Keep up with this weekend's Shakedown at E'town by reading our event notebook. We bring you the stories behind the numbers and win-lights throughout the course of the weekend. Tune in daily for the latest news from the pits.

 

		EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK EVENT AUDIOCAST			SATURDAY GALLERY SUNDAY GALLERY

SUNDAY FINAL - SHAKEDOWN DRAMA CONTINUES WITH SEVENTH EDITION
 
The hallmark of promoter-racer Dave Hance's Shakedown at E-Town, Northeast drag racing's doorslammer showcase, is outlandish drama.
 
And this "Al-Anabi Racing Shakedown at E-Town 7 powered by New York Motorsports" remained true to event history.
 
Racers tried to outrun Old Bridge Township Raceway Park's 7:30 noise curfew as much as each other Sunday. And a vicious-looking wreck by Outlaw Heavy Street winner Mitch George in the final round -- one in which his opponent nearly crashed and was disqualified --  only heightened the frenzy.
 
The event ended on time with Jim Halsey repeating his Pro Mod Nitrous title and the event crowning five other first-time winners: Tony Pontieri (Pro Outlaw Blown), Mike Janis (Outlaw 1/8-Mile Challenge), Tommy Deez Fernick (Outlaw 10.5), Dwayne "Big Daddy" Gutridge (Drag Radial), and Gary Romonoyske (Outlaw 8.5 Index).
 
Hance kept calm amid the spate of accidents, reasoning, "If something does happen to you, let it be at Englishtown. There's more support, more safety equipment. They're on it. They're on it. That's why we tech these cars pretty tough at Englishtown. We want to make sure you have your safety stuff. It could save your life."
 
Hance wasn't spared the disappointment of having his '93 Mustang -- the one that blew away the competition at Orlando the week before -- break just before the final and being forced to forfeit his chance at winning the event he created and shaped. It was his best chance in awhile, too, after wrecking here twice before.
 
But his "What more can you ask for?" line said it all.
 
This is Englishtown, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park , a stage for historic numbers and a number of hysterics in this quickly developing classic.
 
 
Tony Pontieri said he plans to campaign in the National Hot Rod Association in 2010. And he delivered an impressive calling card Sunday from Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
 
The Canadian veteran from Bolton, Ontario, won the Lend America Pro Mod Blown class and picked up $20,000 with a solo pass of 5.914 seconds at 246.26 mph. Final-round opponent Kevin McCurdy's beautiful purple and silver entry broke and was pushed to the side before staging.
 
McCurdy, of Hamburg, Pa., received $2,000 as runner-up.
 
Pontieri, who led the 16-car field with a 5.906-second, 245.14-mph showing, said of his Quality Plus '69 Camaro, "This car was like a bracket car all weekend. It was in the 5.90s all weekend."
 
He'll have a warm feeling during those long, frigid Ontario nights, he said.
 
"All year we've been struggling with this car, and what a way to go through the winter. So the team's got something to work on," Pontieri, a first-time Shakedown winner, said. "Next year we're going to run NHRA, and hopefully we can play with those boys. I don't think we have a problem with that."
 
Pontieri reached the final round, despite a mental lapse on his part. He didn't do a burnout, because, he said, he forgot to put the car in gear. It didn’t matter, as his semifinal opponent, Larry Plummer, red-lit and was disqualified.
 
Just the same, Pontieri ripped off an elapsed time of 5.895 seconds in that freebie to earn the class' low E.T. of the race.   

 
In Jim Halsey's case, a No. 2 rating for Old Bridge Township Raceway Park was about the highest honor he could bestow after his repeat victory in the Speedtech Pro Mod Nitrous class.
 
The owner of Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Md., Halsey said after easily beating Gary Courtier in the final for a $20,000 payoff, "I'd like to say this place is my favorite track, but I own one. So this is my second-favorite track. You got a killer race track here today," he said.
 
