Saturday morning has brought clear skies for us here in South Georgia for what we hope is the final day of the first ORTC Boost vs. No Boost event of 2010. The rain yesterday has us a little behind schedule. We will be having a test session this morning before we get into qualifying begining with the index classes, then Open Comp, Monte Smith No Boost, Proline Boost, Limited Street, TRZ Ultimate Street then FTI Extreme 275.
We want to give a big shout out and thanks to Joseph Harnage for taking care of the track prep this weekend in Wade Rich's absence. Lenco Jim is ready to rumble this morning. He's got all the official ORTC gear for sale near the tower for sale.People are getting set up and warming things up for the morning test session. Brand new Limited Street car owned by Rickey Presley that has to to make a pass down the track. Powerplant is a Gene Fulton 632 on three kits.
Troy Pirez told me this morning he will be running Monte Smith No Boost today. I also spoke with Eric Kenward and it’s looking like he and Bruce Roberts will be running two classes. Eric in Ultimate Street and Extreme 275, Roberts in X 275 and No Boost. We should be starting in aboiuyt 15 or 20 minuites.
Testing Notes
A wheelstand and pedal job for the McNew/Brewer entry on it's maiden voyage with the new engine which resulted in a 5.74. Markwich ran a 4.82. Brad Edwards and Mel Nelson were paired up with Nelson getting a 4.71 @ 159 to Edwards 4.80.4.81 @ @ 158 with a 1.22 60' for Tony Ridenour this morning. Mike Modeste laid down a 4.77 on his pass this morning. Terry Elam ran a 4.92Neil Hawkins got a 5.26 @ 134 on his pass. Eric Kenward managed a 5.22 @ 135 on a nice lcean pass in the wagon.
Jason Richards leads the No Boost field aftr the first qualifying session with his 69 Camaro with a whopping 157 MPH . His 4.75 will be a record for a leaf spring car if he can back it up. Jason Black sits in second with a 4.78 @ 156.Mel Nelson was kicked up to Limited Street for his 91 MM turbos. He leads the class with a 4.71 @ 169 just ahead of Jeff Cooner's 4.72 @ 168.Eric Kenward is running well this weekend and currently is top qualifier in TRZ Ultimate Street with a 5.20 @ 135. Charlie Pixley is next with a 5.25 @ 134 driving Mike Burkharts Real Speed Mustang.Sean Lyon put his Panama City, Florida based 93 Stang at the top on the FTI Xtreme 275 class with the only 4 second pass of the round, a 4.95 @ 148.
Jason Black took over the top spot in the No Boost class with a 4.741 @ 157 bumping Richards back to second. Stine sits in third for team North. He has a new 706 ci bullet under the hood this weekend from Charlie Buck.
Sean Lyon maintained his top spot in Xtreme 275 ahead of Crowden. Bruce Roberts jumped up to fourth with a 5.15 @ 137.
In the Proline Race Engines Boosted class Kolivas kept his number one after round two session. Mustang Mike and Will Stevenson moved up to second and third respectively bumping Ridenour to fourth.
Well we are in a holding pattern again today. The heavy rain yesterday has soaked the ground and now that the track is hot it’s seeping up through the seams. We sent the cars back to the pits and will resume racing when the surface if cooler and dried out.
Round One Notes
Ok we have one round in the books and are working on round two with index cars running now. No Boost had Jason Black with a single as top qualifier. Ron Hamby also had a single and he sut down early. Pete Chevere did his job on the tree but could not hold off Francis Johnson’s 4.83 @ 154. Number two qualifier Jason Richards had a single and ran his out to a 4.80 @ 155. Opaleski laid down his best run of the weekend to take out Dave Boger with a 4.92 @ 149. Ritchie Stine set low ET of the round with a 4.77 @ 156 on a bye run. Troy pirez beat Bruce Roberts 4.88 @ 151 to 6.40 @ 109.
