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Down to the Wire
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NSCA Points Battles tighten up in Wake of Budds Creek Nationals
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By Brian Wood Photos by Brian Wood, Chris Simmons and Jimmy Davis |
For a complete gallery of photos from the Budds Creek Nationals, click on: http://www.nsca-racing.com/gallery/BuddCreek-2004 As a result of some close racing and a number of upsets, the status of the year-end championship points in several of the National Street Car Association's heads-up and index classes remains uncertain, with just two events remaining.
The recent event at Maryland International Raceway was race number six on the 2004 Corteco Gaskets NSCA Drag Racing Series presented by BFGoodrich schedule. When the smoke cleared on Sunday afternoon, performance records in four classes had been re-written, and with time running down the quest for championship gold took on a new sense of urgency. Here is a capsule recap of the event, class-by-class, including the latest records and points: Comp Cams/TCI Engineering Pro Street has been a mixture of hot racing and hotter controversy this season, as defending and multi-time champion Pat Musi's planned two-prong attack on the title shook things up right from the beginning of the year. Over the winter, Musi enlisted former rival Tony Christian to drive the second “Team Green” machine, but after race No. 5 in Salem , Ohio , Christian, who was leading the points, was handed his walking papers. With backing from his dad Jim, young Cody McManama took over behind the wheel of Musi's '69 Camaro at the recent Budds Creek Nationals.
Musi has been struggling in 2004, but he went out and qualified Don Reem's 1999 Firebird in the top spot in Maryland, clicking off a best pass of 6.735, 211.39. During eliminations, Musi had the competition bye in the first round, while McManama took out William Brown, Tony Gentile dispatched Rocky Raynor and Scott Merkel prevailed over Thomas Minor. Round 2 action saw Merkel advance to the final with a win over Gentile, while Musi coasted through when “Cody Mac” broke at the line. In the final, Musi reached down deep and unloaded a monster run of 6.589, 215.31 to Merkel's 6.735, 205.94 to jump into the top spot for the first time this year. With two events left to go, the top three in points are: Pat Musi, 191, Scott Merkel, 187 and William Brown, 166. This one should be a nail-biter right down to the wire.
Edelbrock Pro Outlaw has been the stomping grounds of New York 's Marc Dantoni for the last four years, and in spite of a car change at mid-season, 2004 has been more of the same, much to the dismay of his competition. With championship number five on the line, Dantoni was in the hunt for his third win in a row since replacing his first generation Camaro with a swoopy new ‘41 Willys coupe. He started things off in style on Saturday, pacing qualifying with a stout 6.609, 214.11 effort. On Sunday, Dantoni had the bye in the first round, while Canadian Dave Earhart took his beautiful blown 2002 Camaro to the next stanza when opponent Kevin McCurdy broke. In the other pairing, John Stanley moved on to the semifinals when his dancing partner Jim Jacob also broke. In the semifinals, Stanley 's new supercharged Camaro took the free pass into the final, while Dantoni took out Earhart, 6.627, 213.57 to 7.332, 190.48. In the final, both Dantoni and Stanley cranked our record-breaking passes, with Dantoni's winning 6.588, 216.06 setting a new class mile-per-hour mark while Stanley 's 6.646, 20611 represented a career best performance.
With two races left to go, the top three in points are: Marc Dantoni, 230, James Clark, 142 and Greg Huege, 92. One of the year's new classes is Pro-Filer Performance Products Top Street, designed to pit the best in heads-up Top Sportsman-type cars against each other. Rochester, New York competitor Randy Jewell has been the top dog for much of the 2004 season, and his goal of claiming the first-ever Top Street championship is close to becoming a reality. Jewell paced his self-built 2000 Corvette to the top spot on the qualifying list at MIR with a best pass of 6.992, 197.42.
