We are ready to go Sunday for a final session of qualifying before moving into eliminations due to some interference by Mother Nature overnight. The wind has shifted out of the northwest and cooler temps are the order of the day as the sun creeps back from behind the clouds here in Bradenton for the 2017 edition of the Outlaw Drag Racing Championships.
Joseph Giannetto has a new car out for the class running a blown 1992 Firebird based out of Royal Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This is the race debut for the new car after purchasing it last year and taking delivery as a birthday present on April 5th. It’s powered by 526 Chevy topped with a Littlefield blower with Joe qualifying sixth in Outlaw Pro Mod with a 5.00 at 147 MPH this weekend.
2016 7.90 Jr Dragster Champion Nick Stewart has stepped up to a door car with the 5 Day Plantation Shutter Avenger with eventual goals for running in Outlaw 632. This was the debut weekend for the car after the team has spent about a year repainting it and getting it prepped, rewired and fitted for Nick. The engine is a 522 from Ohio Crankshaft. A broken starter and flywheel ended the teams weekend early but expect to see Stewart behind the wheel at regular events here in Bradenton.
Tracy Stunkard improved his ET to a 3.95 at 184 in Open Outlaw staying third in the field but making his crew happy earning a fist bump with Troy Goshall and Keny Gonyo. Kris Thorne bumped Ken Cruz to second in Pro Mod with a 4.000 at 187 in this morning session taking over top qualifier in class.Dillon Voss came out swinging in OL 632 landing second with the Voss Racing, Suncoast Race Cars newest entry in class. Voss is the 2017 PDRA OL 632 Champion and put up a 4.34 at 156 this morning.Rodney Campbell is running on radials for the first time with his OL 632 Camaro this weekend. He got it hooked up this morning but carried the front end way out and was forced to pedal the car and steer the car away from the wall on this run.Chris Bretz took over top qualifier in Heavy Street this morning with a nice and easy 4.70 at 167 MPH. Chris Perry also improved to a 4.73 knocking David Boger back to third place with his 4.79 from this morning.Ultra Street racer Mike Freeman dind’t get a full pass in yesterday but scored a nice 486 at 143 this morning landing second in the field.Wade Gullett earned top qualifier in 5.50 Index with a 5.51 this morning for the Ft Lauderdale based racer.Top qualifier in 8.90 Index jr Dragster went to Jonathon D’Aprile with a 8.904 at 71.
Final Qualifying Results
Austin Stephens scored a win over David Boger with a 5.32 at 135 and a massive hole shot as Dave was caught off guard on the tree in round one of Heavy Street.Scott Husted also earned his way to round two with a 4.86 at 128 over Gino Bia.Ultra Street saw several single runs in class for round one with the top four advancing that way. Hannah Sanders faced faced off with Steve Mogle earning her way to round two with a 5.07 at 139 over Mogle who has struggled with the car staying hooked all weekend.Michael Crawley earned his way past Charlie Pixley’s S 10 with a 6.17 as both racers lost traction early.Bob Glenn advanced over new guy Joseph Giannetto running a 4.12 at 179 in Outlaw Pro Mod.Ken Cruz set low ET for the class in this round scoring a 3.95 at 190 and will be the car to watch in later rounds with that kind of performance.
Round One Elimination Results
Brian Bednar pedaled his way to a 4.046 at 178 in the semis against Kenny Puffenburger with Tracy Stunkard putting up a 3.93 at 185 earning lane choice on a single with Andrews missing the round. In the final Stunkard had trouble on the burnout, pulling off to the side past the tree. Bednar took the go ahead win out the back to a 3.844 at 190. Brian also sealed up the Heads Up Madness series Open Outlaw Championship Sunday.Outlaw Pro Mod saw the top four advance to round two with Kris Thorne running a 4.01 at 186 advancing over Jon Adams and Bob Glenn lighting the red bulb against Ken Cruz but making a ncie 4.08 at 182 MPH pass. Thorne chose the right lane in the final with Cruz but his transmission broke on the burnout making for another single pass final round. Cruz is the 2017 Outlaw Pro Mod Champion.
Round two of Outlaw 632 was action packed with Campbell improving to a 4.65 at 157 making a game effort at Jordan Ensslin's 2002 Trans Am. Ensslin would advance on his 4.36 at 163. Dillon Voss ran another 4.371 over Phil Swales. Ryan Thorp scored a 4.46 earning his way to round three over Ric Mills and Hank Hill improved to a 4.49 at 157 over Jeff Ensslin in the Still Doin' Time 37 Chevy.
