2016 YellowBullet.com Nationals Final Wrap
/Well we are a few days out now from what in my mind is the race that kicks off the fall season, and this race did not disappoint. There were records, carnage, fans, hotrods, and about everything in between. So let's go over some results and highlights.
The big expectation coming into the weekend was the introduction of pro mods to the already heavy lineup and they certainly didn't disappoint. There were names like Chris Rini, Kevin Fiscus, Jim Halsey, Dean Marinis, Tommy Gray, Kevin McCurdy, Andy Jensen, Gary Naughton in the newly built Noughton Race Cars GXP owned by Gil Christie.
All weekend we wondered which combo would be the one to beat in this class. You had Kevin "Flash" Fiscus cracking off jaw dropping ET and MPH until Q3 when his 481X screaming for mercy and couldn't handle it anymore. This would leave the #2 spot vacant as Kevin wasn't able to get the car ready for E1. Allan Juhasz was added as an alternate to make sure we had a 16 car field.
The battle would ultimately come down to Kevin McCurdy and his 1968 blown 526 vs. Jim Halsey and his nitrous fed 1968 Camaro. Both were on a tear all weekend with Kevin qualifying in the number 5 spot and Jim in the number 7 spot. In the finals Jim's Camaro scrubbed the wall with his bullhorn as Kevin drove by for the win with a 3.864.
On the East Coast Outlaw 10.5 is still an amazing class and this year they were allowing radials in the class as well. You were able to see Kevin "Flash" Fiscus with the FKR radial car, along with other radial drivers like Shawn Ayers, Paul Major, Joe Albrecht. They were competing against the heaviest of the heavyweights in 10.5. Talking about drivers like Mo Hall, Joe Newsham, Mike Decker, Frank Pompilio, Nick Agostino, DiSomma, Drummond, Essick, Morgano, Weddle, Kline, Buck Jarvis, and more.
It seemed like Joe Albrecht was getting quicker and quicker with every pass. Once the son went down, some of the other radial cars started to pick it up and show that they can compete without 86 pounds of glue as well. Mike Decker was driving his famous Camaro and his ear piercing Corvette in 10.5. It was a surprise to not see Mike in the finals with either car as well. By the time we reached the semi finals we saw two cars on radials and two cars on slicks. The semi's were Kevin Fiscus vs Joe Albrecht & Mitrovic vs. Agostino. Mitrovic in the Team 68 car got the win and so did Joe in the GTO. This means the finals were going to be Joe and his GTO on radials vs. Team 68 on slicks. The shock came when Joe ran a blistering 3.97 career best to Mitrovic's 3.99. An amazing close race, but the radials prevailed.
8.50 was most likely the tightest class on the property over the weekend. The 32 car qualifying field was separated by less than .05. If you have never seen 8.50 you really need to! There is more of a variety of cars in this class than any other on the property. In the end though it came down to Jonny Thomsen Jr. in his who qualified 10th and Matt Meissner who qualified at number 31. Johnny took the win 8.575 to Matt's breakout 8.487.
Grandma Bruder
Who's gonna give it to ya? X gonna give it to ya. And that's exactly what they did. You'd be hard pressed to find more front runners in a class than you do in X275. Ron Rhodes, Bruder Brothers, Dean Marinis, Stanton, Hull, Baptista, Goss, Palazzolo, Dykeman, Ashnault, Buginga, Whetstine, Clayton, and so many more. Number one qualifier went to the one and only Ron Rhodes and carried that all the way to the finals where he squared off against Rich Bruder. The Bruders took the win over Ron when Rich ran a 4.44 to Rhodes way off the pace 7.40. If you were at the race you also got to see that the entire Bruder family including Grandma was at the track to see the win.
Ultra Street was a class that records were prepped to fall. Now for all clarification, on the east coast tracks like Cecil, they run different weights than other events that run Ultra. So these results and times are for the Ultra Street North East Cecil County class. We saw Shawn Pevlor put everyone on notice, running the first .60's in class history. Right on his heals was Joel Greathouse in the KBX Mustang entry. These two were to face off in the finals. It was again going to be Shawn when he dropped the hammer on his nitrous powered Mustang and ran a 4.669 to Joel's 4.711. I would expect to see these two face off some more later this fall as well.
Top Sportsman had a solid 32 car field which was lead by John Prime in his '68 Chevy. His number 1 qualified run was a 4.09. Unfortunately he didn't carry that very far though. He lost in the first round. The finals were made up of Mike Gerber and Steve Dooley. Steve was actually an alternate in the field as well. Mike took the win though from the #17 position. He ran a 4.48 to Steve's 5.94.
To wrap up the finals:
10.0 Finals: Dana Loffredo beat Randy Dolbin. Double breakout 9.998 to 9.886
Pro Street: Dale Cornellius beat Roger Dalton Jr. Dale's 10.05 to Roger's 11.05
Pro Dial: John Voshell beat Matt Ricchezza. 10.58 to 10.26
Super Street: Emily Zartman beat J.T. Sheaffer. 11.97 to a 10.85
We want to thank Monty, Maria, and David Mikho for holding an amazing event. We already have plans to be there for 2017. Also need to thank Jim Halsey's for providing an great facility to race at and to be media at. Lee and Chris did a hell of a job announcing the event as well.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't thank our amazing coverage partners. Precision Turbo & Engine, Induction Solution, Leaf Spring Nation, UPR Products, RaceWires, M&M Transmission, and Flash Fiscus.
All our photo galleries will be up in the next couple days for your viewing pleasure.
