Matt Cooke Rides Consistency to Win Snowbirds!

Open Outlaw's biggest event of the year did not disappoint. We had a packed house all weekend and some absolutely gorgeous weather! The good air and killer track conditions led to an abundance of blistering 5 second and very low 6 second passes. Congrats to Matt Cooke on the Win and Ron Logan on runner up. Great Job by everyone!

Saturday night the Open Outlaw's grand pooba Bill Heister Jr. and his "Leavin Hard" band-mates put on a show in the Open Outlaw pits. Of course, as per usual, a party broke out! Band member Ziggy and Gilmore's crewmember and chef Perry along with his trusty sidekick Susan cooked up a feast! Lot's of BS was flying as a result of the liquid refreshments flowing. A good time was had by all! Thanks to all that stopped by to say hello and contribute to the fun.

  Race Summary Report

Logan Secures Championship, Laws Wins Final Event

Before Saturday, Ron Logan was in first place by 6 points over Melissa Hutson. Melissa decided to freshen up the mill for the Snowbirds so she wasn't able to make this event. Logan wasn't the automatic champion though. Steve Bush was only 21 points behind. Logan needed to win a round or maybe two and have Logan falter!

As luck would have it for Steve, it didn't matter. On his second qualifying pass, Bush's left side drive axle sheared clean at the housing just after launch putting his brand new car in the wall. The Championship was out of reach but he wasn't hurt and the car, while sustaining some damage should be ready for the Snowbirds.

After Matt Wirth and Eric Floyd suffered from a lack of bite and lost their respective rounds, it left Mike Laws and Ron Logan to run the final. Because of deteriorating track conditions, Ron decided to play it safe and idle down track handing the win to Mike Laws. Congrats Mike and crew!

Congratulations to Ron Logan and TnA Racing on their second championship.

November Event Winner Mike Laws

Snowbird Nationals only a week away!

 Our favorite event of the year is always the Snowbird Nationals. What could be better than fast cars, good friends, good food and maybe a cold beverage or two after a hard day of racing? I hear rumors there may be a little live music in the pits Saturday night!

The field should be the fastest ever. There will be a number of cars capable of 5 second passes! We could very well have a 16 car field where the bump is mid 6's. I simply can't wait to see it. Remember that Open Outlaw is picking up the tab for the tech cards! Bring your hot rod and let's go racing!

Pro Test Session the week before Snowbirds.

If you need to do some testing, the staff at Bradenton Motorsports Park informs us they will be hosting a Pro Test session Nov 29th and 30th. They also tell us anyone attending the test session is welcome to leave their rig on-site for the Birds. To get on the list or for details, contact la@bradentonmotorsports.com.

Matt Wirth wins the Nostalgia Outlaw Event.

BMP hosted the Nostalgia Race Nov 5th and 6th. The Wirth gang brought out their new combination of heads and fuel system. They had gone 3.90's in the eight but had not yet made a 1/4 mi pass. Crew Chief Ken Gonyo vowed to be a little conservative until he got a handle on the tune-up. The first full pass netted a 6.28 ET. A best ever for Wirth. He drove the new found power and speed to a victory on Sunday! Congrats Matt and Crew! See you at the Birds.

  Are these guys absolutely NUTS???

Bo Laws Performance has entered a car the last few races and now they think they can actually kick some Blown Ass!

Now get this, Mike tells us they are offering a $100 parts check bounty to any carbureted hot rod that can put a Blower car on the trailer! That is good for any round, even for a 16 car field. All you gotta do is put their sticker on your car.

Now we Huffer fanatics know they don't stand a chance in hell of actually being able to beat us but hey, let 'em try. C'mon boys bring out your carbed and nitrous cars so we can beat you down! Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky....

All kidding aside, these guys really know what they are doing. It's no coincidence that NASCAR and NHRA pros make use of their carbs. It's great they've chosen to be part of our group. See you in September Mike and good luck... you'll need it!

  Lightning Connecting Rods!

  Lightning Connecting Rods, Formerly known as FAP Machine continues support of Open Outlaw series. FAP had a great business building seriously stout race engines and supporting racers with their top of the line machine shop.