The semis pit rivals Dillon Voss and Ryan Thorp against each other in a tense match decided on the tree at Thorp pushed too hard netting a foul start and Voss showing his cards with a 4.279 at 166 MPH blast. Ensslin scored a 4.36 on a single over the absent Hill setting up the Ensslin/Voss final. Voss took the left lane and knocked the tree down with a .008 reaction but hurt the engine ending his chance at a win with Ensslin going A to B with a 4.37 at 161 to earn the event win.Steve Cannizzio earned the OL 632 Championship by one point driving for NY Tommy Rojack this year in the CRT Transmissions, Scotty’s Racing Technology, Worthy Motorsports, Aerospace Components, Cope Signs NBC Race Cars Corvette. The crew includes Faith Front, Corey Berry and Aimee Leigh.Round two saw Scott Husted find his groove nabbing a 4.38 at 176 over Chris Bretz and Chris Perry also improving to a 4.65 at 166 over Austin Stephens.In the final neither racer was away quickly with Husted earning the better .121 reaction but losing traction early allowing Perry to scoot by and take his first event win with his best of weekend 4.585 at 171.
Brian Keep set low ET again in round two over Eugene Rodriquez with a 4.83 at 146. Mike Freeman aired his Procharged entry out in an exciting match with Jeff Gibbud earning the win with a 5.008 to Gibbud's 5.04.Gregan scored a 4.89 at 142 over Hanna Sanders and Michael Crawley earned his way to the semis over Steve Buscema who was running well this weekend after switching to a new single entry plate system from PKRE.
Crawley set up in the left lane again where he had luck earlier and both cars hooked hard but Gregan was away first with a .065 reaction. Crawley and stepped it up for the final scoring a 4.90 at 142 though it wasn't enough as Gregan went on to another 4.89 at 144 to earn the win. Michael Crawley based out of Coral Springs, Florida is the Ultra Street Runner Up.Index number one qualifier Wade Gullet had singles in round one and two but did his job on the tree when he met competition earning the class win over Kyle Fawcett in the final with a .016 5.535 at 127 to Fawcett’s .038 5.488 at 127.Kyle Fawcett 5.50 Index Runner Up.
5.90 Index Bike had twenty two entries this weekend making for some great racing and five rounds of competition. Number one qualifier Mimi Lamas took a hard loss to Mike Moore Jr in round one running under index trying to make up for an off pace reaction. Holmes Beach’s Nick Bowling Jr. earned second qualifier and advanced on a single 5.88 to round two. Number three man Luc David lost a tight match with Angel Lopez number four Anne Richter and five Nicklas Bowling III would also advance to round two.
J.D. Kitterage faced off with Candy Haggadorn in the first pair of round two and moved on to round three by a margin of just .011. The father and son Bowling team also advanced along with Richter, Rick Eaton advanced over a red lighting Lopez and Mike Moore had the sinfle this round running it out to a 5.84.
Round three saw the Bowlings pair up with Nicklas scoring a perfect .000 reaction to move forward with Kittredge going red this round against Eaton. Moore faced off with Richter putting up a .009 reaction and easing off through the lights for a 6.04 114 MPH win.
