October 2010 Outlaw Drag Race Event at BMP by Troy Gotschall (Animalcrew)

Friday Testing saw a pair of Open Outlaw cars hunting tune-ups. Bill Heister Jr had a new blower in a new location and had changed every nozzle in the fuel system to bring pressures up where they should be for a car making over 40 pounds of boost. The first pass to 330' was clean and the plugs indicated the tuneup was close. After an asessment in the pits, tuner Troy Gotschall made some minor tune-up changes and it was back to the line to try and go the the 1/8 mi. After the burnout, the car didn't want to go in gear. It was later discovered that the Lenco reverser had been damaged. After some thrashing in the pits that evening Bill's dad and Crew Chief, Bill Sr. fixed that and put her back together for Saturday.

The other team trying to get a head start on a tune-up was Lil pup racing's Matt Wirth. Crew Chief Ken Gonyo was looking to get some info in preparation for the 1/4 mi Nostalgia race. After putting some extra fuel in the motor and making an 1/8 mile pass to verify the plugs, they decided to go to 1000'. Unfortunately, just before 1000' it appeared the head gasket failed on the front of #2 and carved up the head like a plasma arc ending their weekend early. They vowed to stay and be cheerleaders for the rest of us. We all appreciate it very much guys! Sorry for the bad luck.

Saturday morning saw a good mix of cars for qualifying and a bunch more bad luck for a number of racers. Heister left hard in his first qualifying pass only to have the car wing up in high gear. Afterwards, it was determined a broken sprague was at fault and finishing his weekend.

Matt Gilmore was another racer looking to verify a tune-up after his intake explosion at the last Heads up Madness. The first run to the 330' was clean and the car ran a 4.16 @ 131. The tune-up looked good but the heat was building. It was decided to wait until the third session to make a full pass. The launch RPM was a little high and the car went into bad tire shake after the 60' mark. After a couple whacks at the throttle, Matt was forced to abort the run since he isn't allowed to finish in the other lane.

Tom Wirth Jr. was sporting his new BAE HEMI on his altered and Aaron Sipple had joined him to help sort out the new combo. They battled tire shake and a lack of traction but still managed to lay down Tom's first ever pass in the 3's with a 3.98@183 to take the 3rd spot. Unfortunately some valve keepers decided to give up the ghost and Tom's HEMI dropped 2 valves after attaining the 1/8 mi. They tore it down and even though the damage was extensive, Joe of Fast Forward Machine stepped up and offered to take the damaged heads back and work all night to repair them in time for eliminations on Sunday morning. Joe you are either a complete maniac or one hell of a dedicated racer and machinist. I think the consensus is both!

Ron Logan of TnA Racing had more than their share of gremlins. They had problems with the throttle linkage, traction issues and a popped MSD box which kept them from making a clean run all weekend and leaving them in last place after the third session. Hope they can get it sorted out before the November Heads up Madness race. I know he doesn't want to hand the points championship to Gilmore but I hear Matt has a Logan Voodoo dragster and may have been testing it out this past weekend!

Eddie Careccia came all the way from Mars Hill, North Carolina with his Alan Johnson Powered TAD. Fast Eddie had his share of problems with tire shake and traction but managed to sort everything out and lay down a stellar 3.83 @ 195 for the #1 spot. Beautiful car Eddie. Are you kidding me? He has a 3 second bracket car! We hope you had fun. I know we enjoyed having you with us.

Melissa Hutson did not want to let Eddie have that #1 spot. She tried very hard to take it from him but managed only (only?... oh my) a 3.89 @ 188. It was clear they weren't done gaining on the tune-up because they got better every round and would prove to be deadly in eliminations. Gallant effort but they had to settle for the #2 position.

John Alberigi III and crew brought their HEMI powered JAR Funny Car up from Ft Lauderdale and they brought a big stick. They managed to lay down a 4.03 @ 180. It was clear they were squarely in the hunt. John, we hope you come back out to play at the Heads Up Madness races and the Snowbird Nationals.