With his final-round blast of 5.869 second at 243.99 mph in his '68 Camaro that cemented low elapsed time and top speed of the meet in his class, Halsey said, "I'm glad we could put on a show for everybody here."
 
It appeared Saturday that Halsey would be in no position to put on a dazzling show for the fans this time around. It looked as if he had no real mojo left from his 2008 performance, when his record-breaking display made him the first Pro Outlaw Nitrous driver to make a five-second pass.
 
He wasn't even close to swiping the top qualifying position like did last year. He yielded the distinction to Steve Cossis, of Astoria, N.Y., who accepted the chance with a 6.232-second elapsed time and 225.60-mph speed.
 
But Halsey is a veteran and he found that mojo somewhere between Saturday night, when he was dead-last among the 15 Pro Mod Nitrous entrants, and Sunday morning, when he began his consistent march to the title.
 
Halsey, of Havre de Grace, Md., said, "I could get used to this winning stuff. It's a lot of fun.  My crew, Gene Fulton, who builds all the horsepower here, drove all the way from Spartanburg, South Carolina, to be with us today. And all the hard work paid off."
 
Gary Courtier, of Shirley, N.Y., reached the final without having to face a single opponent. He earned $2,000 for his runner-up finish.
 
First-round action in this class was lengthy because of John Bartunek's horrifyingly sensational accident that left him uninjured and Jeff Rodgers' starting-line explosion in "The Executioner" that was one of the most violent mishaps of the day.

 
Mike Janis certainly is glad he changed his plans for this past weekend and decided to compete in the new Barwa 1/8-Mile Challenge. It added $20,000 to his bank account, as sailed to the final-round victory over disabled Dwayne Wolfe.
 
"We hadn't even planned on coming, because the weather didn't look so good," Janis said. "After the season we had -- we had some ups and downs -- now to end the season like this . . . it's great to be here."
 
He was No. 1 qualifier with a 3.926-second, 192.85-mph performance and had his Jan-Cen Racing '68 Firebird hooked up all weekend. But he was fortunate that Wolfe, of Moorefield, WVa., was unable to overcome the transmission trouble he experienced with his Pontiac at the end of his semifinal victory over Mike Stawicki in a battle between the Nos. 2 and 3 qualifiers.
 
Wolfe's problems continued in the final, as he tried desperately to get his car to fire on the back-up from the burnout. He was able to back up but knew it was not in shape to give Janis a challenge. As if that weren't aggravating enough for Wolfe, Janis' '68 Firebird lost traction and Janis simply coasted to an 8.195-second, 64.58-mph victory.
 
"I smoked the tires, but I'll take it any way I can get it," Janis said. "I wish we had had a good run with Dwayne."
 
It was an $18,000 misfortune for Wolfe, who earned $2,000.

Stawicki turned in top speed during qualifying at 200.32 mph.

 
Anyone who might have been tempted to dismiss the Mickey Thompson Tires Outlaw 10.5 class because he thought it would be a yawner, another Tim Lynch-Chuck Ulsch duel in the final round, missed out on some crazy racing Sunday.
 
Lynch did reprise his role from so many previous Shakedowns as the No. 1 qualifier and did it with theatrical flair in his twin-turbo Mustang, recording a 6.400-second E.T. that no one touched for the rest of the weekend. And Ulsch complemented that with his top-for-qualifying speed of 227.38 mph. (Canadian Jerry Mitrovich highlighted his first Shakedown appearance by taking the meet's top-speed honor at 227.42 mph in his Mustang.)
 
But neither Lynch nor Ulsch was around by the final round.
 
Lynch exited in the semifinals, unable to make a pass against eventual winner Tommy Deez Fernick, the Philadelphia flash who pocketed the $10,000 jackpot.
 
And Rob Golobo surprised Ulsch, eliminating him in the first round. Actually, Golobo surprised probably even himself, just by being in contention at all. He failed to qualify -- was 20th in the order Saturday -- but entered Sunday's action as an alternate and ended the weekend as runner-up and recipient of $2,000.