The semi final pit Eaton vs Moore with Eaton scoring the round with a 5.908 to Moore’s 6.06 and Bowling’s single 5.88 AT 121 running it though the gears and testing the air. Once through to the final round it was Bowling with a .003 starting line advantage running a 5.921 at 112 to earn the event win over Rick Eaton’s 5.970 at 86.5.90 Bike Runner Up Rick Eaton.Scott Travers stole the show in 6.50 index running under index every round on his way to the event win through five rounds of competition meeting Ray Reese in the final. His .023 reaction had him playing just a little bit of catch up to Reese’s .021. At the stripe it would be Reese there first with a 6.456 at 105 taking the loss to Travers’ 6.463 at 105.Ray Reese 6.50 Index Runner Up.Bob DeMilt earned top spot in 7.50 Index in his trust Malibu wagon and advancing to round two over Hannah Sanders. Number two qualifier Robert Wilson also made it through over John Halsey, James Stover, Denise Sosa and Travis Hanscom advanced making it a table run for the top five in the round. Paul Vizzo ended Sosa’s day in a round two double breakout match and number seven qualifier Matt Cummings advanced over Stover. DeMilt had the single this round and Wilson and Max Nuebler III also advanced.In the semi finals Robert Wilson and DeMilt faced off with Wilson besting DeMilt on the tree and scoring the round with a 7.503 to DeMilt’s 7.506. Cummings put up a .018, 7.506 on his bye.The final round saw Cummings with a .026 tree putting a..011 on Wilson and holding the line down track earning the win on a double break out 7.498 to 7.497. Cummings has been working with the Monster Jam El Toro Loco and not raced since 2012, He tested this week to have some fun and his dad Kevin had it dialed in all weekend so this was an especially sweet with for the father and son team.Robert Wilson 7.50 Index Runner Up.Number one qualifier on Open Comp Gage Burch (left) took it all the way through five rounds of racing to meet Joe Tillman in the final where he threw down a .003 reaction to Tillman’s .025, a healthy advantage.McKenna Kitterman made her way from sixth qualifier in 7.90 Jr Dragster to meet Katrina Carpenter, who landed fifth in class in the finals. Carpenter put up a .007 reaction for her efforts but ran under index by .009 with Kitterman running a 7.907 to earn the win.The 8.90 jr Dragster index was an all family affair as Twins Jonathan and Kendall D’Aprile from port Charlotte landed in the final after qualifying number one and six respectively. Jonathanwent .022 reaction to earn a sizable advantage running an 8.946 at 71 to take the events win over his sister’s 8.958 at 73 MPH.
Final Results
We are starting off not so sunny today with overcast skies which will be a benefit to track surface conditions for qualifying with rain in the schedule for this evening according to the local weather forecast. Stay tuned for the latest news and qualifying results from Bradenton’s Outlaw Drag Racing Championship 2017 edition.
The staff got the surface ready early this morning before the clouds rolled in putting rosin down which helps rubber stick to the track.Scot Findlay, Dave Pike, Stephanie Weeks, Barbra Ursel and Lil Bit, Scot’s white lab track dog. David Pike is the founder of the DRC Drag Race for a Cure FC fundraiser drag race in Orlando in it’s third year having raised over thirty five thousand dollars to date for Cystic Fibrosis, Autism, St Jude’s Hospital and next year will add make a Wish Foundation for the 2018 event in conjunction with CF. Scott assists in organizing and gather sponsors and auction items and bother racers are entered in Open Comp here this weekend. Check out https://www.facebook.com/DragRaceforaCure/ for more information about the race and how you can support or sponsor the fundraiser or Cystic Fibrosis community.We caught up with Jim McMillan this morning with his new car purchased out of Wisconsin from Racing Junk.com. McMillan is a local 6.50 racer who summers up north and has raced his 1968 Camaro for quite a few years. That car was all factory steel on 10.5 tires and was a struggle to stay competitive against the purpose built race cars now populating the class more and more. He located this 1989 Buick Regal big tire tube chassis car on racing Junk and it fit the bill for the class so Jim pulled the big block Chevy from the Camaro and swapped out the cam and heads to detune the engine and add some reliability to the valve train. This will be his first race with the new ride after a few test runs here recently.Scot Findlay has the fast car in Open Comp today running a 5.385 at 130 with thirty nine cars making runs during today’s first session. Findlay owns Southeastern Site Development in Sarasota and gets some sponsor help from Anderson Racepark carting track in Bradenton.Brian Keep is out front of the Ultra Street field by a solid margin scoring a 4.83 at 146 as half the first pair out in class this morning for the HRE Powered, ATF Speed Haltech equipped Camaro.One of the four Real Speed Racing entries in Ultra Street Steve Buscema scored second place with a 4.91 at 142.Number ten qualifier Archie Marasco also runs out of Reap Speed Racing and has had trouble keeping the front end down. He recovered quickly and salvaged a 5.34 at 136 after the wheel-stand.David Boger won Heavy Street last time here and is qualified number one with a 4.80 at 150 so far. He was the only car to get a full clean pass in this session for the class.Gino Bia put his crowd favorite 72 Cuda in second place with a 5.08 at 142.Jordan Ensslin laid down a number off the trailer in his OL 632 entry scoring a 4.38 at 162 putting the class on notice they have things figured out.Ryan Thorp unloaded his car running another 4.51 at 156 safely putting him second in class, repeating his performance from yesterday.Cape Coral based Mark Hoagland is debuting his new OL 632 car this weekend sporting 5 Day Plantation Shutters sponsorship on the door. They have tested with good results but struggled at the hit on this run. He landed eighth with a 5.25 at 143 after pedaling the car early.Hank Hill is driving for Al Dito this weekend and sits in third with a 4.59 at 156 in the 1985 Celebrity.Charlie Gambino is back behind the wheel for C&C Concrete running this 1953 Corvette in Outlaw 632. This is the debut event for the Vette which made it’s first laps down the track this weekend.
