“Not bad for a rainout, huh?”
That tongue-in-cheek remark from Jason Rueckert during a break in the action on Saturday evening summed up nicely the second annual Ohio Valley Prize Fight, as week-long weather forecasts predicting a virtual washout of the event never fully came to fruition. And while the weatherman may have kept a few racers and spectators at bay, it did little to dampen the anticipation and enthusiasm of those who did take part in what became — following a postponement of eliminations into a much cooler Sunday morning — a world record-setting drag race.
The always-jovial Rueckert teamed up once again with Terry and Billy Huff and the crew at the Ohio Valley Raceway and his track-prep ‘Dream Team’ cohort Tyler Crossnoe to put on the second rendition of the Prize Fight, which left a mark on the radial tire racing scene a year ago with a highly successful first edition that left all involved with no choice but to host another one. In the end, only a few brief moments of rain fell, a pair of new world records were set, and a host of very deserving racers — including Shane Stack (Pro Drag Radial,) Jack McCarty (X275), Darren Hilterbran (Nitrous X), and Joel Greathouse (Ultra Street) — all hoisted some heavy-duty championship belts for their winning efforts.
The quickest and fastest category at the Prize Fight, Pro Drag Radial, was perhaps also the most diverse field on the grounds. The class was led by a pair of radial racing stars in Tommy Rainer, who led the field with a great 4.22 from his twin-turbo Camaro, and Mark Woodruff, with a 4.23 from his familiar Corvette. But behind them were a number of 275 radial-equipped machines that were ready to pounce should those with more suitable firepower stumble at any point.
And that’s exactly what happened.
In the opening round of eliminations under the lights on Saturday evening, Rainer got caught without the turbos spooled at the tree and came up on the losing end of a huge upset to Jimmy Plimpton Jr., who had qualified dead-last in the field. Then, in the second round on Sunday morning, Woodruff was upset by Shane Stack (running on a smaller 275 radial) on a huge holeshot, 4.37 to 4.34. With No. 3 qualifier Nick Yarber also out of competition after hurting his engine in the opening round, it came down to two 275 cars — Stack and Phil Hines — and one on the 315: Mike Hupp.
In the semis, Hupp lost traction right off the starting line and could only watch Stack blast into the final with an off-pace 4.86. Hines, for his part, cranked off a weekend-best 4.34 from his ProCharger F-3R-130 equipped Mustang on a single to advance into the final. For Hines, it was nothing short of spectacular that he’d even made it this far, after blowing his intercooler apart twice in qualifying and seeking out a local welder just to stay in contention.
In the final, however, Hines struck the tires for the first time all day and Stack didn’t, running a 4.32 for the win.
Greg Smith, driving Jack Vanovers’ nitrous-fed, big block Mustang was the star of the show for much of the weekend in X275. Smith topped the stout field of fifteen racers with a 4.52 at 157.33 mph after four rounds of qualifying, but with some stiff competition from top to bottom in the always-tough 275 radial tire eliminator, nothing was a given.
Smith clocked another 4.52 in round one, and then rolled back around on Sunday morning and made the quickest run ever by a big block nitrous car at 4.48-seconds in conditions completely opposite of what had been experienced the two days prior — with a corrected altitude reported at less than 1,000-feet.
All weekend long, however, Jack McCarty had maintained pace with Smith, and just as it should be, the two quickest cars in the field met in a titanic final round matchup. There, McCarty put a slight .016 to .023 advantage on Smith out of the gate and never looked back, taking a very close 4.52 to 4.53 victory.
Tipp City, Ohio’s Darren Hilterbran led qualifying in Nitrous X in his Fox body Mustang with a stellar 4.72, just ahead of Shawn Pevlors’ 4.77 and local favorite Tim Knieriem’s 4.84. During eliminations, Hilterbran was virtually dominant, running 4.73 on an opening round single before carding the quickest Nitrous X pass ever in the cool Sunday morning air with a crushing 4.701 at 150.98 mph. Pevlor, who was doing double-duty in Nitrous X and Ultra Street, ousted Knieriem with a 4.79 to move into the final, but was certainly the underdog going into the championship belt match.
Pevlor gave it everything he had, and despite a stumble early in the run, still kept Hilterbran honest in the final, coming up just short, 4.74 to a 4.84
Kentucky’s own Joel Greathouse ran the table in the popular Ultra Street category, qualifying atop the field with a great 4.86 from his turbocharged, KBX-prepared Mustang and winning the event while resetting the national record for the class in the process. Greathouse dropped everyone’s jaws in the second round opposite of Micheal Roemer, when he rolled to a new national record of 4.819 at 145.58 mph on the tacky Ohio Valley eighth-mile. He then followed that up with a 4.86 in the semifinals opposite of Pevlors’ 4.97 to move into the final. On the other side of the ladder, Virginia native Henry Lee was quietly going rounds with runs right in the 5.00 range, but in the final, he slowed and could only watch as Greathouse finished off a spectacular weekend with a 4.87-second winning run.
Many times over the course of the weekend, Rueckert reveled in what he’d worked so hard throughout the last year to create — for a second time — proclaiming over the mic that he should rename it “The Fun Nationals” in an ode to the laid-back yet still very competitive and exciting event that the Prize Fight has become. And so fun it is, that a third installment is already in the works, and with such a stellar track surface at Ohio Valley making record runs a distinct reality, even hinted at his hopes to hold an event in the fall months in the future.
Those who weren’t there have every reason to kick themselves…and as for the weatherman? Well, as we heard repeated many times in the control tower during the weekend: “that guys an idiot!”
