Jimmy Stoupas took delivery of a new Pro Mod rolling chassis this weekend. The Nikos Racing crew has three cars this weekend with Katie Stoupas running 6.50 Index and Bracket and their daughter Alexi running 7.90 Index Jr. Dragster, She is the 7.90 Jr. Index 2014 Champion. The Camaro is a Rick Jones chassis and was run in Division one Top Sportsman and some Pro Mod events. Jimmy has a Buck Racing 785 with Switzer Dynamics nitrous, the same combo the new car had so the learning curve should be fairly short after the swap.

Rob Briscoe is not quite where he wants to be despite qualifying number one in Outlaw 632. The Chassis was done and updated at Tube Carz and is powered by a Nelson Competition 632 with Applied Nitrous Technology systems. He just switched to an M&M three speed transmission and is running a converter from Converter Designs. Hank Hill assisted some on the chassis set up this weekend.

Phil Esz is the top qualifier in Open Outlaw this weekend. Phil ran the Top Dragster in the PDRA series this year and his Ultrasonic LLC sponsored the Ultra Four Shootout at the PDRA this year. He holds the PDRA record at 3.67 and has been a .68 and .69 so far. The combo is a BAE 500 inch topped with a Hammer supercharger based on a Fowler F11 case backed by a Snyder Motorsports Lenco drive trans with an NCRC converter. Phil is partnered in the car with Ron Bales. Other sponsors include R&R connecting rods, Arias Pistons and Fowler Engines.

We spoke with Artie McElwee this morning, car owner of the Powershield Coating dragster driven by his brother Mark. They hurt a cylinder at the last race int he final after hurting an engine testing back in October so the crew took a look and re evaluated their engine program on the break. They have redone the fuel system to supply more fuel at DMPE with Darren Mayer.

Tim Hendricks left hard, yanking the wheels on his way to a win over Rob Orsino.

In round one of Outlaw 632 Jordan Ensslin got into tire shake almost immediately in his match with J.R. Akins shutting it off as Akins went down straight running a 4.63 at 151.

Troy vs. Troy was up next with Pirez going red and wheel standing in his loss to Troy Blake who ran a 4.49, besting his qualifying ET by nearly a tenth.

Anthony Masiello also improved running a 4.47 at 160 taking out James Horvath who had issues and shut down to a 11.73.

The upset of the round came when Dave French and Rob Briscoe lined up. Briscoe put up a 4.44 at 158 but trailed some smoke near the finish line and his off pace 158 MPH suggested he may have hurt it. Dave will advance to round two with his 4.70 at 154.

Heather Carter had a single after Mike Schmidt didn’t make it to the waterbox. She put up a 4.56 at 155 and is running well in her second time out after a runner up finish at the Citrus Nationals at PBIR.

Tom Lee struggled with tire shake in qualifying and think he may have a broken shock from the severe shake he experienced so they swapped shocks for the Outlaw 632 second chance eliminations paying off with a 4.40 at 158. That’s gonna leave a mark as Lee is the only naturally aspirated car here this weekend. The car is a former Pro Stock car and is running an older Pro Stock engine all owned by Tom Lee.

Open Outlaw had some good racing with Mark McElwee and Eric Floyd first out. McElwee was off pace with a 4.32 at 186, pedaling after some shake early in the run.

Andy Johnson runs a unique engine combo in Open Outlaw with a Procharged big Chevy powering the 2013 Spitzer chassis. His 3.81 at 192 was better than his qualifying run, he took the win with John Alberigi scraping the wall near the 330.

Phil Esz improved to a 3.67 at 199, matching his PDRA record pace in a win over Wade Nunnelly.

Chris Rini just edged his qualifying ET in a match with Taylor Lastor who also put up his best run. Rini took the win with a 3.812 at 195 to Lastor’s 3.89 at 192.

Mike Stawicki (far lane) took a close match with Jimmy Keen. Near identical reaction times and a best of weekend 3.85 at 193 for Stawicki while Keen was close to his qualifying numbers with a 3.868 at 193.

Fast Frank Cersosimo took out Kevin Fiscus on the tree with a .058 light to Fiscus’ .099. At the strip Fiscus was 3.849 at 202 to Franks 3.87 at 193, both racers had their best run of the weekend.

Shannon Jenkins (near lane) took out Robert Abbott with a stellar 3.79 at 197 MPH blast to Abbott’s consistent 3.95.

Todd Tutterow took the win for Galot Motorsports in Outlaw Pro Mod after some good runs through the weekend and one lucky round where he got out of the groove and pedaled the car, squeaking by his opponent after they lost a blower belt. A big thanks to Earl Wells, owner of Galot Motorsports, Other sponsors on the car include Redline Oil, Ross Pistons, Mark Payne, MVM Carbon wheelie bars, Pro Fab Headers, Neal Chance Racing Converters, Protect the Harvest, Hoosier Tires, Aeromotive, Sunoco Fuels and Hank Thomas.

Outlaw Pro Mod runner up Chris Rini had a good weekend qualifying number two and running several 3.81’s before hurting the engine in the final and slowing to a 3.868 at 189 after the DA dropped to 530 feet. Sponsors on the car include ATI, Buck Racing Engines, Switzer Dynamics, Lithium Pro Batteries, Steffs, Lovendhall Racing and Baskin Truck Sales. Most of the sponsors are locked in for 2015 with Rini planning to run the full Big Dog Shootout series. Crew for the team is David Campbell, Clint Lovendhall, Tim Davis and Ken Moser. Photo courtesy Bryan Epps.

