While competing at the Pritchett Brothers Ultimate Outlaws Shootout at the Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Md. on Saturday, East coast Drag Radial competitor Scott Bitzer made heavy contact with the guardrail near the eighth mile mark while racing alongside Dave Hinzman, crossing the stripe sideways on a 4.77-second, 137 MPH run. Bitzer’s ’81 Malibu drifted out of the groove near the 600 foot marker and took a hard right turn into the retaining wall, sending the concrete k-barriers back several feet and spinning to a stop in the shutdown area.
The impact shattered the supercharger, reportedly sending pieces into both sides of the pit area. Along with the obvious cosmetic damage, the accident broke the brand new Rossler transmission case, shoved the driveshaft into the rear end, and mangled or banged up many of the front suspension and engine components.
Bitzer is a local racer at Maryland International Raceway, and spent two seasons on the sidelines making the switch from nitrous oxide to an F3 ProCharger combination. Bitzer spent the first half of the season chasing gremlins and getting his new setup lined out and appeared to have turned the corner recently with an impressive 4.64 lap at MIR before the unfortunate encounter with the wall in Cecil County.
The Malibu will likely need a new front end, k-member, A-arms, shocks, springs, wheels, blower, gear drive, and many other components in order to get back on the racretrack. Most importantly, Bitzer walked away with little more than the usual aches from the seat belts and he and his crew are burning the midnight oil in an effort to get the Malibu repaired and ready to race by the end of the month. For those interested in contributing parts to the repairs or with knowledge of where to locate parts for an ’81 Malibu, contact Scott at scobitz@aol.com.
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