Steve Bush brought his massive new Sonny Leonard 762 out to play and was looking to pour the juice to it this time out. After some traction issues, Steve laid down a respectable 4.27 @ 166. As Steve said, there is a lot more in this combo. We know you'll find it too!

Craig "Slim" Andrews had his 540 BBC Altered back together and was looking to make some headway. After a wild wheels up ride and too close of a look at the wall, he managed a decent pass but he wasn't happy with the 4.55 @ 150. He was still hunting his tune-up when he popped the burst panel on his second pass and later found the blower had been dislodged and had tried eating some washers. Not good no matter how you look at it. After discovering aluminum in his oil filter he decided to put her away and live to fight another day.

Eric Edelman brought out the custom 4 cylinder turbo car. He and his father still seem to be battling the combination looking for more performance and reliability. I commend them for sticking with the difficult task when others would have given up. What they have accomplished thus far with only 200ci is amazing. Good luck with it guys and we'll see you next month.

Sunday morning, the mood was subdued, many of us wondering if the bad luck would continue and who would it visit next??? It wouldn't take long to find out....

Fast Eddie was paired with Ron Logan. As they came to the line Logan again had ignition troubles and couldn't stage the car. Eddie was given a single and laid down an impressive 3.79@ 192 ... basically saying .... come get me boys and girls!

Tom Wirth Jr had drawn 'Slim' Andrews and Craig couldn't fix the car the night before so Tom was looking to lay down a pass and get some more info on his tune-up. He left good but got into some tire shake and maybe a little smoke but it's a win and more tune-up info....

John Alberigi in his JAR F/C was paired up against Bill Heister and again, we had a single because Bill had a transmission that wasn't in good working order. To be specific, it was with broken sprague. John ran a clean 4.03 @ 179 creeping up on the 3's.

Melissa Hutson, #2 Qualifier had drawn #9 and the experimental craft of Eric Edelmann. Eric's turbo powered billet 4 cylinder was no match for Melissa's fat-head HEMI.. She cranked out a beautiful 3.92 at 183 to say "Eddie it ain't yours yet!"

Matt Gilmore didn't make a clean run in qualifying but had all the equipment to win handily against Steve Bush but it wasn't to be. Matt was in early and Steve took a little longer to get in than normal. That all added up to a hot clutch and a diminished air gap for Matt. When he went up on launch RPM, the clutch pulled him through the beams handing the win to Steve. Steve cut a fantastic yet unnecessary .004 light but hey... who knew. Nice light Steve!

Eddie had drawn a Bye but wanted to run the car to see if he could find some extra ET. The single pass was fast.

Alberigi was facing an opponent in Tom Wirth that had already dipped into the 3's so he knew he had to step it up. Tom left first but got into some early tire shake and had to step off and concede the win. John had done exactly what he set out to do and ran a 3.97 @ 185 to throw his name in the hat as a serious contender. Nice run John!

Melissa was matched against Steve Bush and his mountain motor. Steve poured the coals (aka juice) to it to try and match Miss Hutson's performance. All it did was make lots of smoke but heck, you have to try! Melissa ran another 3.92 @ 187 right down main street.

The first pair pitted Fast Eddie Careccia against John Alberigi in his gold Funny Car. This was one of the closest races of the day. The rear wing on Eddie's AJ powered dragster decided it would make an exit about mid track. It scrubbed some ET and made the drag-race closer than it probably would have been. Eddies 3.92 @ 193 was just enough to get by John's 3.98 @ 188. Mr. Careccia was heard mumbling "WING! we don't need no stinking WING!"

Melissa had the luck of the draw error ladder this round and drew a bye. Her and her dad decided this was the perfect opportunity to try and lean on her a little. She responded and ripped off a stellar 3.85 @ 189. That guy "Bye" just can't win a round.... "Oh Eddie! ... Mr. Careccia! I'm right here Eddie!" <chuckle> Just kidding but it makes for good reading.....right!

