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NSCA -Quaker City
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The
latest results from the latest stop on the eight-race NSCA Corteco
Gaskets NSCA Drag Racing Series
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By Brian Wood |
Coverage of the NSCA Quaker City event
(7-16-2004) - With so much rain falling around the country again this summer, there were some serious concerns regarding the status of the Pro-Filer Performance Products Quaker City Nationals when the National Street Car Association’s rolling high-performance speed and beauty show rolled into Salem, Ohio, the weekend of July 17 and 18. When all was said and done, however, the event, number five on
the 2004 Corteco Gaskets NSCA Drag Racing Series presented by BFGoodrich
schedule, Considering that the forecast called for a total washout of the elimination rounds on Sunday, the warm and partly cloudy conditions that greeted the fans and competitors throughout most of the day were very welcome indeed. The event kicked off the second half of the eight-race series, and with points battles tightening up in a number of classes, the competition out on the track was hot and heavy all weekend long.In Comp Cams/TCI Engineering Pro Street, the woes continued for perennial and defending champ Pat Musi, who went out in the semifinals when a loose fuel line under the hood of his Don Reem-owned ’99 Firebird caused him to be shut off at the line. Ironically, teammate and No. 1 qualifier Tony Christian was his opponent in the round, and despite backing out to give Musi’s crew as much time as possible to attempt a fix, when the order was given to push Musi back Christian staged the team’s ’69 Camaro and took a single into the final round. Christian also had a single in the first round, thanks to his status as low qualifier with a mark of 6.749, 208.36 on Saturday evening. In other first round action, Scott Merkel took out Carl Rossler, William Brown advanced over Rick Miller and Musi took the decision when Jim Stradner’s Corvette broke at the line.
In the other semifinal match-up, Merkel went down to Brown, 7.198, 177.18 to 7.008, 203.65. In the final, Christian added to his championship points lead by cutting a .468 light to Brown’s .509, and running away for the victory, 6.933, 207.40 to 7.245, 165.46 as Brown’s ’67 Nova stumbled and slowed at half track. The race for the Edelbrock Pro Outlaw crown took on a slightly different complexion this time around as defending and four-time champion Marc Dantoni didn’t have long-time nemesis James Clark to contend with as he usually does. Clark wasn’t able to make the long trip from his Mississippi home, leaving Dantoni to fight it out with four other tough customers. Canadian Don Pocock, driving a wild supercharged ’63 Corvette, paced the filed during Saturday’s single qualifying session with a mark of 7.200, 193.99. He was followed by fellow Canadian Dave Earhart, John Stanley, Joe Cleary Jr. and Dantoni, who fell into the No. 5 spot after his nitrous-injected ’41 Willys got out of the groove and he cut the run short. In the first round, Cleary took out Stanley when the new “Appalachia on Steroids” Camaro pitched a blower belt halfway into the run. In other action, Pocock rode a competition bye into the semifinals while Dantoni knocked off Earhart’s beautiful blown ’02 Camaro to begin another of his patented drives for the winner’s circle. In the final, Dantoni overcame a .020 starting line deficit to take the stripe first, 6.724, 210.31 to 7.119, 180.74, to take another step towards championship number five. One of the newest classes in NSCA competition this season is Pro-Filer Performance Products Top Street, and the wide-open fast doorslammer action on display in Ohio was proof that the category has a great future. Qualifying was lead by Jerry Albert, with a pass of 7.215, 192.33 on Saturday evening, followed by points leader Randy Jewell, Ray Schuler, Larry Higginbottham and Darrell Thomas.
On Sunday, the first round of eliminations saw Jewell’s ’00 Corvette out-duel the classic ’67 Camaro of Thomas, while Schuler cruised into the next round behind the wheel of his ’01 Pontiac Firebird when opponent Higginbottham broke at the line. Albert took the free pass into the semifinals by virtue of his top qualifier performance. In the semis, Schuler took a .101 advantage off the line and hung on for the holeshot victory over a hard-charging Albert, 7.190, 192.33 to 7.095, 196.68. He advanced to meet Jewell, who had a single into the final. In the final showdown, Jewell moved closer to the year-end championship with a strong 7.095, 193.99 to 7.519, 188.31 victory. Nitrous Express Nostalgia Pro Street is one of the most popular NSCA classes, with racers and fans alike, and in Ohio the competition was up to its usual high standards. Qualifying was led by points leader John Schroeder, who laid down a pass of 7.716, 181.47 in his ’02 Camaro. He was followed by Kevin Parent, Brian Ferrari, Ellen Pavao and defending champion Rob Golobo. Schroeder had the competition bye in the first round, while Ferrari edged Pavao in a close side-by-side race and Golobo got past Parent in an equally close contest. In the final, it was Golobo’s ’02 Camaro leaving first,
.450 to .567, over Ferrari’s ’67 Chevelle, and he ran
it out the back door to claim the win, 7.722, 180.74 to 7.862, 171.12.
