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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – LET THE MADNESS BEGIN
MUSI ATOP PRO STREET LADDER: Pat Musi, didn’t win a race Friday, but he did have reason to celebrate.
Musi, who resides in Carteret, N.J., is the provisional No. 1 qualifier in the Pro Street class with a 6.066-second elapsed time at 235.97 mph in the Street Car Super Nationals VI at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Mike Maggio was second in the Pro Street qualifying at 6.085 seconds.
That top time for Musi was quite surprising considering the adversity his team had to deal with Friday morning.
“We’re just happy to get down the track,” Musi said. “We broke the chassis and we were welding that car from 7 o’clock this morning (Friday) until 10 a.m. We broke the chassis Thursday night during the Test & Tune. The X-bar underneath the transmission broke because it shook violently. We had to fix that this morning (Friday) and you have to be careful around electronics and not screw anything up when you’re welding.”
Musi didn’t hesitate to give Rickie Smith plenty of credit for tuning his 2009 Stratus.
“Rickie Smith is at home glued to the screen,” Musi said. “He is tuning me, Dennis Radford, Billy Harper and John Hall. He is the best at what he does. I give him all the credit. We were struggling and he got that thing down. He’s watching all weekend (from King, N.C.). It has been a struggle with the fuel injection, but Rickie has been a big help with that also because he’s a worker and he always wanting to try new things.”
Musi admitted joining forces with Smith a couple of years ago, has helped him relax more at the track.
“When I was by myself it was tough because I had to worry about getting the car down the track,” Musi said. “Now, I can get that out of my mind and work on the engine. We did what we wanted to (Friday). We were real safe and we could make 30 laps like that and that is what Rickie wants to do. When we need to get after it, trust me, you will see that run. It will flash up on the board. We’re trying a total different approach. A real soft approach that will make it down the race track every single time. Not the fastest, because you know I have been faster than 3.99 (in the eighth-mile). We are worried about getting stuck, so we need to do what we need to do and that’s be fast when we need to be fast.”
PERSONETT HAS NEW LOOK: No one can say Brad Personett is afraid to take chances.
Personett, who made a name for himself in the NHRA Pro Mod ranks, took center stage Friday morning at the Street Car Super Nationals.
Personett set a new world record with a 6.088-second elapsed time at 250.37 mph on a 10.5-inch tire during the first round of Pro Street qualifying Friday morning.
Personett, however, wasn’t celebrating when he came back to the pits because he was concerned he hurt his engine on the record pass.
“The car backfired and I can’t find out what it did,” said Personett, who is third on the Pro Street qualifying ladder. “Then, it instantly goes into my head that I hurt my sh*t. Everything is OK. But, those things don’t happen without a reason. It will show up soon or later and I just hope it doesn’t happen two runs or three runs from now.”
Personett, who was racing with the Mickey Thompson 10.5-inch tires for the first time on his turbo powered 1968 Camaro, wasn’t surprised what the tire did on his car.
“That tire is amazing,” said Personett, who lives in Elkhart, Ind. “Everybody has known that for a long time. I’m not really surprised that we set a world record for that tire (10.5-inch), but we were not expecting to figure it out overnight. We’re just gradually walking into this thing. We are not trying to tip it upside down. This is the first time in a long time I have run a 10.5-inch tire.”
Personett chose to try the smaller 10.5-inch tires because of the rules in the Pacific Street Car Association.
“If you run 10.5-inch tires in Pro Street it is a 200-pound weight deduction,” Personett said. “There is all this other bullsh*t penalty-wise. Here is the base weight, this size turbo you have to add this much weight. Another size turbo add this much weight. I’m running Pro Street with 10.5s (tires), so I do not have to pile 200 pounds of lead into the car. If I ran the big tire in Pro Street, I would have to add that weight. I had to add some weight to meet the rules to run the 10.5 tires, but not a person and a half. I have turbos and parts in the trailer to where I would not have to put so much weight into it (the car), but I do not want to do it. It’s a lot of work to tear them apart and change them and that’s something we should be doing back in the shop, not in the trailer. So, I would rather do this (run 10.5-inch tires).”
