Photos by Robert Richard,
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - MICKE DOES WHAT HE DOES BEST - SETS THE PACE
1 – MICKE SEALS 12-IN-A-ROW – When it comes to qualifying at Bradenton Motorsports Park events, Mark Micke seems to be as automatic as the transmissions he manufactures.
Micke extended his No. 1 qualifier streak to 12 events in a row on Saturday night with his 3.567-second pass at 219.36 mph. He gave a hint in jest that he was going to provide the screw-supercharged combination a chance to pace the field, but in the end, Micke wasn’t willing to share.
“The screw-blower guys, they’ve all made a hell of a lap,” said Micke. “I was going to kind of let them go, but Vic’s [Alvarez] up there prodding me, telling me to let it hang out. I came back here and said, ‘I can’t take it no more. We’re going to go for it.’ These things, they’re animals; you don’t know if they’re going to make it, but we looked at the track, and Wade [Rich] had that track on kill. This car’s just a testament to the crew and what we’ve done as a program.”
As efficient as he has been in qualifying, Micke understands Sunday’s eliminations will be a tough proposition. Sunday’s field was pared from 69 entries down to 32. Sunday’s competition will face warmer temperatures, and while there were seven cars in the 3.50s, Micke understands eliminations could be less predictable.
“A .56 is stout,” Micke said. “That’s fast out there, but you won’t get these conditions tomorrow. It’s going to be warmer, and the track will get hotter. But I mean, how badass of a series do we got going on here? It just shows the testament of the quality of the rules package. I really believe these teams are the best of the best. Everybody’s on edge. Whoever you draw can just beat your ass in any minute.”
Micke is the defending event champion, having beaten Friday’s provisional low qualifier, Ken Quartuccio, in the final round. Quartuccio dropped to second with a 3.572 at 211.36 mph.
“I’m almost speechless just to think that we’ve been able to maintain this since January of last year,” said Micke. “I’ve been fortunate enough to win this event a couple of times. We always sponsor this event, so we kind of feel like this is our event. This is our home. We own this event. And we won’t settle for anything else but a win.”
2 – THE QUICKEST EVER – Matt Deitsch sits on the 32-car bump spot with a 3.655 in his nitrous-fed ‘69 Camaro. It stands as the quickest 32-car field in the history of the series.
3 – QUARTUCCIO ON MICKE’S HEELS – Quartuccio races a screw-blown ’69 Camaro out of the Scott Tidwell Racing camp. He runnered-up to Kye Kelley here last month at the Snowbird Nationals, and came into this weekend second in points. With 3.57-second passes on both Friday and Saturday, Quartuccio is incredibly confident headed into race day. He faces Brazilian native Sidnei Frigo in the first round.
“I feel good about all of it,” Quartuccio said. “I know I can race well tomorrow. I mean, it’s like a bracket car right now. Everybody here is hard, and you can’t make a mistake; it doesn’t matter if they didn’t qualify as good; we just got to go out there and race hard.”
4 – THE MARQUEE MATCH UPS – The first round of competition features a highly anticipated matchup between the 2024 Snowbirds winner Kye Kelley and two-time NHRA Pro Mod champion “Stevie Fast” Jackson. After Saturday night’s chip draw, both drivers exchanged banter ahead of their upcoming race.
“We’ve been going back and forth in the pits all day,” Kelley said. “It’s all fun and games. We come up here and draw each other; it’s like, you can’t make this s*** up. It’s gonna be badass. I know we’re gonna let it all hang out, and people are gonna get to see a drag race.”
Jackson expressed anticipation for the duel, noting the significance of the matchup. “I believe things happen exactly like they’re supposed to,” he said. “This round right here will set the internet on fire. We race cars because of moments like this.”
He added, “This is probably going to be the biggest round of the year for the internet and maybe for the sport. And this guy just won the last one. He’s at the top of the heap, right? I’m used to being on top and swinging down. Now I’m swinging up. I like it.”