Jacob had the single in the first round, and Campbell advanced to the final when Adams broke. In the last stanza, Jacob took his Michigan-based Mopar to victory over Campbell’s Missouri Chevy, 9.487, 145.64 to 10.103, 131.59. ProCharger Super Street always features great racing action wherever the NSCA goes, and the Quaker City event didn’t disappoint. Qualifying was led by Kenny Bennett, driving the F.J. Smith-built ’95 Olds Achieva owned by engine wizard Tony Bischoff. The rookie driver laid down a pass of 7.500, 191.51 to lead way over Bobby Bammann, defending champion Nick Scavo, Vito Montesano, Randy Lambert, Joel O’Donnell, Ray Sanchez and Sandro Sementilli. Montesano, Bammann, Bennett and Scavo all advanced after an entertaining first round of eliminations on Sunday, setting up semifinal match-ups which saw Bennett take out a problem-plagued Montesano, 7.890, 189.90 to 10.952, 108.18, and Scavo outlast Bammann, 7.816, 183.69 to 9.147, 113.07. In the final, it was fitting that the two most dominant racers in the class this season went head-to-head, with Scavo’s turbocharged small block-powered ’69 Camaro taking the win light over the nitrous-injected big block Olds of Bennett, 7.658, 188.31 to 7.948, 180.74. Drive Train Specialists Super Modified had six cars out for the weekend, with Milan winner Johnny Baio pacing the field in qualifying by virtue of a blast of 7.866, 173.76, behind the wheel of his bright orange ’69 Camaro known as “Thumper.” He was followed by Jim Robbins, Emidio Catalano, Keith McCoy, defending champ Jim Huber and Roland Lursky. Catalano, Huber and Baio all won their first round match-ups, and with Baio taking the competition bye into the final thanks to his top qualifying effort, Catalano and Huber fought it out to see who would be his dancing partner in the big race. Catalano got his Toronto-based ’68 Camaro off the line first, .486 to .494, and held the advantage all the way down the track to take out Huber’s 2000 Chevy S-10 out of Indiana, 7.709, 171.12 to 7.808, 177.88.
With wife Marie brandishing her orange boxing gloves at the starting line, Baio absolutely chopped down the tree on Catalano, .493 to .794, and seemed headed for his second consecutive victory when the car faltered at mid-track, allowing Catalano to take the win, 7.947, 149.02 to 10.836, 78.95. It was a popular victory for Catalano and his crew, who were making their first race of the season after having their ’69 Camaro completely re-built by fellow Canadian F.J. Smith. There were 11 cars on hand for Goodyear Limited Street in Salem, and the hot 289-equipped ’93 Ford Mustang of Brooklyn’s Mike Modeste topped the qualifying list with a run of 8.150, 175.11. Following “Mustang Mike” were Bill Travoto, Frank Mewshaw, Danny Hastings, David Laurer, Mark Vinson, Phil Hines, David Hutnick, Gary Mare, Matt Vinson and Eric Cary. Modeste had the single into the second round, while Laurer, Hastings, Hines, Travoto and Mewshaw all had to do it the hard way by outrunning their opponents out on the quarter-mile. Travoto, Mewshaw and Modeste all advance to the semifinals, where Travato took the free pass into the last stanza. On the other side of the ladder, Mewshaw earned the chance to race for the event title when the normally steady Modeste tripped the tree too early, handing the win to his opponent. The final in Limited Street was a real thriller, with both drivers leaving the line with nearly identical reaction times and running door handle to door handle all the way through the top-end traps. In the end, it was the bright yellow ’84 Camaro of Mewshaw through first, 8.260, 171.12 to 8.273, 169.83 over Trovato’s tough little ’78 Olds Starfire.