The Boost class had John Kolivas with a single running another 4.69 @ 163. Ridenour took out Matt Tucker. Markwich beat DJ Loiacano with a 4.74 to 4.86. Mike Modeste ran a 4.64 getting the win over Robert Britton. Jere Etheridge got the win over Klugger who could not make the call. Will stevenson ripped off a 4.71 @ 158 to take out Tommy Brewer’s roots blown Mustang in his best run of the day a 5.26 @ 133. Walt Drakeford red lit aginst Brad Edwards. Edwards ran a 4.84 to Drakefords 4.87.
Neil Hawkins had a single and ran a 5.19. He will face off in round two with Robert Coady who beat Michael Strickland. Ari Birchfield took out Keith Berry and will face off with Matt Davis next. Clint Lonon ran well and got the win over Kevin Smith. Sean Snodgrass won his match with Justin Brixey’s Buick Regal and is matched up with Clint Lonon. Eugene Rodriguez is also doing well this weekend taking down Jody Voyles. He will run Wayne Oliver in John Sears Malibu after getting a single over Bart Tobener who could not make the call for round one.
Mike Freeman and Bill Clary had one heck of a drag race as Freeman carried the wheels way out and drove around Clary on the top end. he is matched up with Aaron Gramer in round two. Ricky Pennington got a win over Charlie Pixley who was leaking water into the intake runner which ended their weekend. he will run Chris Ownes turbocharged Mstang in round two.
FTI Extreme 275 number one qualifier Sean Lyon had the earned single but ran a 5.46 @ 134. Sean Adkins took down Mark Mahowski’s Dart with a 5.36 @ 136. Brad Medlock put up his best of the weekend to beat bruce Roberts with a 5.02 @ 148. Al Marlow’s 5.48 was good enough for the win over Jimmy Griner. Pete Chevere put Shane Crowden on the trailer with a 5 flat to the losing 5.06. Ronnie Wilson ran a 5.04 to take out Brett Long. Pierre Burley left first and stayed out in front of Kevin Fiscus running a 5.55 for the win.
Limited Street had top qualifer lay down a 4.70 for low ET over Ricky Presley. Mike Collins left on Ruben T winning with a 4.86 to the quicker 4.80 in Rubens best Et to date. Jeff Cooner beat Kyle Marcengill with a 4.79. Steve jackson was not able to make the call sending Marty Witt to round two.
Round 2 Ultimate Street
Neil Hawkins ran a 5.22 @ 135 over Robert Coady. Matt Davis beat Ari Birchfield with a 5.47 @ 131. Clint Lonon set low ET taking out Sean Snodgrass with a nice 5.17 @ 135. Kenward wheelied and pedaled to a 5.56 @ 128. on a bye. Mike Freeman took down Aaron Gramer with a 5.48 @ 134 and pennington ran a 5.58 over Chris Owens’ 5.61.
Things are running faster than I can keep up with so I will have results to get you up to date.
Mel Nelson matched up with Mike Collins in the semi finals with Collins getting the holeshot and Mel driving around on the top end, 4.67 @ 170 and low ET beats a game 4.84 @ 153 from CollinsJeff Cooner faced off with Marty Witt in the other half of the Limited Street semis. Witt was out first and ran a 5.09 but came up on the losing end of Cooner's 4.88 @ 165. nelson will have lane choice in the final.John Kolivas got the round win over Tony Ridenour's "Dot Rocket" after he staged and rocked out of the beams. He ran a 6.68 @ 162Will Stevenson and Mike Modeste lined up and Modeste was out first with a .025 light . He carried the wheels out but lost traction allowing Stevenson to get by running a 4.68 @ 158 for the winFrancis Johnson (foreground) and Jason Black lined up in half of the Monte Smith No Boost semi finalwith Black getting out first and Johnson spinning the tires.Black ran a 4.71 for low ET .Jason Richards and Troy "In the Jungle" Pirez faced off on the other side with Richards getting the atarting line advantage by .015. Pirez ran a game 4.90 but it was'nt enough for Richards 4.84 @ 154.