In addition to Kelley and Jackson, the first round pairings include: Matt Deitsch vs. Erica Enders, Craig Sullivan vs. Zach Sackman, Cameron Hensley vs. Travis Harvey, Spencer Hyde vs. Kurt Steding, Jason Scruggs vs. Isaias Rojas, Ken Quartuccio vs. Sidnei Frigo, Kenny Lang vs. Lyle Barnett, Raymond Matos vs. Ty Tutterow, Antron Brown vs. Joel Wensley Sr., Mark Micke vs. Steve King, Scott Taylor vs. Andrew Handras, Mike Decker III vs. Bob Glenn, Jim Whiteley vs. Melanie Salemi, and Jerico Balduf vs. Jeff Rudolf.
5 – BARNETT SETS THE PACE FOR PRO275 – Several Pro 275 drivers improved significantly during the second qualifying session, reshaping the leaderboard entirely after a tough Friday. Lyle Barnett, winner of the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, secured the No. 1 qualifying position with a time of 3.689 seconds at 204.79 mph in Tommy Youmans’ ProCharged “Salvage Title” Mustang.
Tim Dutton also made strides, moving up to second place with a time of 3.696 seconds at 203.40 mph in his ProCharged C7 Corvette. Reigning FuelTech Radial Outlaws Series Pro 275 champion Mo Hall rounded out the top three with a run of 3.711 seconds at 202.36 mph in his nitrous-fed 2017 Corvette.
6 – HENDERSON PACES LIMITED DRAG RADIAL – The top of the qualifying order in Limited Drag Radial shifted on Saturday as conditions favored high-horsepower, small-tire machines. Chad Henderson of Alabama secured the No. 1 qualifying position with a 3.902-second run at 190.46 mph in his supercharged 1987 Buick Grand National.
Rob Goss claimed the No. 2 spot with a 3.924-second pass at 186.69 mph in his ProCharged 2023 Challenger. Matt Bell, who was Friday’s provisional No. 1 qualifier with a time of 3.928 seconds at 195.65 mph, fell to third in his turbocharged 1993 Mustang.
7 – SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS FILL THE X275 FIELD – The X275 class saw significant improvements on Saturday as Alan Felts secured the No. 1 qualifying position with a time of 4.197 seconds at 163.41 mph in his turbocharged 1991 Mustang.
DJ McCain, competing in both X275 and Pro Modified, narrowly missed the 4.10s, finishing second with a run of 4.201 seconds at 168.14 mph in his Musi-powered “Vecna” C6 Corvette. Jeff Moses qualified third after improving to 4.235 seconds at 166.23 mph in his Mustang from Tennessee.
8 – SHAWN PEVLOR SETS NEW E.T. RECORD – Shawn Pevlor and John Kolivas solidified their dominance in Ultra Street as Pevlor drove Kolivas’ KBX Performance 1993 Mustang to a new class E.T. record with a time of 4.340 seconds at 166.89 mph. This achievement secured Pevlor the No. 1 qualifying spot.
Brunswick, Georgia’s Davey Hull held onto the No. 2 position with a pass of 4.41 seconds at 157.61 mph in his 1993 Mustang, a time set on Friday. Jessie Coulter rounded out the top three with a run of 4.417 seconds at 158.63 mph in his 2003 Mustang from Bowling Green, Kentucky.
9 – FLUHART.SAVES HIS BEST FOR LAST – Dean Fluhart of Jacksonville, Florida, secured the No. 1 qualifying position in Limited 235 during the final session with a time of 4.847 seconds at 141.00 mph in his nitrous-fed 1968 Mustang.
Jimmy Harris held onto the No. 2 spot in his 1993 Mustang with a previous run of 4.857 seconds at 141.65 mph. Brad Schehr slipped to third despite improving his time to 4.875 seconds at 143.11 mph in his 1989 Mustang.
