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The Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park (TRP) packed the house this past weekend for the Throwdown in T-Town event, featuring a healthy crop of Outlaw Pro Mods and wicked fast doorslammers, drag radial cars, and even blown nostalgia machines, all providing two days of heads-up drag racing action for a capacity crowd in Tulsa. This event was previously scheduled for mid-May, but was rained out during the extremely wet months the region experienced earlier this year.
This, the largest independent event hosted annually at TRP, has no points series implications, yet attracts the biggest names in outlaw doorslammer action from across the southwest for big payouts and bragging rights. Names like Frankie “The Mad Man” Taylor, Scott Palmer, Brandon Pesz, and Brandon Lewis were doing battle in the headlining Outlaw Pro Mod class. Keith Haney, Ron Muenks, Kayla Morton, and a full field of Pro Nitrous machines were also on tap, along with Outlaw Doorslammer, Radial vs. The World, X275, MX8.5 and the Central State Superchargers series.
Jon Stouffer of Neosho, Missouri set the pace on Friday night in Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying as he blasted to a 3.71 at 203 mph in his blown 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. Brandon Pesz secured the number two spot with a 3.73 at 193 mph and Brandon Lewis rounded out the top three with a 3.78 at 201 mph in his blown 1957 Chevy Camaro-bodied entry. NHRA Top Fuel pilot Scott Palmer was enjoying the weekend behind the wheel of an evil-looking blown 1972 Ford Maverick and clicked off a 3.98 to secure his spot in the Outlaw Pro Mod field. In testing on Thursday, NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car pilot Cassandra Simonton made a few hits in the Maverick as well. Frankie Taylor struggled in his first two attempts but held the number six spot with a 4.40 in the 10-car field after day one. Only the top eight would qualify for eliminations on Saturday night.
With two qualifying sessions remaining on Saturday evening, the call went out for the Outlaw Pro Mods to return to the staging lanes with the grandstands absolutely packed. As expected, Taylor found his tune-up and moved up to the number two spot with a 3.71 at 208 mph. Palmer improved to a 3.91 to secure his spot in the fourth qualifying position with Rusty Beaver rounding out the quick eight in his 1957 Chevy with a 4.35 at 169 mph as teams returned to the pits to prepare for eliminations.
With the sun tucking behind the tower and weather conditions improving, crew chiefs turned it up and unleashed more horsepower as cars dipped into the 3.60’s in the opening round. In the first pair, Stouffer’s 3.68 at 200 knocked out Beaver. Palmer was off the line with a stellar .006 reaction time, but his 3.94 at 187 came up just short to Lewis’ 3.86 at 184. Lewis had fought head gasket issues all weekend and in this round blew yet another head gasket and lifted the blower on his 1957 Chevy, which unfortunately took him out of his hometown event. Taylor lit the scoreboards with low elapsed time of the round, as his 3.64 at 211 put Randy Brewer on the trailer. Pesz followed suit with a nice 3.73 at 205 to defeat Bob Storie.
Semifinal action paired Lewis with Stouffer, the top qualifier. Lewis, who had a busy week as he welcomed his second child into the world with wife, Jessica, was unable to make the call after his first round damage, while Stouffer laid down a 3.71 to advance to the final round. Taylor and Pesz squared off in the quickest and fastest pairing of the event in their semifinal bout. The cars were dead-even off the starting line and it was wide open, screw-blown Pro Mod mayhem through the finish line, with Taylor’s 3.60 at 212 narrowly edging out Pesz’s 3.63 at 209. The top two qualifiers, Stouffer and Taylor, were final round bound.
It was time to crown a Throwdown in T-Town Champion in Outlaw Pro Mod as the “Mad Man” looked to defend his title from 2014 by taking out the top qualifier in the last dance of the night. Side-by-side burnouts kicked off the final and at the flash of amber, Taylor took a healthy starting line advantage and showed no mercy, posting low elapsed time and top speed of the meet with a stout 3.57 at 213 mph to take the win over Stouffer’s best run of the weekend, 3.66 at 204 mph. With that, the Stupid Fast Racing team defended their title as unarguably the baddest Outlaw Pro Mod in the southwest. Stouffer and company held their heads high and were the happiest people on the planet you will ever find after losing a final round, as they were taking home their quickest elapsed time slip ever, and first top qualifying effort at Tulsa to go along with their runner-up finish.
Pro Nitrous/Boost welcomed an 11-car field of nitrous-assisted and blown hot rods looking for a spot in the quick eight eliminations at Tulsa. Jim Sackuvich sat atop the qualifying charts after two sessions with a 3.84 at 197 mph in his 1969 Camaro from Raymore, Missouri. Keith Haney clicked off a 3.91 at 195 in his 2015 Camaro, and Jeffrey Cummins from Cypress, Texas laid down a 3.95 at 188 mph in his 1967 Shelby GT 500. Unfortunately for Cummins, that pass scattered the motor from top to bottom and his weekend ended early.
Saturday’s final qualifying rounds saw David Janes step up to a 3.97 at 187 mph to qualify fourth behind Eddie Rogers, who nabbed the third position with a 3.96 at 187 mph. Aaron Wells rounded out the quick eight with a 4.14 at 176 in his 1968 Camaro, while Kayla Morton, Ron Muenks, and Danny Miller fell short of the qualified field. The opening round of eliminations on Saturday night saw the top two qualifiers, Sackuvich and Haney, advance, while the lower qualified Tim Savell upset David Janes and Wayne Roberts knocked out Eddie Rogers.
