We are getting started for final eliminations this morning with temps after a great day of qualifying on Saturday. The first time trials are under way for the bracket portion of the event with heads up round one starting around eleven AM. Stay tuned for the latest news from track side and the pits as we present our same day event coverage made possible by our friends at Comp Cams.
Gen Musto is based just north of Toronto, Canada running Outlaw Pro Mod this weekend with a new car purchased last year from Art Hodges built by Jerry Haas. This is the second outing for the team who is here shaking the car down in the Florida weather. The Nelson Competition engine was destined for his small tire Trans Am but is seeing duty here to get the car set up while the new 960 cubic inch bullet is being built b
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Chad Opaleski ran a person best 4.13 last night but paid a small price losing the head gasket on number one cylinder knocking him out of competition today. The team has faced a few issues related to the older parts used and is gearing up for a new engine from Fast Forward for 2016 which will add some reliability to the program. The 4.13 makes him the third quickest Procharged radial car. Rob Zark and Chad Opaleski (right) pictured. Jerico Balduf and crew are wrapping up routine maintenance this morning preparing for round one of Performance 2Way Communications Outlaw Pro Mod. The family based team has ran the car about three years now and have been creeping up on the tune, they are the fastest blown car in qualifying this weekend sitting third with the Jan Cen powered Gotham themed Willy’s.
Round One Results
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Open Outlaw, Outlaw 632, Ultra Street, Outlaw Pro Mod.
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Pro Drag Radial, 5.50, 650 and 7.50 Index. Kevin Fiscus was the last car down in TRZ Motorsports Pro Drag Radial this morning with the car set on “”Fast”. She went right down the track with a 4.01 at 197.84 MPH setting another best ET for Team FKR.Fast Forward/Innovative Racecraft Ultra Street was up next with Mike Freeman and Mike Wabuda up first. Wabuda was all in before Freeman staged scoring a .072 to Freeman’s off pace .288 reaction giving Wabuda a big advantage. At the stripe of would be Wabuda’s Procharged Trans Am (far lane) with the win, 5.09 to 4.95.Joe Albrecht drives a flat gorgeous 67 Nova based out of Bellmore, New York. He faced off with Brian Keep putting up a 4.95 at 143 to earn a spot in round two.Shawn Pevlor set low ET for the round running a 4.945 at 144 taking out Kevin Robinson. Pirez was just .001 slower in his winning match with Matt Shearin.Outlaw 632 racer Troy Blake met up with Tony Lobaldo’s 2005 Mustang putting up a 4.49 at 160 and will move on in competition.Mike Schmidt and Troy Pirez Sr. were up next with Pirez kicking the tires at the hit allowing Schmidt to go ahead for the round win.Ken Quartuccio set low ET and high MPH this round with a 4.453 at 161 to earn the win over john Lastinger in an all 69 Camaro pairing.In Aerospace Components/Buck Racing Engines Outlaw Pro Mod action Frank Cersosimo put up an .039 reaction against Jerico Balduf when he needed it earning a win over the quicker Balduf. 3.93 at 192 beats a 3.85 at 192 decided on the tree.Shannon Jenkins took out the Mel Bush Motorsports entry driven by Tommy D’Aprile making up for a slower reaction time by putting up a 3.87 to D’Aprile’s 3.91.Rick Fleck set low ET for the round against Robert Abbott running a 3.845 to Abbott’s 3.95.Travis Harvey (far lane) laid down a nice run against Andrew Handras moving on to round two with a3.86 at 193 MPH.Ron Logan met up with Craig Andrews running a 4.13 at 176 in Performance 2Way Open Outlaw and will move on to round two with his 96 Mullis dragster.Melissa Hutson qualified third and was paired with Wade Nunnelly for round one. Nunnelly took the starting line advantage but was no match for her 3.75 at 195 MPH run.Aryan Rochon drove through a little bit of tire shake to run a 3.87 at 188 taking out Bob Bridges.Fresh of her record 3.63 run last night, the quickest pass for a Procharger equipped car, she had an opponent broke by after Matt Gilmore broke a camshaft last night. She shook some, pedaled the car and let out saving it for further rounds today.