The Outlaw Pro Mod field is led by Ken Cruz's Hemi powered 2002 Camaro (left) with a 4.008 at 183 MPH based out f Largo, Florida followed by the nitrous huffing entry of Kris Thorne from Titusville running a 4.16 with his Nelson Competition powered 68 Camaro. Ocala, Florida’s Brian Bednar earned top spot in Open Outlaw with a 3.83 at 189 in his 2009 Spitzer chassis rail in the rain shortened qualifying session. Every class will have an opportunity tomorrow starting at nine AM as the predicted inclement weather has ended racing for today here in Bradenton.Craig Andrews was the only other car in the threes today with a 3.93 at 175 landing second of six cars in class.
Round One Qualifying Results
Open Outlaw, Outlaw Pro Mod, Outlaw 632, Heavy Street,
Ultra Street, 5.90 Bike, 5.50 Index, 6.50 Index.
7.50 Index, 7.90 Jr Dragster, 8.90 Jr Dragster, Open Comp.
The Bradenton Motorsports Park in sunny Florida hosts the annual Outlaw Drag Racing Championship, featuring competition in Outlaw Pro Mod, Open Outlaw, Outlaw 632, Heavy Street, and more!
Aryan Rochon has been touring with the NHRA Alcohol Funny Car ranks with his Rocycle sponsored machine this year and has the car here this weekend for some local Open Outlaw competition. The car got into tire shake just after this shot and he got out of the loud pedal and coasted through.Chris Bretz drives this Camaro (near lane) for Brian Speight and Doc and was recently updated with new paint, a 4 link rear suspension by Pro Fab Performance and fitted with 88 MM Precision Gen 2 turbos and a fresh engine from PRD to run in the Limited Drag Radial class. The car ran in the 4.50’s at Lights Out VIII after the changes and will be entered in Heavy Street this weekend. The crew consists of Eric Johnson, Chris Bretz and Brian Speight.Outlaw 632 Racer Steve Cannizzo is making some good looking runs in today’s test session.Dave French made a few easy NA laps today breaking in his fresh engine before putting the juice to it. Dave and Shari French are long time local OL 632 team based out of Davie, Florida. Testing today runs till 8 PM.
Tracy Stunkard was behind the wheel today testing the new trans and converter combo for Keny Gonyo (shown at far right) who will be racing the car this weekend in Open Outlaw. The car was leaving well after the third pass today. Ultimate Street racer Brian Keep ran well today scoring a new best 4.819 at 147.73 MPH. Brian suffered some minor damage at Lights Out VII with the new combo but is one hundred percent ready this weekend after making repairs to be here.Austin Stephens made a couple of runs but had an trans issue traced to low fluid level after a quick R&R and tear-down and check by Steve at CRT. Stephens took about 70 pounds out of the truck since the last event and has a fresh engine from Nelson Competition along with an updated camshaft, ported heads and new, bigger headers. Austin has worked there about four years now with the build coming out of NBS Race Cars. RJS Racing Equipment and Outlaw Racing Fuels are on board as sponsors for Stephens. The team was getting the transmission re-installed tonight when we stopped by leaving the track tonight.Chris Perry added weight to his 67 Camaro to run Heavy Street requiring a 4 link adjustment at the track today if effort to get the car to bite with the different weight percentages. Perry made it the gear change on the next run showing much improvement.Ryann Thorp swapped to a Bruno Lenco over the summer with only a couple of test hits before today. He unloaded with a 4.51, then backed it up with a 4.50 making for to clean A to B runs and a happy crew who will have something to work with in qualifying Saturday.Ken Cruz and crew had to work out some gremlins but managed a 3.94 at 191 MPH late in the session setting him up for tomorrow’s qualifying in Outlaw Pro Mod.Felix Garcia struggled a bit today getting the boost to come in properly in his Heavy Street 67 Chevy II. The car is built and maintained at Felix’s Performance and has special help this weekend from Tony Christian, Rick Ralph, Scotty Guadagno and his cousin Danny. His father and wife is also here this weekend lending support for Felix in Heavy Street. Rick figured some things out in the electronics allowing Garcia to stay in the throttle scoring a 4.55 at 165 near the end of testing today and getting baseline data on a full run to work with in qualifying tomorrow.