According to the numbers, Eddie had Melissa covered by about .06 sec. With the lights Melissa had been cutting, would it be enough? He and his crew chief wondered aloud to me before the race about that very thing! He knew if she ran a number like her last pass he would have to be better on the tree. He was better but not enough. After rolling .010 in the box to make sure she didn't go red, Melissa dropped an .025 light on him and then proceeded to lay down a 3.82 @ 189! Eddie cut a respectable .077 light bit wasn't enough combined with his 3.79 @ 196 to get the win. Melissa had earned what she came for with a hole-shot. What a race and congratulations to both of you on a wonderful performance. Great job Melissa!

Melissa has become a regular with the Open Outlaw bunch and we hope Eddie Careccia will come to play again. We enjoyed having him.

Thanks to all the racers and especially the Bradenton Motorsports Park staff for making this such a fun event. A special thanks to BMP for the wonderful BBQ and entertainment on Saturday night!

 6-5-2010  4th Event by Chevelle Rob

Last year it was all Ron Logan and while he sits in second place for 2010 points, Matt Gilmore is the current points leader. The first session in qualifying had Logan’s 4.06 at the top of the pack. Bill Heister had a nice 4.25 for second. Newcomer to Open Outlaw Jeff Burnett put up a 4.41 @ 160 for third in his NHRA Top Dragster 23T. Tom Wirth’s 4.553 was good enough for fourth just ahead of Steve Bush. Bob Ewing, Craig Andrews and Matt Gilmore round it out.

The second session saw Gilmore rocket to the front with a nice 4.01 @ 181. Logan improved to a .06 to hold second. The rest of the order remained unchanged.

Neither Andrews or Heister made it for round one giving Gilmore and Bush a free ride to round two. Ewing had some luck swing his way as Logan went red. Burnett cut a fine .002 light in his win over Tom Wirth.

Round two saw Ewing go red against Bush who ran a 4.51 with his Sonny’s 762 despite the nitrous not activating. Burnett left Gilmore sitting there with a .074 to .298 and was the picture of consistency running another 4.387 @ 161 to match his previous round ET, that was no real help however as Gilmore blew past him with a 3.97 @ 183 to take the win.

Gilmore met up with Bush in the final with Bush still chasing nitrous activation gremlins. Buch left first with a .046 to Gilmore's .088, 4.58 @ 160 is not enough to hold off the blown KB Olds of Gilmore, 4.11 @ 177.

The top five in points remain unchanged as far as position however Gilmore now leads by 66 points over Logan.

4-3-2010  2nd Event

 HEADS UP MADNESS -  Sunshine Dragstrip!! by Chevelle Rob

Open Outlaw had a large field this month with 10 cars in the first session and twelve total on the property. Ron Logan ran a nice 4.08 @ 176 for top qualifier in round one. Matt Wirth turned out a nice 4.13 @172 in what I believe is a new best for the team. Tom Wirth ran a 4.32 @ 160 for third. Jeff Keen and Bill Heister round the top five. Ken Nichols was a new face this month, as were Eric Edlemann and Richard Shipp.

In the second session it would be Matt Gilmore on top of the field with a 4.06 @ 179 bumping Logan to second. Matt Wirth and Tom Wirth did not improve and wound up third and fourth . Shipp Improved to a 4.34 @ 158 to move ahead of Heister. Keen improved by .02 and stayed in front of Shipp for fifth.

In eliminations Ron Logan took out Ken Nichols, 4.28 to 4.92. Matt Wirth got a single as Craig Andrews didn’t make the call. Jeff Keen also had an opponent broke bye over Mike Judd. He ran a 4.30 @ 159. Richard Shipp got a hole shot win over Bill Heister with an .028 light and 4.45 @ 158, beating the quicker 4.41 @ 156.

Number one qualifier Matt Gilmore lined up with Eric Edelmann and had troubles staging the car. Edelmann had lit both bulbs and runs a turbo powered entry and was on boost waiting and blew a seal just as he launched after Gilmore, after the tree came down and red lit Gilmore for not being fully staged. A bad deal all around as the cleanup resulted in nearly two hours of down time for clean up. After that Tom Wirth had a single, launched soft and clicked it early to a 5.51.