The final winners are…
Teammates Eric Kenward and Neil Hawkins made it a one-two finish in TRZ Ultimate StreetNeil Hawkins took runner up honors.FTI Xtreme 275 winner Pete Chevere made the trip from Coral Springs, Florida and wound up in the final with Maryland racer Al Marlow after qualifying at the bottom of the ladder. Marlow took the tree first and ran a 5.00 @ 148 to Chevere's winning 4.97 @ 148.
Monte Smith No Boost had friends and neighbors Jason Black and Jason Richards match up in a battle of top qualifiers. Rochards had a broken transmission and could make the run, Black ran a single on motor only to a 5.85 @ 130No Boost runner up Jason Richards from Gastonia, North Carolina is now the king of nitrous and leaf springs after qualifying with a 4.75 and backing it up with a 4.77 in eliminations taking the title from Pete Chevere the Xtreme 275 winner.Proline Race Engines Boost class winner Will Stevenson has seen the ORTC winners circle before. The number three qualifier knocked off number one man John Kolivas with a 4.69 @ 157 after Kolivas fell off pace only mustering a 4.85 @ 152 after both racers had run a string of high 4.6's in eliminations.John Kolivas had two bye runs and ran it out on both runs with a pair of 4.69's then ran a 4.68 @ 162 in the semi final against Ridenour who went red because of the car rocking in the beams when he went on the trans brake.Limited Street winner Mel Nelson qualified number one and took home the win against Jeff Cooner in a radial vs slick tire final. Cooner went red by .002 negating his 4.64 @ 170 and best ET of the day, giving up the win to Nelson's slower 4.71 @ 170
It’s Friday at SGMP, time for more testing and qualifying which is set to start at 5PM. Right now we are under a rain delay with intermittent showers slowing things down for us.
Special thanks to Mickey Thompson Tires our event coverage sponsor. Check out their latest products at Mickey Thompson Tires.com
Friday News from the pits
Amanda's car is all back together this morning but they are chasing an electical issue.Announcing the RTCTTFMF Pictorial. Thi is something we have been working on over the past few weeks that has been under wraps from the public. We have planty on site for everyone and look for more issues packed with his res color photos and off color editorials in future issues covering radial and small tire racoing across the country.Jeremy Mcelrath broke an axle last night and so far have been unable to find a replacement so it looks like they are done for the weekend. The car has a twin turbo 588 ci. big block Chevy built in house out of Ashville, North Carolina.Bruce Roberts ran a 5.14 last night. They will be running FTI Extreme 275 this weekend with the car as they feel their cylinder head combo is saddled with a bit of extra weight in Ultimate Street. He is also sporting a new K member fromAttilio Deroso's AA Performance which weighs a scant 9 pounds.Eric Kenward has a fresh 18* bullitt from Nelson Competition now sporting the TFS heads which have picked up their MPH by about three so far intesting yesterday.Keith Berry's Corvette is all buttoned up after a late night session. Keith would like to thank Matt Davis for helping out last night with tools and wrenching till 2:30 AM. Also Steve at CRT Transmission for parts to get it repaired, and TCI Transmissions.Kenny Markwich is here with a fresh engine from Fast Forward. They just got it running last night, there are no major changes for them this weekend.Al Marlow made the trek from Maryland to run FTI Extreme 275 this weekend. He has a smaller 588 ci BBC and went a 4.93 @ 150 testing at MIR recently.Tommy Brewer and the Mad Man racing camp made the switch to a Littlefield Hi Helix supercharger on top of a 526 ci. BBC but have not made any hits yet. They were still putting the trans in last night.Sean Lyon is back again for Extreme 275 with NMRA Drag Radial Mustang.Team real Speed will feild a two car team this weekend, Walt Drakeford will drive the twin turbo T Bird in the Boost class while Charlie Pixley will handle driving duties in Mike Burkhart's nitrous powered Mustang in Ultimate Street.Francis Johnson made the trip from up north as well with his February, he has the quickest nitrous stock suspension car going.Tony Ridenour changed the drive ratio for the blower this morning to take out some power. He ran a 5.03 @ 154 after pedaling through a bit of tire shake.Dave Boger is up from Plant City, Florida sporting a special new prosthetic "extension" on his 68 Camaro.Ligia the "Rockin Romanian" is here this weekend as the official ORTC girl. She can rescue me any time.This is what the track surface looked like about an hour and a half ago. Now the racing surface is about dry and the track crew is drying off the shut down area. it will still be a while before we are back racing.Kenny Markwich could not build boost on his attempt this morning. They are looking over various things and the wastegate to try and locate the problemLunch is all day for everyone at the ORTC. It's not a race, it's an eventTom Kundrik from Mikey Thompson gets in on the action munching down on some awesome ribs.Racers are still coming in today. Troy Pirez rolled in around three thirty and is still unsure if he will run in FTI Extreme 275 or the No Boost class.Some folks got bored staring at the wet track surface so they decided to go fishing. Steve Petty caught a nice sized bass last night too.
