August 4th Cecil County Street Car Shootout Race Recap

: Mike Good took home the win in 8.50 Index. Photos: Bill Robaey Photography

One again the biggest show on the east coast rolled into Cecil County Dragway this past Saturday. Known for a top contingent of racers in all classes, Cecil County has become one of the most talked-about venues in the country and also home to the Yellowbullet Nationals. Every month there are five heads-up drag racing classes at the monthly Street Car Shootout and month after month the racing continues to get hotter as the summer goes on.

8.50 Index

The first class out of the gate is 8.50 Index and with some of the very best racers in attendance this class has become one that many are eager to see do battle. After two grueling rounds of qualifying it was Brian Ferrari in his Chevelle taking the top spot with an 8.50-second run at 155 mph. Following closely were Marty Brown Jr, Luis Martinez, Mike Good and Mike Doak rounding out the top five in qualifying. As the pairings wound down during the evening it was four very tough racers left in the semi-final round.

Semi-Finals

(W) Mike Good 0.036 – 8.51 at 154mph
(L) Brian Ferrari 0.039 – 8.55 at 150mph
(W) Marty Brown 0.165 – 8.48 at 159mph
(L) Luis Martinez N/T Foul

Finals

(W) Mike Good 0.026 – 8.48 at 148mph
(L) Marty Brown 0.032 – 8.47 at 155mph

The final round was everything that could have been expected with just .006-seconds separating the pairing at the tree. With a double breakout race it was Mike Good in his Corvette tightening it up just enough at the stripe to run closer to the 8.50 index.

Outlaw Big Tire

Tom Tarsia. Photo: Bill Robaey Photography

Outlaw Big Tire has been one of the classes that’s struggled with car count, but the racers pleaded month after month to give them time to get ready and they wouldn’t disappoint. August proved to be the month as it was one of the best car counts that’s been seen with eleven cars making their way to the lanes for qualifying. One racer that was no big surprise was Tom Tarsia in his beautiful blown second-generating Camaro. Tom went straight to the number one spot off the trailer with a 4.49 at 164 mph. John Schroeder also made his presence known with a 4.55-second run and it was enough to keep him at the number two spot. The eight car field was rounded out by Rick Righter with a 4.98 at 142mph.

Round 1 Eliminations

(L) Kevin Ashley -0.013 – 5.64 at 136mph
(W) Charlie Boy 0.050 – 4.61 at 157mph
(W) Roger Sterling 0.391 – 4.50 at 158mph
(L) Joe Schroeder 0.005 – 8.05 at 64mph
(L) Rick Righter 0.071 – 4.99 at 142mph
(W) Tom Tarsia 0.070 – 4.49 at 165mph
(W) John Schroeder 0.046 – 4.51 at 159mph
(L) Jimmy Reutter 0.025 – 9.66 at 44mph

Semi-Finals

(L) Roger Sterling 0.125 – 4.94 at 153mph
(W) Tom Tarsia 0.128 – 4.52 at 159mph
(W) John Schroeder 0.022 – 4.50 at 159mph
(L) Charlie Boy 0.095 – 4.59 at 158mph

Finals

(W) Tom Tarsia 0.074 – 4.46 at 166mph
(L) John Schroeder 0.003 – 5.07 at 105mph

The final round was a shootout of one of the fastest in Tarsia and the very consistent John Schroeder. The matchup of Chevrolet Camaros was led by Schroeder at the tree with a .003 reaction time but it was Tarsia driving around for the win and also tying the track record held by Sam Gottier in the process.

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Ultra Street

Marc McCloud. Photo: Bill Robaey Photography

Ultra Street is by far the fastest growing class on the 275 drag radial tire and the Maryland area has been swarmed with a strong batch of cars and more showing their hand each month. Even with a wide diversity of combinations allowed in the rules, the naturally aspirated machines have dominated the class. Todd Geisler and his HFR Fabrication-built Malibu has been a very highly publicized build from start to finish. Now that the build has been completed Geisler has been laying down some great passes with the new setup. After two rounds of qualifying he would take the number one spot in a class full of heavy hitters.

