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Saturday here at Bradenton’s Snowbird Nationals will feature three rounds of qualifying and the Jet Jam night of Fire. We have some cloud cover forecast for today that should help keep track temps a few degrees cooler. The two biggest classes are Pro Mod with twenty four entries and Outlaw 632 with twenty seven. We will have updates through the day and final qualifying, stay tuned to Dragzine for the latest news and updates.
Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor, Comp Cams and the entire Comp Performance Group, for their support throughout the entire 2014 racing season!
Tim Hendricks is down from Illinois west of Chicago running Ultra Street. Hendricks is a former NMCA racer now running mostly local at Byron and has won a couple of the Ultra Street events there this year. He runs a 434 small Chevy from BES, this is a new engine out for the first weekend. They tested last night running some 330 hits and besting his previous runs. He was swapping a new PTC converter in this morning.
As we mentioned yesterday Matt Gilmore damaged his Open Outlaw car hitting the wall at the last event. The team thrashed to make the repairs just wrapping up on Thursday night. Matt Gilmore, Dave Curtis and Alan Stewart did the work on the chassis, basically cutting off the front half and replacing it.
Ed Mitchell is the car owner for the Ocala based M&M Racing Firebird running Outlaw 632 this weekend. This is the third time out with the car after purchasing it last year and is driven by John Tyler. The engine is from Sunset Racecraft topped with two systems from Induction Solutions and backed by a Freakshow Performance powerglide.
As we mentioned yesterday Matt Gilmore damaged his Open Outlaw car hitting the wall at the last event. The team thrashed to make the repairs just wrapping up on Thursday night. Matt Gilmore, Dave Curtis and Alan Stewart did the work on the chassis, basically cutting off the front half and replacing it.
We stopped by the Voss Racing pit this morning to catch up with them after Dillon's (pictured at left) 4.42 while testing last night. At right is Mike Murphy (on the left), who will have a car for Outlaw 632 next year, and Kenny Voss were topping of the fuel cell. Voss Racing has four cars that will be running OL 632 for 2015 and are waiting for a finalized rules package and weights for next year. The team did some upgrades on the Cobalt since we last saw them, upgrading the anti roll bar to a much beefier 35 spline unit from Suncoast Race Cars, also increasing the width of the bar to get more leverage on the rear housing which required some re configuring of the rear chassis section. The Cobalt has a 632 Chevy from Voss Racing topped with 14.5 degree valve angle Pontiac heads and Wilson Pro Flow nitrous system. DJ Safety came on board recently as well.
Troy Pirez Sr. is sporting fresh paint on the mule, taking the time between other work at Pirez Auto Body to make it shine again after some wall incidents and new fiberglass from heads Up Composits. He runs in OL 632 at 2800 pounds due to weight breaks for the small 275 tire, single carb and conventional heads with ETs mostly in the 4.50 zone.
A view from the staging lanes prior to round one qualifying this morning just behind Al Dita’s OL 632 Celebrity.
Dave French got some suspension help from Hank Hill last night. They completely reset the 4 link and the car went straight and stopped shaking the tires running a 4.74 so he is back on track.
Round One Qualifying Results
Brian Keep put his S10 on top of the Ultra Street field with a 5.06 @ 137 this morning.
Walter Drakeford was just a bit behind Keep with a 5.07 at 138 for the Real Speed Racing entry.
Troy Pirez Jr. did some upgrades to his car since the ODRC here in October replacing his old Pontiac cylinder heads with some Trick Flow castings from PKRE (Paul Klyczek Racing Engines) He ran a 5 flat in testing last night, a personal best with the car. Other companies involved with his program include Fast Forward Race Engines, Induction Solutions and Diamond Pistons came on board with piston sponsorship and his own Innovative Racecraft.
Mike Fratena has high MPH in Ultra this session with a 141.59 MPH run, good for third in class.
Dillon “The Kid” Voss took number one in OL 632 with a 4.45 at 161.43, also taking top MPH on the run.
Robert Briscoe put his 71 Nova in second with a 4.48 at 160.97.
Ken Quartuccio landed third with a 4.51 at 159. Quartuccio is new to the class and hails from Wallingford, CT. This is his third or fourth race in the class.
Dean Vallese is on the bump after one session with a 5.13 at 139. He had to pedal the car on this run. The photo shows him on the way back down.