In eliminations, Kenny Farrell cut an awesome .005 light behind the wheel of his '68 Camaro to take out Mike Ghiraldi, 7.079, 195.14 to 7.146, 178.87 while Jewell set a new class mile-per-hour record on his way to victory over a red-lighting Wayne Rogers, 7.000, 198.82 to 7.196, 195.85. Jewell's bid for another trip to the winner's circle was thwarted, however, when a fuel pump problem allowed Farrell an unopposed run to the checkers. The top three in points are: Randy Jewell, 244, Jerry Albert, 113 and Kenny Farrell, 69 Nitrous Express Nostalgia Pro Street is one of the most popular classes in NSCA competition, and points leader John Schroeder turned up the wick a little more at Budds Creek when he paced his great-looking 2002 Camaro to a new class speed record of 187.42. Schroeder topped the qualifying list on Saturday with a mark of 7.641, 187.31, and led the field into Sunday's elimination rounds, where he had a bye in the first round. In other first round action, defending NPS champion Rob Golobo, who qualified third, took out the No. 6 qualifier, Canadian Ellen Pavao ; Brian Ferrari, the No. 4 man, dispatched the fifth place qualifier Mitch George and No. 2 Kevin Parent advanced over Richie George, who qualified seventh. In the semifinals, one of the best races of the weekend came when Schroeder and Ferrari left the line just one-thousandth of a second apart and slugged it out all the way through the top end, with Schroeder taking the win 7.641, 184.65 to 7.656, 180.57. In the other pairing, Parent's solid .008 light went for naught as Golobo out-powered him to the line, 7.662, 185.82 to 7.712, 179.64. Golobo and Schroeder showed why this class is so great when they turned in one of the best final rounds of the season. Golobo obliterated the tree when he cut a .002 light, but Schroeder was right with him, notching a great .003 of his own. At the line, it was Golobo hanging on for the win, 7.640, 179.47 to 7.677, 187.42, with Schroeder's mph mark good for the new class record.
The top three in points are: John Schroeder, 204, Rob Golobo, 165 and Brian Ferrari, 137. Pro Nostalgia is a class designed for the top level of nostalgia Super Stock cars, and in 2004 the West Virginia-based '66 Ford Fairlane of Paul Adams has been the car to beat. At MIR, however, Jim MacKenzie would have something to say regarding Adams ' charge to the year-end championship. “Mac” qualified his fan-favorite '62 Chevy “Ol Reliable 2” in the top spot on Saturday, posting a mark of 8.992, 149.17 to accomplish the feat. Adams was right behind with a 9.105, 147.97, followed by Joe Jacob, 9.419, 146.81 and Russ Campbell, 9.524, 142.34. In the first round of eliminations, Adams moved on when the '65 Plymouth of Jacob broke, and likewise MacKenzie advanced when Campbell 's '62 Chevy lost an engine. The final round proved to be a real beauty, however, as Ford and Chevy left the line one-thousandth of a second apart and fought it out door-handle to door-handle through the top end, with “Mac” taking the win light, 9.049, 148.59 to 9.188, 147.41.
With two races left to go, the top three points earners are: Paul Adams, 213, Jim MacKenzie, 136 and Joe Jacob 124.
Competition in ProCharger Super Street was fierce at the Budds Creek Nationals, as rookie driver Kenny Bennett sought to maintain his dominance of the class through the end of the season. There were nine other drivers on hand with different ideas, however, so there was bound to be some great racing over the course of the weekend. After three qualifying sessions, Terris Hicks sat in the No. 1 spot with a pass of 7.522, 187.78, with Bobby Bammann second and Bennett in third. Defending class champ Nick Scavo was in the No. 4 spot, followed by Randy Lambert, Vito Montesano, Billy Laskowsky, Mike King, Waverly Green and Ron Green.
On race day, Scavo, Bennett, Hicks, Lambert and Waverly green all advanced to the second round, where Hicks received a free pass into the semifinals. In the first match-up, Lambert put Green away handily, while Bennett continued his march to the class crown with a win over the always-tough Scavo. In the semifinals, Lambert cooled his heels as he had the bye into the final, leaving Bennett and Hicks to duel it out for the honor of meeting him in the big showdown. Bennett's Tony Bischoff-owned Olds Achieva was up to the task, and he outran Hicks' 2001 Mustang, 7.572, 192.96 to 8.799, 190.67. In the final, Bennett kept the heat on, taking the win over Lambert's off-pace '98 Camaro, 7.589, 192.17 to 9.292, 119.13.