Ruben Tetsoshvili took the win in the Outlaw Pro Mod Second Chance race after struggling with the set up in qualifying, He is running a fresh Nelson Competition Hemi this weekend and is the first time out with the new combo. He put up a 4.02 in round one and a 4.01 in the final against Greg Cason, both runs being new best ET’s. Sponsors include Proformance Transmissions, Mickey Thompson Tires, Pro Lite Batteries, Nelson Competition. Crew this weekend was Brett, Wyatt, Scotty and Ernie with help from his partner in Pro Lite Batteries Kevin Fiscus. Photo courtesy Bryan Epps.

Outlaw Pro Mod runner up Greg “Racin” Cason. Photo Courtesy Bryan Epps.

Open Outlaw winner Phil Esz laid down a career best 3.660 at 200.89 in his Ultrasonic LLC sponsored dragster setting the track record in the process in a round two win over Tom Wirth who ran his best of the weekend 3.79 at 187. He was beat on the tree in the final by .009 but was able to get by Melissa with a 3.69 to her 3.82. Crew this weekend was Lauren, Jim, Ron, Karl and Tristan with some crucial help from Rick Hickman. Phil’s mother Phylis was here this weekend and he dedicated this win to his father Mike Eaz who passed away nearly two years ago. The engine is named Michael 500 after his father.

2014 Open Outlaw Champion Melissa Hutson took the runner up spot this weekend in Open Outlaw. They were testing a new tuneup this weekend coming away with a new personal best 3.741. Sponsors are NAPA, Hutson Automotive and Snyder Motorsports with special thanks going out to Mom and Dad. Photo courtesy Bryan Epps.

Chad Opaleski switched to a Hemi from Steve Morris this year and has been working hard getting the car going A to B. The team got some good runs in this weekend running a 4.49 in qualifying then another personal best in round one over Mel Nelson with a 4.437 at 179. He met Pro Drag Radial 2014 Champion Scott Husted in the final slowing slightly to a 4.51 at 176 taking the win as Husted had issues early and shut it down. Rob Zarcone handles engine tuning on the Dan Neumann built Chevelle with crew being his Father Andy, Santi, Rob Sanchez and Kelly Reese with Steve Cooks also helping out this weekend. Fast Forward Race Engines has maintained the engine here in Florida and F.A.S.T. EFI is also on board. Photo courtesy Bryan Epps.

Scott Husted qualified number one in Pro Drag Radial and was the event runner up this weekend. e runs a Nelson Competition 598 with Cylinder Heads from HPS Cylinder Heads in a chassis originally out of Catagory 5 Race Cars and updated by Scott’s own Gadget Race Cars. Crew is Bobby Holinsworth and his wife along with Scott’s wife Jill Husted.

Dillon Voss took the win in OL 632 this weekend setting the ET and MPH record with his 4.411 at 164.02 MPH. They were having some clutch issues today but certainly figured that out in the final against J.R. Akins.

Outlaw 632 Runner Up J.R. Akins.

Tom Lee showed up with his former Pro Stock car and a new engine just installed Wednesday and struggled with tire shake in testing and qualifying winding up in the OL 632 second chance race. The team traced the issue to a broken rear shock, likely damaged from the tire shake and swapped them out for Sunday’s eliminations and promptly putting up a 4.40 at 158 MPH in round one this morning. Richard Earle from Suncoast Race Cars was here assisting with several cars this weekend and gave a hand to Lee along with the Voss Racing crew. He put up a stellar 4.32 in round two and finished the night with a 4.366 at 159.80 in the final against Stephen Adams taking the win. Photo courtesy Bryan Epps.

Stephen Adams was the Outlaw 632 Second Chance runner up, here for the first time in Bradenton. Stephen ran the Heads Up Madness series at Sunshine Dragstrip in OL 632 on several occasions prior to the series moving to Bradenton with a Vega. He struggled some figuring out the track this weekend improving to 4.64 at 152 in the final against Tom Lee. The 632 Chevy was built at Stephen’s Adams Automotive and featured two Induction Solutions nitrous systems.

Troy Pirez Jr. made it to the winners circle again with the trusty General Lee Innovative Racecraft Pirez/Sanders Racing Mustang taking the win for the first time in Ultra Street. Pirez ran 5.0’s all day meeting Kevin Robinson in the final taking the win with a 5.03 at 140 MPH. Sponsors include Induction Solutions, Pro Systems, Diamond Pistons PTC, PKRE and Fast Forward Race Engines. It’s been a long time coming and the list of thankyous is very long indeed.

Ultra Street runner up Kevin Robinson hails from Blythwood, South Carolina and has been to several Ultra Street events here in Bradenton. He runs a 440 cubic inch bullet and nitrous system from Applied Nitrous backed by a trans and converter from Cameron’s Torque Converter Services. Other sponsors on the car include Leash Electronics, Mencser Motorsports, VP Fuels and Fire Core 50. Photo Courtesy Bryan Epps.