Triskaidecaphilia
Was it wise to start an event on a day as inauspicious as Friday, the 13th of June? After the previous night’s rain rendered parts of the pits a bit swampy, it was with fingers crossed that racers filed through the gates and got set up for the 5th Annual Aeromotive NMRA Ford Nationals. A test and tune session cut short (and first round of qualifying completely out the window) due to an afternoon downpour ended Friday on a down-note, but Saturday dawned clear and soon enough, the cars were in the lanes and qualifying was underway. A forecast of more liquid sunshine on Sunday had everybody hustling to make the most of the dry track while it lasted, but a brief cloudburst in the late afternoon was the only break in the action. Thanks to the cooperation of all the racers, not only did the event get done – it got done on time!
The headlining Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 class drew eight entries in Michigan, but in the abbreviated qualifying session, only one found a six-second pass; in his first shot at the track on Saturday, Dan Millen ran 6.932 at 205, earning himself top honors on the qualifying roster. Brian Carpenter was next, with a seven-oh-nine, while Conrad Scarry, undefeated in both previous races this season, grabbed the third rung at 7.123. Millen’s pole position paired him against NMCA crossover and former Renegade racer Zoop Zellonis in the first round on Sunday, and Zoop was unceremoniously shown the door thanks to another six-ninety run from the Desert Eagle. A single in the semi-finals thanks to a no-go from defending class champ Tim Essick put Millen straight through into the money round, where he’d face off against Scarry. For his part, Scarry had been keeping his undefeated streak alive with a first round single against the broken Keith Neal, and a freebie in the second when Carpenter redlit, which Scarry ran out to a 6.922 at 209.31. The final was decided at the tree, when Millen cut it too close and lit that pesky bottom bulb with a -.012 reaction, sending Scarry to the winner’s circle for the third time in three tries this year.
ProCharger Super Street Outlaw has gotten off to an interesting start, with four different racers in the previous two finals, and Milan would be no exception to the trend. The man with the number 2 on his windshield, Don Burton, would end up number one in qualifying with a 7.490 at 192.30 mph, while AJ Powell was a couple of ticks behind at 7.511. Bradenton winner and defending champ John Urist slotted his new-for-’08 Fox in third with a 7.569. With just a .35-second spread from first to worst in the nine-car field, Sunday looked like it could be anyone’s day to win. The opening round of eliminations saw Burton run out the odd-field single to a 7.59, Powell over Richard Lelsz on a blown run, Zack Posey getting a freebie thanks to a redlight from Jarrett Halfacre, and a once-in-a-blue-moon Urist redlight giving John Macdonald the go-ahead. The only clean pair of the round had Phil Hines getting around Chris Burleson, 7.560 to 7.739. The quarter-finals brought up a competition bye for Powell, while Macdonald slipped into the next round unopposed when Posey couldn’t make the call, and Hines got around Burton in a tough 7.584-7.627 street fight. With three cars remaining, Johnny Mac took a leisurely Sunday drive for his inherited single, while Powell got past Hines when Hines slowed on the back end, 7.553 to 8.358. Powell, who had last seen a final round appearance two years ago in Columbus, would face off against Macdonald, who had earned his first SSO round win earlier in the day to determine who’d be going on to the winner’s circle. At the green, it was Powell with the leave by a tiny .058-.065 margin, and by the 60-foot it was all over as smoke poured from Mac’s tires while Powell laid down a solid 7.586 to take the win.
DiabloSport EFI Renegade was the only heads-up class to beat the previous attendance record for this season, with no less than 15 cars vying for position in qualifying. The cream of the crop turned out to be Bart Tobener, driving to a best of 8.628 at 160.14 mph. Part-time snake handler and full-time badass Bob Cook was right behind at 8.634, with Dave Guy breathing down his neck at 8.638. Defending class champ Brian Mitchell was fourth, while Alton Clements rounded out the eight-sixties in fifth. Sunday reshuffled the deck, with Tobener out in the second round against Clements, and mid-pack-qualified Joel Howard getting past Chris Beary and Ed Thomas to move up to the semis. There, Howard would match blades with Cook, and came out on top, 8.589 to 8.655, while Dave Guy ended Alton Clements’ bid for victory with a .008 light and a clean 8.625 pass to Clements’ 8.723. In the finals, Guy had dialed back his reflexes a bit and cut a .186 light, while Howard nailed a .065, and it would make all the difference at the stripe, as Howard’s slower 8.694 to Guy’s 8.681 still put him first through the lights and into the winner’s circle.