Both Canadian John Carinci and local driver Mitch George were safe after their bizarre and scary final round in the K&K / Advanced Door Technology Heavy Street class. And it continued a dubious Shakedown tradition of using up every second before the noise curfew takes effect.
 
Carinci, in the left lane, wrestled with his '70 'Cuda by midtrack. However, it drifted too far to the left and touched or crossed a white boundary line just inside the guardwall for an automatic disqualification.
 
George's Monte Carlo then got out of shape near the top end because of fluid on his tires, and the car barrel-rolled into the left lane, frighteningly close to Carinci's car. But officials determined that George crossed the center line after traveling past the finish line. He was declared the winner, because Carinci committed his infraction first (triggering the so-called "first is worse" rule).    
 
George said the car, which belongs to Jon Boer, is fixable. But he took no real joy in accepting the $5,000 winner's check. Instead, he offered apologies and expressed his gratitude and relief.
 
"I feel bad what happened. I want to thank the Lord for letting me walk away from it," George said.
 
The Hoptacong, N.J., resident who was one of the original eight Shakedown competitors, paid tribute to the late Leo Barnaby, the fabricator and fellow Raceway Park regular who installed the safety equipment in this particular ride. "I want to thank Leo Barnaby to build a car like that, where I can just get out and walk away from it. I want to thank the Raceway Park paramedics. They checked me out. Everything is fine. I just want to apologize to Jack Boer for basically destroying his car."   
 
Carinci took $2,000 home to Woodbridge, Ont., after clocking a 7.444-second E.T. (He received no speed.)
 
Gary Naughton's  6.806-second E.T. and 212.79-mph speed that earned him the No. 1 qualifying position held up as best of the meet.   
 

 
As Shakedown founder and promoter, Dave Hance was shredded in more different directions than most people can fathom or appreciate. The upheaval included first a three-week delay because of the weather. Then he learned that several headliner cars would be absent because they were taken to Qatar for the start of the season there.  Once he had a respectable car count that approached 200 entries,  he had to deal with a rash of ugly accidents.  Joe Newsham's came during qualifying and several more -- along with massive clean-ups -- happened during eliminations.

Add to that his concerns about his own '93 Mustang as he competed in the Pro Torque Converters Drag Radial class.
 
Yet Hance looked like a cool customer throughout the weekend, qualifying No. 1 (with a 7.103-second E.T. and 217.88-mph speed) and blazing through the field Sunday, sharing the class time record with Alex Vrettos and rewriting the speed mark.
 
He looked like a shoo-in to grab the $5,000 winner's payout at his own event. Instead, he pocketed $2,000 as runner-up to Dwayne "Big Daddy" Gutridge of nearby Toms River, N.J.
 
Hance and Vrettos, the No. 3 qualifier, matched history-making low E.T.s with 6.983 en route to the final. Vrettos ran his barrier-breaking number first, with a 212.73-mph speed, but Hance followed with a faster 214.04 clocking. However, the run cost him $3,000, for something in his Mustang broke. The crew, who had helped him win at Orlando the previous weekend and prepped the car for the consistent 6.8s and 6.9s he cranked out round after round here, was unable to fix the problem for the final.
 
Hance stood at the starting line, clapping for Gutridge, who, incidentally, was one of the "Magnificent Seven" drivers who joined him at the first Shakedown in 2003. He might have been groaning when he saw Gutridge's '89 Mustang roll to a 12.598-second pass at 92.46.
 
Just the same, Hance called this "a dream weekend," proving that he is the ultimate optimist. He simply calls it passion. "When I'm working on Shakedown stuff and I'm typing at my computer," Hance said, "my wife will come over and ask why in the world I'm banging so violently on the keyboard. I just get excited about the Shakedown."        
 
He had plenty to excite him in the seventh edition of the event, even if he did everything but land in the winners circle.

