2023 BRADENTON'S U.S. STREET NATIONALS - EVENT PAGE
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SUNDAY - QUARTUCCIO EMERGES AS BIG WINNER IN BRADENTON'S U.S. STREET NATIONALS
Multi-time U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission winner Ken Quartuccio scored his first Pro Mod class win at the long-running event Sunday night at Bradenton Motorsports Park. In the Outlaw Pro Mod presented by FuelTech and PJS Racing final round, Quartuccio used a 3.652-second pass at 204.35 mph to defeat Raymond Matos and his 3.677 at 202.67 to collect the trophy and the $32,000 check.
The other U.S. Street Nationals winners are Marcus Birt in Pro 275 presented by M&M Transmission, Andy Manson in Limited Drag Radial presented by TBM Brakes and Pro Line Racing, Kenny Hubbard in X275 presented by Rife Sensors and PST Driveshafts, Shawn Pevlor in Ultra Street presented by TRZ Motorsports and Innovative Racecraft, Brad Schehr in Limited 235 presented by SPA Tools and ICE Ignition, Chris Holdorf in Outlaw 632 presented by Voss Wheelie Bars, Kevin Lumsden in Sealed Crate Motor Shootout presented by Scoggin-Dickey, NTS, and Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales, and Marques Hatton in the N/T Shootout presented by Florida N/T and Speed & Truck World.
Index class wins went to Geordan Hoagland in 5.50 Index, Bill Stepp in 6.50 Index, and Gerard Hamlik in 7.50 Index.
OUTLAW PRO MOD - As an outlaw racing veteran, Ken Quartuccio has collected wins in numerous classes at several major events. An Outlaw Pro Mod win at Bradenton has escaped him until this weekend, though. After running consistently in the 3.60s throughout qualifying and eliminations, Quartuccio used his best run of race day – a 3.652 at 204.35 – to score the final-round win over Raymond Matos and his 3.677 at 202.67. It was a wire-to-wire win for Quartuccio, who led Matos off the starting line with a .022 reaction time to Matos’ .028.
“This is tremendous,” Quartuccio said. “I was talking to Manny Buginga today and I said to him, 'Of everything I've ever done in my life, Pro Mod is the hardest thing I've ever done. It's so humbling. It doesn't matter if you have a lot of money or a lot of skill. You just need everything to be perfect.’ This means a lot because today, I think we were just about perfect.”
Quartuccio started race day from the No. 14 spot in his Jamie Miller-tuned, ProCharger-boosted ’69 Camaro, winning first round over Tom Blincoe with a 3.682 at 201.97. In the upset-filled second round, he knocked out No. 3 qualifier Randy Weatherford’s 4.114 with a 3.982 at 187.29. He then had a single in the third round – a 3.662 at 202.58 – when Terry Coyle couldn’t make the call. A .016 reaction time paired with a 3.653 at 203.77 gave Quartuccio the semifinal win over Mike Decker Jr. and his 3.687.
Sunday’s win is Quartuccio’s latest memorable performance at Bradenton Motorsports Park. He also had a runner-up finish in Outlaw Pro Mod at the 50th annual Snowbird Outlaw Nationals in 2021.
“I've won a lot of races with this car, but not down here,” said Quartuccio, a six-time U.S. Street Nationals winner. “This place is really special to me. Every time I feel down on my luck, I come here and I usually leave with a smile. Even losing to Melanie [Salemi at the 50th Snowbirds], it was a win for us.”
With the momentum of his big win, Quartuccio is ready to take on the rest of his 2023 Pro Mod schedule, which will continue at Bradenton on March 3-5 for the $100,000-to-win Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod.
“Anybody who knows us knows this car makes good laps all day long,” Quartuccio said. “I'm pretty good on the tree and we don't make a lot of mistakes. Nothing ever falls off the car. I hate to say it, but when you come here, that's half the battle. Racing us, you're gonna have to go down the track every time. That's hard sometimes. I feel really good about the World Series. This is exactly what I needed to start my season and re-energize this whole team.”
Continuing on the topic of his team, Quartuccio said, “I want to thank everybody, from Jamie the tuner, to Johnny [Miller], who works full-time for me on this car; Dennis, my brother-in-law; my kids, Kelsey and Kaitlin; my wife, Denise, more than anybody because she pushes me to race. She likes drag racing more than I do, I think. There's so many people I want to thank: Pro Line, ProCharger, Mark Menscer [of Menscer Motorsports], Mark Micke [of M&M Transmission], and Justin Carmack [of Carmack Engineering].”
