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Welcome to SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY SUNDAY! The staging lanes are starting to fill with 8.50 Index racers. A planned 9:15 start will begin the day. 6 classes will get one last shot, a short intermission, and then a projected 11:30 for round 1. Pro Mod will start eliminations,followed by Outlaw 10.5, Top Sportsman, 8.50 Index, X275. Those getting last chance shots today are in order: 8.50 Index, X275, Unlimited Street, Street Bike, TS, and Pro Import.
- You’ve heard this before, “We are down for cleanup.” During last ditch X275 qualifying, and we are behind again. We will be lucky to get the day finished before the 7PM curfew, but rest assured the Raceway Park crew is trying their hearts out to get the show in. Cloudy conditions are greeting fans and racers, so records are possible. Jose Gonzalez is one to watch in round1 of Pro Mod along with Mike Maggio in the high mph PM Camaro, and Tim Lynch in 10.5
Kevin Fiscus is race ready in his #2 qualified Mustang at 4.312. First round opponent for Kevin is John Bova.
George Williams scored an upset round 1 win in Pro Mod over Derek Hawker to advance to round 2 and face Bill Lutz in a Camaro battle to advance to the semis. Williams got in as an alternate for Randy Jewell.
- A crewman for Tom Tarsia’s NY Camaro readies for first round. Tarsia took out Chris Cadotte’s Dodge truck in Heavy Street action.
- Mitch George soloed for a first round victory when his opponent was a no show. George is another past winner here at Shakedown, but also a crash survivor, when he crashed the Monte Carlo after taking the final round several years ago.
- Heavy Street round1 saw Tony Bass score a close win over Steve Wolley in a battle of Novas.
The scoreboard tells the tale of Todd Tutterow, in the Precision Turbo-owned 70 Duster, as he recorded the fastest pass in Pro Mod history at 262.49 MPH. The NHRA record stands at 258.71 with Melanie Troxel set during the Supernationals 2011. Troxel was driving a turbocharged 53 Corvette on her record run, also set here at Englishtown,NJ. The Tutterow run included a pedal job downtrack, as evidenced by the relatively slow ET during the run. However you can't discount the power and top end charge of Precision's turbos. Tutterow had problems and lost second round to Kevin McCurdy after having a difficult time both in the burnout and staging.
Another huge upset occured in Outlaw 10.5 when Harry Jarvis took his rebuilt 69 Camaro to the win over a tire-spinning Tim Lynch in round 2. Lynch started Sunday as the #1 qualifier at 4.02, taking an easy win in round 1 over Tim Essick with a 4.13.But the Corvette spun the tires hard at the 200 foot mark, and Jarvis streaked the win with a 4.30/180 to Lynch's 5.436. Jarvis held a .045 to .087 advantage off the line. Harry met up with Rob Wells in the next round but red-lit, advancing Wells. Jarvis' Camaro has had several scrapes with wall recently, crashing at Yellow Bullet Nationals, and then again testing at Atco.
Bill Dutka was one of many racers at Shakedown to record a personal best ET. He recorded a 4.547/174.89 during the second round but still came up short to eventual champ Scotty G. Dutka is a regular at the Cecil County Saturday Streetcar Shootouts as well as at MIR, Atco, and here at Etown.
Rich Bruder is a defending champion here at Shakedown Nationals. He’s in the semis and will face C Walls in X275 class.
- Scott Bitzer provided one of the biggest upsets of the day, when he finished off a wheelstanding Frank Soldridge in round 2 of Limited Street. Frank went into a giant wheelie at the 300 foot mark, scraping the bump and having to lift, advancing Bitzer. Here he comes out of the water in his semi final round against eventual winner Scotty G.
Tony Presto in the blown and blue 67 Nova earned a birth into the final of Heavy Street after taking the win over Ralph Hardesty here in the semi-finals. Presto ran in the 4.40 range the first two rounds with a best of 4.475, and used a 4.513 to best Hardesty who ran 4.842. Presto was misidentified on the qualfying and results sheets as Tony Basso.
The kid is a driver was heard several times over the weekend, as TJ Casper made a run to the round of 4 in Outlaw 10.5. He recorded top speed for the class at 201.25 mph and was a genuine threat to win the deal. He had a 4.0 car, but ran into Charlie Dolbin in the semis, where Dolbin's better reaction time and better ET was the difference. The crew from Deptford, NJ can hold their heads high after this weekend. Casper's father Tom also competed in Outlaw 10.5 with a similar turbo Mustang.
Mitch George used a stellar .002 reaction time in his semi-final run against John Cerbone to earn his way to the Heavy Street final. He flame-belching Monte Carlo held on for the holeshot win over the Camaro. George and Bruder both had shots to defend their 2011 Shakedown titles, but the money was split in several classes due to the late hour and Sunday 7:30 pm curfew.
Joe Allbrecht in the Monte Carlo took this semi-final win over Mark Pyott in 8.50 Index. A holeshot advantage was the difference, despite Mike Pyott running closer to the 8.50 standard. The 8.50 purse was another class that had to split the money.
Bobby Moran Jr was the other semi-finalist in 8.50 Index with his Vega. Here is his winning run against Angelo Valla during round 4.
- Limited Street- Scotty Guadagno took his Brooklyn based nitrous powered Camaro to the winner circle, defeating Ray Royer Jr. Scotty G. turned on the win light with a 4.604/162.49 pass, and Royer trailed at 4.690/165.90.
Pro Mod- Eric Latino scored one for the Canadians running 6.0111/243 in the final over a red-lighting Dwayne Wolfe. Wolfe recorded a 6.120/231 for runner up money.
Pro Street Bike final- Jeremy Teasley defeated Joey Gladstone with 6.970/212.66. Gladstone was close with a 7.141/211.06 pass.
Outlaw 10.5- Rob Wells scored paydirt in Outlaw 10.5 action, outrunning Charlie Dolbin. Wells recorded a winning 4.150/189.20 for the victory.
Rich Bruder recorded a 4.660/157 in the semis over an off pace Craig Walls. Bruder scored the X275 title last year and was looking good to do it again.
X275- Final round was not run due to running past curfew. Semi-final winners were Sean Ashe in an 85 Mustang and defending champion Rich Bruder in an 88 Mustang.
Top Sportsman- Wayne Horton 98 Olds Cutlass won the title over the Dodge Avenger of Alan Prusiensky with a winning 4.662 and a .003 reaction time.
Pro Imports were also at Shakedown, although they too split the purse. Here is semi-final action with Jorge Juarbe taking the win and setting low ET/ top speed of the event. The numbers for the 82 Toyota Carolla were 6.505/217.74.
One of the most storied race tracks on the East Coast, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park proved once again to be the record-breaking facility it has always been known to be. Shakedown Nationals 10, under the guidance of promoter Dave Hance and Michelle Marchase and Eddie Krawiec of RP and the entire staff gave racers the chance to strut their stuff. Raceway Park gave their best even when facing a computer crisis that fried several computer parts, pieces and scoreboards. A big thanks to RP for not giving up!
