Street Car Super Nationals XIII Coverage From Las Vegas

It’s elimination day; the thirteenth running of the Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been marred by crashes and oildowns. By the end of the day we’ll have crowned event winners and put the finishing touches on what has been a marathon event. Currently the bracket cars are on track, and the big boys should be headed out around 11AM barring any further issues. Stay tuned!

Brian Macy is driving The EFI Store-backed, Darrin Meroniuk 1863 Nova in 275 Radial. Remember the car I mentioned last night owned by Eddy Whipple? Well, this is Eddy’s old car, which is now in Meroniuk’s hands. Apparently both were at a race in Spokane along with Macy when Macy was driving the black EFI Store Willys, and when the Willys broke, Macy and Meroniuk spent the rest of the weekend supporting Whipple. Confused yet? So the whole time they were there at this race, Meroniuk was eyeing up the Nova, and eventually offered Whipple the trade option, and the two swapped cars.

Today, the car sports a 434 cubic-inch small-block Chevy with 18-degree Dart heads and a Bowtie block. A pair of 72 mm turbochargers, 25 psi boost pressure, and gasoline fuel have combined to help the car into the 4-second zone. So far they’ve been a best of 4.95 with only three hits on the car. He was eliminated in the class, but with so few hits on the car they are looking to be a serious player. They recently upgraded the car to use a Turbo 400 transmission with second-gear-leave option to help build boost and get the car out of the hole more quickly. All it takes is a gear ratio change, and they can go back to using all three gears for quarter-mile racing. The transmission has an upgraded valve body which allows transbrake activation in both first and second gear. Macy says all vehicle operations are operated through a Holley Dominator EFI system–which makes sense given that he earns his living as an EFI tuner. This car was just finished up a few days ago in time for the event, and they are very pleased with its initial performance.

“I’m happy we’re in the 4s,” said Macy. “That’s what we were looking for.”

This is your winning elapsed time in the Outlaw Pro Mod class for the 2017 Street Car Super Nationals. The Q80 Racing Team of Jose Gonzalez and Eric Dillard had one heck of a weekend. They were shooting for a monster pass in the 5.20s and went 5.440 today, but it wasn’t without its challenges. My understanding is that in the pursuit of these elapsed times, the team went through a number of transmissions and at least one broken rear, and simply didn’t have the data they needed to put the big tuneup in the car. Even so, they put a monster 275.45 mph on the boards earlier today. In the other lane of the final round, John Stanley got out of shape and had to lift early, ending his chances to take home the big prize.

Freddy Bueno’s ’63 Nova is a work of art. The 25.3 chassis was done in-house at Freddy’s Fab Workz, and the car boasts one of Bischoff Engine Service’s 462 cubic-inch small-block Chevrolet engines topped off with one of Robert Lane’s Fast Lane nitrous systems. Freddy’s dad Javier painted the car its gorgeous orange shade.

“Eric Mitchell is helping us with the nitrous tuning. Having him tune for us is a game changer,” he said.

The car still rides on Calvert leafs and went a 1.09 short time in a quarterfinal loss to Chris Groves when the car popped around halftrack. With such limited time on the car, they’ve still turned in a best elapsed time of 4.59, showing that with Bueno’s chassis tune and Mitchell’s nitrous tune this car will be a player in the West Coast 275 wars.

Matt Paris made the long trek over the hill from Longmont, Colorado with his pretty ’57 Chevy to run in the XDR class. It features a 565 cubic-inch with Big Duke heads and one of Fast Lane’s nitrous systems. This is their first time on radials and they’ve turned in a personal best of 5.02 at 140 mph. The 3,550-pound car normally runs in around 8,500 Density Altitude compared to the 2,500 or so we’re seeing here, so Matt’s sneaking up on the tuneup with baby steps.

This beautiful engine belongs to former PSCA Wild Street champion Dee Pfnister. The XDR car has been completely revamped with a 585 ci engine and old-school F-3R ProCharger supercharger.

“This is our first good weekend for shakedown passes; we went from 5.14 to 4.73 in just a few passes and are trying to figure out the converter and stuff like that. I’m working with Joe Rivera at Pro Torque on that. Kevin Mullins from TKM built the engine,” he said. Pfnister went down to Ryan Jones in the semifinal round.

Earlier this weekend Steve Nicholson told us he had something for the Outlaw 10.5 class from his Sonny’s-powered Sting Ray… and he did. How does three Outlaw 10.5 wins in four years sound? We think this guy has the class–and the Street Car Super Nationals–figured out.