Competition Engineering Hot Street has become the stomping grounds for newcomer Larry Perkins so far this season, and the points leader was on his game again at Quaker City, wheeling his “Grumpy” Jenkins-powered ’66 Chevy Nova to the top spot in the field with a pass of 8.848, 151.02. The rest of the order consisted of defending champion Tim Davis, “Big” Ed Dobias, Rick Moroso, Paul Suloff, Robert Eubanks and Ken Schertz. In the first round of eliminations on Sunday, Moroso took out Suloff, Dobias cruised when Eubanks fouled, as did Davis when Schertz left the red bulb glowing in his wake. Perkins had the bye run as a result of his top qualifying effort. In the semifinals, Davis took the win over Dobias, 9.014, 149.51 while Moroso uncharacteristically left the line early, allowing Perkins to advance to the final unopposed. Once there, Perkins took the fight directly to 2003 champion Davis, leaving first, .443 to .456, and taking the victory in a close and exciting race, 8.917, 151.53 to 8.949, 151.02. The battle for BES Real Street domination in Ohio was fought by eight top runners, led by the ’79 Pontiac Firebird of Deleware’s Bruce Miachle, who posted the top marks in qualifying with a pass of 8.829, 152.04. Behind him were Bobby Shahan, Ron Rhodes, defending champion Jamie Stanton, Larry Rhodes, Dave Shakespeare, Gary Kubisch and Brad Holsapple. The first round of eliminations saw Stanton, Miachle, Ron Rhodes and Shahan advancing in four hard-fought match-ups. Semifinal action featured Shahan dispatching Rhodes, 9.232, 146.11 to 9.274, 145.17, while Stanton, despite a .458 to .521 starting line advantage, went down to defeat at the hands of Miachle, 9.002, 144.24 to 9.010, 152.04 in a great drag race.
In the final, Miachle once again survived a slight holeshot, .478 to .521, to take the victory over the tough little ’69 AMX wheeled by Shahan, 8.918, 148.53 to 9.259, 146.59. It was defending champion Dave Rudisell’s weekend in BFGoodrich Drag Radial Eliminator competition, as the Indiana-based driver started things off by leading qualifying with a blast of 8.886, 154.65 over Michael Fratena, Chris Singleton, Jim Filipowski, James Kursay, Jimmy Byrne, John Balinsky and Bill Stevens. After the smoke cleared from first round competition, Milan winner Byrne, Filipowski, Fratena and Rudisell all moved on to the Semifinals. In the first race, Rudisell cut a better light, .560 to .673, and powered his multi-colored ’84 Mustang to the win over the wicked Michigan-based turbocharged ’93 Camaro of Filipowski, 8.929, 155.72 to 8.914, 169.19. Up next were Florida’s Fratena and Byrne, who hails from Illinois, and once again they put on a great show. Both cars left the line just .008-seconds apart, and at the top end it was Fratena crossing the stripe first, 8.801, 157.91 to 9.015, 158.46. The Mr. Gasket Nostalgia Super Stock class had one of the largest turnouts of cars in Salem, with 17 index-based racers and their historic hot rods on hand for the Quaker City Nationals. When the dust settled on Saturday evening, it was Ohio native Jeff Millward leading the pack with a mark of 10.509 on his B/NSS index of 10.50. He was followed by Frank Pellegrini, Stephanie DiMino, John DiMino, Gary Richmond, Ed Youmans, Mike DeChicco, Brian Merrick, Jim Pidgeon, Milan winner Joe Cochran, William Murphy V, Scotty Jiles, Ray Claeys, Bill White, Skip Koester, Jim Clay and Doug Sloan. First round winners were Cochran, Pidgeon, Youmans, Murphy, John DiMino, DeChicco, Merrick, Richmond and Millward, who had the bye run. In round 2, it was Richmond over Pidgeon, Millward over Youmans, DeChicco over Murphy, Merrick over John DiMino and Cochran advancing on the bye run. Quarterfinal action saw Richmond’s ‘66 Ford Fairlane take out Cochran’s ’69 AMX, Millward’s ’64 Plymouth prevail over Merrick’s ’64 Ford Thunderbolt and DeChicco’s ’65 Dodge moving on with a bye run. The bye run once again played a part in the semifinals, with Millward getting the free pass into the final this time around, while Richmond had a nearly easy run to the last stanza when his opponent DeChicco left too early and lit the foul light. The final came down to a heads-up race between two B/NSS cars, with Richmond grabbing a perfect .500 light and hanging on for the win, 10.538, 121.30 to 10.501, 127.77 on the 10.50 index, thanks to his .042 starting line advantage. The victory was the third major event win in the past several weeks for the Ohio-based Richmond. Ramchargers American Muscle was the car count leader in Salem, with 22 classic Fords, Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Mopars, Buicks and Oldsmobiles jamming the pits, much to the delight of the muscle car fans in attendance. NSCA Chaplain Mark Walter won the most recent race in Milan, Michigan, and with his ’85 Camaro sporting a fresh coat of paint, he was looking to pad his championship points lead by adding another one to the win column.