10 – LANIGAN HOLDS ON TO 632 TOP SPOT – Walter Lannigan Jr. maintained his No. 1 position in Outlaw 632 qualifying while driving Chris Holdorf’s Nelson-powered 2010 GTO, recording a time of 4.109 seconds at 171.29 mph. Lannigan was unable to improve upon his Friday effort in Saturday’s final qualifying session.
Mike Fiorelli achieved a career-best time of 4.117 seconds at 171.29 mph in his Clayton Murphy-tuned 1968 Camaro, moving up to the second spot. Local racer Lenny Grawburg also improved, posting a time of 4.143 seconds at 174.80 mph in his 1969 Camaro to secure the No. 3 position heading into Sunday eliminations.
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - QUARTUCCIO TOPS ONE AND DONE FRIDAY SESSION
1 – QUARTUCCIO’S SPLENDID FRIDAY – Scott Tidwell Racing’s Ken Quartuccio notched a 3.572-second pass during the this second event of the three-race Winter Series, barely edging out Jason Scruggs’ 3.579 seconds. Quartuccio’s performance comes on the heels of a final-round appearance at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, where he is currently second in points behind winner Kye Kelley.
After his return from the Snowbirds, Quartuccio’s team identified and corrected an issue causing his car to drift towards the centerline. Confident in their adjustments, the team entered Bradenton eager to continue their success.
In the first qualifying round, Quartuccio faced Kelley again, claiming victory and gaining a small measure of revenge.
“We took the car back after Snowbirds and found something bent in the rear suspension, so we fixed that,” Quartuccio said.
He attributed his car’s previous performance issues to the bent part that was fixed prior to this event. The team opted to run the same tune-up from the final round at Snowbirds, feeling confident about their adjustments.
“To be honest, as cars ran, I was getting a little nervous. But the team felt good about it, and the car did exactly what it should,” he added.
Despite inclement weather limiting test sessions throughout the week, Quartuccio remained optimistic. His history at Bradenton Motorsports Park is impressive, including a recent Pro Mod win at the 2023 U.S. Street Nationals and runner-up finishes at both the 2024 U.S. Street Nationals and the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals.
“Historically, I run really good here,” Quartuccio noted. “I’ve won a ton of races here. I come here whenever I’m not doing good, and I usually win at U.S. Street after runner-up finishes.”
He also expressed relief about the lack of testing days.
“I knew it would hurt some of the other teams more than it would hurt us,” he said.
With cooler temperatures anticipated for Saturday’s qualifying, Quartuccio predicts there will be faster times posted. He believes his 3.57-second pass may not hold up.
“I would make a bet that the handcuffs are off now,” he remarked, anticipating significant improvements among the turbo cars. “I’d be surprised if Mark Micke doesn’t go 3.55. We plan on going faster in the morning.”
2 – QUARTUCCIO’S CHALLENGERS – Outlaw Pro Modified legend Jason Scruggs is second with a 3.579 at 211.49 mph in his screw-blown 2020 Camaro. Mark Micke, who won the 2024 U.S. Street Nationals, ran a 3.599 at 219.36 mph, the fastest speed of the session, to end the day in the third spot. Travis Harvey is fourth (3.600, 211.73), while Kelley rounds out the top five (3.601, 209.49) in his third-gen Camaro. Twenty-eight of the 32 cars currently qualified are in the 3.60’s. Dmitry Samorukov sits on the bump spot at 3.739.
3 – TOUGH SLEDDING – While parts of Florida received snow, Bradenton was on the gifting end of rain and cold temperatures which wiped out a robust schedule of testing leading into the event.
Mother Nature’s unusual activities moved into Thursday where all qualifying was postponed until Friday.
And then, just as the event was about to kick off, a race team’s tent was blown into a power line forcing a delay necessitating a visit from the power company to restore electricity.
4 – LONG DISTANCE RUNNER TOPS PROVISIONAL PRO 275 – Talk about making a long-stance statement.
