2020 DRAG ILLUSTRATED WORLD DOORSLAMMER NATIONALS - EVENT COVERAGE
|
ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS |
 |
SUNDAY
COUGHLIN JR. HOLDS OFF ANDERSON TO CAPTURE PRO STOCK CROWN AT WORLD DOORSLAMMER NATIONALS - Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s “Breaking Barriers” retirement tour has already racked up a number of incredible moments. But Sunday’s may be hard to top.
In an epic final round between two of Pro Stock’s biggest legends at Orlando Speed World Dragway, it was Coughlin who slipped past Greg Anderson in a side-by-side thriller to claim the $75,000 prize at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing.
Coughlin’s run of 6.484-seconds at 212.36 mph in his RJ Race Cars JEGS Camaro edged out Anderson’s 6.485 at 213.81 in his Summit Racing Equipment Camaro, handing the five-time Pro Stock world champion the biggest single-race payout in the history of the class, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020.
“I’ve been fortunate to run a bunch of big-money bracket races in my career and I’ve seen the organized havoc like this, and it’s just badass,” Coughlin said. “There’s no more prideful feeling than pulling around for a final of a big-money race, and this one is right there at the top with them now. To see all the fans and all the teams crowded around to take in the moment, it’s pretty cool. You want to make it happen and fortunately we did that today.”
With the victory, Coughlin, who announced his retirement from full-time Pro Stock racing at the end of the 2020 season, continues to build on a spectacular run that includes two NHRA wins in the past three races dating back to last year, plus the history-making win on Sunday.
It took a trio of passes in the 6.40s to do it, as Coughlin beat Bo Butner, his nephew, Troy Coughlin Jr., and Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield before the titanic matchup with Anderson.
“We’re on top of the world,” crew chief Rickie Jones said. “To win this race is just huge. It was the throwdown of throwdowns right there, and nobody was holding anything back. It was neck and neck, and we were fortunate to come up on the right side of it. It was just an unbelievable job by the whole team. It was really special. We’re on a great roll now, so hopefully we can keep it going. This is definitely some great bragging rights and we’re going to take some time to enjoy this.”
Coughlin and Anderson met for the 23rd time in a Pro Stock final round (including one shootout final in 2009), as the two class legends treated fans to another classic duel. Coughlin edged past Anderson on the starting line with a .032 reaction time, staying just in front of the four-time champ down the track.
The winning margin was less than three feet, giving Coughlin a 12-11 advantage in final rounds over the 94-time event winner. It was a crushing loss for Anderson, who has thrived on success in shootout-type races, but he had nothing but praise for the incredible final round and weekend.
“I love racing Jeggie and we’ve had so many titanic battles every time we race,” Anderson said. “I respect the hell out of him and it’s just been a lot of fun for a lot of years. It was really a great weekend for Pro Stock. I think everybody that was down here enjoyed it.”
Coughlin qualified sixth with a 6.478 at 212.76 during Saturday’s impeccable conditions, and he barely strayed from that during eliminations. He went 6.489 at 212.16 to open the day, surging past his nephew a round later with an identical 6.489 at 211.99. That put him against Stanfield, who had made the two previous best runs of the day (6.471 and 6.475) before the semifinal matchup.
Coughlin, though, drove his way to the finals, inching past Stanfield’s 6.502 with a 6.501 at 212.36, setting up the must-see matchup with Anderson.
Facing off with his longtime rival has become commonplace for Coughlin over the years, but doing it with $75,000 on the line was a first, making Sunday’s clash that much more special.
“Aaron was leading the pack all day and Rickie made some pretty aggressive changes to the car, and he had confidence in it,” Coughlin said. “We went out and snuck by Aaron, and we looked to get after it in the final round.
“We were a little more aggressive with it and felt like we could run high 40s. It was a hell of an effort and the right win light came on. It was very cool. Orlando Speed World (Dragway) didn’t disappoint. We’re going to hoist this trophy and hoist it proudly.”
For Anderson, there was plenty of positives to reflect on, including righting the ship after some major struggles to open 2020. That will be quickly forgotten after Anderson stayed in the 6.40s throughout qualifying and during every run in eliminations, beating Kyle Koretsky, Shane Tucker and longtime KB Racing teammate Jason Line to reach the finals.
That takes some of the sting of coming up just short of the monumental $75,000 prize, as did the fact that Anderson and his team had so much fun during the memorable weekend.