Personett ran a 6.12-second time at 238.66 mph on his second qualifying run.
“This is a pretty big challenge and gets us exposure,” Personett said. “Look, you had to come over and talk about it with me.”
Personett finished third in the point standings in the NHRA’s inaugural Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series behind Von Smith and Danny Rowe. Personett did win the NHRA’s Pro Mod season-finale at Las Vegas last month.
“As of right now the plan is for us to race in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series again next year,” Personett said. “For year No. 1, only great things can come out of it for years two, three, four and five. The economy is making a turn and we will get more sponsors and a better TV package.”
Personett also said he has no plans of competing in the American Drag Racing League.
“We have got a Sherman Tank and those (ADRL) guys are racing beer cans,” Personett said. “That’s just the way it is and their race is half as long. Rules are rules and my car is built around (NHRA) rules. My car is 250 to 350 pounds heavier than the average guy out there (in the ADRL).
Diedrich clocked a 6.576-second elapsed time at 229.08 mph at the end of the quarter-mile.
Unfortunately for Diedrich, when his run ended the drama began in his 1957 Chevy.
“I lifted and the throttle was hung open,” Diedrich said. “I was fighting and everything over revved and I was almost in the sand. It was a mess. I think the throttle spring broke. When I was getting close to the sand, I was trying to make a decision whether I was going to turn it (the car) or if I was going to go into the sand. It blew the blower and all the burst panels are off. It looks like this is going to end my weekend. That was a good (wild) ride. It ranks up there.”
Despite the redlight, Tupper still attempted to make a run down the quarter-mile and things got even worse for him.
Tupper, who was in the right lane, took off from the starting line and got sideways, crossed the center line and hit left wall at about the 250-foot mark down the track.
Fortunately, Tupper was able to walk away from the wreck. Chris Kephart was qualifying against Tupper, but his car was past Tupper’s when Tupper’s Ford crossed the center line.
HARPER’S BACK: Billy Harper knows what it’s like to be a champion.
The veteran driver won the Pro Nitrous ADRL championship back in 2008.
However, since that time Harper has not raced in the ADRL and he’s only competed on a very limited schedule in other events put on by different sanctioning bodies.
Harper is competing this weekend at the Street Car Super Nationals VI at The Strip. Harper entered his 2000 Pro Mod Viper in the Pro Street Class.
“It’s good to be out (here),” Harper said. “Any time you come to a race you want to win, and I have raced very little this year. This year is the first year out for this car and we’re just trying to sort things out. We raced here (in Las Vegas) two weeks ago (at the NHRA’s Get Screened America Pro Mod Racing Series). We just left the car out here (in Las Vegas) and thought we would come to this race (this weekend) to shake the car down again.”
Harper, who failed to qualify at the NHRA event, had a best run Friday of 15.685 seconds.
Harper also had engine problems right off the starting line and coasted through the finish line on his second qualifying past.
“This our fifth race this year and we have not done well at all,” Harper said. “I guess I got spoiled two years ago with the other black Viper. We will get it sorted out and it will be fine. We have not had time or the money to really race this year. These cars are all replicas of the 2000 Viper and this is the fourth one in the series we built. I just can’t get the car down the track and we will keep working with it to find the sweet spot with the tuneup, but, we will get there. We just keep trying new things and we have to work to try and get this thing consistent.”
Harper is based in Padukah, Ky., and he is in the construction business.
“I ran four NHRA events this past season, but I didn’t try to run a full series or run for a championship,” Harper said. “My thought for next year is that I will probably run four or five races and I will probably not start until midseason. We just need to get through a little bit more of this economy and get things worked out.”
Harper also isn’t ruling out a return to the ADRL circuit.
“We’re just going to wait and see how ADRL sorts out and what is left there,” Harper said. “We will consider racing there as well. It is more from the economy than anything else. We still have the ADRL car sitting ready to run. It is exactly like this car I’m running this weekend, except it is an earlier version and has a smaller engine in it. It wasn’t sour grapes or anything like that (on why he hasn’t raced in the ADRL since 2008). That was just the final race of that season and the next year we just had to shut everything down.”
