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Day three is underway here in Las Vegas and you couldn’t ask for better weather, with highs near 70 degrees and dipping into the 50’s as the sun goes down. Today is final qualifying and round one eliminations for some classes. Stay tuned to Dragzine for the latest news. Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor, Comp Cams, for their support and allowing us to bring you this weekend’s same day coverage!
We spoke with Heather Macy from The EFI Store, the Outlaw Pro Mod class sponsor for two years here at the SCSN. The EFI Store is a one-stop-shop for EFI solutions, carrying systems from the top manufactures in the field and offering support and tuning from owner and husband, Brian Macy. The company is based in Lake Havasu, Arizona and started about twelve years ago as Horsepower Connection, launching The EFI Store.com a year and a half ago.
We stopped to chat with Precision Turbo Pro Mod number one qualifier Jeff Lutz this morning. Jeff freshened the engine just before this event and was struggling getting the car moving on the front half. He made some changes to the wastegates looking for a fix and the car responded very well, putting down a new personal best run; 1.01, 2.63, 3.85 at 202 5.78 at 253.99 MPH. Sponsors include Pro Torque, Precision Turbo, Stainless Works, Hoosier Tires, Rossler Transmissions, Racepak, Big Stuff, SSI East Coast, VP Fuels and The Sign Guy. Lutz is based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team was at SEMA displaying his Drag Week-winning Chevy and working with the Street Outlaws TV show and will head back to Oklahoma before going to PRI in Indy and then home to prepare for the 2015 season. “I have to thank all my sponsors who without their help all this would not be possible” – Jeff Lutz
Tommy Dwyer and Rick Sachgel made the haul from Illinois to be here this weekend, attending SCSN for the first time. The team normally runs with the Chicago Wise Guys. Tommy's Chevelle has some history, and he purchased it in 2006 from Kevin O'Dell. It's powered by a 526 Chevy machined by AES and topped with AJE Heads and a PSI supercharger.
Tommy Johanns runs the Pit Mat USA Corvette in EFI Store Outlaw Pro Mod. Tommy has a new car this year after the chutes failed to deploy at Super Chevy last year, totaling his old car in the final after winning the event. This car was built by Steve Bruce and is powered by a BAE Hemi built by Jeff Schnieder and topped with a C rotor PSI blower.
We stopped by the Bisquick Racing pits this morning and spoke with Derek Peppers, who's running Mickey Thompson Wild Street this weekend. He runs an '88 Mustang with a small block Ford topped with Yates D3 heads and fed by a 94mm turbo. He's qualified ninth with a 4.92 at 148, a personal best with the car. Team mate Scott Bieschke runs Vortech Outlaw 8.5 and sits thirtieth in class. The crew was tearing the tires down for some new skins this morning after struggling with traction on Friday. Scott is the Outlaw 8.5 2013 event winner. He runs a small block Ford with AFR heads and an 88mm turbo. Machine work is handled by Scott's brother Rob Bieschke.
Round Four Qualifying Results
Don Walsh Jr. bumped Lutz to second in Precision Pro Mod, running a 5.74 at 257 MPH in this morning session.
Paul Mouhayet hails from New South Wales, Australia, running this 2014 Mustang powered by an AJ 481X. His 5.68 at 271 puts him right in the thick of Outlaw Pro Mod.
Turky Al Zafiri knocked Mike Maggio from number one, running a 5.61 at 272.50 MPH.
Stanly & Weiss Racing is on the lot with their amazing Cadillac CTS-V. They have struggled a bit and got into some tire shake in this session. John Stanley pedaled the car, putting up a 5.80 at 248.
Nick Agostino jumped into first place in Magnafuel Outlaw 10.5 with an amazing 6.10 at 209, lifting after the rear cam plug pushed out, putting some oil into the drivers compartment. The engine is from Maximum Performance in Toronto and backed by an M&M trans with a Pro Torque converter with a pair of 94mm precision turbos. The chassis was originally built by The Chassis Stop and has been back to the shop after some brushes with the wall, offering Nick a quick turn around and quality service.
This green and black Chevy II belongs to Matthew Frost from Platteville, Colorado and competed in Drag Week this year. The engine is an AMS Automotive 632 big block Chevy fed by twin 88mm Pro Mod turbos from Precision. He is another racer setting personal best ET’s this weekend with a best of 7.48 at 188 MPH. The car was just finished for Drag Week, making this their first official race for the new build. Matt’s own companies sponsor the car, In and Out Oilfield Services and In and Out Custom and Collision.
Jerome Boddie wasn’t able to improve his position in Pro Radial but is flying with his Pro Line Racing-powered, PTP-tuned ’63 Nova this weekend, running a 6.35 at 232, earning second spot in the field.
Brandon McBride improved to a 6.97 at 210, holding on to sixth in Pro Radial.
Jason Kenzevich sits thirty third in Vortech Outlaw 8.5, just .005 out of the qualified field of 32 cars with his Las Vegas-based ’90 Mustang.
Jack Avetisyan sits on the bump with a 5.739 at 109 in OL 8.5, driving his ’85 Buick GN.
David Singletary is based out of from Surprise, Arizona and is here running Magnafuel XDR/TT5 and is qualified third so far in class. He runs a five-inch bore Fulton big block Chevy backed by a Proformance Racing Transmission with a Neal Chance Racing Converter. His 4.64 at 160 is a personal best for him. Recent changes include Santhuff shocks, and some testing getting things figured out have payed off. Nitrous tuning is done by crew chief Chuck Roberts from Competition Nitrous with a Speedwire timer system and MSD Grid ignition.
