We’re back at the track for the final day of the Outlaw Street Car Reunion. Despite the weather, we’ve seen a number of outstanding passes, led by Jason Michalak’s insane 3.97 yesterday to set the official world record in the Pro Drag Radial class. We’re awaiting word on an event schedule for today. Stay tuned all day as we bring you the best coverage anywhere bar none. Thanks as always to our event coverage sponsor, Comp Cams.
Tyler and the boys are out this morning working on scraping the track to get ready for today’s festivities. ‘It took five days in Georgia to run a 4.02, we went 3.97 in one day in the freaking snow,’ says Crossnoe.
Here is the semi-official official announcement regarding today’s schedule. The last of the index cars will hit the track at 10AM sharp to get them wrapped up and out of here. Following that, classes will run fast to slow for a second round of qualifying, starting with Pro Drag Radial. After qualifying is complete, we’ll be rolling on as quickly as possible to run all of the eliminations and get the event wrapped up.
70 weight oil doesn’t warm up real quickly in the morning. We caught up with Jason Michalak as he and the boys were getting the world-record screw-blown machine ready to go. He was thrilled with how well the car performed yesterday given the conditions, and told us that if the track’s there today he feels they’ll go even quicker. ‘This is a team effort, and without Billy Stocklin tuning this thing and the rest of our guys on the team, we wouldn’t be where we are,’ he says. However…If this guy has anything to say about it, Pro Drag Radial will be insane today. Bad Brad Edwards tells us that he had to pedal the car yesterday and still managed to go a 4.29, with increments quicker than his 3.94 testing pass. He had a bunch of timing pulled out on that pass. ‘If the track will take it, there’s going to be a slugfest in Pro Drag Radial today,’ he says. 3.89, anyone? Or quicker? Stay tuned…the sun is peeking out and by the time these guys get to hit the track, conditions could very well be perfect.
FINAL QUALIFYING
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X275, Ultra Street, MX235
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PDR, Outlaw 275
LADDERS
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X275, Ultra Street, MX235
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PDR, Outlaw 275
In one of the upsets of the weekend, Mel Collier moves on in Pro Drag Radial over Keith Berry in the first round. Berry struck the tires almost immediately on the hit , that quickly, the number-two qualifier was gone. Collier faces Richard Reagan in the second round.This is part of what’s left from Pro Drag Radial racer Scott Lowery’s engine. Apparently the mandrel came out of the end of the crankshaft, smacked the oil pump belt, and that’s all, she wrote. Amazingly, there was no oil on the top end.Brad Edwards put in the “get down the track” tune for the first round. With the limited testing time and tricky track this afternoon, he needed to move on. Charles Johnson was his victim – he faces nitrous racer Chad Henderson in the second round.In another monster roundone upset, Enzo Pecchini turned in his only clean pass of the weekend so far to take out when David Pearson didn’t get down the track cleanly. Pearson’s machine is now out in both Pro Drag Radial and Outlaw 275 – Pecchini will see Bruce Johnson’s nitrous bullet in the second round.In a battle between two of the NMRA’s Street Outlaw racers (not to be confused with the TV guys) in Outlaw 275, Phil Hines took his ProCharged machine to the win over the turbocharged rocket of Dwayne Barbaree.Barry Mitchell turned in the second-lowest ET of the first round of Outlaw 275 with a stout 4.39 to put the Big Chief onto the trailer.He hasn’t gotten down the track all weekend, until the first round of Outlaw 275. Chruis Tuten proceeded to uncork a stout 4.31 blast to take out Odie Sturgeon. His second round opponent? None other than “Daddy” Dave Comstock, who ran a 4.78 in round one for an easy victory over Tim Kincaid’s redlight.There will be a tough battle in round two of X275, when Rich Bruder comes up against Shawn Ayers. The Bruder boys have looked unstoppable all weekend.We just love MX235 competitor Marcus Wooden’s hotrod,so here’s a chance at another photo. Wooden faces Jason Collins in the second round in a battle of Chevy IIs.Ultra Street Semis – Butch Kemp on the left, Joel Greathouse on the right. The pair qualified within one hundredth of a second of one another, setting up an epic semifinal round. .004-second was all that separated Joel Greathouse from the final, as he