2012 STREET CAR SUPERNATS - RESULTS
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SUNDAY FINALS - COUGHLIN, MURILLO HEADLINE EVENT WINNERS
The talk all weekend at Street Car Super Nationals VIII at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was quicker versus faster. Dominican Republic native and 2011 event winner Jose “El General” Gonzalez had broken the doorslammer ET record twice, finishing with a 5.730-second lap on Saturday. Detroit’s Don Walsh Jr., was fast, running in the 261 mph range all weekend. Fans were salivating at the thought of the two finally meeting in the Pro Street finals of the Pacific Street Car Association’s marquee event.
And sitting quietly in the background was 2012 NHRA Pro Mod champion Troy Coughlin.
Coughlin and his JEGS.com Corvette was both quick and fast, but as the racer who qualified third, he was expected to be fodder for one of the two aforementioned drivers. But Walsh went out in the second round and last year’s runner-up Mike Maggio was sent packing in the first round early Sunday morning. Both Coughlin and Gonzalez tore through the ladder, Coughlin running low 80s, El General running mid 70s. So it was no surprise that the two met in the finals to decide the Pro Street title.
Gonzalez, unfortunately, was standing behind Coughlin’s car after breaking a rod on his hot rod in the semi-final round as the yellow and black ‘Vette made a solo pass down the strip for the win.
“We made a lot of good runs this weekend and consistency paid off,” Coughlin said after the event. “They had an issue with Jose’s car when the finished the (semi-final) round and he said he didn’t think he could get it done. We talked for a little bit and he said he just didn’t think he could get it fixed. Definitely glad for our guys. What a deal. What a season!”
Coughlin was impressed that Gonzalez came out to watch the final pass of the night that would put Coughlin in the same Winner’s Circle Gonzalez himself had stood in one year ago. “It was pretty awesome,” Coughlin said. “He’s a really good dude and he’s become a great friend. I’m looking forward to cruising down to the Dominican Republic to go fishing with those guys. It’s going to be a good time!”
“I can’t say enough the respect I have for Jose,” said PSCA President Mel Roth. “It had to be eating him up to have the car he did all week and make it to the finals and not be able to run. For him to come out and watch Troy’s run and be there to congratulate the JEG’s crew, that is the sign of a champion.”
In Outlaw 10.5, No. 2 qualifier Mike Murillo took the victory over Richard Klann, who had made it to the final from the 12th spot after beating pole winner Doug Sikora. In Extreme Drag Radial, it was Eric Dillard taking the victory over Dave Bowman. The top qualifier for the class, 84-year-old Willard Kinzer, was on a string all weekend and was expected by many to take the victory, but Bowman was able to beat him in the semi-finals after Kinzer’s Mustang had issues at the starting line.
Other SCSN VIII winners were: Michael DeMayo (Hot Street), Jeff Young (Wild Street), Ryan Jones (Outlaw 8.5), John Phlegar (Bracket 1), Ken “Dak” Spears (Open Comp), Fred Gelling (Mustang Maddness), Ron de Hoop (Triple Index), and Doug Crumlich (Super Index).
“It was a great event and I put that on the racers, the fans, and the track crew,” Roth said. “Man, that crew was phenomenal. We had some delays and some oildowns like you have at every event, but that crew busted their butts for the entire event and provided a surface that I would put against any drag strip in the world. I can’t say enough about them. And the fans stayed through all of it. I’m glad we were able to reward them with some phenomenal racing.”
SATURDAY QUALIFYING - GONZALEZ IS KING OF SATURDAY
All the talk Friday at the Pacific Street Car Association’s Street Car Super Nationals VIII at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was about Hughes Performance Pro Street racer Don Walsh Jr., and his chances of becoming the quickest doorslammer in drag racing history. The Detroit native definitely had a shot, with runs of 5.748 and 5.745 seconds, respectively. On Saturday, Jose Gonzalez said he would see Walsh’s 5.745 and raise him a 5.732 in the day’s first round of qualifying, topping the old record set by Scotty Cannon in 2008.