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OL 632, Open Outlaw, Outlaw Pro Mod and Pro Drag Radial. In round two of Ultra Street Bill Gregan faced off with number one qualifier Shawn Pevlor putting up a .027 reaction to Pevlor’s .207 due to an issue with the trans brake button. Gregan went on to earn a semi final spot running a 5.05 to Pevlor’s 4.93.Tim Hendricks faced of with Troy Pirez Jr. doing his job on the tree with a .017 reaction to Pirez’ .044. Both cars made clean runs but Troy laid down a 4.92 at 144 to take the win over Hendricks’ 5.03 at 142.Phil Esz faced off with Ron Logan in Open Outlaw putting up a 3.66 at 202.65 earning top MPH on the run.Outlaw Pro Mod saw Travis Harvey paired up with Dan Stevenson with both drivers late on the tree though the advantage went to Harvey. Down track both cars were running hard when Stevenson blew the hood scoop off with Harvey going 3.83 at 197 to take the round.Nova Joe Albrecht has run well today coming down from New York to get some racing/testing in with the Al-Lee Motorsports 67 Nova. The car was finished in August in house by Thriftway Chassis Works this year and ran at the Yellow Bullet Nats and No Mercy with promising results for car owner Eddie Whelan. The car is powered by an Extreme Racing Engines 15 degree small Chevy topped with Induction Solutions plate kit and backed by a Starias’ Transmission and Ultimate Converter. Pictured from left to right, John Albrecht Sr., Michael Lang, Amy Ehrlich, Joe Albrecht, Rico Mariani, Joe Alagna and car Owner Eddie Whelan.Joe Faced off with Bill Gregan in the semi final going .022 to Gregan’s .038 reaction. At the stripe Albrecht’s 4.92 at 144 took the win over Gregan’s game 5.002 at 140 MPH.Jason Juday and Ryan Thorp had a tight with Thorp cutting a .019 reaction time to Juday’s .043. Both cars were running well this weekend but it would be Juday to the stripe first running a 4.507 at 159 to Thorp’s 4.53 at 154.ken Quartuccio put up his best run of the weekend against Dillon Voss laying down a 4.50 at 159 to take the win over Voss who went -.011 red on the run.
Final Results
Travis Harvey faced off with Chris Patrick in the Outlaw Pro Mod Final taking the tree and the win with a 3.81 at 196 as Patrick slowed to a 4.18 at 134.Phil Esz faced off with Aryan Rochon in the Open Outlaw final round laying down a 3.64 at 202 earning the event win over local racer Aryan Rochon who put up a 3.78 at 194.Mike Stavrinos made it through the B field in Outlaw Pro Mod to meet up with Rick Hord’s Pontiac in a battle of twin turbo cars. Hord took a big starting line advantage with a .073 reaction going to to earn the hole shot win with a 4.05 at 189 to Stavrinos’ 3.94 at 196 MPH blast, his best run of the weekend in just the second time out with the car.Kevin Fiscus faced off with Bill Futch in TRZ Motorsports Pro Drag Radial final putting up a 4.05 at 189 to earn the event win.Bill Futch – TRZ Motorsports Pro Drag Radial runner up.Ken Quartuccio and Jason Juday met up in the final of Induction Solutions Outlaw 632. Both cars had been running well today with Quartuccio having lane choice by virtue of MPH as both racers ran idnetical ET’s in the semi finals. Juday knocked the tree down with a .004 reaction but lost a cylinder near the stripe killing some MPH. Both racers stepped it up for the final running weekend bests. A 4.426 for Quartuccio and a 4.462 for Juday with Quartuccio earnign the event win.The Fast Forward/Innovative Racecraft Ultra Street final was on fire with Troy Pirez Jr. meeting Joe Albrecht and both cars riding wheelies out. Pires was up hight and forced to pedal the car to bring it down slowing to a 5.02 at 142. Albrecht was .004 on the tree and out front taking the win with a 4.911 at 144 MPH.Robert Bjorkman based out of Ft Meyers, Florida faced off with Glen Scaggs in 5.50 Index final going .004 on the tree and scoring the win with a 5.524 at 116 scrubbing MPH off to Scaggs’ .066 5.513 at 124.5.50 Index Runner Up – Glen Scaggs.James Stover has been on a roll lately scoring several final round appearances near the end of the season. He put an .022 light on Joe Tillman for a sizable advantage. At the stripe he forced Tillman’s hand running a 7.514 as Tillman went under index with a 7.493.7.50 Index Runner Up – Joe Tillman.In a very close race Matt Marcus met with R.J. Myers in the final of 6.50 Index going .017 to Myers .022. At the stripe it would be Marcus’ 6.512 to Myers 6.515 with Marcus earnign the event win.6.50 Index runner Up – R.J. Myers.7.90 Index Jr. Dragster Winner – Michael Carpenter.7.90 Index Jr Dragster Runner Up – Kyle Anderson.8.90 Index jr. Dragster Winner – Travis Logan.Super Pro Winner – Alan GlattSuper Pro Runner Up – Mark Smullen.Sportsman Winner – Joe Tillman.Sportsman Runner Up – Max Nuebler IIIPro Cycle Winner – Candy Hagadorn.Pro Cycle Runner Up – Luc David.