Puerto Rico’s Matos used a string of 3.60-second passes in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro to qualify No. 8 in the record-setting 32-car field. His consistency continued in eliminations, where he went 3.657 to beat Eric Latino, 4.024 to beat Snowbird Outlaw Nationals winner Jim Halsey’s 4.095, 3.663 to knock out No. 1 qualifier Chip King’s 3.666, and finally a 3.651 to move past Mark Werdehausen in the semifinals.
PRO 275 - Marcus Birt left December’s Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton as the Pro 275 runner-up after losing to NHRA Top Fuel star Antron Brown by thousandths of a second in the final round. Birt found redemption at the U.S. Street Nationals, piloting Tommy Youmans’ ProCharged “Salvage Title” Mustang to the event win. In the final round, he left first and recorded a 3.678 at 202.94 to beat Jason Collins and his 3.711 at 201.34 in Scott Tidwell’s screw-blown ’69 Camaro. The performance also tied Collins’ No. 1 qualifying effort as low E.T. of the event.
“This is the way we want to start the year off,” Birt said. “We're going to run this whole [FuelTech Radial Outlaws] series. We left here last time coming up a little short. I think we had the car to win, we just kind of laid back a little bit because we didn't think they were going to run as good as they did. I can't say enough about Lee [White], Kyle [Pettis], Eddie [Wilson], Jesse [Blount], and of course, Mr. Tommy for letting me drive this thing. Thanks to all the people that help us, like UPR, Pro Line, and FuelTech. We have a good team. We just have to keep the momentum going. We have a long way to go for the points championship, but that's our whole goal.”
X275 - Just two months after closing out the 2022 season with an X275 win at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, Texan Kenny Hubbard returned to Bradenton to collect another victory at the U.S. Street Nationals. Hubbard was able to overcome offseason rule changes and a strong field of competitors to get the win. The final round saw Justin Curry leave the starting line first in his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro, but Hubbard in his ProCharged ’74 Nova reached the finish line first with a 4.174 at 171.42 over Curry’s 4.219 at 166.54.
“It's way huge because I've never done it before,” Hubbard said of starting the season with a win. “It's just unbelievable to me to do this, especially finishing last year with two wins back-to-back and coming to win this one. It's unbelievable. Thanks to ProCharger, Mark Micke, Neal Chance Converters, Menscer shocks, and David Vasser with MethHeadz. Wiseco Pistons came through for me to get me some pistons. Without them, I couldn't have made it. Same for Naiser Racing – Jeff Naiser, Todd Naiser, and Dan Barton, who does the cylinder heads. Without those guys, I'd still be at home watching on FloRacing. I want to thank my wife, Billie; my daughter, Kyla; her boyfriend, Chase; and my crew, Kenny Rodriguez and Brian Singletary.”
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL - Virginia’s Andy Manson qualified No. 11 in a stacked Limited Drag Radial field before working his way through eliminations, going low of the round in multiple rounds. He set low E.T. of eliminations, a 3.904 at 193.40, in the semifinals to beat Greg Blevins Jr. and earn a spot in the final round. There, he was unopposed, as No. 8 qualifier Matt Bell couldn’t return for the final. Manson lifted to a 4.815 at 109.11 in his turbocharged ’96 Mustang before heading to the winner’s circle.
ULTRA STREET - Like X275 winner Kenny Hubbard, Shawn Pevlor claimed his second consecutive win at Bradenton when he backed up his Snowbirds victory with another Ultra Street event title. Pevlor qualified in the third spot in his Cincinnati-based ’92 Mustang, then stayed in the 4.40s once the sun went down. He met up with No. 2 qualifier Jason Spina in the final round, where Pevlor set low E.T. of eliminations with his winning 4.455 at 152.52. Spina slowed to a 9.465 in his Cocoa, Florida-based ’90 Mustang in the runner-up effort.
LIMITED 235 - Ft. Myers, Florida-based driver Brad Schehr had a dominant performance in Limited 235 with his ’89 Mustang. He not only qualified No. 1 and won the race, but also set low E.T. of three of the four rounds. Schehr’s race day included a pair of 5.008s, a 5.01, and a 4.981 at 136.52 in the final round to defeat No. 3 qualifier Eddie Ramirez and his 5.028 at 137.25 in his ’88 Mustang.
