Network
Saturday
The weather this morning is much better and the lanes are starting to fill up with cars at Summit Motorsports Park. The plan is to have two full rounds of qualifying today to set the ladders for eliminations on Sunday.
Melanie Monagon has been racing since she was 12 years old and started out behind the wheel of her 1972 AMC Gremlin. In an effort to take her racing career to a new level she purchased a 1967 Shelby Mustang Pro Mod and is learning how to make this car work. "I made the switch because the gremlin was tired and had seen it’s better days after racing so many years with a blown alcohol engine in it. It was time to take the next and Pro Mod is my dream and this car gets me closer. Right now we're running a blown small block with a 6-71 blower in the car and we have a bigger one for next year. My goal is to just learn how to drive this car correctly this year and then start stepping it up more next year while running in the seven-second range.
Jimmy Detrick is driving the 1972 Hurst Olds owed by legendary chassis builder Keith Engling in Pro Mod and is currently sitting safely in the show at ninth on the qualifying sheet. The team had a very long night due to some connecting rods exiting the block during the first round of qualifying Friday at the top end of the track. Engling drove to his shop to get a spare bullet and the team thrashed until the wee hours of the morning to get the Olds ready for qualifying today.
The Outlaw 10.5 class has erupted into a full-blown game of home run derby during qualifying. After Ken Quartuccio Jr. reset and then backed up a new class record Mike Decker III stepped up to the plate and uncorked a 3.83 shot at over 191 MPH. He must back up that pass today to make the record official and that doesn't even guarantee the record will stand with Quartuccio in the batter's box today. "The goal of that pass was a mid-80s number and the 3.83 was a nice surprise, we are very happy with the run. There’s a little bit left in the car to work with and we could run 80s on a slick, we could run mid to high 80s on a slick no problem. When the 315 tire was allowed in Outlaw 10.5 and then people started running it that created a lot of discussion in the class and made it interesting. I want to thank my wife, mom, father, grandfather for the opportunity to race, the good lord for keeping me safe. My team behind me helps make this possible Brian, my uncles, my cousins Ronnie and Matt, Dave Reese, Gale Mogley."
The cars from the Horsepower Wars $10K Drag Shootout officially made their track debut Friday during qualifying with Team Bigun taking the top spot with a 9.23 pass where they shut off early. Today the teams hit the track again with Stinky Pinky was able to make a full pass and ran a 9.51 after they knocked the burst panel off the blower Friday. Team Boddie, The Dream Team, and Team Bigun all struggled to get down the track. You can see all the cars being built and catch up on the episodes of the $10K Drag Shootout at Horsepowerwars.com!
David Adkins set the internet on fire early this weekend when he became the quickest man in an LSX-powered car with a 5.97 pass in his Camaro. Unfortunately during Radial vs The World qualifying the engine in the Camaro that had a high amount of brutal quarter-mile passes on it finally expired. Determined to not have is race weekend cut short Adkins pulled his trusty 1963 Impala out of the trailer to stay in the show.
Glenn Pushis had to thrash to get his COPO Camaro ready and his here to get some data. “We hurt the engine after it lifted a head during the NMCA race a few weeks ago. This week was spent just getting the engine in so we could come to get ready for the NMCA finals next weekend. We’re making more power so now we have to learn what the car likes and how to use it.”
Tom Bailey just got done making it through one of the most challenging Hot Rod Drag Weeks ever due to weather, but that wasn’t the only racing he had planned. “We haven’t slept at all since we drove straight here from the Drag Week awards. The plan was to always come up here and test with Sick Seconds 2.0 but we stayed on Drag Week the entire time since things were going well there. Right now we’re still going to make some laps in this car and see what we can learn.”
The third round of qualifying for the $10K Drag Shootout saw a new team take the top spot. Team Stinky Pinky's Dr. Rod Knocker shot to the top spot with a 9.15 pass and that was done while the engine shredded a blower belt. The Dream Team was able to produce a 10.18 pass and was the second quickest for the round. Beer Money gave team Bigun some fits as it struck the tires at the hit and wasn't able to reclaim the top spot. Team Boddie continues to fight their Regal as it will stay running in the pits, but not when they come to the starting line. They also are having suspension issues that are causing the car to be more than a handful for Jay.