 
Mark Bowen looked like he might dominate in the Western Beef 8.50 Index class, taking the early lead in time trials and leading the field with an 8.504-second, 154.40-mph blast in his '72 Nova. But he bowed out in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Harry Gerb, the No. 21 qualifier.
 
Taking home the $5,000 winner's loot was No. 4 qualifier Gary Romonoyske, of Middle Island, N.Y.
 
And the first-time champion hardly could believe it was happening. "I never thought I'd be in the Shakedown finals after here for so long," Gary Romonoyske said. "The Shakedown? Me? No. But here I am."
 
Tommy Romeo qualified No. 17 but had the fastest speed of the event with a 170.95-mph effort.

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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

ULSCH KNOCKED OUT IN ROUND 1 -- Rob Golobo broke the cycle of the almost-perennial Tim Lynch-Chuck Ulsch final-round showdowns here. Golobo, entering eliminations as an alternate, used a 6.710-second, 205.82-mph pass in his '02 Chevy that was uncooperative all day Saturday during time trials to outrun Ulsch in their opening-round match-up. Golobo, no stranger to these big-time races and to the winners circle but just having a frustrating start to his weekend, said afterward, "We're just happy to make a pass." Ulsch, who one week before had won the World Street Nationals in defeating Lynch, gave Golobo a thrilling side-by-side race, clocking 6.785 / 194.27.
 
MAJOR ACCIDENT -- No. 5 starter Paul Major halted action in the first round of Drag Radial runoffs, getting sideways while running against Karri Anne Beebe and crashing hard into the right wall. He was not hurt.
 
MORE HISTORY FOR RACEWAY PARK -- In his first-round appearance, No. 3 qualifier Alex Vrettos became the first Drag Radial driver to dip into the 6.8-second range. The Springfield, N.J., resident posted a 6.894-second elapsed time at 213.06 mph in his Ford Cobra. His time was three-tenths of a second quicker than Dave Hance's field-leading 7.103-second E.T.

QUICK BUT WILD -- In his wild first-round Pro Mod Nitrous pass, John Bartunek posted a 6.123-second elapsed time that trumped Steve Cossis' No. 1 qualifying time of 6.232 but ended on fire against the guardrail. Like opponent Joe Dunne, he experienced tire shake but stayed with it and hung on for the incredible E.T. But something flung his '68 Camaro to the left and into the wall. It went airborne and flipped, then slammed to the pavement. Bartunek, of Pearl River, N.Y., was unhurt -- just angry when he climbed from his car. "It was a nice, clean run. It was pretty much business as usual," Bartunkek said after he collected his thoughts. "Maybe one of our 'chutes got under the wheelie bar." After that, he said, it was "just smoke and fire. You just hang on and hope it stops soon," Bartunik said, "But Jerry Haas builds an awesome car. We'll be back."

ON THE MEND -- Joe Newsham, hospitalized since his Saturday crash with a fractured vertebra and injured feet he referred to as "ground up," said he was trying Sunday morning to get doctors to release him from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital so he could return to the racetrack and watch eliminations. In a phone interview from the New Brunswick hospital, Newsham, 40, said he was dragging around "a lot of sore muscles" as doctors were "making me try to walk softly." He said the lower-back injury was "just a compression fracture" and would not require surgery. The Sicklerville, N.J., driver who won the Outlaw 10.5 Shakedown trophy last year, said, "I want to thank Eddie (Krawiec, Racewy Park dragstrip manager). He and his guys did a great job of helping me. The car was on fire when they got to me, but they did a great job."
 
EXECUTIONER EXPLODES --


 
A BIT BAD FOR BITGOOD -- The first-round crashing went on when the Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 cars took to the track. Rodney Bitgood, of Cromwell, Conn., scraped his '92 Chevy all down the right guardwall, his parachutes helping him grind to a stop. He was unhurt. That meant an even bigger opportunity for Steve Gorman, the driver in the left lane. Gorman missed the field by four-hundredths of a second but as No. 17 qualifier, he jumped into the field to replace No. 4 Brad Brand, who wrecked and was unable to repair the damage to his Mustang. With Bitgood's mishap, Gorman advanced to the quarterfinals, after thinking he might have to go home to Marlton, N.J., empty-handed.