“It was disappointing but I had a lot of damn fun,” Anderson said. “It was really cool and, honestly, the first two races this year I didn’t even make it down the track in either one (in eliminations). This was a heck of an improvement and it’s been a great week of racing. I’m happy. We had major, major improvements and we made major gains. We’re going to still have to do work, and we just have to keep working.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN TAKES CARUSO FAMILY PRO MOD TO WIN AT ORLANDO - NHRA Pro Stock star Alex Laughlin added another milestone moment to his doorslammer drag racing career Sunday evening when he turned on the final-round win light at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing.
Racing at Orlando Speed World Dragway, Laughlin defeated Todd “King Tut” Tutterow in the final round, recording a 5.671-second pass at 251.53 mph to Tutterow’s 6.362 at 146.21.
Laughlin hadn’t even sat in the seat of Marc Caruso’s Caruso Family Racing ’69 Camaro before the World Doorslammer Nationals. But after a series of test runs, four rounds of qualifying and four passes in eliminations, Laughlin was cutting consistent reaction times and wheeling the roots-blown ATI Performance entry like a veteran.
“It sounds pretty crazy – let’s be real, it is real crazy,” Laughlin said. “We started off on the wrong foot. We struggled through every test run. Once we started qualifying, things started going our way. Once we started racing, things really started going our way.”
Laughlin qualified No. 3 with a 5.66 at 251.77. He moved on past the first round of eliminations by beating Jim Whiteley’s 5.738 with a 5.717 at 249.76. The Texas native caught a break in the second round when Sidnei Frigo slowed to a 10-second pass, allowing Laughlin to race on to the semifinals with a 5.825 at 248.16.
Tuner Lee White stepped up for the semifinal matchup with Michael Biehle. Laughlin won on the strength of a 5.704 at 250.64 to Biehle’s 5.731.
Laughlin and Tutterow were both aggressive in the final round. Tutterow left the line first with a .042 light to Laughlin’s .045. It was an even race until Tutterow had to drive through tire shake, ultimately backfiring the supercharger downtrack. Laughlin made a clean pass down the Orlando quarter mile to take the win.
“Man, Lee White is definitely an underestimated crew chief,” Laughlin said. “The dude knows what he’s doing. He deserves all the credit for this. The Carusos have some of the nicest equipment money can buy in the class. Props to them, props to Lee. We just won the first-ever World Doorslammer Nationals and it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
In addition to racing in Pro Mod, Laughlin was also competing for $75,000 in Pro Stock. He qualified No. 9 in Pro Stock before falling to Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield in the second round. He was the only driver competing for the double-up in both classes.
“After qualifying third, I thought we absolutely had a shot at it,” Laughlin said. “The Pro Stock car was running pretty decent and this thing was running pretty decent, so I thought we had a shot at winning both – definitely a good shot at winning one, and it turns out we did.”
While Laughlin didn’t pull off the double-up, he did get to share the winner’s circle with another one of his Elite Motorsports teammates, Jeg Coughlin Jr., who won the $75,000 Pro Stock race.
“What a day,” Laughlin said. “Me and my teammate won both classes. That’s rad – raaaad.”
VOSS WINS 632, MILLS SCORES TOP SPORTSMAN VICTORY AT WORLD DOORSLAMMER NATIONALS - While the focus was on Pro Stock and Pro Mod at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing, the event also included racing in Pro 632, Top Sportsman, Super Pro and Pro ET.
Dillon Voss (Pro 632), Vonnie Mills (Top Sportsman), Stu White (Super Pro) and Troy Stafford (Pro ET) joined Pro Stock winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Pro Mod winner Alex Laughlin as the first-ever World Doorslammer Nationals event champions.
Fourteen Pro 632 drivers battled it out at Orlando Speed World Dragway to compete for $10,000, more money than the Pro 632 class has ever seen before.
Dillon Voss and his 2016 Corvette had what seemed like the perfect weekend. He qualified No.1 after the first qualifying pass, held that position all weekend, and ended up in the winner’s circle on Sunday evening.
Voss said on Friday that he would be the No. 1 qualifier – and he was. He says that confidence played a big role in him getting the win this weekend.
“[Confidence is] big,” Voss said. “I came into this race knowing we had a car that could win, and knowing that I’ve been working on being a better driver. And it’s paid off tenfold. Confidence is the biggest thing and it worked out well this weekend.”