Mike Bowman is on a tear in his Pro Mod over the last little bit here. Not only did he outlast Carl Stevens in the final round, this marks his second SCSN win in a row. His winner’s circle photo is graced by Camp Stanley, who never met a celebration he didn’t like.

I found it interesting that a few of the racers I spoke with over the weekend who told me they were on to something with their combinations were able to back up the talk and walk the walk when push came to shove. Despite showing up with an all-new combo, Giuseppe Gentile was able to not only capture the runner-up spot in Outlaw 10.5, but also take home the big prize in the Big Tire No Time class.

Speaking of Camp Stanley, if the rumors of the team’s retirement are true, they are going out on top of the world. Not only did they capture the runner-up spot in Outlaw Pro Mod, Stanley also tuned the CTS-V to the record for the world’s fastest blown doorslammer, sending John down the track to a monster 266.74 mph pass.

If you’re wondering where Krusty Ramsey was with his well-known Outlaw 8.5 nitroused Malibu, here’s where–tuning his wife Meghan’s stock-bottom-end LS-powered Mustang in the 235 Limited class. Meghan acquitted herself well as a driver, running a best pass of 5.55 in a quarterfinal loss to number-three-qualifier David Holtgrew. Mike Silva captured the class win in his slick silver Nova over Richard Shelley’s Mercury Capri.

And how about Ryan “Toaster” Jones in his killer Nova? Toaster made a bunch of changes to his ride, leaving the Outlaw 8.5 class he’s dominated over the last couple of years, and entered the Xtreme Drag Radial class. Those changes included switching the car over to alcohol, removing the intercooler, and setting it up to run in this class. It took them until the last qualifying session to figure the car out, and Toaster eventually turned in a 4.41 to jump to the second spot in XDR behind Norman Chamg, and tuned the car to a final-round finish, where he went down to Chang after the car lost traction and he had to lift.

Final Elimination Results

Final qualifying day of the Street Car Super Nationals is here. Check out yesterday’s coverage using the dropdown at the top of the page, and venture through the gallery for some great photos. I’m heading out to the pits right now to see what’s happening. Stay tuned!

Another day full of carnage, wild action, crashes, and oildowns here at the Street Car Super Nationals. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway staff was on full alert throughout most of the day, and they worked hard to keep the track surface in tip-top shape despite the best efforts of many racers to knock them down, up until the last car went down the track this evening, when John Garafola nosed into the wall and forced the stoppage of the event for the evening due to the length of cleanup required mixed with an approaching cold front. The plan is to be back on the track at 8AM on Sunday to continue the elimination rounds. That said, let’s get on with the fun.

This morning I ran into Donnie Bowles, who had a parts failure of near epic proportions. It seems that the ear broke off his torque converter, wrecking the flexplate and more in the process. He told me it happened as he was doing his burnout this morning, with no load on the engine.

The ear shot out from under the car, narrowly missing his crew guy, Steve, before bouncing off the track and rocketing through the track’s tractor window. When I caught up with him, he and teammate Susan Roush-McClenaghan were off on the far side of the track looking for the missing piece of converter.

Kevin Wallauer is getting the details down on the combination in his 275 Radial car this weekend. An all-new 403 cubic-inch small-block Chevy is topped off with a set of Brodix -13 cylinder heads and fronted by a ProCharger F-1X-12 supercharger. Wallauer, the owner of composite body parts manufacturer Unlimited Products, has only three passes this weekend on the Clint Downs-tuned package.

“We got beat by big mile-per-hour with the old engine, which had 23-degree heads and a regular F-1X, so we decided it was time to turn it up,” he says. Wallauer is currently qualified ninth going into eliminations with a 4.805 at 154.72 mph.

Not the sight any nitrous racer wants to see. A fresh combination for Ken Sihota was out of competition early.

“We made a bunch of changes and fixed some issues with the fuel system,” he explained. “We’re making more power than ever before, so it took a different management approach, and we didn’t get enough runs on it to sort it out.”

Yesterday, he overfueled the engine on a qualifying pass, then tried to clear it out to get off the track at the big end, and as he did that it popped back through the intake and he had to be pulled off the track by the safety crew. After they fixed the intake, the team looked over the engine and all seemed to be OK. Unfortunately, it waffled an oil ring (which they couldn’t see during their inspection) and on the next pass this morning it lost oil control.

“Oil met nitrous met heat and boom. It put deep divots into the sleeve and metal through the oiling system. I decided to pack it up rather than make a temporary fix, as I didn’t think it would be in good enough shape to make it through the race,” he said.