With the win, Bennett added to his points-leading total of 228, with Vito Montesano second with 145 and Lambert third with 132. Indiana 's Jim Huber is looking for another Drive Train Specialists Super Modified championship this year, but heading into Budds Creek, Chicago-based Johnny Baio was hot on the heels of the points leader, coming off a win and runner-up in the last two events. Working to hold off the Baio juggernaut, Huber paced his colorful 2000 Chevy S-10 to the top of the qualified field on Saturday with a mark of 7.806, 177.37. He was followed by Roland Lursky, Baio, Jerry Morgano, Rick Grove, Jack French and Jim Robbins. Huber had a bye in the first round, while Baio advanced when French left too early, and Robbins came from the last qualifying spot to take out Lursky in a great race. Both drivers had identical 7.758 elapsed times, with the .034 to .084 reaction time advantage turned in by Robbins the deciding factor.
Huber rode yet another free pass into the final, leaving Baio and Robbins to fight it out for the opportunity to knock off the champ in the final, and gain valuable points in the process. Robbins left the line first, but Baio reeled him in and went on to the win, 7.746, 177.30 to 7.856, 158.84. Plans for breaking out another bottle of victory “Dom” were put on hold by the Baio team, however, when their beautiful '69 Camaro pushed out a head gasket just past half track, and began to slide in the water that spilled on the racing surface. The car shot across the track and struck the concrete wall on the far side. Baio was unhurt, but the car suffered some crunched sheet metal and other cosmetic damage. As a result of the win, Huber now has 193 points, with Baio second at 159 and Lursky third at 153. Goodyear Limited Street is one of the classes in NSCA competition where the championship is still up for grabs. Coming into MIR, Floridian Frank Mewshaw was leading the points, but defending champion Phil Hines was within striking distance, as was “Mustang Mike” Modeste.
After Saturday's three qualifying sessions, Hines emerged as the No. 1 qualifier with a mark of 8.121, 168.56 behind the wheel of his high-flying '86 Mustang, followed by Modeste, Donny Hastings, Mewshaw, Ed Anderson and Eric Cary. As fate would have it, Hines, Mewshaw and Modeste all survived the first round of eliminations on Sunday, setting up a three-way battle among the contenders for the class crown. In the semifinals, Hines took a bye run into the final while the '93 Mustang driven by Modeste moved on after Mewshaw's '84 Camaro broke.
The all-Mustang final proved to be an impressive drag race, with just .003-seconds separating the two cars at the hit, the advantage going to Modeste. Hines gathered him in, however, and legged out the win, 8.085, 170.90 to 8.183, 177.21. Heading into Stanton , Michigan , the top three in points are: Mewshaw, 188, Hines, 176 and Modeste, 158. Another hard-fought class this season has been Competition Engineering Hot Street , and race No. 6 in Budds Creek proved to be more of the same. Going in, class newcomer Larry Perkins was leading in the points chase over former champion Rick Moroso and defending title holder Tim Davis. It appeared that Perkins was headed for another big weekend in Maryland as he put his showy '66 Chevy Nova on the pole with a best-of-three pass of 8.895, 152.21. He was followed by Davis, Moroso and “Big Ed” Dobias. The whole complexion of the 2004 points chase changed during Sunday's first round of eliminations, however, as Dobias drove his '79 Camaro to an upset over Perkins, 8.985, 148.92 to 9.006, 149.20, and Davis took out Moroso's '61 Corvette, 8.880, 151.54 to 8.910, 149.02.