We are rained out for today, we start back up at 9 AM with some testing then into qualifying.
Testing Notes
Enrique Perez had a shock fail on the ride up. I caught up with him while talking with Brian Goss discussing tune up stuff.Kevin Fiscus made it out to the race but had an issue when he went to make a pass. The car is wearing a flat black treatment after the fire at PBIR earlier this year. He is running hte Extreme 275 class this weekend for a change up.Mike Freeman ran a 5.43 next to Aaron Gramer's 5.51 in the new car. Freeman had to pedal the car to get the front end down on the pass.Rober Coady managed a 5.61 in his ORTC debut with the new car. Built in house at Catagory 5 Race Cars the Mustang has a Fast Forward engine under the hoodPete Chevere ripped off a 4.95 in X 275 trim today for low ET in the class so far.
Steve Jackson got in the four second zone finally after changing transmissions last night. It was a long night for them as the swap entailed fabricating a new cross member along with several other items to mate up the powerglide where a TH 400 was. Josh Klugger got a 5.04 @ 154 on his first hit with the car this weekend since the repairs. Chad Opaleski ran a 5.02 @ 148 with a soft short time, turning the power on later in the run.
Mel Nelson managed a 4.70 @ 167 on his only hit today. Pretty sure that is top MPH in the Boosted class. Tony Ridenour got down with a 4.83 while Johnny Kolivas ran a 4.73 just a few cars back. Kenny Markwich managed to get down the track on his second run, running a 5.71 @ 150 as the boost came in very late. Brad Edwards ran a 4.75.Wayne Oliver piloted John Sears' Malibu to it's best ever pass today running a 5.77 @ 120MPH.Clint Lonon got a 5.17 @ 135 off the trailer for the Nasty Bitch in the TRZ Ultimate Street class. That puts then right near the top of the class today along with Eric Kenward
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Today we are in south Georgia for the kick off Boost vs. No Boost ORTC event of 2010 where radial cars come from across the country come for a shot at the biggest purse in the land. Starting with Thursday’s test session, we will be here providing same day coverage for all classes including the wild wheel-standing Ultimate Street class and the insane speeds of the boosted cars. Check back all weekend for the coverage.
Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson. With their help Dragzine is able to bring you great drag racing coverage from around the States. Check out their site at www.mickeythompsontires.com or roll-over the “Buy it Now” banner above for more information.
Sponsors for this event include Patriot Performance, Mickey Thompson, Pro Line Race Engines, TRZ Motorsports, CRT Transmissions, Hurricane Performance, Excutive Homes, Monte Smith Performance, Dan Neumann Race Cars, Wolfe Race Craft, FTI Transmissions and Bullfrog Performance Speed Shop. I apoligize if I missed anyone.
The first four second pass of the day I saw goes to Patriot Performance owner Marty Whit driving a twin turbo Mustang on slicks.ORSCA EZ Street racer Jere Ethridge made the switch from nitrous to turbo power and has John Kolivas on hand for tuning.Amanda Long has made three hits on the new Procharger set up with the last one a 4.92 @ 150. Looking good so far for them.Will Stevenson ran a 5.22 @ 145 after losing traction just before half track.Brian Goss and Mike Freeman are here representing South Florida. Goss will be racing in the FTI Extreme 275 class this weekend with an F2 Procharger on board.
