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Under cloudier skies and slightly cooler conditions, we kick off the second day of competition here in At. Louis, with three full qualifying sessions for the heads-up categories scheduled for the day, as well as class eliminations for the Dave Duell Classic Nostalgia Super Stock racers.
A special thanks to Comp Cams and the entire Comp Performance Group, the presenting sponsor of our same day event coverage throughout 2014!
While bracket and index time trials are underway out on the track, the car show is picking up on out on the midway, with a host- of sharp-looking rides on hand.
This heavily modified Chevy Silverado pickup is certainly one of the more interesting rides in the car show.
With the help of turbo tuning magician Steve Petty, Willard Kinzer’s team is making preparations this morning to climb their way up the Radial Wars qualifying sheet after a slowing 5.32 last night in the opening session.
Despite the impressive explosion that Bob Rahaim experienced at the stripe on his first qualifying shot last night, he told us this morning that no internal damage was done to the brand new Reher-Morrison powerplant. His few and race officials were able to retrieve ever piece of the splintered hood and hood scoop that landed on the return road, and with the help of the staff at Jerry Bickel Race Cars, the scoop has already been repaired and is on it's way back to the track. Interestingly, due to mechanical troubles with his toter home, Rahaim had to borrow the rig belonging to fellow racer Jim Laurita to come to At. Louis, and inside his toter back home was his spare hood scoop.
Yes, that’s really a 427 SOHC Ford Cammer under the hood of Kurt Neighbor’s badass A/FX Mercury
Comet. The massive powerplant is said to be one of just two in use in active competition today.
In the first round of class eliminations this morning, Doug Duell shows the crowd why the Nostalgia Super Stockers are way cool.
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If you look closely, you can see Bill Lutz encountering some brutal tire shake just off the starting line in his twin-turbo Camaro. Look closer, and you might see his fillings rattling out.
Bill Trovato (left) improved a few numbers from his first round effort in Xtreme Street, going 8.47 in today's mid-day session. Friday's qualifying leader, Eric Kenward, meanwhile, went quicker than the existing national record in the class, blasting to a 7.880 at 172.67 to maintain his spot atop the field.
Indiana native David Hutnick and his 532-inc Chevy Camaro hung right in there with Kenward in Xtreme Street, going 7.898 at a booming 176.60 MPH, nearly three miles per hour quicker than the existing speed record.
Speaking of speed records...after his 253 MPH blast Friday evening in Pro Mod qualifying, Steve Summeres powered through some early tire shake to record a staggering 255.77 MPH in 6.05 seconds, good of fourth on the list.
Keith Berry and the WOOO! Nation stepped it up a few numbers in Saturday’s opening session of Radial Wars, going 4.401 at 181.98 MPH to maintain his spot in third behind Mark Woodruff and DeWayne Mills.
Mark Woodruff (left) struggled right at the hit and slowed, but still leads Radial Wars qualifying by a large margin, with DeWayne Mills his nearest challenger after knocking down a 4.33 in the second session. Brian Harrell (right) punched his way into the top five with his Mississippi-based Mustang, running a 4.56.
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Final Qualifying Orders (Minus Xtreme Street, which is still pending)
This was the scene just as we headed into the final session of qualifying this evening, with a brief drizzle putting things on hold just as the Pro Mod field rolled under the tower.
Dwayne Barbaree put a leg up on a new national record on the NMCA side in Street Outlaw in this evening’s final session, blasting to a 6.986 at more than 201 MPH to pace the field by a wide margin. Phil “Corndog” Smith is the closest challenger thus far, carding a 7.20 in the session to slide into second in the order going into race day.
After a somewhat troublesome weekend to this point (despite running 5.96 on Friday night's destructive pass), Bob Rahaim had plenty to smile about after making a nice and clean 5.958, 240.98 MPH lap to close out Pro Mod qualifying in third.
After running strong on Friday with a 5.99 in testing a class-leading 5.93 in the first round of qualifying, Josh Green struggled on Saturday, unable to put together another five-second lap. However, his potential national record run kept him on the pole going into tomorrow’s eliminations, where things are expected to return to the hot and sticky conditions Team Green excelled in on Friday.
Mark Woodruff was unable to improve upon his 4.21 from Friday evening in the final session of Radial Wars under the lights, but he did remind the field he’s the man to beat on Sunday with a low-for-the-round 4.25.
Keith Berry (left) threw a little power at the race track this evening and improved by a full tenth, running 4.30 at 182.97. Another local racer, Mark Micke (Center), from Jefferson City, Missouri, closed out qualifying in fourth with his 4.31 best, as fellow Jefferson City resident Troy William ended up 11th with his 5.48 best on the weekend with his crowd-pleasing '66 Nova.
DeWayne Mills notched his best run of the weekend in the final session tonight, using a stout 4.25 at an off-pace 172.94 MPH to solidify his second qualifying spot in the Radial Wars order.
Don Bowles and the rest of the NA 10.5 field are chasing Michael DeMayo, who could just as well double-enter in the bracket classes, having run 7.99, 8.00, 8.00, and 8.01 on his previous passes in qualifying and testing. Bowles heads into raceway fourth in the field with his 8.30 best, behind DeMayo, Dwight Ausmus’ 8.15, and Don Baskin’s 8.29.
Eric Kenward rode out this monstrous 330-feet long wheel stand on his way to another seven-second lap, this one a side-by-side seven-second affair with David Hutnick in the other lane. The pair ended qualifying one and two, and Kenward, with his earlier