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Welcome to day two of the 2015 Snowbird Outlaw Nationals. We have some great weather today with the blustery overcast weather well past up it’s time for some sunshine and good track conditions with surface temp about 80 degrees for round one qualifying. Stay tuned for same day updates from Bradenton all weekend. A special thanks to the team at Comp Cams, whose support makes our coverage here at Dragzine possible!
Ed Wester leads the 6.50 Index field after the first session today with a 6.501 at 105.53 MPH out of twenty seven cars.Rick Griffen sits in fourth spot in 5.50 Index with his 2003 Full size Chevy truck.Bill Lee Jr. has the teams small tire 79 Fairmont working well if a little of the 5.50 Index pace. They have been working onthe car gettign the ET down and are creeping up on the tune.
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Josh Klugger (right) and Chad Opaleski were the first pair out in TRZ Pro Drag Radial today with Fiscus edging out Opaleski for number one spot with a 4.21 at 188 to Opaleski's game 4.26 at 169 for the Procharged Hemi Chevelle. Ben Wolverton is running TRZ Motorsports Pro Drag Radial this weekend in his Punta Gorda. Florida based 78 Malibu. He got a little carried away in round one qualifying standing it up on the run. It set down pretty easy considering and suffered no damage.Troy Pirez Jr took the number one spot back from Shawn Pevlor later in the session of Fast Forward Race Engines Ultra Street with a personal best 4.918 at 146.96 MPH in the Fast Forward, PKRE, ATF, Innovative Racecraft General Lee Mustang.
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Pevlor and Pirez' nemesis Walter Drakeford sit two and three respectively. Troy Pirez Sr. led off Outlaw 632 today running a 4.55 at 163 MPH earning top MPH for the round and number three qualifier when the round was finished.. OL 632 has also picked up some new sponsors adding to the Induction Solutions title sponsor with PTC, Voss Racing Engines, Atlantic Collision and Carson Innovation Inc.Jason Juday earned top qualifier in OL 632 running a 4.48 at 160 in his Scotty’s Racing Technology, Induction Solutions 68 Firebird.Charlie Johnson also runs a 68 Pontiac but sports small tires on the car occasionally doing double duty in X275 at select events.Randy Hix has stepped up his game with a fresh 598 cubic inch big Chevy engine out of Fast Forward Race Enginesto motivate his 38 Chevy Coupe just installed this week. They are starting off easy getting the car and tune sorted out. He put up a 4.99 at 139 this session.Jay Cox ripped off a very nice 3.81 at 197 to earn top qualifier in Aerospace Components/Buck Racing Engines Outlaw Pro Mod.Rick Fleck put his 41 Willy’s in second spot running a 3.84 at 191 for the Lexington South Carolina based racer.Kevin Fiscus sits third but took top MPH for the session with a 207.27 MPH blast.Ken Cruz is sporting new paint this weekend applying the base and clear coat at his shop in Largo, Florida. He had Mark Anderson from Liquid Lenny’s Custom’s apply the custom flames. The car is looking good but will sit out the rest of the event of a broken fuel line leaned out the engine resulting in losing two connecting rods. Cruz told us there was a lot of fuel spraying and he was just glad it didn’t catch fire in the traps.Dan Stevenson ran into some serious tire shake in his qualifying attempt shutting it down early on the run.Jerico Balduf is all fixed up after running off the end of Orlando at the OWSN a few weeks back. Their painter picked up the nose in Orlando at the track and had it ready asap so they didn’t miss this event. He is currently not qualified.Phil Esz put his Procharged 2006 Spitzer dragster on top of Performance 2Way Communications Open Outlaw with a 3.73 at 188.Cynthiana, Kentucky based Ashley Tidrick sits second in class with a 3.76 at 192. She also runs a Spitxer chassis though it’s a newer 2013 model car running a Procharged 521 cubic inch Hemi.Brian Bednar wowed the crowd and likely himself on this wheel stand which isn’t very common with dragsters.
