2017 Import vs. Domestic World Cup Finals Coverage

Bill Robaey
•
November 3, 2017

We are here for the final day at the 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals. Vendors are setting up for some great deals and action!

After the rains came last night many of the racers needed to cover up the cars for today's eliminations. The track staff has requested that all racers make sure that the cars are not dripping any water when they come up for a pass.
Racers are in the pits getting ready for the 11am start of eliminations today.
Be sure to stop by the Haltech to take a look at all the electronic goodies they have to offer from mild to all out race setups.

The 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals is seeing a packed house here today for eliminations!
Jason Miller and the track personnel have been keeping on top of the track all day!
One of the WCF Girls making her way down track to throw some goodies out the packed house here at Maryland International Raceway!
Track prep has been excellent today. Carlos Sobrino in All Motor headed towards the sky in the Joker Mustang!
Bill Lutz climbing the ring gear in the first round of eliminations where he had a broke bye. Kenny Lutz put a tuneup in her this round!

Outlaw vs Extreme, Radial vs Modified, and X275 vs Hot Rod First Round of Eliminations.
All Motor, Street Fighter, and True Street First Round of Eliminations.
The clouds came in over Maryland International Raceway after first round of eliminations. This time no rain followed! We are hoping to finish up eliminations tonight!
Jimmy Dolan continues to improve every pass in the Yetti! Justin McChesney has the tuneup in the Haltech making some power!
Jesse Lambert, Michael Martin, and Joe Newsham all were on some passes in round one. Unfortunately Joe Newsham was driven around on the big end.
While the track crew was getting some heat into the track as Street Fighter was waiting to run, Fabian the announcer from Maryland International Raceway, came out and was throwing some swag shirts to the spectators here at the 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals.
Check out the elated faces on the crew as the racer they were behind took the win!
Outlaw vs Extreme, Radial vs Modified, and X275 vs Hot Rod, and Street Fighter Semi Final Sheets.
All Motor, Super Street, True Street, and Wild Street Semi Final Sheets.
Outlaw vs Extreme Winner Versatil Dejesus, Radial vs Modified Winner Rafelito Rivera, and X275 vs Hot Rod Winner Vinny Palazzolo. Both Versatil and Rafelito weren't the quickest in OvsE and RvsM but both were consistent enough to bring home the win. Palazzolo, driving the Benny Ortiz KBX-tuned Mustang, was on a string the entire night running mostly six second 1/4-mile passes. In the final he had a slight oil leak which cause a small fire after he went through the traps.
Alton Clements came out of the No. 4 position and battled through a tough Street Fighter class to pull out a win with his 8.2 Deck Mafia Ford combo. Shawn Ramey in Super Street was far and above the rest of the class running a couple 7-second passes. Carlos Sobrino sliced and wheelied his way through the All Motor field en route to another win!
The 22nd Annual World Cup Finals saw some exciting and thrilling racing. The Imports took the class wins by a 4-3 mark. Maybe the domestics can come back and sweep like in previous years. Make sure you mark those calendars for the 23rd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals October 31st - November 4th at Maryland International Raceway.

Kenny Lutz making some adjustments to Rob Sphar's Mustang that his father Bill Lutz is driving. Rob mentioned they are looking for that elusive 5-second time slip here at the 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals!
Jesse Lambert fresh off his 6.08 pass yesterday in qualifying is doing some general maintenance for today's third round of qualifying. Another Outlaw vs Extreme racer looking for that 5-second run.

Rafelito Rivera focusing prior to his third qualifying attempt in Radial vs Modified after a few minutes of track prep.
Abraham Rubio is in the top half of the field in Super Street and Luis Corujo went down broadway in his third qualifier.

After Manny Buginga’s first two qualifiers he sat in the 6.50’s with a comfortable margin over the number two qualifier. After this mornings third qualifier Manny went into the 6.40’s in Radial vs Modified! .
Jimmy Dolan continues to impress in Radial vs Modified in the Yetti turning in his quickest ET of the weekend with a 7.16 at 187!
Jason Abee contines to improve in his '87 Grand Prix, bettering his ET from the previous two rounds. Mark Carlyle on the other hand took the tree last night because he had motor issues. Overnight, Mark had his engine torn down and was able to come out the third qualifier and run a stout 6.67 to immediately put his Corvette in the top half of the field.

The battle of the GT500's with cash on the line in the third round of qualifying saw Vinny Palazzolo lower the E.T. in X275 vs Hot Rod with a 6.76 but Brian Devilbliss earned a holeshot win for the money. Brian also took the MPH record with the 206 he ran!
Leroy Nabors Jr and Martin Connelly both in the staging lanes getting ready for X275 vs Hot Rod. Both cars are making some steam as they both improved from previous qualifying attempts.