clipped the red bulb just a hair too early, allowing Kemp the easy victory. The scoreboard showed a 4.88 on Greathouse’s side and a 4.89 on Kemp’s side, making Kemp’s win even sweeter. On the other side of the ladder, Ronny Rhodes left way early in the all-nitrous matchup with Shawn Pevlor, setting up a Kemp/Pevlor final round.Brian Tuten has carried high MPH in the MX235 class all weekend long – he stormed to the top end against Jason Collins, lighting the board with a 5.17 at 152 mph, just clipping Collins on the big end. The bottom side of the ladder saw Donnie Branham take the victory over Danny Tellman when Tellman popped something and slowed down.Marty Stinnett took his Jeff Burns-powered, Southern Speed-tuned Mustang right into the final round when Phil Hines lit the red bulb on his side of the tree. The top half of the ladder saw the other Tuten, Chris, blast to a 4.29 – his quickest pass of the weekend.Talk about coming out of nowhere – Kit Luong has outlasted the competition all weekend long. Coming from the number 18 qualified spot, Luong won over Ron Rhodes, Eric Stubbs, and Jared Johnston – three of the biggest hitters in X275, to land in the final round. His opponent will be none other than number one qualifier Rich Bruder. Can Luong be the dragonslayer this weekend?Mark Woodruff has the battle of his life on his hands in the final round versus number one qualifier Jason Michalak. He took out Rich Ragan in the semis when Ragan got loose, while Michalek streaked to the win on his side of the ladder easily when Brad Edwards shut down and pulled over.
Sadly, just as quickly as we got this posted, Mother Nature came and got us for the final time this weekend. Tyler just made the call..it’s sprinkling, and safety comes first. Purses will be split, as will the Battle of the States money – it will be split between the two states that are in each final round.
This has been an epic race….thanks to everyone for checking out our coverage all weekend. I will be posting round sheets to the semifinals just as soon as I can get them.
FINAL ROUND SHEETS
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X275, Ultra Street
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OL275, MX235
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PDR
Saturday morning and we’re here in the tower – but there’s a bit of the wrinkle to today. Since the temperatures are so cold, the plan is this:
Index cars will hit the track around 10AM, weather permitting. Those cars will run two rounds of qualifying in an attempt to heat up the track to a temperature above 50 degrees. After Mike Brown’s wreck last night, the interest at the top of everyone’s mind is safety, and the radial tire cars need track temperature in that range to be safe on the track. We have confirmation that Brown is OK, but has some bumps and bruises, and his car appears to be totaled.
The plan is for the radial cars to hit the track this afternoon and qualify so that we can get to racing tomorrow with the better weather forecast.
Stay tuned to us as we bring you as much information as possible all day long. Thanks as always to our coverage sponsor, Comp Cams.
Well, index cars were going down the track just a moment ago, but now we’ve got a bit of snow coming down right now. The plan is to get all of the index cars down the track today along with a round of qualifying for the radial-tire cars, and then run the race out tomorrow. The track temp was up above 50 degrees a short while ago, but since we’re not on hold, it’s possible that it may drop again. Stay tuned..The Radial driver’s meeting with a plan determined for the rest of the weekend. The verdict is as follows: Heads-up qualifying will begin in one hour (2:30PMCDT). The attempt will be made to get in one round of qualifying for all classes, then go into eliminations for tomorrow. 32 car qualified field in all heads-up classes. Classes will alternate between heads-up and index until we finish for tomorrow’s sessions. Index classes will be completed today. Tomorrow’s forecast looks much better, so we’re going to do our best to get this thing finished.A great first round of Pro Drag Radial – Jason Michalak absolutely crushed it with a killer 3.97 blast, the quickest pass ever recorded for this class in competition.The proof – everything else is NOT just testing. That just happened.Tyler Crossnoe’s just a bit happy about it. This kid has worked harder than anyone we’ve ever seen to keep this track in shape despite the weather – and it all just proved to be worth it.Enzo Pecchini went for one wild ride, then motored down the left line behind Rodger Holder like nothing even happened.