I met Canadian racer Greg Henschell for the first time today. The 2016 275 Radial class winner, who took home the title last year with a best pass of 4.48, made lots of little changes that have led to a substantial performance increase. Henschell goes into eliminations in the top spot with an outstanding personal-best 4.41 at 167.51 mph, which is the West Coast 275 record and nearly a tenth better than Chris Groves. The car runs a Bennett Racing Engines 400X engine topped off by a set of cast D3 cylinder heads.

“We’ve got the car ironed out pretty good right now, and I’m considering coming back down to the States to race more often. This is my third season with this car. I learned a lot from John Kolivas, who got us started with the tune, and I’m now working on my own tuneups. Ben Thomas from KBX Performance is here this weekend helping me with the chassis,” says Henschell.

Longtime Ford racer and class racing champion Mike Murillo made the move into no-prep racing and event promoting over the last couple of years, and his Dirty South No Prep series has been attracting the no-prep world’s heavy hitters in 2017. Murillo signed a number of hero cards for his fans while I was visiting with him today, and it was really cool to hear them tell him the stories of how long they’ve been following his racing career. Unfortunately, when Murillo attempted to race in the first round of Big Tire No Time today, he discovered that the boost line wasn’t attached to the wastegate and was out of competition before he ever really got started. He made another test hit later on tonight to put on a show for the fans.

This photo of Murillo clearly illustrates the relationship between the Christmas tree, the racer’s reaction time, and the vehicle’s reaction time before the car pulls the tires out of the beams–and my own hair-trigger with the camera’s shutter button. Note that the three ambers are lit, the back tire is wrapped up around the wheel, but the front tire is still on the ground and the redlight is not illuminated. The car is reacting, but not quickly enough to get the car out before the green light comes on. Unfortunately, as this is No Time racing, no timeslip is available to me to see what Murillo’s reaction time actually was on this pass, but you don’t get to be a 14-time class champion if you can’t cut a light.

There’s an all-new 959 cubic-inch Sonny’s engine under the hood of Steve Nicholson’s gorgeous Corvette. It features six (!) Speedtech nitrous kits and an EFI Technology engine management system. So far he’s been a best of 4.07 with this combination and is solidly capable of going deep into the 3-second zone.

“We are using three or four kits right now and only have seven hits on the car. It’s had a .980-second 60-foot and 2.67-second 330-foot time. When we wick it up, it’ll be an animal. Right now it has really small kits in it,” he said.

It was interesting to see Jim Bell shooting video of his own car, as he has engine builder and tuner Carl Stevens, Jr. handling the driving duties this weekend. Stevens won in the first round of eliminations tonight with a stout 5.79 at 251 mph over John Luglietta, who has an interesting story of his own.

Luglietta, who has a stock bottom end 5.3 LS engine installed into this Top Sportsman-style S10 chassis, outfitted it with a monster turbocharger and entered into the Turbo Pro Mod class with one goal: to become the quickest SBE-powered LS vehicle on the planet. How does a 7.16 at 190 mph sound to you–with stock, mass-produced General Motors parts underhood? That’s damn impressive.

It’s taken him an entire year, but John Urist is ecstatic with the progress he’s made of late with the Turn 14 Distribution Mustang. Although he hasn’t put together the complete pass he’d like as of yet. he turned in a 1.09 short time during today’s final qualifying session–a personal best in any car he’s ever owned. A malfunction in the air shifter mechanism denied him the quickest elapsed time he’s looking for, the team figured out the issue and will be ready for eliminations tomorrow.

I spent some time with the Hairston gang (Clint, Jake, and Jim) today to talk about their Pro Mod Camaro, which will be featured here on Dragzine soon. The car runs one of Elite Motorsports’ 522 cubic-inch engines packed full of parts from CFE, backed up with one of M&M Transmissions’ Turbo 400 units and an M&M converter. Previously the team was using a Quick Drive setup, but they are doing development work with M&M and are excited about its potential in this application. And although the team isn’t ready to divulge all of the engine’s details, look for a Pro Mod engine build on our sister magazine EngineLabs in the coming months.