Voss says he struggled with his driving in 2019, but he’s worked hard on improving. And that’s evident by his reaction times in eliminations – starting off in round one with a .003 light and winning the final round with a .014.
And that final round reaction time is the reason he ended up taking the win. Both he and his opponent, runner-up Chris Holdorf, both ran a 4.247, making them mathematically dead even at the stripe. But it was Voss’s reaction time, .014 compared to Holdorf’s .030, that put him in the winner’s circle.
It’s early in the year, but not too early for Voss to say that 2020 may just be his year.
“This feels better than my 2017 championship [PDRA Pro Outlaw 632], and if we carry this through the year I’m positive we’ll have another championship trophy on the shelf.”
Top Sportsman racer Vonnie Mills traveled more than 13 hours from her home in Maryland to Orlando Speed World Dragway this weekend for her first race of the year.
She came into the race to test ahead of Gainesville, not really knowing if she would be able to run the race. After qualifying sessions on Friday night, they decided her 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt was in a good spot and they were going to race.
And not only was her car in a good spot, but her driving was too. Out of her four elimination runs on Sunday, her worst reaction time was a .020. Her other lights included a .011 in round one, a .013 in round three and a very close-to-red light in the finals, a .000.
“We try to get as close as we can,” she said about her perfect reaction time in the finals. Not only was her reaction time perfect, she also ran dead-on her dial-in, a 4.196 on a 4.19, making the final round run a six-thousandths package, impressive by any standards.
Mills is a self-proclaimed “door car person” and says the World Doorslammer Nationals was a great one to come to, and that the atmosphere was awesome.
The runner-up in Top Sportsman was Stanley Albritton of Bradenton, Florida. He had a -.004 light in the finals, immediately giving the win to Mills.
SUPER PRO RESULTS
In Super Pro, Stu White of Fort Pierce, Florida, took home the win in his ‘67 Camaro, running a 6.296 on a 6.29 dial with a .015 light. His opponent, runner-up Kenny Underwood of Delaware, Ohio, had a .029 reaction time and ran a 6.013 on a 5.99 dial in his .92 Firebird.
PRO ET RESULTS
In Pro ET, Troy Stafford of Orlando, Florida, took him the win in his ‘73 Dodge, running a 6.980 on a 6.97 dial. Runner-up, James Thompson of Edgewater, Florida, went a little too fast and lost due to a breakout, running a 6.955 on a 6.97 dial, with a .020 reaction time.
SATURDAY - BOND SETS A RECORD PACE
SETTING THE PACE - With a new car and new engine combination, Justin Bond set the new quarter-mile elapsed-time record for centrifugal superchargers when he recorded a 5.623-second, 253.14 mph pass Saturday night at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing at Orlando Speed World Dragway. Bond’s pass also put him in the No. 1 spot in the quickest NHRA-legal Pro Mod field in history.
“I think the performance of the car has been very good,” Bond said. “I think the time slips speak for that. The car responds to all the changes, and we just have a really awesome crew and a really awesome tuner.”
Bond is in only his fourth race in Pro Mod competition. His ProCharger-boosted, Pro Line-powered ’69 Camaro is one of several new cars entering NHRA Pro Mod competition after the centrifugal supercharger combination was added to the 2020 rulebook. Bond’s 5.623 is quicker than the current NHRA Pro Mod E.T. record, a 5.643 recorded by Stevie “Fast” Jackson in 2019.
Bond and his Bahrain 1 Racing team, led by tuner Brad Personett, are still getting acclimated with the ProCharger combination. They threw down a 5.626 at 254.90 in the third qualifying session Saturday afternoon, then repeated with the 5.623.
“We were expecting to go significantly slower,” said Bond, who will face Steve Matusek in the first round. “I’d never actually driven the car to the finish line [before the 5.626], so we didn’t know what it would do. The air really affects this combination a lot. Even when I drove it before to 5 seconds, we were running in 2,500 feet of air. We’ve had this car out two times before. It had 11 runs on it before we unloaded it here on Thursday. We just don’t know what to expect and we’re just finding our way.”
While the World Doorslammer Nationals isn’t an NHRA-sanctioned event, the technical department is following the NHRA rules. NHRA tech officials were also at the event and confirmed Bond’s car was up to spec when it made the pair of 5.62 passes.