Grantley Schloss, made the trek from Brisbane, Austaria, and was the only driver who made a representative run in the first Pro 275 qualifying session. He laid down a 3.736 at 203.25 in his ProCharged ’67 Nova, as drag radial veteran Brad Edwards was a distant second with a 4.252 at 147.55 in his turbocharged ’97 Cobra. New York’s Paul Major went to the third spot in his turbocharged ’01 Corvette with a 4.823 at 106.87. There are ten other drivers not on the qualifying sheet who are expected to run on Saturday.
5 – NO LIMITS FOR LDR RACER BELL – There’s a boatload of racers competing in Limited Drag Radial this weekend – 24, in fact.
That’s how many took to the track for the first qualifying session, and when the lone session was complete, Matt Bell took the provisional No. 1 position with a 3.928 at 195.65 in his Bloomington, Illinois-based, turbocharged ’93 Mustang.
Double-duty runner Lyle Barnett, pulling triple duty with entries in Pro Modified and Pro 275 as well, also qualified second in the ProCharged Kohler Racing ’02 Camaro with a 3.953 at 185.31. Another Illinois-based racer, Mitch Mika, is third with a 3.956 at 183.79 in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro.
6 – AND A JEEP WILL LEAD THEM – The X275 division, like its PRO 275 counterparts, had difficulty finding traction in Florida’s version of frigid conditions.
No matter how many powerful Camaros and Mustangs made hits at the track, it was a drag racing version of a jeep that handled the conditions like a charm.
Jeff Miller in the Paramount ’10 Jeep SRT ended up in the top spot after the first session with a 5.101 at 165.38, leading Charles Hull and his turbocharged ’92 Mustang with a 5.423 at 100.34. Chris Taylor just missed the 5-second zone with a 6.003 at 122.61 in his turbocharged ’99 Mustang to qualify third out of 16 entries
7 – PEVLOR TOPS ULTRA STREET – The weather didn’t faze the Ultra Street racers as 33 entries ended up on the qualifying list for the first session. Series heavy hitter Shawn Pevlor took the No. 1 spot.
Pevlot, also the class record holder ran 4.382 seconds at 162.88 miles per hour in John Kolivas’ KBX Performance ’93 Mustang. Davey Hull rolled to the No. 2 spot with a 4.41 at 157.61 in his ’93 Mustang. Dave Fiscus, who drove his unique Buick-powered ’93 Mustang to victory at the Snowbirds in December, rounded out the top three with his 4.445 at 157.85.
8 – THE OHIO TRAILBLAZER – Cincinnati’s Jimmy Harris prevented Florida domination at the top of the Limited 235 qualifying order, as he drove his BES-powered ’93 Mustang to a 4.857 at 141.65. Brad Schehr in his Ft. Myers-based, ProCharged ’89 Mustang slid into the No. 2 spot with a 4.901 at 141.77. Sanford’s Eddie Ramirez rolled to a 4.928 at 140.68 in his ’88 Mustang to sit third after Q1.
9 – LANNIGAN LEADS OUTLAW 632 – Walter Lannigan Jr. claimed the early No. 1 spot in Outlaw 632 in the first qualifying session. Driving the same Nelson-powered Freedom Grow ’10 GTO that car owner Chris Holdorf drove to the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals win in December, Lannigan recorded a 4.109 at 171.29. Port Charlotte, Florida’s Kyle Salminen also dipped into the 4.10s with a 4.181 at 168.72 in his Nelson-powered ’03 Cavalier to qualify second. Mike Fiorelli, based in Hollywood, Florida, wheeled his Clayton Murphy-tuned ’68 Camaro to a 4.228 at 168.60 to sit third going into Saturday.
10 – WANNA GO? – Tickets are available on TheFoat.com. Single-day admissions tickets are available online or at the gate for $35 on Saturday and $30 on Sunday. Active military and children 11 and under get in free.
