I don't know what happened between last race and this but from here on we had just massive fields for the rest of the season. This race takes the track at Lebanon Valley Dragway on October 12th and the pits are stacked with 2 full quick 8's and some best of three match races. Five new drivers in four new cars made their way to the Valley to get onto the score sheets including Hanna Colling who came with the Mustang GT her mother raced at New England Dragway last month. Chris Corwell, an experienced SuperCar racer came loaded for bear in his LS6 Chevelle. Shawn Bowman is also sporting a Chevelle today hers being a 396 powered 1969 SS. Racing a 1970 Trans Am is James PRUDENTE. A car that would look at home in any concourse event showing that it can also race with the best of them. Rounding out the new racers for 2019 is Rob Monte. Rob is campaigning a modern 392 6 speed Challenger against the pit full of classic iron. Let's see what today's best from Detroit can to against it's ancestors.
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Today's qualifying was quite the battle with a two cars going to the third digit to decide between 2nd and 3rd and four cars within .04 in the fight for 6th 7th 8th and 9th. Cars qualifying outside the first Quick 8 receive less points so for the racers this is very important.
Having less of a heartburn is Ted Daros who claimed the top spot running 10.98 at 127 miles per hour in the 1969 Nova SS. Behind Ted both the 69 Hemi Charger 500 of Tom Tarzwell and the 440/6 GTX of Bill Atwood after three qualifying passes ran bests of 11.40. Tom's Hemi just pipping the wedge of Atwood's by .004 of a second.
Further down the order with times of 12.072, 12.074, 12.09 and 12.11 finds DiCicco's Road Runner taking the 6 the spot .002 ahead of Moody's Formula S, .02 ahead of Hal Oaks' Chevy II and .04 ahead of the Monte Challenger who drops to the Second 8.
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The best of three match race was a rematch of a race we had at New England Dragway. Frank Hoefling in his pure stock 1968 383 Road Runner takes on the 1999 Mustang GT driven by Hanna Colling. This pair was closely matched at Epping and they were again today. With each race decided by .2 seconds or less Frank took the win with his family in the stands to see.
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The Second 8 starts with the Monte 2018 Challenger taking on the 1967 Firebird 400 of Andy Colling. Rob shifted his 6 speed to the tune of a 12.27 giving a three quarter second gap back to Andy's pontiac's 13.01.
Anthony Mauro, comes in the number 3 qualifier and finds the 1970 Trans Am of James Prudente in the other lane. In the match up of 400 inch Indians Anthony got the best of James 12.38 to the T/As 13.77.
Chris Corwell brings his 1970 LS6 to the tree to meet Chris Kuskowski in his 1974 Z/28. The two maroon Chevys leave together and pass the tree side by side but as the speed builds the power of the big block shows as Chris posts a stout 12.25 to The Z's 13.39.
The final pairing in the first round of the Second 8 brings the 1968 Firebird 400 of Dave Marquis and the 1969 Chevelle SS396 of Shawn Bowman. Today is Shawn's first ever race but she's not going to be intimidated even while driving her high powered Chevrolet. But Dave is an experienced racer and hip deep in the championship points and wasn't going to let chivalry stand in the way. Dave blasts a 12.71 from his convertible outrunning Shawn's gold SS's 14 second time.
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The Second 8 consolations feature the 1967 Firebird 400 of Andy Colling, the 1970 400 4 speed Trans Am of James Prudente, the 1974 4 speed Z/28 or Chris Kuskowski and the 1969 SS396 of Shawn Bowman. You read that right, these four ultimate musclecars are the Second 8 consolation, what an amazing field of cars!
First to the line are the two Chevrolets, Chris Kuskowski drops the clutch and bangs through the years as the 396 Chevelle screams down track next to him. When the timing lights show the results it's the small block getting the win with a good 13.32.
In the matchup of Pontiacs on the other side of the ladder Andy Colling in the first gen Firebird takes on James Prudente in his second gen. Andy launches hard and draws up a 13.02 to the four speed T/As 13.72.
The finals brings the 1974 four speed 350 Z/28 of Chris Kuskowski against the white 1967 Firebird 400 of Andy Colling. Both cars have been in the low 13's throughout the day with either one capable of taking home the trophy. Surprisingly Chris in the stick shifted Chevy runs the finals staying consistent to his last runs recording another 13.3 this time with a 9 at the end while Andy's Firebird slows slightly to a 13.16 but still enough to take the win.
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In the top half of the Second 8 field the four remaining racecars are all very stout machines and all driven by capable racers. Anthony Mauro comes to the tree very much in the SuperCar championship Chase and wanting to maximize his points. To get to the finals he'll need to defeat the 2018 Dodge of Rob Monte. The Challenger was slightly quicker in qualifying but runs a stick shift where as Anthony's Pontiac is very consistent and getting quicker every event. The gold Pontiac trips the lights after just 12.42 seconds but it was also .3 seconds after the Mopar putting Monte into the finals.
