PRO 5.0
Bill Glidden:
Well
known and admired ProPower racer Bill Glidden had some trouble hooking
up the big shots of nitrous at the Reynolds facility. Dizzying tire
shake forced Glidden to shut down on his first two attempts at qualifying
but he seemed to have sorted it out by round 3 blasting to a 6.91 at
200.31mph putting him in the number 1 slot. However, in eliminations
on Sunday the traction woes returned with Glidden smoking the tires
and losing in round one to the slowest qualifier Brit Floyd. Glidden's
new sheet metal, dual dominator engine with a Scat Billet Crank from
ProPower seems to be making plenty of power netting him some impressive
ET's in both Bradenton and Reynolds. Look for him in Columbus to lay
down some great times.
Derrick
Smith:
With the only nitrous automatic car in the Pro 5.0 field, some would
have said that Smith was bringing an knife to a gun fight. But with
a Glidden built engine that Bill says "makes as much or more power
than my own" and the low weight allowed for his combo, Derrick
was able to fair very well against the rest of the Pro 5.0 crowd. In
Bradenton, Smith ran his first 6 second pass wowing the crowd as the
boards lit up with a 6.94 in qualifying and a 6.89 in eliminations but
also toasting the tranny on the pass. With the trans working well in
Reynolds Smith qualified 4th to the tune of 7.053 seconds at 196.50
mph. On Sunday Smith was able to mow down the competition taking out
Chuck Samuels and Brit Floyd with respective 7.00 and 7.06 passes. These
wins setup the final between Derrick and Don Walsh, Jr. who had run
a best of 6.99 for the weekend. It what some call the best race of the
weekend Smith hauled in a 7.005 at 197.06 versus Donnie's 7.111 at 193.09
to take the win. Reaction times were .451 for Walsh and .501 for Derrick
making the difference at the finish line only .056 seconds. Congratulations
to Derrick Smith on a great and impressive win! Derrick's Glidden-built
engine sports a ProPower Scat Billet Crankshaft like Glidden's as well
as other ProPower engine parts.
SUPER STREET OUTLAW
Jim Blair:
Jim
Blair set the Outlaw class on its ear when he blasted his way to a record
setting 7.806 at 180.86 mph! Jim set out in late '99 to build a competitive
Outlaw car hooking up with Ronnie Crawford and ProPower for a stout
engine combination. What we were able to come up with is a 370ci, Yates
headed powerplant utilizing a Procharger to make massive amounts of
torque. Jim has been slowly working on his chassis and converter combination
that allowed him to shatter the record on his first qualifying attempt
and put him in the #1 qualifying spot over #2 qualifier Vic Williams
at 7.976 and 181.19 mph. In eliminations Blair took out Mike Smith,
Jeff Tyson, and Eric Paurazas on his way to the final running a best
of 7.87 at 179 backing up his earlier 7.80 pass. In the final Jim's
power overtook the track smoking the tires with the front end off the
ground at around 100 feet handing the win to Mike Murillo. Congratulations
to Jim Blair on setting the ET record and a respectable Runner Up finish!
Jim has bought so many engine parts for his two engines from ProPower
it is too much to list. We are just happy to help Mr. Blair continue
with record setting runs.
Mike Murillo:
With
his new ProPower Edelbrock QwikData electronics, Murillo has been on
a string of great passes netting him a runner up finish at Bradenton
and Winner at Reynolds. Mike qualified his turbo machine in the 4th
position with a 8.000 at 176.36 mph at the end of Saturday's racing.
On Sunday, Murillo took out Dave Brandt, Jason Cohen, and John "Fireball"
Urist, running an awesome 7.926 and bying into the final against fellow
ProPower racer Jim Blair. Even with Jim's impressive 7.8 passes Mike
held steady and drove his way to the win with a 8.011 pass at 176.22
mph. Congratulations to Mike Murillo on another great finish taking
the Winner's prize! Look for Murillo to be a racer to deal with all
year in Outlaw.
