Qualifying was filled with stellar performances and excitement but today is game day as racers battle it out under the Florida sunshine at the Tenth annual US Street Nationals.
Thanks for our event coverage sponsor Comp Cams, check them out for the latest in camshaft technology.
Petey pulls the 7.50 Index class racers around the corner this morning. That’s John Wilson in the Camaro, he is a multi time class winner here at Bradenton.
Final Qualifying Results
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It was a big block Chevy-powered Fox Mustang with Kevin Neil making it past Scott Husted in round 1 of eliminations. Husted had to abort the run, handing Neil the win.Rob Briscoe made a full pass in round 1 of Outlaw 632, but that’s because Alexander Padilla was in the other lane. Briscoe got the win with 4.48 at 153 mph over Padilla’s 4.68, also at 153 mph.
Round One Results
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Keith Berry made it past Kevin Neil in round 2. Looks like Neil had the holeshot, but Berry came around for the win.Don Lamana gets past Mike Cantu in round 2 of X275.Patrick Clenney gets past Jamie Stanton in round 2 of X275 with a 4.68 at 154 mph to a 4.72 at 153 mph for Stanton.Mike Freeman takes the 2nd round win over Don Cruz’s Grand National. Freeman ran a 4.71 to Cruz’s off-pace 5.28.Dillon Voss met up against Rob Briscoe in an Outlaw 632 heavy-hitter match-up. Briscoe had just run a 4.48 the previous round, so it shaped up to be a barn-burner. Unfortunately for Briscoe, he had troubles at the start, and the race was over pretty quick, with Voss taking the win.Jimmy Keen makes it past round 2 with a 3.91. Keen had engine issues yesterday with a broken rocker and lifter, but the team looks to have that issue fixed.Will Stevenson is running well this weekend recording a 4.19 in qualifying. He did his job on the tree vs. Rick Thornton but didn’t have enough to stay in front of his opponents 4.12. Thornton is doing well in the first weekend with radials.Agostino is also new to radials and loving it so far, his 4.10 is low of round two.Steve Adams turned the red bulb on against James Horvath in OL632 round two. He is another racer on the MT 275 Pro Tire and doing well running 4.70’s.Troy Blake put up a 4.52 at 159 for his round win over Al Dito,Ken Cruz broke the rear on the hit against Johnny Pilcher in Outlaw Pro Mod. Pilcher went on to a 4.05 at 179.Kevin Rivenbark went low of the round on Outlaw Pro Mod, running a 3.870 at 193. He was paired with the 2014 OPM Champion Frank Cersosimo who shut off before staging with issues.
Round Two Elimination Results
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Like his dad is in Outlaw 632, Troy Pirez, Jr is headed to the final of Ultra Street to race Mike Fratena. Pirez will have his work cut out for him since Fratena ran a 5.01 in the semis to get past Eugene Rodriquez.In X275, who would’ve thought we would have Mike Freeman against Patrick Clenney. The two scraped and clawed their way to the final against more-favored foes. Freeman and Clenney both worked hard on their set-ups, and everything came together in the semi-finals for both racer. Freeman defeated Don Lamana, and Clenney took out number 1 qualifier Jared Johnston.Keith Berry relied on a quicker reaction time than Rick Thornton to get him into the final. Berry ran a 4.07 compared to Thornton’s 4.04. In the other semi-final match-up, David Demarco squeaked by Nick Agostino to earn his spot in the final. So it’s Demarco vs Wooooo Nation in the final of Pro Drag Radial.It’s going to be Camaro on Camaro, Troy on Troy for the final of Outlaw 632. Difference is Troy Pirez brings an ’88 Camaro running a set of the new 28×10.5 pro Bracket Radials, while Troy Blake pilots a ’69 Camaro. Pirez had an outstanding .416 light against Dillon Voss to take out the number 1 qualifier, while Blake had to overcome getting tree’d by James Horvath to get the round win.