Qualifying Round One
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X275, Ultra Street, MX235
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PDR, Outlaw 275 How about the insane 4.892 at 144.98 mph turned in by Mark Rogers in Ultra Street to top the ladder? Mark’s ’03 Mustang uses the smallest engine in the class by a large margin – only 281 cubic inches of Ford Modular four-valve pumped up by a cast-wheel 76mm turbocharger.Butch Kemp was just a few ticks behind Rogers in Ultra Street, clipping off a 4.923 at 142 mph – and he pedaled it, from what we could tell. More in store from Kemp tomorrow?Tim Kincaid tops the OL275 ladder by over a tenth; his 600-cube turbocharged Mustang tripped the lights with an awesome 4.192 blast at over 186 mph.The fans came rushing up to the concrete to watch Murder Nova make his hit in qualifying tonight. Shawn Ellington is well into the Outlaw 275 field with a stout 4.516 at 178 mph, currently good for eighth in the 32-car field.VP’s Jason Rueckert and Mickey Thompson’s Tommy Kundrik discussing track-prep strategies during a bit of downtime.Despite the frigid mid-40s temps, the fans hung in there all night long and were rewarded with excellent racing. Today’s events were a testament to Tyler Crossnoe and the Memphis International Raceway track prep team. These guys just flat-out killed it.On any other day, Keith Berry’s 4.061 blast would most likely lead the Pro Drag Radial class at the end of qualifying. But this isn’t any normal day with Michalak’s monster hit looming at the top of the qualifying sheet. Temperatures will be substantially warmer tomorrow – will Berry throw the kitchen sink at the track and surpass Michalak? There are also a number of other players on the property who claim to have the magic to do so. One thing is for sure – it’s going to be a hell of a race.Little Evil is just that – evil! David Pearson is taking a shot at Pro Drag Radial this weekend and uncorked an awesome 4.123 at 173.81 mph during today’s session to land in fourth – on a 275 radial, no less. For comparison’s sake, Michalak went 194 mph, Berry 192 mph, and number three qualifier Mark Woodruff also crossed the line at 192 mph. Is Pearson hiding more power and a better ET in this beast?Marcus Wooden’s big-block Chevy ’64 Nova is clean and mean – and leads the MX235 class into Sunday with a stout 5.04 at 142 mph. It’s astounding to us that the tiny 235 radial is capable of holding that much power, but there are six competitors quicker than 5.20 after today’s qualifying session.On top of the X275 ladder – Rich Bruder, with a 4.469 at a whopping 161-plus mph. Need we say more?A personal-best competition pass from Ron Rhodes today in X275 puts him in the second spot. A 4.496 at 155.65 mph, from a leaf-spring equipped, 23-degree-headed small-block Chevy on one kit. Our hat’s off to ya, Ron. Bad-ass!A 1964 Fairlane sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of Mustangs in Ultra Street. Greenwood, Indiana’s Jason McGrane relies on a naturally-aspirated 585-cube big-block Ford for motivation. He turned in a 5.009 to land in fourth in U/S entering tomorrow.