Walter led all comers during Saturday’s single qualifying session, pacing the field with a pass of 12.264, 110.30 on his 12.250 J/AM index. He was followed by Steve Gerrard, Keith Seymour, Ken Weilbrenner, Larry Fleming, James Gorski, Mike Walker, Mike Davis, William Gestner, Bret Blankenmeyer, Larry Santucci, Stacy Claeys, Rick Bess, Carroll Betz, Laurie Claeys, Bob Darlington, Brian Smith, Todd Pimm, Darryl Sigourney, Ernie Dreher, Paul Osipoff and Allen Adam. In the first of five rounds of eliminations on Sunday, Davis, Osipoff, Gerrard, Gorski, Seymore, Dreher, Walker, Fleming, Walter, Santucci and Weilbrenner all moved on, with Osipoff, Dreher, Walker, Santucci and Seymore then surviving round 2, while Walter capitalized on his top qualifier status by taking the bye run into round 3. In the quarterfinals, Osipoff took out Walker, Seymore prevailed over Santucci and Walter continued his quest for a second consecutive title with a win over Dreher. In the semifinals, Osipoff wheeled his ’70 Camaro into the final thanks to a bye run, while Walter’s JAMA ZZ Camaro outran Seymore’s ’74 Chevelle, 12.253 on a 12.25 to 10.792 on a 10.75. The final featured the J/AM Camaro of Walter against the D/AM ’70 Camaro of Osipoff, with the “Padre” rolling to the victory when both drivers ran under their indexes. Walter’s 12.217 on a 12.25 was the lesser of the infractions as his opponent run 10.712 on his 10.75.
Comp/FA.S.T. EFI Eliminator had a field of 11 competitors on the grounds at Quaker City, all hoping to take a shot at defending class champ Todd Merkel and his now-yellow ’91 Pontiac Firebird. When the dust settled after Saturday’s qualifying session, it was Ohio’s Ray Tumbry in the top spot after pushing his H/EFI ’86 Buick Grand National to a best pass of 12.517 on an index of 12.50. The rest of the field consisted of Jenni Merrick, Wes Stevens, Milan winner Roxanne Shepard, Merkel, John King, Ted Rudie, Scott Claeys, Johnnie Kinter, Jamie Biggs and Joey Wilkes. In the first of four rounds, top qualifier Tumbry had the single, while Merkel, Rudie, Wilkes, Stevens and Shepard all advanced. In the quarterfinals, Shepard took out Stevens, Wilkes upset Merkel and Rudie outlasted Tumbry to set up the second-to-last round. Wilkes had the free pass to the final this time around, while Shepard powered her Michigan-based ’99 Mustang to an impressive 10.511 on a 10.50 victory over Rudi’s ’92 Mustang, which ran under with an 11.843 on a 12.00 index. Shepard advanced to her second final in two races, but she was bested by No. 11 qualifier Wilkes and his ’02 Pontiac Firebird in a close heads-up race between two D/EFI (10.50) cars. Both drivers cut solid lights, and in the end it was the 10.598 of Wilkes taking the win light over Shepard’s 10.626. Factory Modified Sportsman is another new heads-up category in NSCA this season, designed for NHRA and IHRA-legal Super Stock cars, and the seven competitors on hand at Salem put on a great show for the fans with their colorful wheelstanding hot rods.
Top qualifier for the weekend was Charlie Westcott, Jr., who propelled his Michigan-based ’98 Pontiac Grand Am to a mark of 9.792, 136.37. He was followed by Joey Wilkes, Steve Sweitzer, Jim Boburka, Mike Pustelny, Pete Zawadski and Dave Layer. Round 1 winners on Sunday included Pustelny, Sweitzer and Wilkes, while Westcott had the bye run into the semifinals. Westcott continued to roll in the next round, taking out the Michigan-based ‘04 Pontiac driven by Pustelny, 9.686, 131.59 to 9.953, 130.44. In the other pairing, Wilkes, who was serving double duty on this weekend, drove his ’92 Camaro to victory over the ’92 Pontiac of Sweitzer in a close contest, 9.814, 133.94 to 9.895, 133.54. In the final, Westcott capped off a great weekend by taking the win light over Wilkes, 9.632, 136.37 to 9.797, 134.34. The Genuine Street trophy for the American Super Car Challenge
went to Paul Suloff, who put his Ohio-based ’96 Viper into
the winner’s circle after taking out the ‘02 Corvette
wheeled by Pennsylvania’s Jerry Land, 11.655, 119.37 to 16.230,
52.94.
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