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Final Qualifying Results
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In the final session of Pro Drag Radial Josh Klugger lowered the bar to a 4.083 at 193 MPH, a personal best for Josh and team FKR.Chad Opaleski also tuned a new best today not once but twice running a 4.13 at 181 in the final session to hold on to second qualifier.
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Josh peel struggled some today in his 92 Camaro running a 4.66 in the second session. He was bumbed to fourth after Bill Futch jumped in with a 4.64 at just 122 MPH. Brian Keep organized a special event this weekend as a memorial to his friend John “Skip” Bennett who crewed with Keep and was like part of the family. Certainly a part of the local racing family here and away at various events. Skip’s family came out to celebrate and Brian gave him one last ride down the track to kick off the final session of Fast Forward Race Engines Ultra Street. Keep is qualified twelfth with a 5.11 at 139.Shawn Pevlor took top qualifier in Ultra Street from Troy Pirez Jr in round two with a 4.85 at 144. When it was time for the final session Pirez put some power to it running a new best 4.880 at 147.83 keeping best MPH for the day and staying in second.Dillon Voss took over top qualifier in round two of OL 632 with a 4.64 at 164 MPH from Jason Juday. In the final session he dropped it to a 4.41 at 166 staying out front of the class.Ken Quartuccio moved up to fifth in the second session running a 4.54 and improved that to a 4.517 at 161 in the final session.Ryan Thorpe was qualified with a 4.65 at 152 in eleventh place. That was just not good enough though and the team set out on a mission scoring a new best ET 4.53 at 157 in the final session moving up to sixth spot in the field for the Fast Forward powered 2002 Chevy Cobalt.Jay Cox led all day in Outlaw Pro Mod lowering his time to a 3.799 at 196 in the last round.Jerico Balduf improved his lot in class improving with a new best ET to a 3.84 at 193 to land third spot after Travis Harvey, who also improved with every pass today running a 3.800 at 197 in the final session.Dan Stevenson shoots mad header flames on this pass this evening. He landed seventh with a 3.89 at 195.Fast Frank Cersosimo is chipping away at the teams new Mustang. The 5 day Plantation Shutter and Blinds entry sits fifteenth with a 3.96 at 191. There will be a second chance Pro Mod race on Sunday for the other cars. This looks to be the fastest Pro Mid field here at the Snowbirds, no use sending these guys home as many are here to take advantage of the track and weather for their last session of the year. There are plenty of fast cars sitting out with the 3.972 bump.Jason Scruggs is not entered in the race as his Pro Boost combo is not legal. Never the less he is running well scoring a 3.529 at 218.71 MPH showing the track surface and weather are good here this weekend.Ashley Tidrick knocked one out of the park in Open Outlaw running a stellar 3.633 at 199 in the final session taking the top spot from Phil Esz.Stanley Albritton Jr. put a pass together in the final session landing eighth with a 4.04 at 175.
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The racers and exibition cars played to a packed house today with dragsters from Embry Riddle University, the Chevy Rebellion wheelstander and Bob Motz jet powered semi.
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The traditional season finale of heads-up drag racing, the Snowbirds Outlaw Nationals, kicks off this weekend at the Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. As always, we’ll be in the house to bring you all the news, notes, results, and photos from this winter drag racing extravaganza in the Sunshine State! A special thanks to the team at Comp Cams, whose support makes our coverage here at Dragzine possible!
