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After a decade-long run of success at Raceway Park in Englishtown under the guidance of promoter Dave Hance, the now legendary Shakedown begins a new chapter at the always-fast Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, with Shakedown at the Summit. As has been tradition with the Shakedown events, the new-look race will again be headlined by the five-second Pro Modifieds, and will be joined by a spectacular lineup of categories that includes Outlaw 10.5, Limited Street/Drag Radial, X275, Heavy Street, 8.50 Index, and much more. And we’ll be there all weekend, bringing you news, notes, results, and of course a wide array of images that capture this must-see drag race!
A special thanks to our presenting sponsor, and a major backer of the inaugural Shakedown at the Summit, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels!
Bill Lutz went for a wild ride during yesterday’s test session when a high-pressure fitting failed on his oil pump and dumped sixteen quarts of oil under his Camaro at 330 feet out. He had his hands full of steering wheel, but managed to keep his car off the wall and is ready for today’s first round of Pro Line Racing Outlaw Pro Mod.
TRZ has been fine-tuning the four-link under Frank Mewshaw’s ’88 Trans Am, which is powered by a 521 cubic-inch Nelson engine, twin Precision 88 mm turbos and an ATF Turbo 400 transmission. He’s been as fast as 4.33 in the eighth-mile and hopes to pick up this weekend in VP Race Fuels Outlaw Limited Street/Drag Radial.
LaFontaine Automotive Outlaw 10.5 driver Scott Lowery replaced the independent rear suspension in his ‘07 Cadillac XLR – which still sports power windows – with a four-link, and has been as fast as 4.32 in the eighth-mile with help from the Moran Hemi that sits under the hood and is hopped up on twin 94mm Precision turbos.
This marks Charlie Frantz’s first race with BD2300 heads where BD2000 heads used to sit. The 430 cubic-inch engine in his ’87 Trans Am gets a jump from twin Garrett 88mm turbos, and while his previous best was a 5.02, he’s optimistic the head swap will swing him toward the 4.60s. He posted a 5.11 in a test hit yesterday as he continues to sort out his tune and is ready for today’s first round of VP Race Fuels Outlaw Limited Street qualifying.
Jason Kalso just arrived and is readying his ’71 ‘Cuda for the first round of Pro Line Racing Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying. At a recent NMCA race, a lifter let go in his 526 cubic-inch BAE engine topped with a Roots supercharger, and wiped out all of the rods and cam, but it’s fixed up and ready to fire.
We are currently on a rain delay, facing a rather significant cell that is about 35 miles wide. The track’s Bill Bader, Jr., Kurt Johnson and crew are closely monitoring the weather and have advised drivers, crew and spectators to sit tight to see what develops. Earlier today, a revision to the weekend’s schedule was announced as a result of Sunday’s forecast for heavy rain, and that included the decision to run two or possibly three qualifying sessions today, a final round of qualifying at 8 a.m. on Saturday, followed by first round of eliminations at 12 p.m. Saturday. We’ll update as more information becomes available.
Enzo Pecchini is behind the wheel of his ’88 Brad Anderson Hemi-powered, ProCharger F3-equipped Mustang in VP Race Fuels Outlaw Limited Street/Drag Radial, and he’s confident he has resolved the electrical issues he has battled as of late. “I always go to races to win, and hopefully don’t need some kind of intervention along the way,” said Pecchini, who became a grandpa last week. “Let me add that this is the number one track in the world.”
Just after his burnout in the first round of qualifying for VP Race Fuels Outlaw Limited Street/Drag Radial, a band broke in Paul Major’s transmission, and he had to be backed off.
Racers and race fans are taking advantage of another rain delay by enjoying a pound of ice cream for a dollar. Race organizers plan to wait about an hour to see if it stops. If so, we’ll jump into second round of qualifying after the track is dried tonight, and if not, it will be determined whether we’ll go into a second round of qualifying or first round of eliminations at 8 a.m. Saturday.
In the first round of qualifying for Pro Line Racing Outlaw Pro Mod, Dave Hance (left lane) blasted to a 5.87 at 251 mph, which put him in the second spot going into tonight’s second round of qualifying. Eric Dillard was a little quicker at 5.82 at 258 mph for the current top spot.
Troy Coughlin made a 5.89 at 252 mph look relatively easy in his ’13 Corvette and currently sits in the third spot in Pro Line Racing Outlaw Pro Mod.
Michigan’s Tom Kempf drove his Firehawk to a 4.29 at 181 mph in the first round of qualifying for Outlaw 10.5, presented by LaFontaine Automotive, which was good for the fifth spot. He recently replaced his AMS-1000 Boost Controller with an AMS-2000 Boost Controller, with its faster processor.
Even though Ruben Tetsoshvia, better known Ruben T, was out of the throttle in the first round of Pro Line Racing Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying, he still held everyone’s attention in his gorgeous 70 ½ Camaro.
After one round of qualifying in LaFontaine Automotive Outlaw 10.5, Nick Agostino is on top of the pack with a 4.17 at 188 mph.
In his PTP Racing-tuned 70 1/2 Camaro, Steve Summers flew into the fifth spot in the first round of qualifying in Pro Line Racing Outlaw Pro Mod with a 6.05 at 250 mph.
In VP Racing Fuels Outlaw Limited Street, the always-tough Dave Hinzman flat-footed his ’87 Mustang to a 4.56 at 168 mph to lay claim to the third qualified spot.
Qualifying Orders After Q1