Final Results
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If anything stands out from the US Nationals, it’s that the most consistent racers won their class. In a class like Outlaw Pro Mod, where there are so many variables, you’d think racers would be all over the place. However, Kevin Rivenbark proves you can have a consistently fast hot rod. Rivenbark ran 3.80s in the 2nd, 4rd, and final round to get the win. Jimmy Keen was Rivenbark’s competition for the final, but a 3.96 wasn’t enough for the hometown Keen. “It was a pretty good pass, the first time it didn’t shake through the middle on a run today. Thanks to Earl Wells and Galot Motorsports, Todd Tutterow and all my crew and those who helped this weekend.” – Kevin RivenbarkAlways one of the top guys in Pro Mod competition, Todd Tutterow ran the table in Xtreme Pro Mod. He qualified in the top spot and ran a 3.60 at 207 mph to get the win over Adam Flamholc in the final. Flamholc had engine troubles during the weekend, but was still able to keep competing. Just after the launch in the final, Flamholc took a hard left, and he had to abort the run.In Outlaw 632, Troy Pirez was trying to make it a double win for the Pirez family against Troy Blake’s ’69 Camaro. Pirez was out first with a .456 light, but shortly after the launch Pirez ran into mechanical maladies breaking an input shaft and handing the win to Blake, who ran a 4.50 at 159 mph. Blake’s Camaro was on a string of 4.50s all day on Sunday, and it was enough for the win. “We struggled in qualifying and had some help from Hank Hill getting the suspension set up this morning. Also I would like to thank Jimmy V and my family for supporting me out racing.” – Troy Blake.It was bound to happen. It seemed like David Demarco and Keith Berry would meet in the final, and as it turned out, that’s exactly what happened. Both Demarco and Berry took care of their respective side of the ladder, setting up a turbo LS vs Roots-blown Hemi match-up. The race was even out of the gate, but Berry was able to power it to the finish with a 4.06 at 191 mph, to Demarco’s 4.12 184 mph. Demarco was at Bradenton the whole week prior to the event testing out his new combo, which shows great promise, but it was winner winner, chicken dinner for Wooooo! Nation.First and foremost I want to thank the Lord for keeping us all save my family and my sponsors and my crew. Crew chief Ryan Rakestraw, Proline, Fuel Tech and Joey Bell for keeping the car prepared. We wanted to show we aren’t a fluke, it’s gonna be a long season for everybody else” – Keith BerryIn a battle that maybe no one saw coming in X275, Patrick Clenney and Mike Freeman squared off in the final round. Clenney was out first with a .450 light, compared to Freeman’s .478, and the big block machine of Clenney took over from there. Freeman ran a 4.73 again, like he did in his 1st round bye, and he ran 4.70s like his car was on cruise control, but once Clenney figured out what his car liked, he was consistently in the 4.60s every round. On this day, Clenney’s 4.66 took the win.In Ultra Street, Troy Pirez, Jr had his problems this weekend, but he kept working on the car to make the next round. His 5.08 at 139 mph was the first time he was in the 5.0s on Sunday, and it was good enough to get past Mike Fratena’s turbocharged Camaro in the final. However, it was only because of Pirez’s holeshot .459 light because Fratena ran a 5.03, to a winning 5.08.
This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the US Street Nationals here in Bradenton and we could not ask for better weather this weekend. We have a great turnout and several new cars running Pro Drag Radial. Stay tuned to Dragzine for the latest updates from our seam day coverage.
Thanks to our event coverage sponsor Comp Cams, check them out for the latest in camshaft technology.
Billy Glidden progressed up the ladder after 2nd round with a 3.90 at 194 mph to get him into the 6th spot. In the first round he had to abort the run shortly after the launch.Vic and Jimmy Keen are from just up the road in Parrish, FL, and they had their ’63 Corvette in Outlaw Pro Mod. Coming out of the burnout box, the engine started making noise, and Keen shut it off. Back in the pits it was discovered the engine broke a rocker, which in turn took out a lifter, as well. Here, Vic works on the rocker under the expert supervision of former heads-up racer Tony Christian.We brought news of David Reese’s new ’41 Willys running in Xtreme Pro Mod. Unfortunately, in round 2 of qualifying Reese scraped the wall, and had to be towed back to the pits.The award for biggest bullhorns at the 2015 US Nationals goes to Patrick Clenney and his sinister ’91 Fox Mustang coupe. After 2nd round, Clenney qualified in the lucky 7th spot with a 4.94 at an off-pace 113 mph. That pass was clearly not his best, but he’ll be back for round 3 to improve his standing.Reportedly on just his 4th pass in this car, Nick Agostino supplanted David Demarco in the 2nd qualifying spot in Pro Drag Radial. Agostino runs twin turbochargers on the Camaro under the urge of 480 cubic inches. The car ran a 4.05 at 194 mph, just off Keith Berry’s 4.04 at 189 mph for the top spot.Jay Cox sits atop Outlaw Pro Mod with his 945-in ’69 Camaro. He ran a 3.82 at 194 mph to put the Camaro in the top spot after round 1.In Outlaw 632, Dillon Voss holds the top spot after round 1, but long-time racer Troy Pirez is hot on his heels with his ’88 Camaro.Third generation racer Jordan Ensslin out of Lakeland, Fl, is continuing the family tradition at the wheel of the ’37 Chevy his dad Jeff raced. Jordan is racing in Outlaw 632, and made a soft pass in round 1 of qualifying, and sits at number 17.