Chris
Derrick:
After
winning in Bradenton over fellow ProPower racer Mike Murillo, Derrick
was ready for more action at the Reynolds race qualifying right behind
Mike at #5 with a 8.076 pass at 173.44 mph. Chris's GRP Aluminum Rods
we supplied to him held up fine through eliminations on Sunday as he
defeated Carlo Catalanotto and Scott Pennington before losing in the
third round to Eric Paurazas. Chris was able to squeak out a 8.009 at
176.40 through the rounds and shows that a win may not be far in the
future.
Randy
Haywood:
If
you haven't seen Randy's Modular Turbo Outlaw car from True Blue Performance
you have been missing quite a nice car. The 5.4 engine has a set of
ModMax stainless valves and valve springs that have seen over 8200 RPM
that Randy purchased from ProPower to keep the heads together. Randy
was just getting his license ready in Bradenton so Reynolds was the
first attempt at some real racing. The turbocharged beast managed an
8.75 on the first attempt at qualifying but when the dust cleared Randy
put his ride 8th on the ladder with an awesome 8.155 at 168.91 mph!
Gearing in the car turned out not to be perfect as he was on the limiter
for the last 100 feet or so resulting in the low mph so look for some
better numbers in the near future. Unfortunately Randy became very ill
Sunday morning and was not able to compete in the eliminations. Good
Luck to Randy Haywood and congratulations on the impressive 8.15 pass!
Jason
Cohen:
After not being able to attend Bradenton's race due to a family emergency,
all eyes were on Cohen at Reynolds to see what he could do. Jason had
called ProPower for a few engine parts including Scat Billet Cranks,
Oil Pans, and ATI Balancers so we were looking for some great performances.
After 3 rounds of qualifying Jason had picked up running 8.45 and 8.21
until falling into 9th spot with 8.203 at 177.65 mph. The mph on that
pass showed low 8 and high 7 potential for the NMRA veteran. On Sunday,
Jason bested himself by laying down a 8.085 pass at 178.21mph in the
first round defeating Glen Rollinger handily. However troubles crept
up on Jason in the next round as he faced the eventual winner Mike Murillo
and lost with a slowing 9.22 pass. Look for Jason to be in the top 5
all year and in the winners circle soon.
Carlo
Catalanotto:
Helping out friend George Gallegos, Carlo again took to the driving
duties of this supercharged Outlaw car. After Carlo called ProPower
for trick Ross pistons, hi-temp rings, and other engine parts for both
George's and his Baby Blue engines we knew he was serious. However,
blower belts seemed to have it in for Catalanotto and George as the
blew them off the engine on every pass. After all was said and done
he had run a best of 8.93 at only 136 mph putting him 18th on the competitive
Outlaw ladder. Sunday wasn't much better with Carlo only able to muster
a 8.82 pass losing to Chris Derrick in the first round. Catalanotto
shouldn't be ignored in the future when the belts stay on. Truly a competitor,
Carlo will be making shots at the top spot in all of the future NMRA
races.
HOT STREET
Kurt Neighbor:
Following last years great performances, Kurt put himself in the #1
spot in qualifying with a 9.313 at 145.23 over Laskowsky's 9.363 in
the second position. Kurt's Glidden engineered engine has a Scat Billet
Crank and external oil pump system supplied by ProPower. Sunday, Kurt
defeated Mike Abdalla in the first round with a 9.508 at 138.03 pass
but then lost to Brian Booze by .03 seconds in the second round. Neighbor
certainly has a great combination and should be in the top group at
future races.
Bob Hanlon:
A friend of ProPower, Bob has certainly struggled some in the past with
his Hot Street race car, but seemed to fair pretty well in Reynolds.
On Saturday he was able to run a best of 9.497 at 147.85 mph putting
him 4th on the list. That 147 was Saturday's best mph pass for any Hot
Street car showing the horsepower Bob has on tap. Sunday Bob was able
to go 2 round winning over Duane Busch and Joel Puzder before losing
to the eventual winner Billy Laskowsy in the Semi Finals. Bob was able
to manage a best of 9.56 in eliminations, but it just wasn't enough
to take the big money. Hanlon should be creeping up on the winner's
trophy in the near future.