The final proved to be an anti-climatic affair as Dobias jumped the light, and Davis cruised to the winner's circle unopposed, laying down a pass of 8.958, 150.05 behind the wheel of his '93 Dodge in the process. As a result, the top three in the points are Perkins, 194, Moroso, 168 and Davis, 116. Perhaps the tightest race of the year for a title is in BES Real Street , where just five points separate the top three competitors with just two events to go. With eight heavy-hitters on hand at MIR for the Budds Creek Nationals, the action promised to be exciting all weekend long, and it didn't fail to satisfy. Making the situation even more interesting was the fact that points leader Jamie Stanton was missing from the roster in Maryland , so the competition knew the time was right to make up some points on the defending champion. Bruce Maichle took his classic '79 Trans Am to the top of the qualifying sheet on Saturday with a best effort of 8.853, 152.76. He was followed by Bobby Shahan, Frank Lupi, John Langer, Ron Rhodes, Larry Rhodes, Sai Arena and Eric Ercole. Ron Rhodes, Shahan, Maichle and Lupi all survived the first round of eliminations on Sunday, setting up a great round of semifinal action. In the first match-up, Maichle took out the '68 Camaro of Rhodes, 8.848, 155.90 to 10.033, 108.06, while Lupi paced his '87 Pontiac to a win over Shahan's '69 AMX, 9.185, 149.15 to 9.336, 146.83. In the final, Maichle overcame a .019-second starting line deficit to claim the victory over Lupi, 8.887, 154.97 to 9.203, 149.15. As a result, Maichle now leads the points with 167, Shahan is second with 164 and Stanton is third with 162.
BFGoodrich Drag Radial Eliminator has seen some awesome performances so far this season, and at the Budds Creek Nationals the bar was raised yet again. The man garnering much of the attention in 2004 is Jim Filipowski, who came out in the middle of the season with a new turbocharged small block '93 Camaro and immediately began to blow away the record book. At MIR, “Powski” was on his game once again, leading qualifying on Saturday with a best pass of 8.282, 177.25. He was followed by Jimmy Byrne, Chris Singleton, Michael Fratena, John Balinsky, Steve Thompson, James Kursay, David Whitmore and Kevin Ashley. On Sunday, Filipowski took the bye run into the second round, clicking off an awesome speed of 181.32 in the process. In the meantime, Thompson, Fratena, Singleton and Byrne all moved on the hard way, by taking out their respective opponents. In the next round, Singleton earned the bye, Filipowski took out Thompson and Byrne outlasted Fratena. There was yet another bye run in the semifinals, with Byrne taking the free pass this time around. In other action, Singleton took advantage of a dozing Filipowski, taking a monster .008 to .226 leave at the tree and holding on for the win, 8.473, 165.78 to 8.522, 175.25, setting up a big showdown with Byrne. The final was a classic Ford versus Chevy affair, with Byrne's '90 Mustang taking the win over Singleton's '72 Nova, 8.549, 166.15 to 9.520, 154.00. When the smoke cleared, Filipowski had set the class elapsed time record at 8.269 and the top speed mark at 178.90, while the top three points earners were Singleton, 179, Fratena, 168 and Byrne, 139. Mr. Gasket Nostalgia Super Stock traditionally sees the largest fields at any NSCA event, and such was the case at the Budds Creek Nationals, where some of the very best cars representing the golden age of drag racing were on hand to try and take Scotty Giles' championship crown. Qualifying for the index-based class was led by William Murphy V, who wheeled his family-owned A/NSS '64 Plymouth to the top spot when he ran 10.02 on his 10.00 index. He was followed by defending champion Giles, Joe Cochran, Denny Ford, Stephanie DiMino, Brian Merrick, John DiMino, Bill White, Gary Richmond, Ed Youmans and Frank Pellegrini. Murphy had the bye run in the first round, with White, Stephanie DiMino, John Dimino, Richmond and Merrick moving on to the quarterfinals. In a rare brother versus sister heads-up match, Stephanie DiMino posted a mark of 9.581, 142.22 on the 9.50 A/FX index, while brother John ran a 9.436 in a losing effort. In other action, Murphy left too soon, handing the win to Richmond , while Merrick