Back in 2014, we featured Eddy Whipple’s Nova here on Dragzine, but he’s moved into a new car–this beautiful Outlaw 10.5 Mustang packing 427 cubic inches of twin-turbo Ford power. Moments before this photo was taken, I was chatting with Eddy in the staging lanes when Greg Seth-Hunter’s crew chief, Mark Luton, came over to inform Eddy that they’d be switching lanes for competition. Eddy, who only has a few runs on this car so far, took the change in stride, switching to the left lane. He wasn’t expecting to win as they are still shaking the car down, but Seth-Hunter’s decision came back to bite him as the MMR Mustang got wildly out of shape in the right lane, which allowed Whipple to sneak around him for the win to move on to Sunday’s program.

It’s been a whirlwind couple of months for Terry Barkley. This weekend has been crazy for him as he’s competing in both Bit Tire No Time and Outlaw 10.5 with the same car. They didn’t get any test passes in on Wednesday due to issues with the car that required a new third member. Then on Friday he experienced wicked tire shake and ended up taking all of the power out of the car to get it down the track. This morning he was in the throttle for 2.17-seconds before he had to pedal it and still moved up from number 28 to number 8 in Outlaw 10.5.

“Without pedaling, it would have been a number-one qualifying pass based on the numbers we have. This twin-turbo stuff is new to me, and my driving style has to be altered. We’re still working on getting the tuneup squared away to get the starting line scenario figured out. We’ve got something for everybody in the class,” he said.

We saw this way more often than we wanted to today. Let’s hope for a clean day of racing tomorrow!

Final Qualifying Results

Eliminations Results

We’re back today for day two of the Street Car Super Nationals. Yesterday was full of breakage and oil downs as the racers here in Vegas put it all on the line, shredding their gear in the interest of record ETs and high qualifying positions. The track has some serious teeth evidenced by Eric Dillard’s monster run last evening. We’re just getting started with the big boys for round two of qualifying, so stay tuned here to Dragzine.

A marathon day is complete here at the Street Car Super Nationals. Marred by crashes, multiple oildowns–again–and other delays in the action which caused the day to drag along, it was eventually cut short during the third round of Turbo Pro Mod qualifying when Scott Loomis ran into issues in the shutdown, eventually crashing all the way through the top-end catch fence. As it was already after 7PM, it was deemed time to shut the action down for the day as the catch fence required repairs that the LVMS track staff would require hours to complete. Our understanding is that Loomis was transported to the hospital for observation but was expected to be OK.

Mark Luton’s MMR-backed rocketship Mustang runs a 358ci MMR Gen X-based Ford powerplant. Luton powered the Coyote-engined Mustang to a 5.84 last night to become the quickest Coyote-based Ford on the planet.

This weekend marks the first time Luton has raced the car on a quarter-mile track in this configuration, which is highlighted by the Gen X billet block, a Winberg crankshaft, Bill Miller Engineering rods, and a set of Shelby GT350 cylinder heads. When we spoke with Mark this afternoon, he explained that they didn’t change a thing from last night’s record run, and the car repeated its performance today. He was ecstatic, explaining that the Garrett turbo-boosted machine still has more performance locked up inside as they work to learn its tendencies. Although the block is capable of housing 400 cubic inches, they run it at a smaller 351-cube displacement in the car to optimize the power for this application. A simply amazing performance from one of the Ford world’s trendsetters.

Not only did he crank off these super-quick runs, he mentioned that the car wasn’t under full power through the quarter-mile on either pass, as he was lifting off the throttle around the 1100-foot mark. 5.80s at over 254 mph. What’s next?

One of the best reasons to attend this event, besides the awesome racing action, is to witness our nation’s flying forces as they perform training runs at Nellis Air Force base, located just a short distance away from the track. All weekend long, planes roar overhead as the fighter jets and cargo carriers power out of the base, go on their runs over the local desert, and coast back home.

We recently featured Roger Holder’s new Bickel-built 2017 Camaro Pro Mod right here on Dragzine, and he’s here working the kinks out this weekend. I spoke with tuner Patrick Barnhill and Pro Mod racer Steve Summers about the car. Summers actually delivered the car to Holder after wiring it in his Illinois shop, and the pair are here working with Roger to get the car lined out. Summer expressed that he was extremely impressed with how the car has responded after just a few passes, and they filly expect the machine to be at the top of the field after Holder gets more seat time behind the wheel. Currently he is qualified seventh in a tough 24-car Turbo Pro Mod field with a strong 5.958 at 239.27 mph.

The plan is to run the car in Pro Mod action around the country with the NMCA and PRDA, while reserving the right to strap a set of radials underneath and potentially hit some of the larger radial-tire races should the car be competitive in that arena.