Mike Tymensky:
To
qualify 7th in the active Hot Street field is a great accomplishment.
To do that with a 5.0 liter Modular engine is awesome, but that's just
what Mike runs. The differently powered yellow mustang ran it's best
ET to date in competition laying down a 9.623 at 140.07 mph. Mike utilizes
ProPower designed Ross pistons and rings, ModMax springs, retainers,
and keepers, as well as other various ProPower supplied engine parts.
Mike was able to at least not be, as he would say, "a first round
duck" this time as he defeated Shannon Pugh with a 9.695 at 138.99
mph. But in the next round, the little engine that could wasn't enough
to beat the Livernois powered car of Ken Compton. The Tymenskys have
been working hard on their combination and feel if they can get the
power to the ground properly they may open a few more eyes to the potential
of Ford's Modular engines.
EFI RENEGADE
Mike Post:
Mike
surely showed he had what it took to win the championship in 2001 so
he has to constantly fight off challengers to the crown. Post's power
held true to get him in the #1 position with a career best 9.062 at
150.32 mph. Although ProPower supplied Mike with just about every part
in his engine last year, over the winter we made a few upgrades in the
piston department and it seems to work great. On Sunday Mike was able
to take the win in the 1st round over Bob Cook with a 9.153 at 148.14
mph before losing to eventual winner Tim Lyons in round 2 with a close
9.33 to 9.28 race. Congratulations to Mike Post on the #1 Qualifyier
achievement! If Post's luck holds out the championship may be easily
in his range.
Bob Kurgan:
Bob
has made some changes and his newly painted flamed Mustang impressed
us all by qualifying second with a 9.117 at 149.57 mph. Bob has built
several engines and bought a variety of cranks, rods, and supporting
parts from ProPower that we hope helped with his racing. Bob did great
on Sunday winning all of his rounds except for the dreaded final where
he lost to Tim Lyons gaining the Runner Up position. Bob ran a string
of low 9's to get him there and should be able to be in the top few
at future NMRA races. Congratulations to Bob Kurgan for the Runner Up
Finish!
Jeff Wright:
One of the few nitrous Renegade racers Jeff has made some great performances
so far. With help from Fox Lake with engine and cylinder head work,
Wright was able to shoot into the 4th spot on the qualifying sheet running
a 9.344 at 145.39. Jeff purchased a lot of engine parts from ProPower
under our advice and guidance including pistons, rods, crank and other
engine parts. On Sunday Wright beat Tommy Smith in the first round but
ran into some nitrous problems in the 2nd round losing to fellow ProPower
customer Bart Tobener. Some people say Jeff's car should be in the car
show, but we know he will be out there to put the nitrous to the test
and probably end up winning soon.
Mark Spain:
A truly nice guy, Mark has been competing in Renegade with the "speak
quietly and carry a big supercharger" motto. Mark was able to put
himself on the ladder in 5th spot with a great 9.366 at 144 mph charge
using ProPower designed pistons and rings. In eliminations however,
Mark wasn't lucky ending up on the other side of the track from event
winner Tim Lyons. Even though Spain was able to run a respectable 9.56,
Tim Lyons beat him to the end of the track. Don't count Mark out yet,
he will be back stronger and wiser in future events.
Bart Tobener:
With
Bart's awesome performances last year, many people were looking for
Bart to be the first in the 8's in 2002. So far, Bart hasn't been able
to muster up the magic from 2001 and of course he says "it always
takes me a few races to get everything sorted out." Bart fell last
on the qualifying ladder in 16th spot, but came back strong on Sunday
with an impressive 9.18 win over BK Meyers. In round 2 Bart again won
over Jeff Wright, but problems kept him from racing against eventual
Runner Up Bob Kurgan. When Tobener "sorts it out" look out
for some low 9 or high 8 second passes.