TAMEZ NO. 1 in OUTLAW 10.5: Kurtis Tamez is leading the qualifying in the Outlaw 10.5 class. Tamez clocked a 6.635-second time at 211.13 mph to grab the provisional pole in his 2007 Cobalt.
Eick Shavely and Doug Sikora were second and third at 6.642 and 6.675 seconds. Curtis Alston and Billy Glidden were fourth and fifth in qualifying at 6.759 and 6.763 seconds.
Major had a reason to smile Friday night as he made a 7.051-second pass at 197.62 mph to take the provisional pole in the Extreme Drag Radial class.
Major is way ahead of his closest competitors in the class as Al Jimenez and Mike Keenan are second and third at 7.242 and 7.260 seconds, respectively.
PFNISER LEADS WILD STREET: Dee Pfnister of Goodyear, Ariz., is leading the Wild Street class after Friday’s two sessions of qualifying. Pfnister clocked a 7.653-second run at 181.23 mph.
Dave Eggerling and Bob Thompson are second and third at 7.722 and 7.794 seconds. Thompson also has top speed of the class at 186.79 mph.
ALDRICH HAS NO EQUAL IN LIMITED STREET: Erick Aldrich of Oceanside, Calif., tuned up his 1972 Maverick for an 8.404-second run, which was the best in the Limited Street class on Friday.
Fellow Californian Mike Orban was second on the ladder at 8.506 seconds. Orban did register the top speed in the class at 164.07 mph on his lap in his 1968 Camaro. Andrew Osborne of Wheat Ridge, Colo., a suburb of Denver, is third at 8.571 seconds in his ’91 Mustang.
BLANKENSHIP PACES HOT STREET: Robbie Blankenship of Hudson, Fla., ran his 2004 Mustang to the top of the Hot Street qualifying ladder Friday.
Blakenship came in with an 8.248-second time at 167.70 mph. There are only eight cars in the class and Rod Dewild of Thornton, Colo., is second at 8.278 seconds.
FULGHAM LEADS STREET CHALLENGE: Steve Fulgham’s 1975 Corvette was in a groove Friday. Fulgham guided his car to the No. 1 spot in the Street Challenge ladder with a 9.693-second effort at 145.99 mph.
Mike Saiki and Rick Hatch are second and third at 9.850 and 9.950 seconds. Robert Nasralla, who qualified fifth in the 16-car field at 10.115 seconds, has the top speed in the class at 154.03 mph in his ’88 Ford Mustang.
THURSDAY NOTEBOOK – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
THE CHALLENGE – Conditions Thursday night were not ideal for the Test & Tune session at the Street Car Super Nationals VI at The Strip.
The cool track made it difficult for any of the cars to get any kind of grip.
Despite the conditions, 22 cars competed in the Pro Street Quickest Pass Challenge. All the participants made single passes and could choose to race down the left or right lane.
Kirk Wilmes, from Altus, Okla., won $500 for low elapsed time at 6.081 seconds and he also took home another $500 for clocking top speed honors at 240.85 mph. Wilmes used the left lane for his run in his 1968 jet black Firebird.
John Scialpi was second behind Wilmes in 6.120 seconds at 226.66 mph in his 1957 Chevy.
Bracket time trials begin at 8 a.m. Friday Pacific Time. Street Car Super Nationals round one qualifying is at 10 a.m.
INTERESTING RIDE – During Thursday night’s Test & Tune, Joe Kurjikin had more drama than he wanted during his run in his 1969 Trans Am. Kurjikin competes in the Hot Street Class.
Kurjikin clocked an unofficial 10.45-second elapsed time at 100 mph, but things became very interesting at about the 1,000-foot mark on the track.
“I wasn’t scared,” Kurjikin said moments after the run. “It didn’t want to shift and most likely I probably have something wrong with the steering. The Rack and Pinion is very tight. I’m going to have to look at that. The steering wheel didn’t come loose, I just couldn’t steer it because it was too tight.”