Jorge "El Humilde" Juarbe from Puerto Rico in the 1988 Corolla went low for round three of qualifying with a 5.91 in Outlaw vs Extreme. We aren't sure if the car is hurt or not as they were pushing it back in the trailer but we hope he comes out tomorrow and puts on a show.
Shawn Ramey in his 2000 Civic goes an outstanding 7.95 in Super Street. Shawn has been aiming to grab the record for a while and said he would do it here at the 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals.
Jason Miller and the Maryland International crew are hard at work to keep the track great for every racer here at the World Cup Finals.
Outlaw vs Extreme, Radial vs Modified, X275 vs Hot Rod, and Street Fighter Final Qualifying
All Motor, Super Street, True Street, and Wild Street Final Qualifying
Outlaw vs Extreme, Radial vs Modified, X275 vs Hot Rod, and Street Fighter Ladders
All Motor, Super Street, True Street, and Wild Street Ladders

The baddest doorslammer racers from around the world converge this weekend on the fabled Maryland International Raceway for the annual running of the World Cup Finals — a true one-of-its-kid event pitting the top domestic and import teams head-to-head.

Alton and Valerie Clement are two NMRA Renegade regulars who made it to the 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals. Look for both to go rounds once qualifying is over.
Jason and Royce Miller making sure the track here at Maryland International Raceway is in tip-top condition for all the racers on the grounds.
John Langer has had this Firebird for many years and has always been a front-runner. John is getting ready to make a trip down the quarter in the first round of qualifying.
The 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals sees a new class added to the list: Wild Street, with a whole assortment of vehicles. Tommy Annunziata on the left in the Wild Street Mustang ran a stellar 7.737 at 177 MPH.
We have to thank Adam Ardnt for his service. For the past six months he was deployed overseas. It is great to see him back behind the wheel!
It's great to see Bill Lutz behind the wheel of Rob Sphar's beautiful Mustang. Bill ran an astounding 248 mph in the second qualifier of Outlaw vs Extreme!
Jimmy Dolan in the Lightning affectionately known as The Yeti ran a personal best of 7.28 at 188 mph today Jimmy just recently had Billy Pedus update some of the truck as well as moving to a Haltech setup that is tuned by Justin McChesney.
Two beautiful Mopars that are running in Outlaw vs Extreme. We have Michael Ziccardi in the John Balinsky OAB Racing-tuned Barracuda (left) and Rich Bruder driving Jack French's Challenger which is tuned by Rich's brother, Nick. Ziccardi ran well into the 6's for a personal best.
Jason Miller has the track on point as evidenced by Michael Martin's wife's sneakers stuck to the track!
Wheels up can be a good thing but unfortunately sometimes things break. The DragINT import went right and hit the wall. The driver was okay which is great to hear. Jerry Morgano (right) had the wheels up and went straight down the quarter in his small-block Ford-powered Mustang.
Manny Buginga, a champion of the NMRA Street outlaw class, is back running in Radial vs Modified.
Anthony Disomma, builder of many of the top teams motors out here racing, is here in his Mustang doing battle in Outlaw vs Extreme. Tony Oliveri is here in the SikGoat GTO giving his best in Radial vs Modified.
Isiah Rojas is here at the 22nd Annual Haltech World Cup Finals running his Nitrous fed Pro Mod in some exhibition runs. In X275 vs Hotrod many of the imports when spooling up shoot flames out which makes for some fun images!
Two racers made long treks to the World Cup Finals John Urist who has been racing for many years and knows the winners circle very well and Leroy Nabors Jr from Texas who is here racing the quarter mile for the first time after buying the formerly owned Charles Hull Mustang. Both made great passes but we saw Leroy dip into the 6 second zone in his second qualifying attempt.
Brian Devilbliss in his Mustang made the second quickest pass by a GT 500 with his run of 6.85!

You might also like
Photo Extra: The 2026 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals

The Gatornationals roared to life at Gainesville Raceway. Check out this photo coverage by Mark Riker from the 2026 NHRA season opener.

Brian Wagner

Recommended Next

Derek Menholt Scores Pro Mod Victory At 2026 Gatornationals

Ricky Hord Opens 2026 With Gatornationals Victory In Factory Stock Showdown

Aaron Stanfield Wins 2026 World Series Of Pro Mod, Peter Norton Claims Drag Illustrated Winter Series Title