The Fathers Day version of the True Street Drag Racing series race number four was in contention at Great Lakes Dragway. Friday night saw more than five inches of rain dumped on the Wisconsin area in less than five hours. As the water drained off early Saturday morning, it left several inches of mud in spots of the track. With the hard work of the GLD track crew, many race teams, and the local fire department, they helped scrub all the mud from the track. They even ran Saturday nights program and the True Street test and tune session on one of the best hooking tracks of the season.
Outlaw 10.5 recap
Jimmy Robbins in his 68 Camaro decked out in full NMCA trim, dropped a new 650 ci AES power plant in between the frame rails and ripped off a stellar 6.76 @ 205.99 mph, to take the pole in the 10.5 class. Tony Nesbitt was trying various timing and fuel mixtures to get a handle on the Lombard, IL based Vette which ran a 7.08 @ 196.42 second spot. Nick Scavo was struggling to get his twin turbo 92 Camaro down the track, as he kept shaking the tires and ended going up in smoke - unable to get a full pass off in qualifying.
Jimmy Robbins ran a killer 6.76 @ over 205 mph to take the number one qualifying spot.
In the semis Tony Nesbitt had a starting line advantage and ran a 7.07 @ 197 to take the win over Nick Scavo - as Scavo hazed the tires off the start and ran 7.31 @ a huge 209.15. Jimmy Robbins got a semi-final bye into the finals. Luckily, as Robbins had some hard tire shake and made a move towards the wall.
The Finals were a little anti-climactic as the onboard computer in Robbins Camaro had a glitch and made the engine misfire, so Robbins was forced to shut off. Giving the 10.5 win to Tony Nesbitt, who gave it a full track run to a 7.08 @ 197 mph. Nesbitt was extremely pleased with the win, while he is still working work some bugs on the car and motor. Nesbitt said with Midnight Services, Hank Hill tuning the chassis, and Nelsons competition engines we should be back into the six second zone on a constant basis.
Outlaw Quick 16 recap
Andrew Vogt from Des Plaines, IL took his nitrous assisted 90 T/A to the number one spot with a 7.623 with a monster 191.09 mph, to edge out street car standout Barb Nesbitt who ran a 7.642.
Running small block in the land of the big blocks, Tom Luther motored to a career best 7.76 @ 176 in his nitrous nitrous fed 69 Camaro to the sixth spot in the ladder.
True Street newcomer, Jerry Konstatos took his 86 Grand Am to the seventh spot. This after Konstatos and crew thrashed for the past week to get the car back together for this race.
Longtime street car racer Keith McCoy rolled out his 74 for a test run a Saturday night and hurt the trans. McCoy and crew were up well after 2am swapping out his 2 speed trans and had to put in a 3 speed trans that was a little more aggressive than he would like, but ran a 7.92 to make the show.
Mitch Mika was feeling good about their Camaro after a 7.62 test session prior to the race but in warming up the car they found some hurt lifters. The Mika family worked feverishly on the motor and had it back together, but seemed something was amiss and didn’t want to risk further damage to the motor. Tim Jakus, second in points, took a serious blow as a MSD box failure did not allow Jakus to make the first round.
In one of the scarier rides of the day came in first round of Quick 16 which put Barb Nesbitt racing Jim Widener. Running in an almost dead even race, ,Nesbitt’s 67 Camaro broke a driver side strut as the car was going through the top end lights at over 180 mph. The Camaro made a hard left aimed right for Widener’s Mustang, Nesbitt in one of the best saves in her racing career, kept it out of the other lane as she straighten up the car and came to a controlled stop.
Jim Widener in his Indiana based 87 Mustang got to the semis via a monster hole shot victory over Tim Oros . Widner ran a 7.643 to Oros faster but losing 7.598 in the second round. Widener faced the Trans am of Andrew Vogt in the semis. Widener, once again, pulled the starting line advantage and held it the whole way down running a 7.655 @ 185.49 to take out Vogt’s close but trailing 7.692 @ 183.63. Tim Miletti got the bye to the finals but still blasted to a 7.64 in his 70 Camaro to get lane choice for the finals.