Round 1 Eliminations

(L) Dave Shakespear 0.149 – 6.14 at 110mph
(W) Mike Barry 0.149 – 5.84 at 125mph
(L) Ray Branden 0.074 – 6.11 at 112mph
(W) Mark Dill 0.117 – 5.67 at 123mph
(W) Chris Hartman 0.291 – 5.88 at 116mph
(L) Casper Pigott 0.207 – 7.8 at 93mph
(L) Jeff Moyer 0.13 – 5.57 at 133mph
(W) Marc McCloud 0.068 – 5.25 at 135mph
(L) Scott Rudinsky 1.88 – 6.6 at 121mph
(W) John Keesey 0.163 – 5.69 at 130mph
(W) Armand Guzman 7.00 at 103mph (L) Dennis Lowman – Broke
(W) Todd Geisler 5.34 at 128mph (L) Joe Boywitt – Broke

Round 2 Eliminations

(L) Armand Guzman 0.182 – 6.55 at 107mph
(W) Mike Barry 0.307 – 5.39 at 129mph
(L) John Keesey 0.159 – 5.76 at 126mph
(W) Marc McCloud 0.084 – 5.23 at 135mph
(W) Todd Geisler 0.083 – 5.34 at 128mph
(L) Chris Hartman 0.544 – 5.97 at 105mph
(W) Mark Dill 0.022 – 5.69 at 123mph

Semi-Finals

(L) Mark Dill 0.103 – 5.70 at 123mph
(W) Mike Barry 0.062 – 5.34 at 130mph
(L) Todd Geisler 0.028 – 5.35 at 128mph
(W) Marc McCloud 0.077 – 5.24 at 135mph

Finals

(L) Mike Barry 0.044 – 5.33 at 130mph
(W) Marc McCloud 0.098 – 5.21 at 136mph

The final round in Ultra Street was a pair of big cubic inch naturally aspirated machines with McCloud and Barry lining up. Mike Barry did his part at the starting line with an .044 reaction time, but the big horsepower from the McCloud machine carried big speed on the top end to take the win.

X275

The X275 wars rage on with some controversy being stirred up in the past two weeks with some major rule changes. Most notably the combination of the F1X supercharger combined with sheet metal intakes were banned. A lot of question was surrounding whether the Bruder brothers and Mustang Mike could bounce back from a change of this magnitude mid-season, but early on in qualifying it was evident that they hadn’t missed a beat. Rich Bruder took the number one spot in qualifying but in the second round he was be bumped to number two by the big block nitrous Mustang of Dean Marinis. Bruder and Rhodes were following closely with 4.80 and 4.84-second passes, respectively.

Rich Bruder winner of X275

Round 1 Eliminations

(L) Darrell Varner No Time
(W) Steve Thompson 0.086 – 5.10 at 139mph
(L) Mike Cerminaro 0.061 – 8.8 at 63mph
(W) Brendan Mills 0.020 – 5.17 at 147mph
(L) Vince Palazzolo 0.038 – 5.19 at 140mph
(W) Frank Provenza 0.038 – 5.00 at 145mph
(W) Ron Rhodes 0.022 – 4.89 at 145mph
(L) Craig Walls -0.048 – 4.95 at 148mph
(L) Bob Clayton 0.150 – 5.42 at 141mph
(W) Jeff Beish 0.193 – 5.19 at 136mph
(W) Rich Bruder 0.027 – 4.78 at 150mph
(L) Terry Kowalevicz Jr 0.165 – 5.48 at 136mph
(W) Dean Marinis 0.11 – 4.85 at 150mph
(L) David Winter Jr 0.051 – 5.44 at 132mph
(W) Andrew Willingham 0.102 – 5.05 at 139mph
(L) Tony Mullin 0.07 – 5.17 at 138mph

Round 2 Eliminations

(W) Rich Bruder 0.035 – 4.76 at 151mph
(L) Frank Provenza 0.053 – Broke
(W) Dean Marinis 0.089 – 4.79 at 151mph
(L) Steve Thompson 0.091 – 5.19 at 136mph
(W) Andrew Willingham 0.079 – 4.92 at 142mph
(L) Brendan Mills 0.12 – 7.83 at 61mph
(W) Ron Rhodes 0.04 – 4.84 at 145mph
(L) Jeff Beish 0.107 – 5.91 at 132mph

Semi-Finals

(W) Rich Bruder 0.021 – 4.76 at 150mph
(L) Ron Rhodes 0.046 – 4.81 at 145mph
(W) Dean Marinis 0.106 – 4.78 at 151mph
(L) Andrew Willingham 0.079 – 8.72 at 61mph

Finals

(W) Rich Bruder 3.42 – 7.42 at 100mph
(L) Dean Marinis – Broke

In a final round that was going to be one of epic proportions between Marinis and Bruder, it would be Bruder with lane choice. As the cars came to the line it turned into a huge burn-down as neither car moved into the stage beams. The cars sat so long that Marinis started leaking fluid and was shut off on the line, handing the easy victory to Bruder. Surely not the final that the fans were looking for but once again the Bruder’s proved why they have one of the very best programs in X275, overcoming the rule changes and being under the gun to perform.

