Network
It’s day two of qualifying here at the Street Car Super Nationals in St. Louis. Despite typical late August heat the humidity, overcast conditions through the day should keep the track temperature relatively in-check, providing racers with the opportunity to put some solid numbers down this evening when the final two sessions of qualifying roll onto the Gateway Motorsports Park 1/8-mile.
A special thanks to Fuel Air Spark Technology, whose support makes our coverage possible!
Sportsman racer turned Pro Modified competitor Craig Sullivan is getting some invaluable tuning assistance with the Fueltech FT500 system in his Dodge Daytona this weekend from renowned tuner Steve Petty, and it's already paying dividends, as the Indianapolis native made a career-best 4.10-second lap lat night in qualifying. Sullivan, who has years of experience in Super Stock, Top Dragster, and fast bracket racing, purchased the former Chip King-campaigned Daytona in the offseason and had the eye-catching, rustic Richard Petty theme applied to the car.
Brazilian Sidnei Frigo will be putting the very first shakedown laps on his brand new C7 Corvette Pro Modified entry today. Frigo, who was injured in a frightening crash in Houston earlier this year, has been absent from the driver's seat since, but will be making his official return next weekend at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. The team and their Pro Line-powered machine will be running 1/8-mile here in competition before stretching the new car out to the 1/4-mile during a test session here on Monday.
Colorado native Krusty Ramsey missed last’s night qualifying rounds in Outlaw 8.5/MX235, but as a former champion of this race and a runner-up last year, he’s unlikely to have much trouble finding himself a solid spot in the qualifying order tonight. Ramsey, whose Malibu is powered by a “327-inch” (or so he calls it) BES small-block with a FastLane nitrous direct port setup, has been a quick as 4.70 on the little tires, and with the track working well for the skinny-tire guys thus far, look for him to jump into the .70s tonight with the frontrunners.
While many of his Top Fuel compatriots are in Indy testing for the U.S. Nationals, Missouri native Scott Palmer is here in St. Louis enjoying a little Pro Mod racing behind the wheel of his ’72 Ford Maverick. Palmer cranked off a 3.91 at 188 mph last night to place himself third in the provisional order in Outlaw Pro Mod.
Street Outlaws star Justin "Big Chief" Shearer is a surprise late entrant here this weekend, as he's brought the CrowMod out to get some laps in preparation for his NHRA Pro Mod debut next weekend in Indianapolis.
Depending on which side of the political spectrum you’re on, you either love or loathe Pro Mod racer and former Top Alcohol Dragster world champion Jim Whiteley’s tow van.
Kansas City-area racer Justin Kalwel has brought this very trick Chevy II that is a certifiable street car. Built primarily for street, grudge, and no prep racing, the car features power from a 416 cubic inch LSX powerplant with Trick Flow heads and twin 76mm Precision turbos, intercooled and running on E85, and backed by a Rossler 2-speed Turbo 400. The car was previously motivated by an 800+ inch nitrous motor and campaigned in Texas by its previous owner. According to Kalwel's team, the car either beat or came within thousandths of a second of a hydraulic roller/lifter LSX record with their 4.63 last night, but say they feel confident they'll take over that mark for certain this weekend, with event intent of going in the 4.50s.
Roxana, Illinois racer Tim Gehrs has the most attention-getting car in the 275 Radial class this weekend, with a 516-inch big-block Chevrolet topped with a 10:71 Littlefield roots blower in his '82 Cutlass. The 3,500 lb. car makes upwards of 24 lbs. of boost by the 60-foot mark, and with such a little tire to put it to, it requires some creative methods to manage the power at the hit. Gehrs has devised a CO2-driven system connected to the butterflies that allow him to make minute adjustments to both launch RPM and the rate at which the butterflies open so he can control the power and wheelspeed. But, having built a roots blower radial car simply to "do something different," he's certainly up for the challenge. Gehrs has ben 5.0's in the car and is hunting for the 4.80s.
Pro Line Racing’s Eric Dillard gets the enviable task of breaking in a state-of-the-art new race car for Sidnei Frigo, as he makes test hits today during index qualifying. Dillard made a solid hit before drifting out out toward the centerline and coasted to a 4.11.
Frankie Taylor cranked off his best run of the weekend in the third session of Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying with a pedaling 3.73 at 204 mph. The Camaro that Taylor is piloting was completed nearly a year ago at Larry Jeffers’ shop, and at car owner Jay Diedrich’s insistence, Taylor bolted his engine and various other parts and pieces on the car to put some laps on it. Taylor says he’s hoping to get some extended time behind the wheel of the car if all goes well, as the car has all the latest bells and whistles from Jeffers. Taylor and company will be running the car at PDRA Dragstock in North Carolina and shares that it will be strictly an 1/8-mile car and campaigned on the East coast, whether it’s he or Diedrich doing the driving.
Terry Barkley, in his debut race behind the wheel of a Pro Mod car, stormed to the top of the Pro Nitrous vs Pro Boost field with a staggering 3.76 at 216 mph. Barkley had a brief wiggle just beyond 60-feet but reeled it back in and stormed through the 1/8-mile clocks to put nearly four-hundredths on the rest of the field.
Outlaw 8.5 racer Brad Medlock (left) and 275 Radial's Shane Fisher, a pair of frontrunners in their respective categories, arrived today and made their first hits at the race track. Fisher vaulted up to third in his KBX Mustang with a stellar 4.60, while Medlock stuck the tires right at the hit and coasted to a 6.66 to put himself 15th in the 16-car field.
Moore, Oklahoma racer Odie Sturgeon took his nitrous-fed Nova to the top of the 275 Radial order in the third session with a great 4.497 at 157.14 mph, moving Thursday leader Cecil Whitaker down to second with his 4.52.
Eddie Harrison was on what was likely a three-second lap in his twin turbocharged Radial vs The World Camaro when the car expired near the finish line with a shower of sparks from under the car. Harrison coasted to a 4.06 at just 178 mph to slide into fifth in the 13-car field.
Williamson, Missouri’s Jeff Hansen campaigns this gorgeous 1955 Chevy Belair in the Radial vs The World class. Hansen has been a 5.31 at 146 mph best this weekend.
Carl Stevens, Jr. (left) and Sr. helped guide “The Captain” Terry Barkley to his first career No. 1 qualifier at his debut race in Pro Nitrous vs Pro Boost, as he backed up his 3.76 from earlier in the evening with a 3.78 to solidify his spot atop the field. Barkley was on cloud nine with the performance of the car, sharing the team was shooting for mid-3.70’s.
Joshua Vettel left a cloud of deathsmoke in the shutdown area at the close of his third qualifying hit earlier. The smoke, it turned out, was the result of three melted pistons and three burnt valves. Scott Palmer was over in the Vettel pit helping with some rudimentary repair work on the cylinder head between rounds. Vettel said the team has the parts to make the repairs and will be back for eliminations tomorrow.
Andrew Alepa and Kevin Fiscus are creeping up on their C7 ‘Vette this weekend, finally punching into the 3.90’s with a 3.98 in the final session of RvW.
Mark Micke neared his career best in a radial car in the final session tonight aboard Jason Carter’s familiar Malibu, as he clicked off a 3.95 at 202 mph.
Duane Rister came up just .013-seconds short of leading the Outlaw Pro Mod field in his Larry Jeffers Race Cars Corvette, as Frankie Taylor unseated him atop the field with a 3.713 to Risters’ 3.726.
Matt Bell saved the best for last in Limited Drag Radial with a career best 4.27 at 179 mph to take over the top spot in his Mustang.
Final Qualifying Orders