Edelbrock Hot Street was a who’s who of notable N/A racers, with one big omission – defending class champ Ben Mens, out of action due to a crash in testing the previous week. In quals, Charlie Booze had the Freight Train in the lead, running 8.857, with Robbie Blankenship second at 8.863 and Mike DeMayo in third with an 8.886. Justin Curry, David Murray, Keith Courtney, and Mike Abdalla would round out the seven-car field going into Sunday’s elimination rounds. With a first-round competition single, Booze one-upped himself with an 8.795 that would stand as the quickest Hot Street pass of the weekend, but did himself no favors at all with a -.052 redlight in the second round against DeMayo. That set up one half of the final; on the other side of the ladder, Blankenship was on his way to meet DeMayo, getting around David Murray in round one, 8.838 to 8.914, then catching a freebie when Justin Curry jumped the gun by a scant -.005 in the semi-final. With the last Hot Street pair in the staging beams, DeMayo took a big shot at the tree and got caught red-bulbed, a -.026 reaction turning over the win uncontested and putting Blankenship in the winner’s circle for the first time since the 2007 season-opener.
After a 7.998 hit during Friday’s test & tune session, all eyes were on John Kolivas in BFGoodrich Tires Drag Radial during qualifying and eliminations, looking for the first sub-8-second pass in regular competition. The magic seven proved to be elusive on Saturday and Sunday, though – Bob Kurgan led qualifying with “only” an 8.204 at 169.77 mph, while Joey Bridge came in second at 8.241, and Trace Meyer grabbed third with an 8.360. Tony Akins was batting cleanup at 8.382, while Kolivas struggled to find his mojo and landed fifth in the 13-car field with a best of 8.598. After a Saturday-night thrash to replace a dropped valve, Kolivas shouldered past Josh Klugger in the opening round, 8.158 to 9.590, then edged out the top qualifier with an 8.170 to Kurgan’s 8.267 in the second. In the semi-finals, Kolivas bested Doug Johnson with a half-second to spare, clearing the way into his third final round appearance this year. Unfortunately for the Iceman, he’d be up against the other remaining turbo Mod-motor car in the finals, driven by Joey Bridge. After a win against an off-pace pass by Jason Lee in the first round, Bridge drove through his second round competition bye and into the semis against Tony Akins, who went down swinging, 8.293 to 8.378. With the most evenly matched machinery seen in a Drag Radial final round this season, the nod went to Bridge at the tree with a razor-thin holeshot, but down-track he picked up the pace and became only the second man to win in the class this year, crossing the stripe with an 8.174 to Kolivas’ 8.209.
5.0 Magazine Real Street put together the usual suspects in the staging lane lineup, plus one heavy-hitter who sat out the first two races of the season. While defending champ Tim Matherly was number one at the end of the festivities on Saturday with a 9.759, right behind him was prodigal son Bruce Hemminger, clocking a 9.777. Just to keep things in order, last year’s number three was third in Milan qualifying as well with a 9.802. The seven-car field gave Matherly an opening bye on Sunday, and he caught another bonus when Breese redlit against him in the second round, putting the champ straight into the finals without having to break a sweat. Meanwhile, Hemminger caught a little bit of a break himself when Mike Washington could only muster a mid-14 against him in the first round, then got through a squeaker against Brian McCormick in the second, losing the holeshot but winning by a nose, 9.731 to 9.765. The finals would be just as much of a nail-biter, with Hemminger again behind ever so slightly at the tree, .049 to Matherly’s .038, but down-track Hemminger quickly took the lead and won another close decision, running 9.742 to Matherly’s 9.779.
Tremec Pure Street has seen some close competition so far this year, and Milan gave racers more of the same with a tight field in qualifying, led by Ryan Hecox’s 10.289 at 130.89. Brandon Alsept was right behind at 10.294 with an identical trap speed, while Ken Bjonnes, behind the wheel of Victor Downs’ usual ride while Vic recovers from a surgical procedure, captured third with a 10.324. Rocky Mason, clocking 10.437, rounded out the top half of the eight-car Pure Street field. In the first round, Hecox took down Mark Anderson, who is behind the wheel of his dad’s Silver Bullet while Grandpa Ron is on the mend. A close-but-no-cigar 10.328 from Bjonnes wasn’t quite enough to stop Hecox’s 10.304 in the second, leading directly into the PS final, which would turn out to be a rematch of Silver Dollar’s title bout. The other half of that pair, Brandon Alsept, got past an off-pace pass by Chris Klink in the opening round, then put a holeshot (and a better elapsed time for good measure) on Rocky Mason in the semi-final. The final Pure Street pairing was decided at the line, when Hecox left the tree laying in splinters at Alsept’s feet and never looked back, grabbing a .048-to-.152 lead off the line and running 10.374 to Alsept’s 10.391, thus giving Hecox his first win of the season.