“We hurt a valve on the first 5.62, so we had to take a cylinder head off,” Bond said. “[NHRA tech officials] were checking it, checked the bore and the stroke and the valves. They’re currently looking at our torque converter and they checked the rear end, so they’re going through the car with a fine-tooth comb.”
Sitting No. 2 behind Bond is two-time Pro Extreme world champion Jason Scruggs, who is going into his third season in NHRA-legal Pro Mod competition. He fired off a 5.656 at 254.86 in his roots-blown “Mississippi Missile” ’20 Camaro during the final qualifying session.
“My dad [Mitchell] and everybody on the team, we’ve been through a lot of struggles since we started doing this,” Scruggs said. “It feels good to get rewarded every now and then with those good runs. But at the end of the day we’re still new and we still have a lot to learn. Tonight was just one of those times where the air was really good and we just went down the racetrack on a clean run. That’s half of the battle.”
Scruggs will take on 2018 NHRA Pro Mod world champion Mike Janis in the opening round of eliminations.
He recognizes the significance of qualifying in the ultra-fast field, which is separated by just over a tenth of a second between Bond’s 5.623 and Matusek’s 5.739 on the bump spot.
“We just have to race our own race in every round,” Scruggs said. “Everybody is fast. There’s no easy round, no matter who you’ve got. There’s guys that didn’t make clean runs tonight that can outrun me and have been outrunning me. We’re just going to go out, run our race and try to go some rounds. When it gets that tight, you’ve got to have your stuff together, but you’ve got to have a little luck go your way. That’s just what we’re looking for, one round at a time.”
Alex Laughlin is heading into race day in the No. 3 qualifying spot with a 5.660 at 251.77. In addition to Pro Stock, he’s racing Pro Mod this weekend in a car he had never even driven before stepping onto the property earlier this week. The roots-blown ATI Performance ’69 Camaro is owned by the Caruso family, and is actually the car that Marc Caruso wrecked into the sand trap in Bristol last year. The car’s been repaired and is clearly proving that it can still make some quick runs down the racetrack.
The Texas-based racer’s weekend started off a little slow, but the car has consistently improved all weekend.
“I hadn’t even sat in this car until I got out here,” Laughlin said. “Every car has its own personality, fits different, feels different. I get a little bit more comfortable in it every pass. Qualifying third, not only in Pro Mod, but the quickest field in the history of Pro Mod, that is an absolute testament to what the Carusos are doing between their team and their equipment.”
“As long as I do my job tomorrow and we have a consistent racecar like we’ve had, we have as good of a chance to win this thing as anybody else.”
Laughlin will line up against the No. 14 qualifier, Jim Whiteley, tomorrow during round one.
In a matter of 6.460 seconds on Saturday at Orlando Speed World Dragway, Matt Hartford’s 2020 Pro Stock season took a major step forward and gave him a spot in the Pro Stock records books in the process.
During the final qualifying session of the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing, Hartford and Aaron Stanfield thrilled the crowd with a pair of 6.46s in the quickest side-by-side run of the electronic fuel injection (EFI) era in Pro Stock. But it was Hartford who claimed the top spot in his Total Seal Camaro, powering to an incredible 6.460 at 211.89 mph, giving him the No. 1 qualifier, the quickest run in the EFI era of Pro Stock – and the third-quickest run ever in Pro Stock, behind only Jason Line’s 6.455 and Greg Anderson’s 6.457 with carburetors in 2015.
“The neat thing about it is it’s the third-quickest run in NHRA history out of a 500-inch car,” Hartford said. “That means a lot to us. I knew it was a good run. Sitting in the lanes, I could feel the temperature drop. I came back and grabbed the laptop, and made some changes before the run just feeling how quick it was turning. I was ecstatic. To put the Total Seal Camaro in the No. 1 position in qualifying, it’s a dream come true.”
It was a surreal final session to close out two spectacular days of qualifying in Orlando, setting the stage for eliminations on Sunday where $75,000 will go to the winner in the largest single-race payout in Pro Stock history.
In front of a huge crowd on Saturday, Hartford delivered the biggest run of all, putting him in prime position to win the payout against all the heavy-hitters in Pro Stock. Stanfield’s career-best 6.467 at 212.43 in his Janac Brothers Racing Camaro was second best, while his Elite Motorsports teammate, defending Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders, was a spot behind with a blistering 6.468 at 213.64 in her Melling Performance/O.PenVAPE/Elite Motorsports Camaro.