We’re here in the tower for the first day of event action. Yesterday was a rainout, but the staff is out working on the track to get it ready for today. The schedule has been updated to the following:
Friday:
Gates Open at 8am
VP Racing Fuels Test Session from 10AM-4PM
R1 of Qualifying (Heads Up Classes Only) at 4PM
R2 of Qualifying to Follow – Index Classes will mesh in. Saturday:
Gates Open at 8AM
R3 of Qualifying (Beginning with Index Classes) at 10AM
RadialsOnly.com Quick 8 Shootouts will be Saturday, weather permitting. Sunday:
Gates Open at 8AM
Eliminations Begin at 10AM
Stay tuned as we bring you the best in race coverage action all day. Thanks as always to our event coverage sponsor, Comp Cams.
The pits are full on both sides of the track and rigs are still rolling in.The Street Outlaws boys are on the property. When we walked by their put earlier, it was filled with fans trying to catch a glimpse of the boys. Shawn Ellington made his way through the tech line this morning and is ready to go.Fresh off a 4.11 in testing a few weekends ago at Mooresville, David “Little Evil” Pearson is looking to improve on that time this weekend in Outlaw 275. With the help of his wife, Tracey, and Mustang Mike Modeste, the gang feels ready to go once racing action gets underway.Steve Petty and Josh “Squatch” Ledford looking over the logs on Chris Daniel’s RvW machine.Ron and Ronny Rhodes made the long trek from Delaware to compete this weekend. Their pit was full of action this morning as the guys get ready to hit the track once the weather breaks.Jason “Pooch” Rueckert has his bad-to-the-bone Olds ready to go in its first outing of the weekend. A pair of new 98mm turbos are onboard along with a fresh Berry billet intake manifold. He’s also sporting a fresh engine that’s been beefed up with a new Wiseco piston design. He’s looking to break into the 4-teens this weekend.Thanks to an offseason weight reduction program at the hands of TRZ Motorsports, Outlaw 275 racer Barry Lutz was able to remove over 100 pounds form his car. The carbon-fiber doors have been modified to appear stock, and they also did a bunch of work in the trunk area to help him get down to weight and help the car work better.Al Tucci and Hans Pierre, Jr. had a rap battle going on this morning in the tower during the rain-induced downtime. We won’t speculate as to the winner, but we saw some money slipped into Hans’ paws before we walked out.…And this is where we stand right now. Mother Nature has not been kind to us this weekend. The sun is starting to peek out, and the track staff recently rolled the tractor in an attempt to start drying the track up. Stay tuned…Well, we finally got underway with a single round of testing prior to entering qualifying. Unfortunately, Ohio’s Mike Brown got out of shape and absolutely demolished his car – and the right-side wall. Mike is OK, but he has to be cut out of the car, and the wall needs to be repaired, so the plug has been pulled for the evening in the interest of preserving safety for everyone. We’ll have more updates and a complete photo gallery from today’s testing up in the next few hours.Is Johnny K coming back? Nope..he’s just setting up Jared Johnston’s X275 machine. Johnston told us that he’s here this weekend competing in X275, but the car has also been outfitted for quarter-mile duty, as the team plans to hit the rest of this season’s NMRA races to run in their Street Outlaw class.Butch Kemp made the trip down from Michigan to compete in Ultra Street with his naturally aspirated SBF Mustang. Kemp’s machine is bad-to-the-bone…we wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he takes down the Ultra record this weekend. He was in Holly Springs testing earlier this week and the rumor is he’s got it covered.The one, the only, John Fore III has graced us with his photographic excellence this weekend. He dipped out early to head to White Castle, but we hear he managed to snap a few good photos before getting into his Bentley.Ultra Street racer Terry Holler reaching for the sky.Once the weather finally broke, this is what the staging lanes looked like all day long. Memphis International Raceway was absolutely mobbed today.
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The Outlaw Street Car Reunion is home to some interesting license plates this weekend. Brian Edwards heating the tires in MX235.