Kelly Henry is also running XDR/TT5 this weekend with his 1991 Mustang out of Lancaster, California. The Addiction Motorsports-sponsored car is qualified fourth, running an ARE-built 540 Chevy force-fed by an F3R 136 ProCharger. He runs Team Z Suspension with Mencser Motorsports shocks out back and a Powerglide from Pro Trans in Lancaster.
Turbobullet.com owner Brandt Campbell runs this 1973 Camaro out of Amarillo, Texas with a single turbo 540 BBC from Dreamchaser Racing Engines, also in Texas. The car was built by Amarillo Race Cars and uses a Rossler Transmission and Pro Torque converter. Other sponsors include Hughes Transmissions, Joe Owpolski from Hyperactive, The EFI Store and Cartel Manufacturing wheels.
Kayla Morton is running OL 10.5 with a Carol Carter Ford Hemi on alcohol with mechanical fuel injection. She was losing power and an inspection found a leaking head gasket, which she was just torquing as we stopped by the pits. The chassis and body is from Suncoast Race Cars in Brooksville, Florida. Sponsors include Renegade Fuel and Oil and Grand Prix Autosports Center in Tulsa. Kayla has appeared on the Street Outlaws show, look for her again this season.
Final Qualifying Results
Turky Al Zafiri was able to improve his ET in the final session from a 5.616 at 272.50 to a 5.599 at 271.84 MPH in the Q80 Racing, Pro Line Racing, El General Racing Camaro. Teammate Eric Dillard also improved from his third position to second with a 5.625 at 269.24, putting the Q80 team on opposite sides of the ladder for tomorrow’s eliminations.
Nick Agostino took top honors in Magnafuel Outlaw 10.5 with a 6.105 at 209 in the fourth session this afternoon, though he wasn’t able to improve this evening. He will have an earned single tomorrow morning.
Taylor Lastor has been improving steadily through qualifying and hit the setup in the final session, moving up to second from fifth with a 6.22 at 222.88, a full tenth better than his last run.
Ken Sihota had led OL 10.5 qualifying through three rounds before being bumped by Agostino. The final session pushed him back to third despite improving his ET by just over three hundredths to a 6.232, a world record for an OL 10.5 nitrous car. He runs a Fulton 833 in the Firebird which formerly was campaigned in Pro Stock by Richie Stevens before being modified for outlaw racing. Sponsors include MWH Trucking and Excavating, Gradar Holdings, Rip Tide Towing and Water Taxi, Vagellis Grill and Lounge, TJ Racing, Landmark Realty Limited, Bucky Racing, Choice Mechanical, Ken’s Specialty Automotive White Powder Coating Limited and Tri City Cutting and Boring.
One of the more interesting rides in the class is Kelly Harvey’s 41 Willys. He runs a BAE 521 and qualified eleventh with at 6.68 at 191 MPH.
John Mihovetz is the quickest and fasted modular powered car and qualified fourth with a 6.26 at 241 but started pushing oil and will sit out eliminations.
Roger Holder kept getting quicker in ProCharger Pro Radial, lowering the record in the final session to a 6.138 and setting high MPH earlier with a 243.41 MPH blast. The Bakersfield, California racer was on a string most of qualifying. He runs a Pro Line Racing 525.
Josh Klugger improved his ET to a 6.505 at 243.33, showing he has the power to keep up once the Fiscus/Klugger Racing crew find the setup for the front half. He is qualified third.
Eric Aldrich brought his unassuming 1972 Maverick to compete in Vortech Outlaw 8.5, taking number one qualifier and busting off a 4.990 at 144.19 in the final session. He runs a supercharged 357 cubic inch Ford small block and is based out of Oceanside, California.
Krusty Ramsey has been running well with his clean ’78 Malibu this weekend. The Peckham, Colorado racer improved his time to a 5.004 at 140.62 MPH, moving up to number two qualifier in OL 8.5 in the final session.
Manuel Figueroa launched his Induction Solutions-sponsored -95 Mustang hard in the final session, getting some air and spitting flames out the pipes. He improved slightly to a 5.390 at 136 ans sits in twenty second spot in the OL 8.5 field.
Richard Shelly put his ’81 Capri in the air in final qualifying, forcing him to pedal the car and dashing his hopes of improving his position. He is nineteenth in the very popular and exciting class.
Eric Gustafson led Mickey Thompson Wild Street all through qualifying before breaking in the 4.40’s in the final session with a 4.456 at 162.88, taking home the Wild Street record in the process and the honor of the first car into the 4.40’s. The Racecraft Inc built car features an engine originally from Kurt Urban, now done by Pettis Performance and tuned by PTP Performance. Sponsors include Racecraft, PTP, Procharger, Comp Cams, Billet Atomizer and the family business Coast Packing.
Chris Groves improved his ET from a 4.58 to a 4.52 in the final session, also knocking on the 4.40’s.
Artis Houston is back to racing after his crash last year with a rebuilt car and this is the first time out after repairs. He made some motor-only runs earlier in qualifying before turning on the bottle and running a 4.96 at 145, good for tenth in class.
Norman Chang is number one qualifier in Magnafuel XDR/TT5 with a 4.319 at 179.97 MPH. The Atherton, California-based racer runs a 420 cubic inch Ford small block with twin Garrett turbos out front.
Max Burger had a big nitrous backfire on his final run in XDR, requiring the track safety crew to employ the fire extinguishers to get things under control. He is qualified fourteenth with his 66 Chevy II with a 5.42.
Kelly Henry was charging hard on his final run but did not improve his number four position from his earlier 4.51 at 164 MPH.
Chris Alston Jr. rode this one out a while before aborting the run. He sits fifth with his earlier 4.51.