In a good final round race, Miletti took a slight starting line advantage and ran a 7.650 @ 181 to nip Widener’s close 7.662 @ 180.65, with a .03 margin of victory. Miletti’s consistent setup was with a 525 C&S engine and Metz Performance tuning the chassis ran a 7.659, 7.668, 7.647, and a 7.650 in the four round wins.
Outlaw True Street 7.70 recap
Chris Singleton, from Marengo, IL overcame some electrical problems that was causing the car to stall, but managed a 8.08 pass to lead the pack in outlaw true street. Mike Post in his super consistent 88 Mustang ran a 8.14 @ 170 for second qualifier.
Jimmy Dahl pulled a moon shot in the first qualifier As Dahl came up on the bumper and tried to pedal it, the car slammed down hard. Dahl suffered only a slight kink in the oil pan and was able to make the first round.
Steve Wardlow looked like he was not able to get his 69 Nova ready for the Sunday’s race, having almost a bare shell of a Nova on Monday. He worked all week to get the motor together, plumb and wire the car. They fired up the car at 2:30 am Sunday morning and brought it to the track. After two aborted runs in qualifying, Wardlow was knocked out in the first round. He ran a 8.25 on the third run of his refurbished car and ran a 8.00 in the next test run.
In the semis Henry Schneider from Grayslake tried to chop down the tree in his 70 Camaro but had a .029 red light to give the win to Mike Post, who motored to a 8.117 @ 172.48 and to back up his 8.113 Post ran in the prior round. Chris Singleton got the bye into the finals and a 8.15 @ 173 to miss out on lane choice.
In the finals the electrical gremlins caught up with Singleton again as the car had a dead battery. Post waited patiently in the burnout box for five minutes, but Singleton’s crew tried to jump the battery to no avail. Post went on to roll the Vortech supercharged Mustang to a 8.152 @ 173.51 on the solo event win. Giving Post three event wins in a row and a commanding lead in the points.
Pro Street Bike Recap
Seven of the eight qualified bikes ran in the seven second zone. It was led by Josh Bricker, in his 02 Busa with a stout 7.542 @ 196. This would have the rest of the field covered by a ton. The second qualifier Frankie Stotz ran a 7.827, followed by female racer Eunice Parrish on her 04 Busa running a 7.87. Joe Peters in his old school 86 Suzuki GSXR fought some wheelie problems but made it in with a 7.92.
Josh Bricker took the top qualifying spot with a 7.54 @ 196 mph.
In first round Eunice Parrish’s 7.92 lost to teammate Nem Beltran’s 7.88. Also in first round was a father and son raced as Kent and Frankie Stotz went at it. Frankie put a holeshot on the elder Stotz but couldn’t hold on as Kent drove around the kid, running a 7.76 to Frankie’s 8.09.
In the Semis Josh Bricker on his 02 Busa pushed to a 7.77 @ 195.27 to outrun Mike Losser on his 04 Busa, who ran a 7.95 @ 186. Kent Stotz from Schaumburg, IL rode to a 7.713 @ 177.23 to take out Beltran’s 7.96 @ 177.86.
In the finals of Pro Street bike Bricker had a slight bog off the line and that’s all it took as Stotz had the lead from the start, running a 7.753 @ 183.74 to Bricker’s 7.90 @ 190.73. Stotz made a clean sweep of the pro street bike class this year.
True Street 8.20 Recap
Jeff Jablon, the 2008 True Street 8.20 champion, has been fighting some consistency problems. Though they seemed short lived to land his Chicago based 81 Z28 Camaro in to the number one spot with a 8.343.