TOP FIVE: BAD RIDES FROM THE PRIZE FIGHT
Mike Hupp’s Pro Drag Radial Malibu
Fans of small-tire racing should be quite familiar with Mike “The Hammer” Hupps’ gorgeous flamed Chevrolet Malibu, but they’ve never seen the Malibu quite like this. Hupp, who has been making a go of the Radial Wars and Pro Drag Radial classes with a trashcan-sized centrifugal supercharger on his car in recent years, made the swap to a set of 94mm Bullseye turbochargers and debuted the new combo at the Prize Fight, where he made a career-best run of 4.38 at 175 on just its seventh pass during qualifying. Hupp’s machine features power from a Steve Schmidt-built 632-inch big block with Mike Duke-prepped cylinder heads. The chassis was built by Pro Tree Race Cars, and uses an M&M Turbo 400 and converter combo to transfer the power back to a fabricated 9-inch rear via a carbon fiver driveshaft.
Scott Vestal’s Nitrous X Ford Mustang
Without a doubt one of the sharpest looking rides on the property was Scott Vestal’s jet-black Fox body Mustang, which is at much at-home on an unprepped race track as it was on the ultra-tacky Ohio Valley strip. Vestal, from Bristol, Tennessee, routinely runs his car “anywhere that pays well,” and wasn’t shy about sharing with us that the car will go 5.0’s on a no-prep eighth-mile with the clocks turned off. In Nitrous X trim, however, he’s been 4.70s, and was well into the fours at the Prize Fight, going 4.91 in qualifying.
Vestal’s Mustang is powered by a 468-inch big block with Edelbrock SC-1 heads, built by he and his crew with components sourced from Tony Bischoff at BES Engines. A self-built Powerglide and a TSI converter transfer the power to a Strange Engineering center section and axles. Racecraft suspension components are present front and rear, with Santhuff struts up front and Menscer shocks out back. Vestal runs a Pro Systems carburetor with an Applied Nitrous fogger system.
Michael Roemer’s Ultra Street Chevy S-10
“The Flying Pickle”, as it came to be known at last years’ Prize Fight, did all kinds of flying at this year’s edition. With the promise of some excellent track prep, Roemer and his family traveled down from Wadsworth, Illinois to take on the Ultra Street contingent. The S-10, which rides on a homebuilt 25.5 chassis, is motivated by a 440 cubic inch, 23-degree small black Chevrolet built by T&T Engines, with a Nitrous Express single bar entry plate system delivering the extra ‘oomph’ to the tune of an estimated 400-shot.
An ATD Powerglide moves the power back to a Ford 9-inch rear, with a ladder bar rear suspension. TRZ components and Menscer shocks all the way around help plant the power. Unfortunately, there was a little too much power on tap in the second round on Sunday when Roemer went into orbit and dragged the rear bumper while in an impressive wheelstand. But not before he made a career best run of 5.05, with tuning help coming from Jimmy Plimpton.
Eddie Krawiec’s X275 Chevrolet Camaro
It’s been a long time coming, but three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Eddie Krawiec finally got the opportunity to debut his fourth-gen Camaro at the Prize Fight, utilizing a break in the NHRA schedule to do so. Much of the 25.5-spec chassis and fabrication work was done by DMC Racing in Massachusetts, before Eddie finished the car up back in Indiana. Power comes from a 440-inch LS built by Billy Briggs, and has a single 85mm Precision turbo onboard for X275 action. The Camaro, as was reported back in the early stages of the build, was drawn up in a manner that would allow Krawiec to move around to different classes with a turbo and tire swap, so that he could run Pro Drag Radial, X275, and LSX Shootout events with the same car.
Krawiec sourced a number of components, including the front suspension setup, rear end housing, and torque arm from Midwest Race Cars. The car also runs on JRi shocks.
At Ohio Valley, Krawiec ripped off a 4.85 and followed it up with a 4.87 in testing, then added another 4.85 for good measure during qualifying, but had some mechanical gremlins and couldn’t make the call for eliminations.
Nathan Stinson’s X275 Chevrolet Nova
If you like cars with stance, then you’ve gotta’ love Nathan Stinson’s mean-looking Nova. Hailing from Greenbriar, Tennessee, a short drive from Nashville, Stinson took the classic Chevy he’s owned since his teenage years and went all-out with the buildup of the car more than a year ago, turning to B&B Race Cars to handle the chassis and suspension side of things. In addition to the chassis and fabrication work, B&B added a 9-inch rear with Moser components, Santhuff rear shocks with ladder bars, and Menscer shocks up front.
Bennett Racing Engines built the 400-inch small block Chevy, which sports symmetric port heads and is fed by a large frame 88mm Precision turbo. A Powerglide built by Dale Whitaker and a PTC Converter back it all up.
Stinsons debuted the car in June of 2014, and at this years’ Prize fight, qualified eighth with a 4.73.
PREVIOUS WEEKEND COVERAGE:
Round One Qualifying
Round Two Qualifying
Round Three Qualifying
After a long rain delay, we’ve finally completed qualifying here at the Prize Fight and the fields are now set in all classes. We’ll be headed into eliminations this evening.
Final Qualifying Orders
Eliminations Ladders
Final Eliminations
Pro Drag Radial – Shane Stack 4.322 def. Phil Hines 9.957
X275 – Jack McCarty 4.527 def. Greg Smith 4.533
Ultra Street – Joel Greathouse 4.877 def. Henry Lee 7.813
Nitrous X – Darrn Hilterbran 4.7242 def. Shawn Pevlor 4.845
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