 Little did they know that when they decided to start building their own line of billet aluminum connecting rods, they would be so well accepted. Business has simply exploded! Consequently, they have decided to focus their energy on this new product line.

 They award the winner a $100 gift card every race! Check out their website and order some kick ass rods.  Click on the logo in the right pane or on our links page to access.

Hutson Cruises to Victory in June

Melissa Battles Mechanical Issues in Qualifying but gets it Done.

Once again, we had 6 cars show for the event and several more vowing to be ready by the fall races. Full fields will be the norm come September.

Melissa and crew could not fire the car in the first round of qualifying and had to push back. In the second round, auto-start electronics cost her a good pass. 

We had some very fast times considering the heat. Matt Wirth Jr. qualified #1 with a 4.14 and Stanley Albritton was a close second at 4.15. Melissa Qualified last with a 17.41 but would not let that cause her heartache.

Wirth did not benefit from being #1 on this occasion. In the first round Melissa "TADA" Hutson dropped a 3.98 on him even though he went red. She clearly had her issues worked out.  Steve Bush scrubbed the wall a little but with some fancy driving, still managed to take the stripe over Mike Laws in a close race. Stanley coasted to the win over Eric Floyd who had transmission issues.

In round 2, Stanley lined up against regular competitor Steve Bush and laid down a blistering 4.10 pass to earn the victory. I believe that to be the fastest Open Outlaw pass ever by a nitrous car. Sweet! Melissa had a bye and ran a "sight seeing" 5.38 to advance to the finals.

The final brought some intrigue. Could Melissa make another 3.90 pass in the heat? Could Stanley wring even more out of the nitrous huffing beast? The answers were Yes and... I don't know. Melissa left hard and when Stanley saw her out on him, he stepped off to save parts. She ran a 3.99 to take home the cash. Congrats Melissa!

Ron - you better get that transmission fixed or Melissa's going to take your spot!  

Next Event Scheduled for September 10th at Sunshine. See you there!

2011 SCHEDULE

Sunshine Dragstrip - Heads up Madness
   February 5th (rain out) (Made up Feb 19th)
   April 2nd
   May 7th
   June 4th
   Sept 10th
   Oct 8th
   Nov 19th

Bradenton Motorsports Park

Oct 21-23          Outlaw Drag Racing Championship - ORTC

November 4-6   Southern Nostalgia & Muscle Car Shootout
December 1-4   Snowbird Nationals

Two Sponsors Join Open Outlaw!

   We are proud to announce the addition of FAP Machine of Clearwater and GearHead Performance as Class Sponsors.

  FAP is a full service performance machine shop as well as offering production CNC services. They are offering $100 to the winner of the Sunshine Points races and $250 for the winner at the October Outlaw Race in Bradenton. They are also offering OpenOutlaw class racers 10% off any machine work or parts. They have also let us know they are building a car and plan on joining us as a class participant! Superb!

  GearHead Performance is a local Speed Shop catering to all forms of Motorsports and Street Performance. They have four bay area locations. They also have an on-line store with an extensive selection. GearHead is stepping up with a $125 gift card to the Open Outlaw event winnner. Welcome aboard!

  Check out our Links page for links to their website and contact info.

Sunshine Dragstrip, our series home, has decided to up the pot a little to match the Pro-Mod purse this year. They have offered two payout schedules. One for an 8 car field and one for a 16 car field. We will not run a 16 car field unless we get enough cars to run 16 in the first round.

 Sunshine pay-out

    Sponsor Payouts...

Lightning Connecting Rods - $100 Gift Card to the Winner.

GearHead Performance - $125 Gift Card to the Winner

     BullFrog Performance:  $100 Gift Card for low ET for event.

     FTI Converters - $100 Gift Certificate for best Reaction time in eliminations.

     Pics and Video Courtesy of "Chevelle" Rob of Devastation Motorsports

Logan Wins Another Championship!

Dec 2-4 Snowbird Nats at BMP

6-14-11 Series Points Updated