In the final round of qualifying, the Dominican Republic native known as El General went all in by dropping another record-setting ET, running a 5.730-second lap. Walsh didn’t go away quietly, though. Despite running a 6.06 in the first round of the day, he kicked out the jams in the final qualifying round, running a 5.736 second ET. It wasn’t enough to topple Gonzalez from the top spot, but it was still three mph faster than the Dominican.
So on Sunday, who wins? Faster or quicker?
Both were modest, but at the same time, acknowledged they both were expecting a lot from their cars. But world record ETs?
“Honestly, we never expected it; it came out of the blue,” Gonzalez said at his pit after qualifying. “I mean, I gotta give thanks to my guys. My job was basically pretty easy. Pro Line has that car running like a bracket car.”
The funny thing about his landmark lap? Gonzalez said he suffered tire shake almost immediately after his launch. “We had some bad tire shake at 50 to 80 feet, so it slowed it down a little bit at the 60,” he said. “We were able to pick it up a little bit in the mile per hour down low to the eighth mile. But we were a little loose so we couldn’t make that run like we wanted to.”
Walsh took a second from working on his Ford Mustang to talk about his runs this weekend. He may have been surprised at the final time, but he wasn’t surprised he was quick.
“We’ve been working towards this all year. This has different turbos on it than we run in NHRA, so we knew it would make some more steam. I didn’t know it would go this fast, but we’ve been working towards it for awhile. I’m really pleased with how it’s working out.”
Both were quick to acknowledge the other as great competitors and a threat for the win on Sunday, but both also said there more than just two stout cars in the field, the names of Troy Coughlin, Mike Maggio, and Mike Bowman among the drivers named.
“We have very tough competitors here and really great racers, so I think it’s something we have to take round by round and step it up when we need to step it up and run it a little bit conservative when we need to,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just taking it round by round.”
“We’re real happy with how we did with three qualifying runs under 5.75,” Walsh said. “We’re ecstatic with that. I feel like we’re going into tomorrow with a good car. Honestly, we just worry about our lane, it’s all we can control.
“There are a lot of good cars here, it’s not just three or four good cars. There are a lot of cars that can win it tomorrow. A car that runs consistent will win the race; that’s typically how it works out. We just want to bring a good racecar consistently to the line tomorrow and see what we can do.”
In Outlaw 10.5, the top three stayed the same with Doug Sikora keeping his 2000 Ford Mustang at the top spot with his ET of 6.350 seconds, followed by Mike Murillo and Billy Glidden.
Other Street Car Super Nationals top qualifiers were Kelly Davis (.002 Index, Mustang Maddness); George Rayguza (5.132 ET, 142.07 mph, Outlaw 8.5); Tony Aneian (8.140 ET, 165.29 mph, Hot Street); Jeff Young (7.463 ET, 189.07 mph, Wild Street); Willard Kinzer (6.733 ET, 230.92 mph, Extreme Drag Radial); Dan Fischer (10.601 ET, 10.60 Index, Triple Index); and Ken “Dak” Spears (9.601 ET, 9.60 Index, Super Index).
Gates open at 7 a.m. local time with racing kicking off at 8. Once again, BangShift.com and CompetitionPlus.com are providing free online streaming of the event for those unable to attend in person.
SESSION THREE
FRIDAY QUALIFYING - FRIDAY'S PSCA STREET CAR SUPER NATS BRINGS TOP PERFORMANCES
Cool temps, fast cars, and a well-prepared track all worked in favor of Detroit, Mich.-native Don Walsh Jr., Friday during Hughes Performance Pro Street qualifying at the Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the first round of qualifying, he ran one of the quickest times in doorslammer history, laying down a lap of 5.748 seconds at 260.56 mph and backed it up under the lights, running .003 seconds faster to take the provisional No. 1 spot in the class.