Mike Stavrinos debut the teams car here at the Outlaw drag Racing Championships in October after repairs from Coast Chassis Design and a combination swap to a 572 cubic inch twin turbo big Chevy from Progressive Racing Engines. A leaking head gasket ended their weekend but the team is back here and ready to rock. Boost comes from a pair of Garrett 94’s with tuning from Carlo Zaldivar. This is their second outing with this set up returning from a crash and fire here last year. From left to right, Dino Stavrinos, Cami, Mike Stavrinos and Paul.Travis Harvey is here with a new Jerry Bickel 69 Camaro owned by Von Myles. The car is powered y a Sonny’s Racing 959 and Speedtech Nitrous. Sponsors include CK Motorsports, Von Myles, Hoosier, Sonny’s and M&M Transmissions. “I want to thank CK Motorsports and Von Myles for providing the resources for us to come out race and have fun doing it, if it wasn’t for him I couldn’t be out here doing this. – Travis “The Carolina Kid” Harvey.Scott Brasket has his new car out for the second time this year. He tested at Norwalk in October and has made a converter change since then. This car was built in house by Brasket and features a big Chevy topped with a Littlefield blower and backed by a Quickdrive and Lenco three speed trans. He plans to test the car with the Chevy engine before switching to a Hemi which is still being built.Rick Fleck ran the PDRA circuit the full year finishing fourth in Pro Boost points and is here for some testing and a little racing this weekend with his 41 Willy’s. The team has had little time for testing this year but has been in the 3.70’s and showing promise for improvement.
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Jim Bersani has this new 1969 Chevelle Pro Mod based out of Syracuse, New York. The car is powered by a twin turbo Hemi with short block assembly by Mike Stawicki. A pair of Garrett 88's provide the boost with Big Stuff 3 engine management, an MSD Grid and AMS 2000 boost controller controlling the power management with Crew Chief Paul Francia manning the keyboard. The chassis was built by Vanishing Point Race Cars as a base roller with the team finishing it off in house and topped with an Andy McCoy body. This car replaces his 57 Chevy that was ruined in an accident at Budds Creek last year. Blazer Dave Ridgely was out early in the test session running a 5.0 at 138 MPH in the Ultra Street Mud Truck.
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Frank Cersosimo (left) and Raymond Commisso, who has a brand new car this weekend, left hard but struggled past 100 feet in todays test session before the rain dampened the afternoon. Hopefully the weather will pass and the staff can get things dried off for tonight's scheduled bracket race and heads up testing.
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Jay Bell moved here about two years ago from Ohio and has run his Anvil Motorsports Mustang here bracket racing on a semi regular basis. The car features a big block Ford power plant pushing the car to 5/60 - 5.70 ET's. Plans fro 2016 include a bigger engine and moving up to Outlaw 632 with Troy Pirez consulting on the upgrades and tuning assistance for the class. Josh Peel brought out his old ORSCA Limited Street Camaro which he has campaigned randomly in Outlaw Drag Radial since but has been put away since 2014 after losing a rod at SGMP. The 1992 Camaro is powered by a big Chevy with twin turbos and was built in house by Josh Peel at Mad Motorsports in Chipley, Florida.
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Jay Bell moved here about two years ago from Ohio and has run his Anvil Motorsports Mustang here bracket racing on a semi regular basis. The car features a big block Ford power plant pushing the car to 5/60 - 5.70 ET's. Plans fro 2016 include a bigger engine and moving up to Outlaw 632 with Troy Pirez consulting on the upgrades and tuning assistance for the class. Shawn Pevlor made the drive down from Cincinnati to compete in Ultra Street this weekend as as garner some end of year testing. He ran a 4.86 earlier this afternoon and backed it up with another .86 a short time ago showing he is ready for whatever may come in the class this weekend.Jason Scruggs made a couple of runs today scoring a 3.74 at 191 MPH on his last run this evening. The weather is good today with a tail wind. According to Airdensityonline.com the DA was about 916 feet just about an hour ago.Another racer running well is Jay Cox who put up a 3.76 at 200 MPH in the Bryant Industrial Crane and Rigging, Buck Racing powered Pro Nitrous Camaro.Wild Bill Devine from Bullseye Turbo is here with his manual trans equipped Twin Turbo Mustang. He hasn’t quite made a full pass that we saw but is looking good to near half track so far.Dave French put up a 4.59 at 152 MPH for a personal best ET for team Powermad Racing. He recently switched to a custom torque converter from Automatic Transmission Factory with this being the first event with the new piece.Rick Fleck powered his way to a nice 3.81 at 192 MPH.Open Outlaw Racer Aaron Rochon put up a 3.93 at 185 in the Rocycle Rocket. He has been quicker but it’s a good start for the weekend.