We had a short shower move through but it’s passed by now and they are drying the track out.
OK Just a quick note that we are rained out for tonight. I will have some test notes and phots up in a little while.
Thursday Notes from the Pits
Rick Gorski from Fire Core 50 Custom Wires is here with plenty of stock to make up custom sets or replace any damaged pieces from racers. Just out from the company are some new ready to run distributors and he also has several of those on hand. These hot forged distributors feature 0 degrees retard to 8800 RPM.Josh Klugger is back after a crash at PBIR recently with new color on the car. Kona Blue is a new Ford color and it looks great on the car, the Hurricane Performance team is still putting the final touches on the car. Dan Neumann is responsible for straightening out the car.The Cowmaro runs out of Steve Jackson's shop. They use this one to test assorted ideas then implement them into other projects. He is still struggling with the OL 10.5 car and radials, they will have a two car effort this weekend in Outlaw Limited Street with the Cowmaro being driven by Chris Johnson.Jonathon Cox is running in TRZ Ultimate Street this weekend with a SBF and 76 MM Turbo. He is based out of Jacksonville, Florida Brain Goss broke the blower gear drive coupler on his car. They are looking to get replacement parts in the mail tomorrow. Cris Owens is on the lot today with his brothers new car also in Ultimate Street. It's a turbo car with a small block Ford and has been 5.60's so far with about 8 runs on it.Keith Berry's car was being driven by crew chief Ryan Rakestraw this after noon and the transmission broke. it's a chore to pull the trans on a vette as the rear suspension must be removed before the trans will come out. They have parts to repair it so that's not a problem, it's just doing the work.Wayne Oliver is here driving for John Sears this weekend in TRZ Ultimate Street. John runs the X 275 series up North. The car has a 23* 410 ci SBC by Springfield Custom Machine. Heads by Curtis Boggs at Race Flow Development and Manifold by Gabby at Wilson Manifolds. John runs one of Induction Solutions "Real Street" plate kits.This Camaro is a new car out of Catagory Five Race Cars. Owned by Troy Fredrickson it will be driven this weekend by Aaron Gramer. It has a 400+ cubic inch Small Block by Fast Forward Race Engines, with a manifold done by HPS Cylinder Heads.John Kolivas ran a 4.78 earlier today after spinning on his first pass. They turned it down for that pass and then up a little bit for the third pass but he got outof the groove and had to lift. He is testing the 'bull horns" this weekend.Amanda Long had some bad luck with broken balancer bolts on her ride. There appears to be no major damage and Joe Erwin from Fast Forward was extracting the broken end earlier.Some other results from testing are Will Stevenson 4.89 @ 157, Chad Opaleski 4.99 @ 148. Bill Clary hazed the tires slightly and had to pedal, he ran a 7.00. Steve Jackson ran a 5.16 @ 147 pedaling several times on the run.Mike Modeste puts Team North on the map with a nice straight 4.64 @ 164. Jere Ethridge got a 4.79 @ 165 out his last pass of the night.Eric Kenward ran a 5.26 @ 133 in the TRZ Sponsored Malibu Wagon, sorry no wheelstands today.Ritchie Stein rips off a 4.85 @ 152 making him the quickest nitrous car on the lot so far. He is driving a friends Mustang this weekend.
Friday Night News from the Pits
Friday will have testing in the morning starting around 10 AM running into the afternoon with first round of qualifying set to begin at 5 PM then another round about 7 PM. Be sure to checkout the free live feed from DragStory.com tomorrow and Saturday.
The Word on Ruben is a burst trans cooler which was located in the ice tank. They plan to mount another cooler and try it out tomorrow
The Killin Time Racin crew was swapping the trans out in the Mustang.
I got a tip that there was a pow wow going on next door in Neal Hawkins trailer with the Goss crew and Travis Quillen. Marty Whit and Neil Hawkins. All is well in the pits here. Whit got the wheels up not once but three times on his last pass. he manadged to pedal the car enough to avoid any real damage on landing.