Outlaw Drag Radial

The Outlaw Drag Radial ranks have been suffering for car counts with several cars out due to damage early in the season, although the racers that continue to support the class are putting on a great show. This month, Frank Soldridge in his PSI Motorsports-backed Mustang were out for blood. Soldridge laid down two impressive runs in qualifying and even dipped into the 4.50’s to comfortably separate himself from the rest of the field. Joe Giambanco wrapped up the eight-car field and faced Soldridge in round one.

Frank Soldridge

Round 1 Eliminations

(W) Bill Dutka 0.099 – 4.82 at 167mph
(L) Ed Pheiffer 0.83 – 5.84 at 121mph
(L) Chris Evans 0.019 – 5.57 at 138mph
(W) Steve Willingham 0.016 – 5.29 at 150mph
(L) Steve Drummond 12.39 – 5.13 at 152mph
(W) Robby George 0.095 – 5.31 at 136mph
(W) Frank Soldridge 0.248 – 4.53 at 176mph
(L) Joe Giambanco 0.238 – 6.68 at 123mph

Semi-Finals

(W) Bill Dutka 0.111 – 4.70 at 169mph
(L) Steve Willingham 0.085 – 4.95 at 152mph
(W) Frank Soldridge 0.254 – 4.49 at 176mph
(L) Robby George 0.068 – 9.35 at 54mph

Finals

(W) Frank Soldridge 0.156 – 4.52 at 175mph
(L) Bill Dutka 0.561 – 4.94 at 153mph

The final round featured two twin turbocharged machines in Bill Dutka and Soldridge. Soldridge appeared to be unstoppable from the first hit of the day but Dutka had made a few nice passes to get to the final. Frank took the early lead at the tree as Dutka was dead late and the PSI Motorsports machine ran another 4.52-second pass to take the win at over 175 mph.

Outlaw 10.5

Last but not least, it was the most talked-about class in the industry rolling through the water to do battle on the eighth-mile. One of the newest competitors at Cecil County is Billy “Flash” Gordon and on this race day he would come right out with a major hit to take the number one spot, with TJ Kasper and Lou Sciortino just a few hundredths off the pace. Nineteen drivers were battling for sixteen spots and it was Shawn Zubler making the bump at a 4.52.

Billy Gordon

Round 1 Eliminations

(W) Scotty Guadagno 0.021 – 4.49 at 158mph
(L) Lou Sciortino 0.065 – 6.58 at 74mph
(L) Charlie Dolbin 0.089 – 6.56 at 79mph
(W) Kenny Doak 0.018 – 4.29 at 179mph
(W) Tim Essick 0.067 – 4.39 at 172mph
(L) Tom Kasper 0.037 – 4.46 at 179mph
(L) Brad Harris 0.221 – 4.55 at 182mph
(W) Joe Newsham 0.050 – 4.64 at 138mph
(L) Mo Hall 0.077 – 7.18 at 65mph
(W) Bill Mitchell 0.011 – 4.38 at 182mph
(W) Billy Gordon 0.146 – 4.30 at 187mph
(L) Shawn Zubler 0.078 – 5.70 at 91mph
(L) Larry Wood 0.094 – 4.44 at 178mph
(W) Anthony Disomma 0.076 – 4.42 at 175mph
(L) Harry Jarvis 0.041 – 4.32 at 187mph
(W) Steve Gorman 0.002 – 4.36 at 184mph

Round 2 Eliminations

(L) Steve Gorman 0.114 – 4.38 at 184mph
(W) Bill Mitchell 0.007 – 4.43 at 154mph
(W) Anthony Disomma 0.058 – 4.41 at 192mph
(L) Scotty Guadagno 0.013 – 4.78 at 153mph
(W) Billy Gordon 0.036 – 4.3 at 188mph
(L) Tim Essick 0.048 – 4.41 at 167mph
(L) Joe Newsham 0.027 – 4.40 at 179mph
(W) Kenny Doak 0.033 – 4.31 at 179mph

Semi-Finals

(W) Anthony Disomma 0.064 – 4.46 at 176mph
(L) Kenny Doak -0.069 – 4.41 at 170mph
(W) Billy Gordon 0.058 – 4.21 at 191mph
(L) Bill Mitchell 0.040 – 4.38 at 161mph

Finals

(W) Billy Gordon 0.063 – 4.23 at 192mph
(L) Anthony Disomma 0.070 – 4.45 at 169mph

Coming into the final round Gordon had been on a tear, setting the bar each round with low elapsed time for the event in the semi-finals. Anthony Disomma in the opposite lane is equally as dangerous with big horsepower under the hood of his Camaro. As the drivers left the tree they were only a few hundredths apart but in the end, Disomma was off the pace and Gordon blasted to another 192 mph pass for the win.