ACT Factory Stock is turning into a three-way battle between defending champ Tommy Godfrey, last year’s runner-up-by-five-points Steve Gifford, and John Leslie, Jr., and that trio would play a central role in Milan as well. Leslie took the early lead with top qualifying honors, running 11.493 at 116.34 mph, while Farmer Steve was in second going into eliminations thanks to an 11.511. Jay Dold slipped into third at 11.663, while Godfrey was batting clean-up thanks to an 11.674. The eight-car field meant no bye runs, and Leslie started things off right by holeshotting and then just plain outrunning Louis Sylvester, then followed up with another end-to-end victory over Jay Dold. On the far side of the ladder, Farmer Steve was reaping the competition, beginning with Carlos Sobrino, then coming up against Godfrey to see who’d move on to face Leslie. In a bid to get an early lead, Godfrey went red with a -.011, sending Gifford straight on through. The last Factory Stock race of the weekend began with Gifford taking a slim holeshot, .061 to Leslie’s .090, but it would turn out to be just enough; despite a slower 11.510 to Leslie’s 11.488, Farmer Steve was still out in front at the stripe, remaining undefeated so far this season.
18 drivers vied for dominance in ROUSH Modular Muscle qualifying, and it would be Reading, Pennsylvania’s Dan Walleigh who would take the early lead thanks to a .006 light. AJ Ford and Brandon Peterson also had a double-oh to their credit by the end of the day on Saturday. Sunday saw four rounds of competition narrow the field to the final pair – Donnie Bowles, and Tom Motycka, both upholding the honor of their respective race clans. With a considerable disparity in dial-ins, Motycka’s side of the tree came down first, and he was away with a .028 light to Bowles’ .055, three seconds later. Down-track, the race was Motycka’s, but running out the back end in 12.514 seconds on a 12.52 index broke him out and gave the trip to victory lane to Bowles instead.
No less than 25 entries filled the lanes in Steeda Open Comp, led in qualifying by Saul Walker II with a .007 reaction time. Scott Dalrymple had a double-oh-nine to his credit, while Paul Lehman, Don Bowles, and Thor Briscoe rounded out the top five. Four grueling rounds on elimination day brought Open Comp to the last round, pitting Dale McClenaghan against Randy Conway in a battle of two of Open Comp’s heaviest hitters. Conway, the defending class champ, got the green first thanks to his slower index, or would have, had he not left just a skosh too early with a -.091 redlight. That meant that McClenaghan’s 8.965 pass on an 8.96 index ended up as more of a victory lap than a race, giving the Roush racing camp a second win at their home track.
Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning drew a healthy field of ten entries in Milan, and Matthew Chobirko would pull off the best reaction in qualifying, earning the top spot with a .007 light. Johnny Lightning was next at .0138, followed by class regulars Mike Motycka and Bob Cochran to complete the top four. The field came down to Lightning and Motycka as the final pair at the end of the day on Sunday, and in a bit of weirdness a double-redlight start saw Motycka’s side of the tree starting first, but Lightning still leaving ahead, a -.037 red negating both Motycka’s 12.11-to-11.57 tree offset, and his own -.001 false start. The end result? The second win in two races for Mighty Mike.
In its inaugural running, JDM Engineering Super Stang harvested a bumper crop of entries – no less than 21, in fact. Qualified based on reaction time, nobody was going to touch Bobby Barrick’s .0001, which gave him top honors on Saturday. After four rounds on Sunday, the SST field was down to just two – Paul Gamino, and Larry Russell, Jr., who would get the go-ahead first thanks to his slower dial. The tree came down and Russell was off with an outstanding .014 light, while Gamino had to wait more than four seconds for his own green, and didn’t quite make it; a -.003 redlight was close, but on the wrong side of perfect, and put Russell into the history books as the first-ever Super Stang winner.