Next event May 15th - Be there!

Visit Rob's Website www.DevastationMotorsports.com for additional event pictures and Video.

2-20-2010  First event of the year

 HEADS UP MADNESS -  Sunshine Dragstrip!! by Mike "Backmotor" Puzycki

Saturday started overcast and cool with a slight threat of rain. The sun soon came out and we forgot about the rain.  The weather computer had us smiling because the air was just stellar for early afternoon. We knew we were to be looking at air below sea level for eliminations.

The car count was lower than expected due to a couple guys waiting on parts and the divisional race at Gainesville. I heard something about the Matt Wirth trying to turn their blower into an old fashioned washing machine wringer.... not sure about the details but I understand it will be expensive.

Qualifying started with the pairing of Bill Heister and Matt Gilmore. Once again betting $5 on reaction time. Matt left first but turned on the red bulb to lose the bet. Heister had his hands full, carrying the wheels and stepping off early to run a 4.485 @ 134.95. Gilmore though going red, went right down main street with a 4.327 @ 172.08.

The second pair put Ron Logan next to Tom  Wirth Junior. Tom said he wasn't using both nitrous kits but still had traction problems and only managed a 5.592 @ 150.88. Logan brought the crowd to their feet when he clicked off a 4.065 @ 176.47. Wow!

The second round of qualifying had the air getting even better and the track holding enough heat to be fantastic! It was tight! Gilmore, some rust showing, didn't get staged in time and the autostart denied him a time slip even though they said they thought it was a good pass otherwise.  Matt keeps the #2 spot.  Logan blew his tires off after a dead hook and stepped out to save parts. He kept his #1 spot with that 4.06 anyway. Bill Heister Jr. had a fantastic pass, running a career best, getting loose and stepping out of it for a 4.389 @ 145.96 for the #3 spot. Nice pass!  Tom Wirth Jr. found some traction and made use of the nitrous to run a 4.557 to qualify #4. Tom said he had more left in it if he could keep it stuck to the track.

The first round of eliminations brought air at 200 ft below sea level and racer frustration. The first pair put the #1 qualifier Ron Logan against Tom Wirth Junior.  Tom tree'd Ron and never looked back running a 4.379 @ 160.22 with both nitrous kits feeding the mill.  Ron had tire shake, pedaled and broke his throttle cable handing the race to Wirth.  The second pair matched #2 Gilmore against #3 Heister. Heister had electrical problems on the burnout keeping him from activating the trans-brake and couldn't back up. At least it wasn't tranny problems this time right guys? Good thing for Gilmore that Bill had his issues because they accidentally left the burnout stop on the car, slowing to a lazy 4.492 @ 162.80 single pass. 

The finals paired "Gentleman" Tom Wirth Jr. against Matt "the Animal" Gilmore. the air had dropped even further but the track was cooling and the dampness was setting in. Could be interesting.....  It was Wirth that had issues this pass. He couldn't purge his nitrous and had no spray for the pass slowing to a 4.713 @ 146. His problem turned out to be a .25 fuse. Damn the bad luck! Animal showed why he got his nickname with a white knuckle pass. He drove his ass off to keep that thing in his lane, pedaling his way to a 4.303 @ 170.68 and the Win!

Was a good start to the season. The April race promises a full field after a few cars are repaired and we get back to business. The crowd was great for a cold night with a light car count. The stands were mostly full and the spectators lined the fences.

I felt like a 'lost puppy' without my BackMotor funny car, but I made  the best of it, by spending some quality time with my buddies, in particular Ron Logan, Tom Wirth, Ken Gonyo, and Bill Heister. Thanks for letting me hang out in your pits guys, I plan to run the Sept, Oct, Nov events with my own car, so I'll probably tag along and get in 
the way until then !! LOL, J/K you guys always manage to have way too much fun.  ... BackMotor Mike