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

LEND AMERICA PRO MOD BLOWN
 
BIG-TIME AMBUSH -- Call it an ambush. Canadian veteran Pro Mod driver Tony Pontieri, who didn't make a pass in the opening qualifying session in the Pro Mod Blown class, rocked Mike Moran out of his tentative No. 1 spot Saturday night. He used a 5.906-second elapsed time and 245.14-mph speed to establish both performance standards. However, that effort was much slower than Scott Cannon's 5.738 / 252.71 that topped the charts last year in this category. Cannon elected to return to The Shakedown but is competing in the new Outlaw 1/8-Mile Challenge class -- and struggling, qualifying sixth on the list of seven. Pontieri is on a bit of a roll, recently finishing as runner-up to fellow Canadian Kenny Lang late last month in the International Hot Rod Association's Mickey Thompson Ten Grand Slam at Rockingham, N.C.  Also in the second session, Barney Squires, of Locust Grove, Va., went from out of the field at No. 22 to No. 2 with a 5.977-second E.T. He and Pontieri were the only two racers in the 5.9 range.    
 
FROM HERO TO ZERO -- Coby Rabon understands, certainly, that a driver can't qualify No. 1, set records, and win every race. But he was starting to wonder why he sat out of drag racing for two year, if each experience could be like the one he has last week at the World Street Nationals. He was the class of the field there. But what a difference a week makes. Rabon and his sizzling-hot Mustang suddenly turned cold Saturday, and the Ridgeway, S.C., resident missed the cut, lining up 20th among 23 drivers vying for 16 spots.  
 
SPEEDTECH PRO MOD NITROUS
 
COSSIS QUICKEST -- Steve Cossis' 6.232-second run in his '67 Camaro in the opening session held up for No. 1 qualifying honors in the Pro Mod Nitrous class, although Matt Dietsch came along in the second session and registered a 225.60-mph speed that is best in the class so far. Dietsch will start from the No. 2 spot Sunday. Cossis has a first-round bye, and Dietsch has to face none oher than last year's winner, Jim Halsey, who qualified an uncharacteristic 15th.

THANKS, FELLAS -- Poor Jim Halsey -- what an unfortunate time to acquire a new nickname. He was the sensation of last year's Shakedown because he became the first Pro Outlaw driver to record a five-second pass and won the race by ripping off several 5.95-second elapsed times en route to the victory. So public-address announcers Al Tucci and Brian Olson took to calling him "Ballsy Halsey" Saturday. The canonization couldn't have come at a more embarrassing time for the veteran racer and track owner from Havre de Grace, Maryland. He was 12th out of 13 competitors in the first session and in the end wound up dead last among 15, unable to weave any magic this time with his '68 Camaro.
 
WESTERN BEEF 8.50 INDEX
 



K&K ADVANCED DOOR CAR TECHNOLOGY HEAVY STREET
 
BACK ON TOP -- Call Gary Naughton the Comeback Kid. With his prestigious Heavy Street victory last Sunday at Orlando in business partner Kenny Doak's '67 Camaro, it seems odd to think that Naughton would need to "come back" from anything. But he found himself 17th in the order after the first qualifying session of Heavy Street -- the class his Advanced Door Car Technology sponsors here. However, with the only six-second elapsed time among the 35 competitors, a 6.806-second run at 212.79 mph, Naughton catapulted to the No. 1 spot in the second session. And he did it to edge Sam Gottier, the driver he defeated last Sunday in the World Street Nationals.
 
TOO/TWO BAD -- Peter Esposito, of West Islip, N.Y., and Sean Rosa, of Norwalk, Conn., were the two drivers who didn't make the 32-car grid.
 