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Tyler Crossnoe and Jason Rueckert have the track set on kill. A number of folks lost their shoes on the starting line tonight. For some racers, getting down the track was a challenge, despite the stickiness.And for others, keeping the body parts firmly installed didn’t seem to be a priority.One of our favorite cars. Ron Rhodes didn’t set the world on fire in testing, but that’s why they call it testing, right? We have no doubt he’ll be on his usual 4.50s pace by elimination day.Blake Catalanotto’s X275 Camaro is possibly the cleanest car on the grounds. Catalanotto has racing in his bloodline – his uncle is longtime former NMRA Street Outlaw racer Carlo Catalanotto.The crowd clustered around Big Chief’s machine as he rolled into the waterbox was monstrous. Travis Quillen is still working to sort it out.Murder Nova cranked out a killer pass last night, with a 4.42 at 177.98 mph in Outlaw 275 trim. These boys are gonna be players on the radial tire.
The top small-tire racers in the country have converged upon the Memphis International Raceway this weekend for the second annual Outlaw Street Car Reunion, and we’ll be in the house all weekend bringing you what’s expected to be a record-setting — and certainly exciting — event. As always, a big thanks to Comp Cams, the presenting sponsor of our same day race coverage!
The look on Nick Bacalis’ face says it all – today was filled with rain and cold winds, making it a washout – but the tech line was full all day long.Sean Lyon’s new machine is nothing short of awesome. The craftsmanship on this car must be seen to be believed. Mike Duffy and Mark Biddle of Panhandle Performance went all-out and created one of the nicest cars we’ve seen in a long time.Bad Brad Edwards has been hard at work sorting out all of the bugs on his car. He decided to add a magneto (which isn’t operating yet), which necessitated moving the turbos, which required him to install a new Outlaw K-member from Team Z Motorsports – and then he started breaking parts. He hasn’t been able to put a full hit on the car, but it performed well in testing last week in Huntsville. We heard rumors of it going six numbers quicker to the 330′ mark…what will that mean if he can put full pulls on it this weekend? We’re salivating at the thought of catching the first 3.80 pass in RvW.The guys in Woody’s pit were thrashing to return the car to operating conditions…that’s a busted valve spring sitting there up front.Aaron Stapleton of Fast Forward Race Cars is here competing with his Mustang inOutlaw 275 in a car that’s really built for the NMCA’s Nostalgia Pro Street class. Stapleton feels the squeezed 632 is a bit outgunned, but he’s going to give it his best shot.We love the old-school Vortech Igloo atop Brian Edwards’ Redline Motorsports MX235 machine, owned by Matt Bell. The engine is this car is the same Trick Flow-headed 356-cube bullet Bell used to run in the NMRA’s old Drag Radial class. It’s pumped up by an 85mm turbocharger and is controlled by Holley’s Dominator EFI system.Another MX235 hotrod, this one owned by Brad Medlock. He’s been working to get it put together over the last few years, and finally had time to bring it out. The car was recently wired by none other than Wade Hopkins of Southern Speed Racing. Medlock doesn’t have any idea what it’s going to run – he says he’s made just two 330-foot hits with it so far, but the results have been promising.Stefan Destito’s Ty Tech-powered ’93 Trans Am (a former Dragzine feature car) relies on an unconventional powerplant for X275 – an old-school LT1 with 23-degree heads that’s inflated by a ProCharger F-1X. Destito says the car has been 4.70s previously, and was recently revamped. He feels 4.50s are not out of the question.Tyler Crossnoe (left) and head tech dude John Sears (right) discuss the finer points of the tech process. Crossnoe has engineered a stellar event here at the Outlaw Street Car Reunion – cars are currently pitted on both sides of the track, with an estimated 200+ heads-up cars on the property already.This shot was taken at 7PM and is indicative of the line of cars that were waiting to get through tech all day long.At the back of the line sits none other than THE Kevin Mullins. We spoke with Kevin, who spent all winter getting his new business, TKM Performance, up and running. Mullins says that he hasn’t had much time to fool with the car, and the few times he’s been out they’ve been breaking parts. He’s looking to get consistent passes down the track before he tries turning it back up.