Jose “El General” Gonzalez finished the day second on the charts with a 5.770 second ET and 2012 NHRA Pro Mod champ Troy Coughlin rounded out the top three with an ET of 5.843 seconds at 253.14 mph.
“The car went through the lights with a lot of RPM, so I knew that it was running (good) mph and it felt good from the time it left,” Walsh said of his first round on Friday. “As far as the car drifting around, it moved around a little bit, but no radical moves. We had to slightly pedal it on that run, so the car could have run a little bit faster, but I don’t know how much better and it really depends on what we have for a race track for the rest of the weekend.”
In the MagnaFuel Outlaw 10.5 class, the competition was just as fast with San Antonio, Texas, native Mike Murillo making the quickest pass of his career with an ET of 6.354 seconds to hold on to the provisional pole Friday night. Doug Sikora was .034 seconds slower to finish the day second with Billy Glidden running third with a 6.450 second ET at 217.98 mph.
Other top qualifiers going into Saturday were Willard Kinzer (6.733 ET, 230.92, Extreme Drag Radial); Jeff Young (7.463 ET, 189.07 mph, Mickey Thompson Wild Street); Michael DeMayo (8.214 ET, 159.32 mph, Edelbrock Hot Street); Keith Winters (.001 Index, Brodix Cylinder Heads Bracket 1); Ken “Dak” Spears (9.601 ET, 9.60 Index, Super Index); Kelly Davis (.006 Index, Ford Racing Mustang Maddness); Sergio Felipe (10.605 ET, 10.60 Index, Triple Index); and Brent Calvert (.002 Index, Goodyear Racing Open Comp).
Thursday night, Gonzalez, a native of the Dominican Republic, took home the win in the event-opening Daystar Products Dash For Cash in his 1968 Camaro. In addition to bragging rights, the Pro Street competitors had the opportunity to earn $500 in cash for both top speed and fastest ET. Gonzalez decided to take both prizes with his ET of 5.806 seconds at 256.16 mph.
Also Thursday night, Willard Kinzer of Allen,Ky., ran the quickest lap ever on a set of Mickey Thompson tires in the Extreme Drag Radial class with his 6.733 second run. In Outlaw 8.5, George Rayguza set records in both speed and ET with his run of 5.132 seconds at 142.07 mph.
For all the run sheets from the event, click HERE.
Gates open at The Strip at 8 a.m. local time and for fans unable to be at the track in person, the event is being streamed free and live online at BangShift.com and CompetitionPlus.com.
The Street Car Super Nationals is a one-of-a-kind event bringing racers from all across the US and Canada to race for some of the largest cash purses in the sport. Add in another $250,000 in posted contingency and bonus awards and it's a who's who in the staging lanes. Past and current champions from the ADRL, IHRA, NSCA, NHRA Pro Mod, PSCA, Orlando, Shakedown at E-town and many others will be in attendance for this can’t-miss event.
Purses include $20,000 to the winner in Pro Street, $10,000 to the winner in Outlaw 10.5, and $5,000.00 to the winner in XDR/TT-5. All told, the event will see more than 40 Pro Street/Pro Mods, 32 Outlaw 10.5's, and another 250+ of the baddest hot rods on the planet in addition to the Lucas Oil Car Show Series.
THURSDAY - DAYSTAR DASH FOR CASH KICKS OFF STREET CAR SUPERNATIONALS
One of the more exciting traditions at the PSCA's Street car Supernationals event is the Thursday night Daystar Products Dash for Cash, an event where the top Pro Street cars compete for low ET and $500 in cash. Top Speed is rewarded with a $500 prize as well.
This year's winner was Joe "El General" Gonzalez, who drove his 1968 Camaro to both ends of the performance bounties. Gonzalez drove his turbocharged 1968 Camaro to a 5.806 elapsed time at 256.16 miles per hour. This year's runner up was Donnie Walsh with a 5.85, 255 best.
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