PRO TORQUE DRAG RADIAL


 
'REGRETTOS' FOR VRETTOS -- Alex Vrettos, trying to improve from his No. 2 position in the second session, timed out. That cost him a spot, as Dave Hinzman made the most of his improvement from a 7.376-second elapsed time to a 7.112. Hinzman, who had been No. 3, traded places with Vrettos.
 
MAJOR IMPROVEMENT -- Paul Major, who struggled a bit at Orlando last weekend, gave himself a better chance for Sunday, moving from ninth to fifth.
 
BIG DADDY, BIG CONCERNS -- Dwayne "Big Daddy" Gutridge might be one of the original Shakedown participants, as well as the 2006 Radial Tire winner. But he said he seems to have nothing but trouble here. So his No. 11 and final showing in qualifying didn't surprise him. He said he's ready to spend much of the cold November night working to meet his longtime racing buddy, No. 1 Dave Hance, in the opening round. His transmission broke in the final qualifying session, and he said he'll be drinking plenty of "Red Bull, coffee, whatever. I was up last night. Every time I come to The Shakedown, I have to stay up late. I'm getting used to it. I felt like it was on a (stellar) pass that time. I was trying to run 6.97. But it blew the tranny when it hit high gear."
 
 
BARWA OUTLAW 1/8-MILE CHALLENGE
 
JANIS REIGNS --

<b>Mike Janis, the two-time International Hot Rod Association champion and 20-time winner, has moved over to ADRL Pro Extreme competition. So he has gotten used to eighth-mile courses. In Saturday's first qualifying session, he topped the Outlaw 1/8-Mile Challenge list as the class' only driver to post a sub-four-second pass. He pulled a 3.926-second elapsed time and 192.85-mph speed from his '68 Firebird. That held up as the low E.T., although fellow New Yorker Mike Stawicki, in his own '68 Firebird, broke the four-second barrier, a mere four-thousandths of a second off Janis' pace (3.930). The class picked up a driver from the first to second session, Delaware driver Chris Malec.</b>
     

MICKEY THOMPSON OUTLAW 10.5
 
NEWSHAM CRASHES --  "Jersey Joe" Newsham's hope of repeating his Outlaw 10.5 victory ended early Saturday in frightening fashion. The Sicklervile, N.J., driver carried the wheels of his '07 Cobra past the eighth-mile mark in the right lane. When the front wheels sat down, he appeared to steer it to the left to avoid the wall. But the car made a hard left, crossed the center line, flipped, hit the wall upside down and caught fire. It then righted itself and ricocheted back across the track and hit the right wall head-on. Newsham, amazingly, got out of the car on his own and was walking around at the scene. As a precaution, he was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for evaluation. Fellow competitors raced to the scene and helped to free Newsham from his seat and to put out the fire.
 
DUEL CONTINUES -- In the Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 class, the usual suspects zipped to the top of the order in the opening qualifying session. And, to no one's surprise, that's where they stayed.
 
Tim Lynch, ready to show that his '02 twin-turbo Mustang was better than it showed in the final round against Chuck Ulsch at last weekend's World Street Nationals at Orlando. Ulsch won that one. But Lynch had the upper hand this time with a 6.400-second blast at 224.06 mph that left in the dust his own 6.543-second elapsed time at 218.34 mph that earned him the No. 1 spot here last year.
 
Lynch is going for the low-qualifier honor at this event for the fifth consecutive time.
 
Ulsch, continuing the excitement from his Orlando triumph with a long, smoky burnout that public-address announcer Al Tucci called "a rooster tail of fun," raced to the No. 2 position. Taking advantage of the cool November air, his '02 Camaro ran a 6.415-second E.T. and swiped top speed from Lynch with a 224.40 mph.
 
"Damn!" was Ulsch's first word when he unstrapped and took off his helmet. "We got plenty left," he vowed. "We just wanted a baseline. This air is awesome."
 
Lynch and Ulsch squared off in the 2007 Shakedown final round, with Lynch winning.
 