Just behind Jablon is Georgina Buckley in her 85 Mustang with a 8.345. True Street points leader Rich Jelinek slipped in to third spot with 8.35. The usually consistent Bob Kurgan was having problems getting a good hold of the track and switched from drag radials to slicks between qualifiers, managing a 8.66. Dan Knoll in his 70 Nova is back on the track after a hard guard wall hit in testing a month earlier. He ran a 9.27, still fighting traction issues with the car.
In the semi finals, number one qualifier Jeff Jablon ran a 8.384 @ 167.84 to get edged out by past event winner Rich Jelinek’s 8.366 @ 164.92. Kevin Connolly got the bye in to the finals running a 8.656 @ 160.
In the finals Jelinek drove his 93 Mustang with a Vortech-powered small block to a starting line advantage and held on for the win with a 8.576 @ 144 mph. The Mustang starting to drift towards the wall and was forced to pedal. Connolly ran his 90 Mustang to close but loosing 8.650 @ 159.07 for the runner up spot. Jelinek had the starting line advantage in all four of his round wins. This gave him back-to-back wins and a hefty points lead.
Quick Street 9.20 Recap
Matt Mika in his 85 Camaro pegged a perfect 9.200, but returned to the pits only to find water in the oil. They were unsure if it was a head gasket or some damage to the head that was the source of the problem. Regardless, this put a hold on their run at the points lead as Mika was only a few points behind the points leader, Cory Wrust. Wrust dropped his small block 79 Mustang in into he forth spot with a 9.28.
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Greg Callies from Hartland, WI in his 93 Mustang snuck in to second spot with a 9.225, and managed his first final round appearance. Greg Callies in his pump gas Mustang took the starting line jump and held on for the semi final win with a 9.239 @ 145.13, to push out the 79 Camaro of Dan Forccuci who ran too fast 9.155 breaking out on the 9.20 index. In the other half of the semis Brian Rohm deposed the points leader Cory Wurst in the round before. Rohm tried to rip the light but came up .002. It wasted a 9.21 to give the win over to Neil Migut who ran a too fast 9.19.
In the finals Callies over anticipated the light and left as the tree came down, giving the win to Migut who took the Vortech small block 86 T/A to the winning 9.265 @ 138.65. Migut couldn’t get down the track in qualifying and was qualified in the final spot. He did some tuning to suspension to get it down the track for the win.
Hot Street 10.20 Recap
Jeff Carver in his 69 Chevelle was on his game, running a perfect 10.200 to nab the number one spot from second qualifier Nicole Priola’s 10.207. Eric Lozowski in his 89 Mustang pulled in third spot with a 10.211 @ 136.15. Chris Watters in his 70 Monte Carlo snuck up on a good nitrous tune and got the fourth slot with a 10.220. Points leader Dave Buchanan qualified under the 10.20 index and was bumped to the tenth spot.
Jeff Carver from Chicago took the pole in hot street with his small block chevy powered Chevelle.
In the semis number one qualifier Jeff Carver took a slight jump off the line, coupled with a 10.238 was enough to push out Dave Buchanan who ran a heartbreaking 10.198. Getting a bye to the finals, Rocky Sardo ran his 64 Malibu that looks like it could come straight from the Chevy showroom in 1964. Sardo got to the semis after a double break out win over Nicole Priola in the prior round.
In the finals Jeff Carver had a slight jump off the line but took too much stripe running a 10.183 breakout, handing the win over to Sardo who wheeled his Bu to a 10.302 @ 129.45 to the win.
That wraps up another exciting race in the TSDR at Great Lakes Dragaway. A big thanks to all the true street sponsors, the Great Lakes Dragaway crew with all their hard work, all the racers and fans that come to support the series, Scotty K and Becky Wardlow and the whole TSDR crew that made the racing series possible. If interested in more info on the true street series please go to
www.truestreetracing.com also go to
www.greatlakesdragaway.com for all the racing events throughout the year.
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