Dave Marquis is the most experienced driver left in the Second 8 having campaigned his 68 Firebird 400 for three seasons taking it from a 15 second Street cruiser to a mid 12 second monster. In the other lane, Chris Corwell has a monster of his own. LS6, the name alone intimidates and Chris's is no joke. Corwell has been on the cusp of his first 11 second run for two seasons. On this run pure power was going to be the difference as the big Chevelle runs a 12.19 to Dave's 12.92.
The finals of the second 8 is looking to be a barn burner. The 392 Hemi vs LS6 454. Both cars are just a hair away from recording an 11 second time and both drivers have been flawless throughout eliminations. Rob Monte's Dodge has been marginally quicker but Chris has a lot more experience. As the tree flashes yellow both musclecars raise their noses and then it's over. Maybe the pressure of being in his first finals got to Rob but he slowed to a 12.58 which is more than the SS454 needed as Chris lights the board with a 12.15 claiming the days championship.
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All that excitement and we haven't even gotten to the quickest eight cars on the property yet. The call to the staging lanes brings number one qualifier Ted Daros in his 69 Nova SS396 and his race pairing Kevin Davey shifting the 440/6 Challenger R/T. Kevin's Vanishing Point Challenger is a solid 11 second machine and he stayed true to that posting an 11.85. Unfortunately for Kevin Ted's Nova is a consistent 10 second beast and though Ted's Nova didn't run a ten on this run his 11.07 was sufficient to get to round two.
It seems that every race event brings the 340 Barracuda of Rhett Moody up against the six barrel GTX of the Atwood's and to this point the GTX has swept the series. Today was no different as the Atwood Plymouth bettered it's qualifying time by a hundreth running an11.39 to the ABodies 12.10.
Tom Tarzwell also used a round one run to improve on his qualifying time improving to an 11.28 making quick work of the 383 Road Runner of Bill DiCicco as he only went 12.05 on his way to the consolation race.
The last of the first round races turned out to be the best. Two of the most experienced racers bring their small blocks to face off. Hal Oaks in his super quick 327 Chevy II just barely made the quick 8 and reigning champion Ralph Barbagallo man shifting the AAR 'Cuda came in qualifying forth. Ralph gave the powerglide equipped Chevy an inch at the tree before storming to an 11.80. Hal however took that inch and then took some more by making his slower 11.95 enough to go to round two.
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The Quick 8 consolation race consisted of four 11 second capable cars, a 440 Six Pack, a 340 Six Bbl both four speeds, a 383 and a 340. The first two to pair off are the 440/6 of Kevin Davey and the 340 Barracuda of Rhett Moody. Kevin drops the clutch and gives it all the beans printing an 11.69 on his time slip while Moody needing a hero run only recorded a 13.23 as the track wasn't giving hero runs today.
In a similar result the stick shifted Cuda of Barbagallo hammered out an 11.94 while the Road Runner of DiCicco looked for more grip than was available only going 12.31 making for an all pistol grip final.
The two triple Holley equipped Mopars slowly pull into the stage beams. Davey's white Dodge and Barbagallo bright blue Plymouth. The starter thumbs the tree to activate and 12 barrels of carburators all open injecting many cfms of air. 1320 feet from there it was the Dodge that made the most of that air turning it into an 11.80 ET with the Plymouth going 12.21.
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The final four still standing are Ted Daros in his 69 SS396 Nova, Bill Atwood and the 1970 440/6 GTX, Tom TNT Tarzwell in the Hemi Charger 500 and Hal Oaks in the 327 Chevy II.
By not having out qualifying Tarzwell Atwood must face the number one qualifier in round two. The two dark green musclecars, 69 Nova and 70 GTX inch up to the stage beams and turn them on. Atwood tried his best running an 11.40 but Daros again is pushing up against a 10 second run just .07 off and puts the Nova into the finals.
The bottom of the ladder brigs second qualifying Tom Tarzwell to face the mini shoebox of Hal Oaks. While a much better matchup due to qualifying second than Atwood had by racing from the three spot, Oaks is no slouch. Unfortunately Oaks slowed to a 12.24 while next to him Tarzwell also slowed to a beatable 11.70. But getting there first the aero nosed Dodge gets the invite to the finals.
In the Quick 8 finals the bright red 69 Hemi Charger 500 exits the staging lanes besides the dark green SS396 Nova of Ted Daros. The Nova came in top qualifier and has been slightly quicker than the Dodge each round. But running side by side against the fastest opponent all day can make drivers and tuners make mistakes. Tarzwell has nothing to lose and tries to improve on his best and to get ahead of the Chevrolet. The MPH of both cars are similar so getting his nose ahead early could be enough. But the effort turned into smoke and squealing tires. Ted gets to the d d first with a consistent 11.15 to the 500's coasting 12.02.
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Even this late into the season there are still eight racers with strong chances to win the championship!
Top 10 points
1. Ralph Barbagallo....................295
2. Bill DiCicco..............................287
3. Bill Atwood..............................267
4. Anthony Mauro.......................259
5. Rhett Moody............................252
6. Dave Marquis..........................245
7. Tom Tarzwell..........................233
8. Ted Daros...............................226
9. Kevin Davey............................132
10 Hal Oaks................................108