Greg Anderson, who made the quickest run the night prior, was fourth thanks to a strong 6.470 at 213.37 in his Summit Racing Equipment Camaro, while Deric Kramer rounded out the top five with a 6.472 at 212.16 in his American Ethanol Camaro.
Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with matchups being determined by a drawing at 10:30 a.m.
Hartford will get first pick after his gargantuan run, turning around a season that had been a struggle through the first two NHRA races of the season.
The veteran made a swift improvement on Saturday, going 6.482 at 212.39 to open the day. He added to that to end the memorable day, putting him in a terrific spot for eliminations. But Hartford knows he’ll have to stay on that level if he wants to head home with $75,000.
“We’re gunning for that $75,000 tomorrow,” Hartford said. “You’ve got the best of best out here, and there’s nobody backing down. You better be on your game, you better get your left foot off the clutch on time, and you better not miss your shift points. The team that makes the least amount of mistakes will win tomorrow.”
Stanfield was just as elated after a side-by-side pass he’ll remember for a long time. It brought the crowd to their feet, while Stanfield was sure to celebrate on the top end after hearing the numbers from crew chief Brian “Lump” Self.
“I never thought we would be running this fast,” Stanfield said. “Lump has done an unbelievable job on this car and I’m just very happy right now. It’s not just this race, but in Pomona and Phoenix we’ve shown some really good potential. Everything is really starting to come together for this team. These guys are very serious and they work really hard, and I’m finding my place in the driver’s seat.”
Stanfield has been steady since joining Elite Motorsports last year, making continual improvements as his team gelled.
This weekend was another example of that, as Stanfield went 6.499 to open qualifying on Friday. He improved to 6.483 at 211.10 to start qualifying today, adding another spectacular run to close out the day. It’s given the team more than enough evidence that they can win on Sunday.
“The guys have found some power and Lump has just been great at figuring out the car,” Stanfield said. “That was very, very cool. All my guys were excited. Everybody that has had anything to do with this event has done an unbelievable job. This is something we need more of. I think it helps attract more people to the class.”
Enders also praised the event that has drawn rave reviews at every turn. She reveled in the electric atmosphere, delivering two of the quickest runs of the event, also blasting to an event-best speed of 214.18 in the third qualifying session.
After transmission issues forced her to not make a pass during the second qualifier, Enders and her team came together for the last two runs of the day, sending her into Sunday on a positive note. She was also quick to praise her Elite Motorsports teammates, including Stanfield, rookie Marty Robertson, who made a career-best pass of 6.513 at 211.46 and Troy Coughlin Jr., who went an impressive 6.481 at 212.26 in his Pro Stock debut.
“That last run was honestly pretty conservative, but it gives us a lot of confidence going into tomorrow,” Enders said. “All of the Elite cars have been great. It’s been really cool to watch all the new drivers – Troy Jr., Marty, Aaron – and they’ve done an awesome job. You couldn’t have asked for a better day. It’s been cool to see all the people who worked on this, see their hard work come to fruition. It was unbelievable today.”
Enders also promises to be locked in for eliminations. With more excellent conditions slated for Sunday in Orlando, Enders knows it will take something big to come away with $75,000.
“I definitely think you’re going to have to come out swinging,” Enders said. “You can’t lay back at all.”
FRIDAY - ANDERSON, TUTTEROW LEAD QUALIFYING AT DRAG ILLUSTRATED WORLD DOORSLAMMER NATIONALS
It didn’t take long for Greg Anderson to leave an impression at the Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals presented by CTech Manufacturing.
The four-time Pro Stock world champion rocketed to the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot on Friday at Orlando Speed World Dragway, making the quickest run in the history of electronic fuel injection (EFI) Pro Stock with a monumental blast of 6.474-seconds at 213.03 mph in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro.
Joining Anderson as the provisional low qualifiers at Orlando were Todd Tutterow in Pro Mod, Dillon Voss in C&C Pumping Pro 632 and Bruce Thrift in Thrift Motorsports Top Sportsman.
PRO STOCK
After one day, Anderson’s 6.474 puts him in a good spot as he tries to claim the $75,000 prize, which the largest single-race payout in Pro Stock history.
“It felt really nice in low gear and just floated the front end out there,” Anderson said. “This has been a fun race. You can concentrate on your race car and make the changes you want to make. It’s been great so far and I’m looking forward to (Saturday). It’s going to be a really fun deal. The car should and could run better tomorrow, so that’s fun. I love fast racing and I love quick E.T.s and big speeds.”
