Delayed by overnight vandalism and make-up qualifying runs, then forced into hurry-up mode by an approaching storm, Dave Hance's ADRL.us Shakedown at E-Town VIII packed plenty of drama into a shrinking window of opportunity Sunday.
 
Tim Lynch (Outlaw 10.5), Chip King (Blown Pro Modified), Khalid Al Balooshi (Nitrous Pro Modified), and record-setting Pete Berner (Mountain Motor Pro Stock) made the most of it at Englishtown, N.J.'s Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
 
They joined Mike Stawicki (1/8-Mile Challenge), Sam Gottier (Heavy Street), Mel Nelson (Drag Radial), and Brian Ferrari (8.50 Index) in the winners circle.

Delayed by overnight vandalism and make-up qualifying runs, then forced into hurry-up mode by an approaching storm, Dave Hance's ADRL.us Shakedown at E-Town VIII packed plenty of drama into a shrinking window of opportunity Sunday.
 
Tim Lynch (Outlaw 10.5), Chip King (Blown Pro Modified), Khalid Al Balooshi (Nitrous Pro Modified), and record-setting Pete Berner (Mountain Motor Pro Stock) made the most of it at Englishtown, N.J.'s Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
 
They joined Mike Stawicki (1/8-Mile Challenge), Sam Gottier (Heavy Street), Mel Nelson (Drag Radial), and Brian Ferrari (8.50 Index) in the winners circle.
 
Lynch never matched his eye-bulging numbers from qualifying but he beat out "Jersey Joe" Newsham in a showdown between two racers wanting some justice from a track, an event, that showed them no mercy last fall.
 
In the end, Newsham still is looking for his second Outlaw 10.5 Shakedown triumph, while Petty added another trophy to his shelf. Lynch, of Woodstock, Ga., took the title with a 6.301-second elapsed time at 226.48 against Newsham's 7.510- second ET at 145.70 mph.
 
Lynch regained his Shakedown supremacy that he yielded last year to Philadelphia flash Tommy Deez Fernick. Although his performance numbers were nowhere near his 6.263 seconds and 232.51 mph from Saturday's third qualifying session, he was impressive nonetheless in his new Corvette.
 
Newsham, the 2008 winner, spent Shakedown Sunday in the hospital last November, mending from a frightening, fiery qualifying accident that left him with a fractured lower-back vertebra and injured feet. This year, the Sicklerville, N.J., racer kept pace with Lynch throughout the Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 competition. He took out first opponent Anthony DiSommo with a 6.464-second E.T. that was second only to Lynch's 6.282 earlier in the round. He and Lynch advanced to the final with identical 6.47-second E.T.s.
 
The two Pro Modified classes had some surprises for the fans who braved the cold October temperatures.  
      
The supercharged set saw King use an 8.315-second, 123.81-mph pass in his "Mean Green Machine" '96 Dodge Daytona to defeat Larry Plummer (12.230 / 82.09) in the final. King's rise to the top was no surprise, for he was No. 2 qualifier. The shock was that No. 1 Brad Personett, maybe the hottest-performing Pro Mod driver at the moment with his NHRA U.S. Nationals victory and record run at Charlotte last month, lost to Plummer in the semifinals.
 
Balooshi and his big-block '68 Al-Anabi Camaro marched to the top of the Speedtech Pro Modified Nitrous field Sunday morning, taking the No. 1 starting position from Fredy Scriba by three-hundredths of a second. And the Dubai driver kept right on going, beating John Bartunek, John Prime, and finally teammate Mike Castellana before blazing to the victory over New Jersey's Todd Fontana.
 
Balooshi won with a 5.933-second E.T. at 241.80 -- his best effort of the weekend -- while Fontana, the No. 6 qualifier, countered with a 6.587 / 216.97.
 
Berner carried the banner for the newly formed Mountain Motor Pro Stock Association in its Shakedown debut.
 
In his '09 Summit Pontiac GXP, Berner capped the opening round of MMMPS eliminations by setting both ends of the organization's record. He lowered his own E.T. record to 6.209 seconds and ran the class' fastest pass at 225.97 mph on a bye run. The Crete, Ill., veteran, a two-time IHRA Pro Stock champion, set the mark at 6.220 seconds in the last run of Saturday qualifying.
 
His victory over John Pluchino in the final round (6.285/224.92 to 7.110/146.16) completed his weekend sweep.
 
Berner moved into the final round by rejecting Tony Pontieri's bid for a second Shakedown championship trophy. Pontieri was the 2009 Pro Outlaw Blown winner. Pluchino advanced to the final round by beating the formidable Cary Goforth, the leader in both the MMPSA and the ADRL Extreme Pro Stock class in his '08 Chevy Cobalt.
 
Pro Torque Drag Radial eliminations took on an air of adventure for the rest of the class with top two qualifiers Paul Major and Dave Hance, the Shakedown founder and promoter, unable to race with damaged cars. No. 3 qualifier Mel Nelson, of Ft. Myers, Fla., capitalized on it and drove his '92 Camaro to the victory.
 
Nelson did so in theatric fashion, with a top-end fire following his winning 6.854-second, 223.36 single pass. He was unhurt and definitely grateful to have dodged a bullet when John Carter was beset by a mechanical problem and gave him no challenge.   
 
The K&K Advanced Door Car Technology Heavy Street final gave Sam Gottier an extra measure of satisfaction. Gottier, ambushed late Saturday by Tom Tarsia in a coup for the No. 1 qualifying position, was not going to go home to Canterbury, Conn., empty-handed. He denied Mitch George a second straight Shakedown victory with his winning 6.911-second pass at 198.06 in his '71 Chevelle.
 
George ran a 7.578 at 141.31. Although he didn't win, the New Jersey native had an easier time than he did in winning the 2009 Shakedown. Last year George won against John Carinci in a so-called "first is worse" default ruling as both crashed. George's car had gotten out of shape near the finish line because of  fluid on his tires, and the car barrel-rolled into the left lane, frighteningly close to Carinci's car.
 
The Pro Extreme 1/8-Mile Challenge final pitted two veteran racers. "It's really tough competition," Stawicki said after besting John Stanley, son of outlaw racing pioneer and this year's Shakedown Grand Marshal Camp Stanley.
 
Stawicki, of Medina, N.Y., drove a  '68 Firebird that's painted red on the left side and black on the right side. But the No. 1 qualifier's emotions weren't divided at all after winning easily with a 3.890-second blast at 197.31 mph, as Stanley -- the No. 2 qualifier -- struck his tires.  
 
The Western Beef  8.50 Index victory turned out to be easier than Ferrari imagined. The Raceway Park neighbor from nearby New Brunswick -- and like George one of the six drivers who competed in the first Shakedown in 2003 -- ended up with a solo pass. Final-round opponent John Langer, of Philadelphia, and his '69 Trans Am never left the starting line when the tree dropped.
 
As for Langer's misfortune, Ferrari, who campaigns the family's '68 Chevelle, said, 'I didn't even know it!"
 
Said his dad, "He has won quite a few races with that baby." And his move through the event's only 32-car field was just the latest.
 
Raceway Park workers had to scramble Sunday morning to repair the Christmas Tree following an overnight incident of vandalism. Someone stole the LED light bulbs from the electronic starting device and dumped them behind the retaining wall at the finish line. The thief/thieves caused further damage to the track by driving over and destroying all the foam timing blocks.

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