OUTLAW 632 - A challenging weekend in Outlaw 632 ended in a dramatic final round, where Chris Holdorf cut a perfect .000 reaction time in his Dewitt Custom Concrete ’06 GTO to lead No. 1 qualifier Daryl Stewart and his Chassis Engineering ’12 Camaro out of the gate. A pedalfest ensued as both drivers struggled to gain traction in their nitrous-fed hot rods. Holdorf’s reaction time made the difference, as he won with a 5.282 at 150.36 over Stewart’s 5.262 at 153.47.
SATURDAY - CHIP KING CHARGES TO THE TOP OF CROWDED PRO MODIFIED FIELD
Pro Modified veteran Chip King used a blistering 3.591-second pass at 207.88 mph in his brand-new Dreamworks ’70 Charger to qualify No. 1 atop the quickest 32-car field in Outlaw Pro Mod history Saturday at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission. Just a tenth of a second separated King and the No. 32 qualifier by the time qualifying was complete at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Along with Outlaw Pro Mod, several other classes completed qualifying at the U.S. Street Nationals. The low qualifiers are Jason Collins in Pro 275 presented by M&M Transmission, Paul Gargus in Limited Drag Radial presented by TBM Brakes and Pro Line Racing, Jamie Stanton in X275 presented by Rife Sensors and PST Driveshafts, Brian Keep in Ultra Street presented by TRZ Motorsports and Innovative Racecraft, Brad Schehr in Limited 235 presented by SPA Tools and ICE Ignition, Daryl Stewart in Outlaw 632 presented by Voss Wheelie Bars, and Kevin Lumsden in Sealed Crate Motor Shootout presented by Scoggin-Dickey, NTS, and Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales.
OUTLAW PRO MOD - After qualifying No. 13 on Friday, Chip King rolled into Saturday qualifying on a mission. King and his Dreamworks Motorsports team led by Terry Coyle and Justin Carmack successfully executed their mission when King fired off a 3.591 at 207.88 in the first session of the day. He took away the No. 1 spot from Mark Micke, also debuting a new car, who shot to the top with his 3.594 at 218.55 just moments earlier. King was still on top after two more sessions, which his team sat out.
“It means that I have the best team in Pro Modified drag racing,” King said of qualifying No. 1. “Maybe not the best driver, but I have the best team. It just shows my dedication over the last 23 years to Pro Modified drag racing, being an innovator, and not only bringing out a new body, but a new chassis builder, and a Carmack 12-inch rear end that everybody wrote off two years ago. All that, we put together just to show that we are the best team in Pro Modified racing right now.
“We have the right people in place and I'm open-minded enough not to follow what everybody else does,” King added. “We do our own deal. That's the difference. Everybody wants to follow what everybody else sees. Well, what if you go totally outside that box and do what you believe is the best way to do it? That's what we're doing.”
King enlisted veteran chassis builder Jerry Haas Race Cars to build his screw-blown ’70 Charger. It’s already a consistently quick piece, running 3.639 and 3.646 on Friday before ripping off the 3.591 on Saturday.
King and the Dreamworks Motorsports team are also fielding a roots-blown ’70 Mustang driven by Coyle, who ended up No. 22 in the field with a 3.664 at 204.94. The team brought two cars not only to double their chances on race day, but also to gather data for the upcoming Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, March 3-5, at Bradenton.
“We're looking at the World Series of Pro Mod going, 'Where's the rules package put us right now? Let's bring the best screw-charger car and the best roots-charger car that we can into the World Series of Pro Mod,’” King said. “A lot of people have approached it different ways, but we're bringing two cars to the race before, one with a roots-charger and one with a screw-charger and let's see which one's the fastest. That's how serious my team is taking the World Series of Pro Mod.”
While King’s new Charger is a clear favorite going into eliminations, he isn’t ruling out Coyle and the Mustang. The team has worked to make sure the two cars have an equal chance at going rounds on Sunday.
“We really believe in the roots combo also,” said King, who worked into early Saturday morning with Justin and Kyle Carmack servicing Coyle’s car. “Tomorrow, the goal is winning the race. Roots car, screw blower car; new car, old car; Mustang, Charger; Terry Coyle, Chip King; we're a team. Hopefully tomorrow one of the two cars is in the winner's circle. It truthfully does not matter to me which one. I would be just as happy to see the red Mustang in the winner's circle as I would the blue Charger. Dreamworks Motorsports feels the same way. That's the way we operate. When one of us is successful, all of us are successful.”