‘Wooooo Nation’ should be happy. Its leader Keith Berry is solidly in the top spot of Pro Drag Radial. David Demarco and Mel Nelson are right there, though. The heat of the day is not being kind to class racers during 2nd round of qualifying.In X275, so far it’s Jared Johnston’s show, but Don Lamana is hoping to improve his standing with his Proline-powered Fox Mustang. Don has had problems with the car either spinning, or going up to the sky. “I’m looking for a happy medium,” Lamana tells us.The heat of the day was also unkind to Troy Pirez, Jr. He just ran 2nd round of qualifying, and spun off the line. His first round 5.05 at 136 mph will more than likely stick until round 3 this afternoon.Adam Flamholc is running his Corvette in Extreme Pro Mod this weekend. He has renewed with 5 Day Plantation Shutters and Amalie Oil for 2015. Since purchasing this car Adam has made 7 passes with it running a 3.61 at 211 as a best so far and it’s now updated with the familiar silver paint scheme.Chris Patrick is a familiar face here for the past few big events. He made the switch to fuel injection for this year and runs the Fuel Tech engine management system. Chris Patrick and Brian Shaw (left).Dave DeMarco has made some big changes to his Buick, switching combos and tires. Yes the former Outlaw 10.5 racer moved to the dark side and will run various Drag Radial events this year. The car went on a diet over the winter along with other updates including new doors, decklid, wing and a front clip for Thomas Queen at Feather Carbon. The engine is a 526 Hemi from Mason Racing Engines topped with DMPE 14/71 blower. They are chipping away at the tune going a best of 4.12 so far with Lonnie Houde tuning.David Reese is debuting his new car this weekend fresh out of Reese Brothers Race Cars after starting the build in November last year. Brandon Snyder is assisting Reese with the set up with his first hit to the 60 being a .954 and went 2.57 330 on a later run.
The popular U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton, Florida kicks off our year-long same day coverage here on Dragzine with three action-packed days of heads-up racing action, and once again it’s all brought to you by the fine folks at Comp Cams!
There seems to be a large number of red Chevelles at the US Nationals. Chad Opaleski’s boasts a 541-in Hemi with a ProCharger F3 up front. The US Nationals is the 4th race out with the car, and his best time today was a 4.32 at 181 mph. “I’m slowly creeping up on it” Chad says.If we need a bugout vehicle while at Bradenton, we’re jumping in Dean Vallese’s Zombie Wagon. Dean runs a 588-in big block Chevy with an Induction Solutions nitrous system on the car. He’s competing in X275 this weekend.We witnessed more than one car come out of the burnout, and just stop running. Drivers held their hands up in befuddlement, and for Billy ‘Ticket Taker’ Driscoll, his beautiful Fox GT suffered the same fate. As of Friday night Driscoll feared the worse, thinking he had broken the crank. Go Pats!This was Paul Major’s engine compartment when the day started. Unfortunately, as of Saturday night, the engine was out of the car, and in pieces.Kevin Neil’s Pro Drag Radial Mustang boasts a BES-built big block Chevy on the spray with a Bradco 2-speed Turbo 400. The car made good use of its TRZ-prepped chassis on the last pass of the day.Bryan Marrow brings a little bit of a different body style to Pro Drag Radial with his ’79 Camaro. He also brings quite a bit of power thanks to a FIG Performance Racing Engines-built bullet with a ProCharger F3 on board.Scott Husted’s Fox couldn’t decide what it wanted to do during Friday’s test session. Scott says the car either wanted to spin, or go up on the bumper. Unfortunately, when it came back to earth he thinks it might’ve bent the driver side front lower control arm in the process.One of the most detailed cars at the US Nationals is Rob Briscoe’s Nova. An arrow-straight body with clean lines, and a 632-in Chevy big block under the hood on the bottle – doesn’t get much nicer. Briscoe and the crew were checking the car’s transmission Friday night after the day’s test session.If you read our news item on Jared Johnston’s Fox coupe you remember us mentioning the car developed a gremlin towards the end of 2014. During Friday’s test session, it appears Jared and the crew have that problem licked with a couple stout passes to end the day.
Qualifying was filled with stellar performances and excitement but today is game day as racers battle it out under the Florida sunshine at the Tenth annual US Street Nationals.
