Bealko was just a tick behind with a 4.096, good for second in the order.
Image/s missing.
T.J. Tindle (left) made the quickest run of the opening session of X-Treme Pro Mod and the only lap in the threes with a stellar 3.975. Illinois native Dan Stevenson (right) was second-quick with his 4.214 as much of the field struggled with the hot racing surface. Brandon Pesz topped Frankie Taylor’s 3.686 lap by just a thousandth of a second with his 3.685, but it wasn’t without some suspense, as the door shredded off the race car at the stripe in a shower of debris. According to a member of Pesz crew, Brandon just happened to put their spare door in the trailer this weekend, allowing them to continue on with their race weekend.Todd Tutterow’s fortunes have been much better this weekend than his last visit to the Gateway facility when he spun around and struck the guardrail at the ADRL race here last June. Tutterow has yet to make a representative pass through the first two sessions, but the car is still in tip-top shape.
Image/s missing.
Bob Rahaim's Pro Nitrous Camaro (left) caught fire as he backed up from the burnout in the second qualifying session. Track personnel quickly extinguished the flames, but Rahaim was forced to miss the session. Billy Glidden (right) slowed on the top end to just a 4.41, but still stands on his 4.05 from the earlier session. Dan Millen joined the crowd in the 3.70’s in the second session with a stout 3.751 at 203.31 mph, which is surprisingly only good for seventh in the order.Duke Snyder (right lane) had a big flash of fire out of the pipes and the hood scoop as he raced alongside Jeff Naiser in the second session of Pro Nitrous. Snyder remained second with his earlier 3.95.
Image/s missing.
It wasn't pretty as he struggled to get ahold of the race track, but our buddy Mike Murillo made the quickest run thus far in Pro Turbo in the second session with his 4.34.
Image/s missing.
A long afternoon has turned into an even longer evening, and this is why. In the third session of Top Dragster, racer Dan Phelps stood his dragster straight up in the air and pirouetted on it's tail before crashing down hard on the racing surface. Phelps was visibly shaken, but uninjured in the very scary incident. Photos courtesy of Brandon Neer/Gateway Motorsports Park {link=https://www.gatewaymsp.com}Photo courtesy Brandon Neer/Gateway Motorsports Park{/link}
Image/s missing.
Things have gotten in the late evening as we waited out a nearly two hour delay to clean up the debris and fluids left behind from Dan Phelps’ crash.
Image/s missing.
the good news is Brandon Pesz blew away the competition with a killer 3.628 in the third session under the lights. The bad news is he also blew off the spare door in the lights, meaning the team will have to find another door or sit out tomorrow's eliminations.
Image/s missing.
Image/s missing.
Bob Rahaim charged up to second in Pro Nitrous with a nice 3.869, only to be outdone by Jeff Naider's quicker 3.85. Blake Housley (right) is down in seventh with his 4.09 best. John DeFlorian took the scenic route in the third session, driving hard toward the left wall with the wheels in the air before he wisely lifted.We don’t think any further explanation is needed why we love turbo cars as Todd Moyer (near lane) and Mike Murillo pour the coals to their respective rides on the starting line to build boost in the third round of qualifying.
Qualifying Orders After 3 Rounds
Pro X-Treme
1. Brandon Pesz 3.628 208.91 2. Frankie Taylor 3.686 207.08 3. Tim Tindle 3.703 204.35 4. Quain Stott 3.707 203.86 5. Terry Legget 3.714 206.07 6. Todd Martin 3.725 204.82 7. Dan Millen 3.725 203.98 8. Randell Reid 3.741 205.66 9. Duane Rister 3.758 200.29 10. Mike Recchia 3.773 202.52 11. Todd Tutterow 3.792 200.86 12. Jon Stouffer 3.907 187.57 13. Danny Lowry 3.930 197.25 14. Aaron Wells 4.071 189.87 15. Neal Wantye 4.114 136.22
Pro Nitrous
1. Jeff Naiser 3.851 193.40 2. Bob Rahaim 3.869 195.14 3. Duke Snyder 3.957 187.23 4. Robert Mathis 3.981 188.67 5. Bill Glidden 4.007 184.90 6. Keith Haney 4.040 186.30 7. Blake Housley 4.091 180.60 8. Ron Muenks 6.258 75.53
X-Treme Pro Stock
1. Dean Goforth 4.083 177.49 2. Kevin Bealko 4.088 177.21 3. John Deflorian Jr. 4.100 176.97 4. Matt Bertsch 4.100 176.30 5. Richard Penland 4.125 176.24 6. Cary Goforth 4.130 175.68 7. Todd Hoerner 4.136 175.21 8. Rocky Watford 4.160 173.78 9. Rick Cowger 4.180 175.00
Pro Turbo
1. Todd Moyer 3.908 200.95 2. Mike Murillo 4.349 145.16
X-Treme Pro Mod
1. Kevin Rivenbark 3.935 188.52 2. Ron Muenks 3.959 185.38 3. T.J. Tindle 3.967 188.17 4. Keith Haney 4.069 178.02 5. Dan Stevenson 4.172 177.67