Rumor has it that the Stanley&Weiss Cadillac CTS-V driven by John Stanley and owned by his father, crew chief and legendary Pro Mod pioneer Camp Stanley, may be retired after this event. I spoke with Camp this afternoon and he explained that he’s tired, simply tired, after a decades-long career chasing the big prize around the country, as a driver, tuner, and car owner. If that does in fact turn out to be the case, the team will go out as one of the quickest Pro Mod teams around, as Stanley has turned in a personal-best 5.57. That’s good for second currently behind Eric Dillard’s monster 5.45 hit from last night. John Stanley is a seasoned driver who is incredibly capable behind the wheel, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to see him end up in the final round versus Dillard.

He may be 23 hours from home, but longtime radial racer Mark Woodruff wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think there was a chance to  run at the top of the Outlaw 10.5 class. It turns out his suspicions were correct, as he clipped off the highest speed of the weekend so far with a 203.34 mph blast and a 4.056 elapsed time to sit in third so far. But he’ll have his work cut out for him, as Mike Keenan leads the stout 32-car field with a 3.988 so far. Keenan and Woody are the only two racers to break the 200 mph mark here at LVMS so far. There is a strong contingent of Canadian racers in the mix as well, as Ken Sihota, Steve Nicholson, and Roy Moznik are all solidly in the hunt along with Robert Costa in the Musi-powered Duster. Sihota and Nicholson have both come out of Vegas with cash in the past, so the race is on to see who will take home the bacon at the end of the weekend.

Thirty cars make up the Xtreme Drag Radial field, led by Norman Chang, who has a solid two and a half tenths on his nearest competitor. Chang tops the ladder with a 4.207 at 179-plus mph, whch also bests the competition by just about 18 mph. Unless someone steps up in a big way, Chang may be your guy come Sunday evening. But with XDR populated by successful racers like Lamar Swindoll Jr., Jeff Kyle, and many others, there will be no gimme rounds.

It appears that Tom Bailey’s issues from yesterday are behind him, as he rocketed to the top of the Turbo Pro Mod field with a 5.75 at only 239 mph today. He holds nearly a tenth in the bag over Mark Luton’s 5.84, but Luton’s top-end power of 254 mph far eclipses the 239.61 mark Bailey put onto the scoreboard today. One has to wonder if Bailey is holding the reins of the blown Olds back. If that’s the case, is this thing good for 260-plus mph on the big end?

I may be a Mustang guy, but there’s a soft spot in my heart for the ol’ shoebox Nova. Mike Silva’s silver machine sits at the top of the ladder in 235 Limited with a 5.48.

Today’s Qualifying Results

The nation’s best return to Sin City for the 13th running of the famed Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The thirteenth running of this event draws the West Coast’s racers out for a last hurrah before the end of the season; there are a number of East Coasters who make the long, long haul west to take part in the race as well. Follow along with us all weekend long as we bring you the behind-the-scenes stories you won’t see anywhere else.

Let’s start off with the moonshot of the day. In the Pro Mod Shootout this evening, Eric Dillard–who stopped the clocks with a 5.700 pass in Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying–was driving the Q80 Racing Team’s Mustang. In the last pairing of the shootout, he was set to face off against John Stanley, who had cranked off his own personal best 5.579 at 263 mph blast earlier in the day in Stanley & Weiss Caddy CTS-V. Burnouts commenced, and after the pair backed up, crew chief Camp Stanley waved the Caddy off, setting Dillard up for a single pass. Dillard, perhaps sensing the big moment to come, quickly took the tree. The car rocketed out of the hole, stopping the quarter-mile clock with an insane 5.453 at 274.11 mph to set the tone for the weekend.

Earlier today I caught a nice shot of the Don Speer-driven, Rod Tschiggfrie-owned Hurst Olds Pro Mod. At the time I didn’t realize that we’ve seen this car previously; our very own Brian Wagner caught it at PRI at the end of last year. At the time the team hadn’t run the car in its current configuration, but they made the best of their attempts today despite a broken rocker arm, running a personal-best 6.84 at 213 mph. The team discovered a spark plug issue which morphed into the broken rocker arm.

When I stopped by their pits tonight, they were replacing the cylinder heads, as the broken rocker left a piece of the stand bolt in the head. Tschiggfrie and I proceeded to have a long conversation, where he explained the motivation behind this seriously-wicked piece of hardware.