Semifinal round action brought Sackuvich and Savell to the line first and Sackovich continued to bust out 3.80’s when his 3.83 at 198 mph took the nod over Savell’s 4.11. Haney had ripped off several low 3.8-second runs in testing on Thursday, but struggled to duplicate those numbers until the semis, when his strong 3.81 at 199 mph advanced over Roberts’ 4.14. Haney and Sackuvich were set to duel in a great race on paper. In the final, what would have been a stellar side-by-side bout that ended on the starting line as Haney jumped the tree with a -.007 red bulb. Haney’s 3.79 at 199 would have likely taken the crown that went to top qualifier Jim Sackuvich, who posted his best numbers of the weekend with a 3.81 at 198 mph for the win.
Pro Street action fielded some beautiful machines, including Keith Goolsby’s show-stopping yellow 1964 Corvette. Goolsby qualified third with a 5.31 at 130 mph and met number one qualifier Ron Alexander’s 1967 Camaro in the final round. This was just Goolsby’s second weekend behind the wheel of this Corvette and the team improved with every pass in eliminations, as did his opponent, Alexander. In the final, both cars dipped into the 5.0’s, but Goolsby had a massive starting line advantage and his 5.02 at 142 mph held off Alexander’s solid 5.06 at 137 mph. Congratulations to the team on their impressive win in an equally impressive racecar.
Radial vs. The World action was led by Mike Kimmis who held three tenths of a second of an advantage on the field after four rounds of qualifying with a 4.19 at 182 mph in his 2000 Trans Am from Lebanon, Missouri. Craig Ondrick, Justin Martin, and Jim Burkybile rounded out the top half of the eight-car field, with Todd Kitchen on the bump with a 5.46. The first pair of first round eliminations brought Kitchen to the line to face Kimmis. Kitchen was off the line first while Kimmis had to pedal, and at the stripe, a pair of 4.41’s lit the scoreboards-Kitchen pulling off the upset win with the better reaction time. Number two qualifier Ondrick fouled out with a -.012 reaction time to end his weekend, advancing Kevin Strobel to the semis. Brian Gaines and Burkybile joined Kitchen and Strobel in the semifinal round.
There, Kitchen stepped up to a 4.44 at 155 mph but got caught sleeping on the starting line, as Burkybile’s slower 4.76 at 153 took the win and moved him into the finals to take on the winner between Stroble and Gaines. Gaines went -.008 red in his match, throwing away a 4.67 as Gaines’ slower 4.80 at 171 moved to the final round to take on Burkybile of Commerce, Oklahoma. In the final, Strobel left the starting line first but blew the tires off shortly after, while Burkybile cruised to the win with a 4.76 at 138 mph.
X275 racing was led by Taylor Lastor, whose 4.69 at 154 mph paced the qualifying field into eliminations on Saturday. A quick field of five entries dwindled down to two as Lastor was set to take on number two qualifier Kit Luong in the final round. Lastor had a slight performance advantage on paper and Luong did his job, earning the starting line advantage at the flash of amber. It was dead-even at half track as the two Mustangs charged to the stripe. Lastor took the win light with a 4.70 at 154 mph to Luong’s close 4.74 at 152 mph.
MX8.5 action was intense at Tulsa as records fell and some great racing was provided by the nine-car field. Ryan “Toaster” Jones made the hike from Los Angeles in his 1965 Chevy II and held a comfortable lead at the top of the qualifying sheet with a 4.73 at 160 mph. In the opening round of eliminations, Jones laid down a 4.726 elapsed time on his bye run to set the elapsed time world record for 8.5’s.
In the semifinals, Jones met number two qualifier Roy Parsons from Ratcliff, Arkansas in his 1995 Camaro. Parsons lost traction early, while Jones blasted to a 4.72 win light, moving him into the final round to take on local favorite Bobby Kruck and his wicked-fast 2002 Chevy Camaro, which set the 8.5 mile per hour record in round one with a 162.51 mph blast.
A pair of record holders were set for battle in the MX8.5 final round where Kruck took a slim starting line advantage. Jones had closed the gap by the 300-foot mark and pulled ahead to take the win, ripping off an unheard-of 4.65 at 161 mph, which was much quicker than anyone else had been, including himself. It was a perfect weekend for Jones and company, who took the cash, bragging rights, and record in tow back to California.
The Central States Superchargers (CSS) series was also in the house with a full field of blown altereds and front engine dragsters. Fourteen cars came to battle the heat, and parts attrition quickly took its toll, as five cars bowed out before qualifying was completed. Brent Laney of Carthage, Missouri wheeled his blown front engine dragster into the final round to face off with Ken Singleton, who was making his first appearance with the series. Singleton struggled in the final with ignition issues, while Laney posted a 4.54 at 163 mph to take home his first career CSS victory.
Congratulations to all the winners in Tulsa. Fans can look forward to the fall edition of the Throwdown in T-Town coming up October 9-10, 2015 at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park. A special thanks from the TRP staff goes out to track crew David Cook and Jimmy Boles for providing a safe and fast racing surface over the entire weekend.
Photos by Tish Dingman