Mel Nelson was the only Pro Drag Radial car to get a clean pass in round one qualifying. His 4.44 at 173 took the pole.
Chad Opaleski has yet to make full good passes since switching to the Hemi. The tune is coming around and they are working on power management. He shut it down after spinning the tires approaching the 60′.
Phil Esz made the trip down here from Amelia Ohio for some Open Outlaw action. He took top mph and low ET this round running a 3.69 at 197 MPH. He runs an 06 Spitzer with a 500 inch BAE.
Melissa Hutson earned a runner up finish at the ODRC event back in October and is a regular here for the Open Outlaw class. Her 3.75 at 191 was good for second in the field of thirteen cars.
Ron Logan and TnA Racing has been on hiatus for a while now but that are back here this weekend. He ran a 4.65 at 171 landing ninth. They have three cars this weekend, this blown 1996 Mullis chassis digger and two children running in Jr. Dragster index.
Shannon Jenkins took top qualifier in Outlaw Pro Mod with a 3.832 at 196.07.
Chris Rini earned second spot with a 3.85 at 194. He runs an 888 cubic inch bullet from Buck Racing Engines.
The Jet Jam at the Snowbird Nationals is always a big hit with the fans and Bob Motz’ insane jet truck is the star of the show. This run broke the quarter miles beams to the tune of 6.97 at 212 MPH.
The Wicked Willy jet funner car paired up with Heatwave and two dragsters from Emery Riddle driven by Elaine Larson and Kat Moller. There was a very good crowd that actually grew later in the afternoon eager for the next Jet Jam session
Final Qualifying Results
Due to the large fields attempting to qualify for the sixteen car fields here this weekend Outlaw Pro Mod and Outlaw 632 will feature a second chance race for the remaining cars.
The final session of qualifying had some shakeups in Outlaw Pro Mod with Todd Tutterow moving to number one from third spot with a 3.815 at 194 MPH in the Galot Motorsports 1969 Camaro. This marks the first three second Outlaw Pro Mod field here at the Snowbird Nationals.
Chris Rini also improved his ET to a 3.817 at 196.12, quick enough to hold on to the number two qualifying position.
The Open Outlaw order remains unchanged but a swap of the last two cars, most racers did not improve their ET either so Phil Esz help top qualifier with his 3.68 at 199.
Mark McElwee put the Powershield Coatings dragster in third behind Melissa Hutson with a 3.74 at 197.
Rob Briscoe bumped Dillon Voss back to second in OL 632, improving on his earlier 4.48 pass to a 4.457, just one thousandth quicker than Voss.
Anthony Masiello jumped into the field from the thirtieth spot landing third with a 4.49 at 162 earning high MPH in the process.
Troy Pirez landed eleventh in OL 632 with a 4.67, he had to pedal the car on his last attempt after getting into a wheel stand.
Palm Beach Florida racer Troy Blake improved his way to sixth from well outside the field with a 4.58 in the final session.
Jorden Ensslin put the teams 37 Chevy in the OL 632 field at eighth with a 4.63 at 153.
Dean Vallese had trouble keeping the front end of the Zombie wagon on the ground today and was unable to make the sixteen car field.
Scott Husted pulled the wheels and drove the car to a 4.48 in the final session of PDR after riding it out down track. He should still be number one in Pro Drag Radial with his earlier 4.40.
I don’t have a sheet for the final session of Pro Drag Radial but Chad Opaleski put a good run down with a 4.49 at 176 which should place him third.
Brian Keep held onto number one spot in Ultra Street improving his ET to a 5.01 at 138.88 with his Ft Meyers based Nitrous Outlet sponsored S-10 truck.
Robert Rogers was able to improve to a 5.05 at 138 landing second in class.
Troy Jr. knocked .06 off his earlier run improving his position to third.
Kevin Robinson is based out of Blythwood, South Carolina and has run several Ultra Street events here in Bradenton. He qualified ninth with a 5.8 at 133.
Richard Hutchins brought out his Chevy Rebellion wheel stander putting up a 9.72 at 136.
After qualifying the final Jet Jam session this weekend got under way. Here Jerry McCart will take another win over Tulsa Heatwave.
Bob Motz King of Quake is the fastest jet semi in the world holding numerous records and is powered by a J79 General Electric from a B-58 Bomber or F4 Phantom Fighter pushing 17,500 pounds of thrust. Here he ran a 6.82 at 223 though Bob has been a best 6.34 at 234.