“This is my first love; you never want to get rid of your first love,” he says. At one time, Tschiggfrie actually drove this car daily in a Pro Street configuration, with a supercharged big-block Oldsmobile engine. It then morphed into sucking down methanol fuel, which Tschiggfrie purchased by the drum for $.43/gallon, still driving the car every day to college while he lived in Florida. Following a show in 1989–where it picked up a Best Of Show award–it was seriously damaged in a trailer accident, whereupon he eventually decided to build it into what it is today.

As we talked, I caught wind of the word MoTec, which immediately led me to think about a name synonymous with the engine management system here in the US, none other than Shane Tecklenburg of Tuned by Shane T. Guess who was in the trailer fiddling around with some of the parts from the car?

As I’ve worked with Shane in the past, I had an idea how this car came to be what it is today; a tagged, insured, and fully-capable street car that starts and idles like a dream. Tecklenburg has outfitted the car with true flex-fuel capability that can run anything from full-on methanol all the way down to 88-octane pump fuel and even E-85. This is accomplished through the use of flex-fuel sensors calibrated by Shane and 32 fuel injectors (that’s 4 per cylinder!?) that are capable of flowing 11,000 cc of fuel per cylinder. There are a pair of Injector Dynamics ID1700s and a pair of Siemens 2200 cc injectors dumping fuel into each cylinder under full power.

Tschiggfrie, in conjunction with Dick Maskin of Dart, developed a 5.300-inch bore space big-block Chevy that has full water jackets in it for cooling and is pumped up by a pair of Precision 98 mm Pro Mod Gen II turbochargers. This thing is such a street car that Tecklenburg had to remind them to drain the antifreeze out of it before coming to the race.

The 6.5-year-long project is not just a race car. It’s outfitted with a backup camera that activates not only when the car is in reverse but also during burnouts so Don can keep tabs on how the burnout is progressing, and the view shows up right on the dash in front of the driver.

And, as if that’s not enough, there’s a full stereo system, working turn signals, hazard lights, and even power windows. Although the car weighs in at a portly 3,000 pounds, the team has eventual designs on running 300 mph in the standing half-mile. What I thought would be a quick conversation as I checked out what appeared to be a unique Pro Mod turned into an hour-long discussion with Rod, Don, and Shane about all of the different tricks and unique pieces on this car. What a unique and interesting piece!

John Urist is finally getting a handle on the Turn 14 Distribution 275 Radial Mustang. The 358ci Hellion Turbo-powered, MMR-GEN X-engined car gave him fits for the first year of its existence, as he had to basically re-learn his entire racing program due to the new chassis and engine configuration. Of late, Urist has been coming on strong, running in the 4.40s in NMRA trim. Here in 275 Radial, he’s qualified third after one round with a 4.64 at 161 mph. We fully expect to see him turn up the tune through the rest of the weekend now that he has a baseline.

Just 3.7-seconds into the run, the timing wheel decided that it had had enough and split itself into two pieces. Briggs explained that on a car like this, the harmonics are so rowdy that they are constantly going over each and every nut and bolt on the car, as the weight of the rotating assembly combined with the rotors spinning in the blower basically try to shake the engine into a pile of parts on every run. They borrowed a new timing wheel from another competitor and the car was back together and ready for tomorrow when I stopped by their pit area.

Ever seen bullhorns in front of the rear tires? You have now. Bet you’re wondering why…

The Giuseppe Gentile-driven, Robert Remillard-owned Evolution Racing Team Mustang was extremely nose-heavy, with 59 percent of the weight on the nose of the car, and they fought it at every turn trying to get the chassis to perform. After consultation, the team realized that the bullhorns at the front of the car were putting even more downforce on the nose and preventing the car from getting up on the tire. A conversation between the team and Josh Deeds of Deeds Performance led them to try something new: Deeds routed the downpipes from each of the 102 mm turbochargers along the framerails underneath each door and out the rocker panel just in front of the rear tire.

“By doing this, we basically moved 120 pounds of force right onto the rear tires. We can see it on the datalogger at the shock sensors,” Remillard explains. “We should see around 200 pounds of force at the rear tires under full boost.”

The Jason Pettis-built Brad Anderson 8x engine made 43 pounds of boost today but is capable of 70 psi through the lights. Gentile ran a 4.23 at 186 mph on the limiter, as the engine management system was pulling 13 degrees of timing for three seconds of the run, leaving the car to lug it through the lights on only 12 degrees of timing. The all-new combo performed quite well given the limitations, and Remillard told me they feel like they’re on the right path and are excited about the future with this new Outlaw 10.5 program.

Lots more to come tomorrow–stay tuned!

Round One Qualifying Results