AN EYELASH SHORT -- At least 16 other Outlaw 10.5 racers this weekend would love to have a 6.418-second E.T. in hand, along with a 227.38-mph speed that's tops of the meet so far. But Chuck Ulsch said he was disappointed with it. After all, he had run a 6.415 in the first session of the day, and that wasn't enough to stop Tim Lynch from taking the No. 1 spot once again. "Never happy," the traditionally quiet Ulsch said. "We'll go back at it tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the first round."
 
BRUTAL FOR BRAND -- Brad Brand, like NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car drivers Marty Nothstein and Alexis De Joria during the June SuperNationals, found out that the new top-end catch-netting is plenty sturdy to hold a runaway car. Brand went through the sand trap and into the fence as the final Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 driver making a run in the night qualifying session. Brand, uninjured, refused medical treatment and exited the car on his own. Although it appeared doubtful that Brand would have his twin-turbo '92 Ford Mustang repaired before eliminations Sunday, the bright spot was that he picked up almost three-tenths of a second from his morning run. He improved from a 6.813-second elapsed time to a 6.547 that was quickest in the second session. However, it still was outstanding only enough to put him in fourth place, behind Tim Lynch, Chuck Ulsch, and Jerry Mitrovic. Brand is owner of Atlanta Chassis Dyno.        
 
GOLOBO A NO-GO -- Michigan street-legal veteran Rob Golobo, who didn't get his car prepped in time to make a run in the early session, experienced some kind of mechanical problem and his crew had to push his car off the starting line in the evening session.  Joining him in failing to qualify were Steve Gorman (Marlton, N.J.), David Laurer (Batavia, N.Y.), and Mark Ingle (Cumberland, Va.)
 
MISCELLANEOUS

SHH--AAAAA---KKKK---EEEEEEEEE

The cool November temperatures caused more than a handful of tire shake experiences.

SPECIAL SPECTATOR -- Vinny Budano, the 2006 Shakedown No. 1 qualifier and Pro Outlaw runner-up, is a spectator this time around for one obvious reason: he doesn't have a race car. He sold his to a driver from France, which boasts a single dragstrip. The gentleman who bought Budano's rocket, who is observing the Shakdown this weekend, will campaign it in England and throughout Scandinavia. Meanwhile, Tim McAmis is building Budano a new Camaro.
 
NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL -- Because a winter storm forced promoter Dave Hance to postpone this Shakedown for three weeks, he wasn't at all sure what to expect with the car count or the weather. But the reset date turned out to the a blessing. While the temperatures were a bit uncomfortable for the crowd to take in big doses, they provided ideal conditions for big numbers. Moreover, the car count didn't suffer. Hance said 135 cars had gone through tech inspection by Friday night. "We were hoping for 150 overall," Hance said, knowing that the schedule change would cost a few cars. But with a few teams still undergoing the tech process, the car count already had topped 190 by 1 p.m. Saturday.     
 
THE PLAN -- Event architect Dave Hance and Raceway Park co-owner David Napp said they had hoped to get in three qualifying sessions, depending on the temperatures and the dew point. However, officials decided at about 3 p.m. that in the interest of safety, each class would make only two qualifying passes. The thermometer stabilized in the mid-50-degree range throughout the sunny afternoon.
 
FOR THE LOVE OF LEO -- On the block for a 4 p.m. Sunday raffle drawing is the red Corvette of the late Leo Barnaby, the veteran fabricator and racer who called Old Bridge Township Raceway Park his home track. Proceeds go to the college fund for Barnaby's daughter, Jenna. Leo Barnaby -- fabricator, owner of Neverlift Racecraft, and racer in the Top Street, Ultra Quick 8 and Outlaw 10.5 arenas -- passed away in October 2008. He was No. 1 qualifier at the inaugural Shakedown in 2003, when it was just a Quick-8-style runoff. The car is a turnkey, ready-to-race Corvette with approximately 60 runs on it. Close pal Dave Hance organized the raffle. Tickets, limited to 1,000, are $100 each.


 

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