ran 10.494 on the 10.50 B/NSS index to take the win over White, who ran 9.744 on his 9.75 AA/NSS index. In the semifinals, Stephanie DiMino took the bye run into the final, while Richmond prevailed over Merrick in a B/NSS battle, 10.537, 188.06 to 10.544, 125.68 on the 10.50 index. The final was a great one, with Richmond , the winner of the previous event in Ohio up against the “princess of Horsepower,” 21-year-old DiMino, who won the season opener in Louisiana . DiMino put her colorful '66 Impala in the winner's circle for the second time in 2004 as she clicked off a crisp 9.505, 128.13 on the A/FX index of 9.50, while Richmond ran under the 10.50 B/NSS index with a time of 10.477. With just two events left to go, Stephanie DiMino leads the points with 185, followed by Joe Cochran with 174 and Richmond , who has 162. Another very popular category in NSCA competition is Ramchargers American Muscle, a class that features fast factory-style muscle cars in index-based action. Qualifying for Sunday's elimination rounds was led by the rare and beautiful '70 Plymouth Superbird of Cliff Sebring, who led the way with a mark of 12.512, 105.30 on his K/AM index of 12.50. Following him were Frank Bruce, Keefe Johnson, Rick Bess, Mark Walter, Bruce Wilson, Larry Santucci, Jr., Charles Cowan, Jr., Leo Brisbane and Robert Flippin. Wilson, Johnson, Bruce, Walter and Bess all moved on to the second round, where Wilson then advanced to the semifinals, thanks to a bye run. Among those having to fight their way into the semis, Johnson took out points leader Walter, who jumped the start and left a red light glowing in his wake. In the other duel, Bess advanced by virtue of a win over Bruce. This time around Bess had the free pass into the final, while local standout Johnson dispatched Wilson to go to the big dance. Late Sunday afternoon Bess lined his A/AM '79 Ford Fairmont up beside the P/AM '67 Plymouth GTX wheeled by Johnson for all the marbles, but it was all over at the tree, as Johnson left .030-seconds too early, and Bess cruised through for the win with a mark of 10.170 on the A/AM index of 10.00.
After MIR, the top three in points are Mark Walter, 182, defending champion Mike Davis, 116 and Ken Weilbrenner, 111. Comp/FA.S.T. EFI Eliminator has been dominated by second-generation drag racer Todd Merkel for the last several seasons, and with a good showing in Maryland he was looking to lock up his third straight class title. Qualifying for the third of the NSCA's index classes went right according to the script, with Merkel's yellow-for-2004 '91 Trans Am leading the way with a rock-solid 9.503 on his 9.50 B/EFI index. He was followed by Jenni Merrick, Tom Guellich, Jamie Biggs, Jesse Lambert, John King and Scott Ercole. One of the exciting aspects of EFI competition in NSCA is the Finish Line Performance EFI Eliminator Quick 8 program, where the cars qualify for the special race-within-a-race during the three rounds of qualifying during the day on Saturday, and then fight it out in heads-up elimination action on Saturday night. Merkel has won every one of the Quick 8 events since they began last season, and he kept his record intact with another victory at MIR. On Sunday, Merkel earned a first round bye and Biggs, Ercole and Guellich all advanced to the semifinals. Merkel went on to take out Biggs, 9.515, 129.19 on an index of 9.50 to 13.225 on a 13.00. In the other pairing, Ercole's 13.543, 103.52 on a 13.50 went for naught when opponent Guellich left .023-seconds too early. In the final, it was an all-Trans Am battle, with the '91 of Merkel prevailing over the '92 version wheeled by Ercole, 9.505, 131.47 to 13.50, 100.53. with the win, Merkel's points lead increased to 187, with John King second at 99 and Roxanne Shepard third with 77. Factory Modified Sportsman wasn't run at Budds Creek, but the top three in points are Mike Pustelny, 105, Ronnie Courtney, 67 and Steve Switzer, 63. In addition, the fight for the Moroso Grand Champion title is as close as it can get, with Kenny Bennett leading with 30, followed by Todd Merkel and Jim Huber, who are tied for second with 24 points each, and Frank Mewshaw and Bruce Miachle, who are tied for third with 22 points each.
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