Micke in his new twin-turbocharged ’69 Camaro qualified No. 2 with a 3.594 at 218.55. Randy Weatherford, Friday’s provisional low qualifier, took the third spot on the strength of his 3.605 at 210.11 in his ProCharger-boosted WS Construction Camaro. Multi-time Pro Extreme world champion is fourth in his screw-blown “Mississippi Missile” ’23 Camaro with a 3.615 at 210.93. Melanie Salemi, driving Mike Stawicki’s brand-new, screw-blown ’19 Camaro, stepped up to a 3.617 at 207.66 to qualify No. 5.
Behind King and Micke, 32 drivers made passes in the 3.60-second range throughout qualifying. Scott Quesenberry claimed the bump spot with a. 3.693, while Ty Tutterow and Andrew Handras were the quickest of the non-qualifiers with their 3.697s.
PRO 275 - Pro 275 featured some strong performances, but the top 3 qualifiers from Friday remained the same. Jason Collins in Scott Tidwell’s new screw-blown ’69 Camaro qualified No. 1 with his 3.678 at 204.60. Mo Hall took his new Fulton-powered ’20 Corvette to a 3.708 at 203.89 to maintain the No. 2 spot. Marcus “The Axman” Birt in Tommy Youmans’ ProCharged “Salvage Title” Mustang is third with a 3.717 at 199.40.
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL - Pro Modified veteran Chip King used a blistering 3.591-second pass at 207.88 mph in his brand-new Dreamworks ’70 Charger to qualify No. 1 atop the quickest 32-car field in Outlaw Pro Mod history Saturday at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission. Just a tenth of a second separated King and the No. 32 qualifier by the time qualifying was complete at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
X275 - New York’s Jamie Stanton held on to the No. 1 spot in X275, improving to a 4.146 at 171.08 in his ’00 Camaro. Kenny Hubbard, fresh off a win at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals in December, is second with a 4.174 at 168.66 in his ProCharger-boosted ’74 Nova. DJ McCain continued to step up in his new nitrous-fed ’06 Corvette, using a 4.177 at 174.75 to hang on to the third spot going into race day.
ULTRA STREET - The three drivers who topped the Ultra Street qualifying sheet on Friday night maintained their spots through Saturday’s two sessions. Brian Keep in his ’98 Camaro and Jason Spina in his ’90 Mustang both ran 4.446, with Keep taking the top spot by speed. Shawn Pevlor stayed No. 3 in his ’92 Mustang while improving slightly to a 4.448 at 154.47.
LIMITED 235 - Several racers in Limited 235 made consistent runs through qualifying, though the top 3 drivers didn’t improve. Brad Schehr is No. 1 with a 4.887 at 138.63, Meranda Burris is No. 2 with a 4.921 at 143.38, and Eddie Ramirez is No. 3 with a 4.994 at 137.88.
OUTLAW 632 - Jupiter, Florida’s Daryl Stewart stepped up in Saturday qualifying to take over the No. 1 spot in Outlaw 632. He recorded a 4.161 at 170.51 in his nitrous-fed Chassis Engineering ’12 Camaro. Alan Drinkwater, who won the Snowbirds in December, also improved with a 4.204 at 168.75 in his naturally aspirated ’04 Escort to qualifying second. Jason Ventura is No. 3 in his nitrous-fed Brand X Marine ’70 Camaro with a 4.236 at 167.34.
Eliminations at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission will kick off Sunday at 9 a.m beginning with the index classes.
FRIDAY - RANDY WEATHERFORD SETS THE PACE IN OUTLAW PRO MODIFIED AT BRADENTON'S U.S. STREET NATIONALS
Perennial Pro Mod front runner Randy Weatherford laid down a 3.605-second pass at 210.11 mph to take the provisional No. 1 spot in Outlaw Pro Mod presented by FuelTech and PJS Racing on Friday at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission. Weatherford set low E.T. in the first of two Friday qualifying sessions, leading a field of 41 other drivers in the class at the Bradenton Motorsports Park event.
“I tell you, this is a really tough field,” Weatherford said. “I feel good about it. I struggled down here at the [Snowbird Outlaw Nationals] in December with this new car. I had some problems with it and we didn't race it. We took it back to the shop and worked on it. Hat's off to RK Racecraft and Pro Line. I wouldn't be here today with this hot rod without these guys. It feels good to lead this pack. Right now, I'm sitting on top of the pole. Come get it.”
Driving his ProCharged WS Construction ’22 Camaro, Weatherford also recorded a 3.722 at just 174.23 in the second session. A spark plug issue prevented the Virginia driver from making a quicker pass under the lights.