After major struggles to open the NHRA season, Anderson and his talented team were determined to get things turned around in Orlando. The team tested extensively this week, and found their rhythm in a major way on Friday night. With ideal conditions likely again on Saturday, Anderson hopes to lower the boom even further.
“It was a good start and we needed it,” Anderson said. “My red Summit Chevy was not happy the first two races. It could not get ahold of the track in Pomona or Phoenix. We made some wholesale changes and it looks like we made some right decisions because it was a completely different feeling race car. It’s fun to drive right now. We definitely gained ground where we have a chance to win again. We’ve learned a lot, so we’ll keep moving forward.”
Defending Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders qualified second with a 6.478 at 212.59 in her Melling Performance/O.PenVAPE/Elite Motorsports Camaro, while teammate Alex Laughlin followed in third with a 6.489 at 211.89 in his Havoline Camaro.
Enders, who won the most recent race in Phoenix, continued her torrid start, making the fourth quickest run in the EFI era.
“It was a great start to what’s already been a really fun weekend,” Enders said. “We’ve got a great car, our guys are working hard and it’s just been really good. It’s been such a fun environment and I’m proud to be part of it. It’s been quite the spectacle and (Saturday) should be fun.”
Laughlin, whose run put him in the top 10 of the EFI era, also netted $1,000 after beating Bo Butner in their head-to-head matchup during qualifying. It was a nice bonus for Laughlin on what he hopes is a big weekend.
“That was awesome,” Laughlin said. “The best part of it was Bo (Butner) wanted to grudge race for $1,000 and we agreed to it, even if we hadn’t made a great run yet (in testing). I was pumped we made a good run.”
Aaron Stanfield added the fourth run in the 6.40s on Friday, going 6.497 at 211.
PRO MOD
In Pro Mod, Tutterow took his brand-new AAP Racing ’20 Camaro to the top spot with a 5.684 at 253.04. It was Tutterow’s first competition pass back in the U.S. after sweeping the Arabian Drag Racing League Pro Mod championship in Qatar over the winter.
“We won a championship overseas, got a brand-new car, came here, and every run has been very good,” Tutterow said. “Here we are No. 1 qualifier in the first run, so we’re very happy. Jerry Bickel builds the best car out here.”
Tutterow in his roots-blown Camaro leads a pack of 27 cars that put up numbers during Friday’s lone qualifying session, though just over 30 cars are on the property. Tutterow is followed by “Tricky” Rickie Smith in his nitrous-assisted Strutmasters.com ’20 Camaro with a 5.689 at 254.28 and defending world champion Stevie “Fast” Jackson in his supercharged Bahrain 1 ’20 Camaro with a 5.699 at 249.90.
With Saturday’s forecast calling for a high of 64 degrees, Tutterow is expecting a challenging day of qualifying. Teams will get three more qualifying sessions before setting the field for Sunday eliminations.
“I think [Saturday] is going to be good,” Tutterow said. “I think it’s going to be tricky because it’s going to be cold. Hopefully my tuning experience can make it work. It’s cold, we got a new car, but there’s a lot of new cars out here. Anybody can go to the front. Stevie’s made some good runs, and so has Jim Whiteley [No. 4]. Hopefully we do good.”
PRO 632
Twelve cars battled it out in Q1 of the C&C Pumping Pro 632 class Friday night in Orlando. Taking the No. 1 spot was Florida local Dillon Voss. His ‘16 Corvette ran 4.213 at 171.95, quite a bit quicker than the No. 2 qualifier, Walter Lannigan Jr., who ran a 4.244 at 167.28.
This was Voss’s first full run down the track this weekend, but he had the confidence going into the first qualifying session that he’d finish on top.
“We’re definitely going to go number one,” he said, ahead of the round. And he was right.
Only eight cars made strong runs down the track, but there are three more qualifying sessions Saturday for drivers to try to take the No. 1 spot from Voss. Weather conditions for Saturday look favorable to see quick passes. Eliminations start on Sunday.
TOP SPORTSMAN
Eleven cars made passes on Friday night during the first qualifying session for the Thrift Motorsports Top Sportsman class. Taking the No. 1 spot after the first qualifying session was Bruce Thrift, running a 3.96 at 183.15. The No. 2 spot was a distant 4.154 at 171.29. These racers will have three more qualifying sessions on Saturday.