YEAH, IT’S AN EL CAMINO – Though 2010 has been an up and down year for Randy Walker and the Walker Racing Group, they’ve got one last shot at a big win when their sinister ’74 El Camino hits the The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Pro Street competition at this weekend’s Street Car Super Nationals VI.
Arguably the biggest annual street car race in the country, the Super Nats draw the top competitors in all divisions year after year, all gunning for the huge purses in each class. There is no stiffer competition to be found than in Pro Street, and it’s something the Walker team looks forward to.
“We’ve had a lot of success in the last few seasons, setting records and winning Pro Street championships, but we haven’t had a lot of luck at the Super Nationals,” driver/owner Randy Walker admitted. “It’s definitely something we hope to change this year. We’ve had plenty of races at this track to gather our data and get a setup, so hopefully we can just apply that knowledge on the big stage this weekend.”
One of those races at the Strip was just a few weeks ago; Walker was at this very track for the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, where he entered his Pro Street machine in the Get Screened America Pro Modified class for the first time. Posting a best elapsed time of 6.287 at 223.43 MPH, Walker landed just outside the qualified field, finishing #17 in qualifying.
The Walker’s Procomp Motorsports El Camino, the quickest and fastest ElCo on the planet, dipped into the 6-teens earlier this season, posting bests of 6.16 at over 224 MPH. Recording similar numbers in the thin, dry Vegas air would be quite a feat, but it’s something the Walker team is shooting for.
“We’re hoping to lower our own personal best E.T. this weekend, and we almost need to in order to hang with the stellar field of cars that we’ll surely see on hand,” said crew chief Duane Walker. “The screw-blown cars, and especially the turbocharged cars, are regularly running 6.0’s and even some 5.90’s, so we’ve got to be on our game this weekend. Hopefully having our tuning consultant Charles Carpenter back on board will give us the added edge we need.”
Carpenter, the legendary Pro Modified pioneer and nitrous stalwart, has helped tune the Walker team to its multiple championships and record-setting performances, but has missed the team’s last few races due to the sudden passing of his wife last month.
“We’re thrilled to have Charles back,” Randy Walker said. “It just wasn’t the same without him. Hopefully we can all get back on track and focus on having fun one last time in 2010. Of course winning is the most fun, so that’s what we’re aiming for.”
THORNTON RETURNS – Thornton Racing will take their all black 1963 Corvette Pro Street drag race car to this weekend’s Street Car Super Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking only the second outing for the team in 2010. Driver Ed “Plasticman” Thornton will be back behind the wheel reunited with tuner Shane Tecklenburg and Crew Chief and Clutch Specialist Doug Stewart calling the shots and Tom “Mr. Clean” Esbri will also return as Car Chief. The team had gone separate ways when Thornton was forced to park the car earlier this year due to lack of funding and while focusing on his business, SU Sand Cars.
“I’m excited to be back behind the wheel again with the whole team together,” explained Thornton. “I’ve missed racing that’s for sure but I have really missed being together as a team with these guys.”
Together the Thornton Racing team has won the PSCA Pro Street Championship a total of four times including 2003, 2004, 2005 and again in 2007. However they have never had much success at SCSN.
“We’ve got some new parts and some refreshed parts on the car for this race and I have Doug and Tom who took their team (Hairston Motorsports) to the final last year, so I’m hoping they can show me the way too,” quipped Thornton.
This season saw Stewart and Esbri assisting the Hairston Motorsports team to the 2010 PSCA Pro Street Championship while tuner Tecklenburg won the 2010 ADRL (Arabian Drag Racing League) Top Sportsman Championship while working for His Highness Sheik Khalid bin Hamad al Thani’s Al Anabi Racing Team in Qatar. The team is expecting to face some of the fiercest competition the world has to offer at the SCSN and although they feel confident in their accomplishments, they are taking nothing for granted.
“We have all had a fairly successful year in 2010,” said Tecklenburg. “but the BS stops on Sunday when the race starts. All the stats go out the window and this is a hard race to win. We just hope to be racing still when the sun is setting. That will be a fitting end to this year!”
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