“If you look at the weather conditions, I think we could’ve probably repeated what we ran in Q1,” Weatherford said. “The weather wasn't as good as it was this morning. I think we were going to run basically the same number, .60 or .61. We weren't looking to pick up, just stay where I was at: on the pole.”
Weatherford’s goal for the rest of the weekend – including Saturday’s three planned qualifying sessions – is continuing the consistency he’s had through pre-race testing and Friday qualifying.
“If you've watched me all week, I've been running in the low 3.60s,” Weatherford said. “Consistency is going to win this race. The rest of the guys are floating in the 3.67 down to 3.63 range. We're looking for the car to go out there and repeat itself and run real close to the numbers that it's been running all week.”
Weatherford, who raced a Pro Nitrous cars for years before moving to Pro Boost in 2019, is looking for a positive start to his 2023 season.
“We've won some world titles, an EOPM championship, and a Quick 8 championship,” Weatherford said. “I won the PDRA ProStars race last year, and I have a better car this year than I had last year. Let's see what happens.”
Twenty-five of the 42 drivers who made qualifying attempts dipped into the 3.60-second range. Multi-time Pro Extreme world champion Jason Scruggs took his screw-blown “Mississippi Missile” ’23 Camaro to the No. 2 spot with a 3.615 at 210.93. Rob Cox is the No. 3 qualifier with a 3.617 at 205.66 in his ProCharged ’17 Camaro after recording a career-best 3.59 in Thursday testing. Kurt Steding is fourth in his Todd Tutterow-tuned, screw-blown P2 Contracting ’20 Camaro with a 3.619 at 209.88. Puerto Rico’s Raymond Matos rounds out the top 5 with a 3.625 at 208.71 in his ProCharged ’20 Camaro. Mike Tokarz currently sits on the bump spot with a. 3.73 at 213.30.
PRO 275 - A solid field of 26 cars in Pro 275 presented by M&M Transmission is currently topped by Jason Collins, who’s debuting Scott Tidwell’s new screw-blown ’69 Camaro. He posted a 3.678 at 204.60, the only run in the 3.60s. Mo Hall drove his brand-new, Fulton-powered ’20 Corvette to a 3.708 at 203.89 to take the No. 2 spot. Marcus “The Axman” Birt in Tommy Youmans’ ProCharged “Salvage Title” Mustang is third with a 3.717 at 199.40.
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL - Limited Drag Radial presented by TBM Brakes and Pro Line Racing saw several drivers run in the 3-second zone. Paul Gargus was the quickest of the bunch with a 3.866 at 194.80 in Scott Tidwell’s ’69 Camaro. Richard Reagan in his ’91 Mustang is second with a 3.91 at 192.14, and Scott Kincaid is third with a 3.921 at 188.70 in his ’69 Camaro.
X275 - New York’s Jamie Stanton raced to the provisional No. 1 spot in X275 presented by Rife Sensors and PST Driveshafts with a 4.149 at 171.77 in his ’00 Camaro. Kenny Hubbard, who won the Snowbirds at Bradenton in December, is second with a 4.174 at 168.66 in his ProCharged ’74 Nova. DJ McCain went to the No. 3 spot behind the wheel of his new nitrous-fed ’06 Corvette, posting a 4.192 at 174.01.
ULTRA STREET - A pair of Florida-based drivers ran 4.446 to lead Friday qualifying in Ultra Street presented by TRZ Motorsports and Innovative Racecraft. Brian Keep got the top spot – and the class E.T. record – based on speed with his 157.58 in his ’98 Camaro. Jason Spina was close, though, going 156.66 in his ’90 Mustang. Shawn Pevlor is third with a 4.451 at 153.11 in his ’92 Mustang.
LIMITED 235 - The provisional low qualifier in Limited 235 presented by SPA Tools and ICE Ignition is Brad Schehr in his ’89 Mustang with a 4.887 at 138.63. Merenda Burris qualified No. 2 with a 4.921 at 143.38 in her ’00 Camaro. Eddie Ramirez in his ’88 Mustang is third with a 4.994 at 137.88.
OUTLAW 632 - Jeff Ensslin is the provisional low qualifier in Outlaw 632 presented by Voss Wheelie Bars with a 4.438 at 160.81 in his ’92 Lumina. Mike Murphy is second with a 4.462 at 162.80 in the Voss family’s ’09 Cobalt, and Patrick Patterson sits third in his ’41 Willys with a 4.735 at 159.31.
Qualifying at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission will continue Saturday beginning at 11 a.m., with additional sessions set for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
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