GoneDragRacing.com

9/5/2009 Cecil County Dragway / Finishline Performance Outlaw Street Car Shootout photo gallery








8.50 Index

Jeff Moyer, a racer we haven't seen in a little while, went straight to the top of the qualifying ladder with his 8.508 pass. The top 8 cars were in the 50's, Harry Gerb was right on Jeff's coattails with an 8.510. Jeff is going to have to look out for Harry, he's capable of 8.500 runs as we have seen in the past. A total of 21 cars made it to 8.50 Index, a great showing in the popular class. Many racers are coming out of the woodworks in preparation for the Shakedown in 6 weeks.

Round 1

First up were two of our Sponsors' cars, Harry Gerb in his cleeeeean firebird from H&J Performance and Al Jr. from Fonse Performance. Al gets the jump on Harry, and does some pedal work down track in order to run an 8.556 and take his first round win with the new motor. Harry was no slouch though, he ran a respectable 8.564 with a .069 light. Check out the in car video taken from Al's Camaro. Next up, Angelo Valla and Brent Beachley. Valla drills the tree and gets the holeshot win with a 8.582 to Beachley's 8.565. Mike Pyott catches a break as he is dead late with a .129 light, but so is Jerry Sturgill with a .479, a nice wheelstand as he takes off. Pyott moves on, his 8.608 stands up to Sturgill's breakout 8.387. TJ Kasper and Joe Maddesi roll up next, TJ gets off first and doesnt look back with an 8.560 win to move on, to Maddesi's 8.590. Robb Puller in the BMS powered Camaro caught Kevin Troup taking a nap. With Troup 2 tenths behind, Puller's 8.628 w/ a .058 light does the trick. Joe Timinski's transbrake didn't hold when he goes to load it up, he rolls the beams before the tree is activated, advancing Joe Lagrossa to round 2. Mike Thompson cuts an awesome .007 light to Luis Martinez' .121. Luis runs him down and breaks out with an 8.442 and Mike moves along with a nice 8.562 pass. Brian Ferrari and Andrew Smith both slouched at the tree, Ferrari got an easy win as Smith had trouble getting going in the cool lookin' yellow GMC. Bill Cannon lined up against Joe Basso. Cannon's .025 and 8.650 package did the trick against Basso's .055 light and 8.667 pass. Rob Poochigian and Jeff Moyer (good to see you back buddy) take singles to round #2.

Round 2

Mike Thompson leaves Brian Ferrari sitting at the line, an .008 reaction time to Brian's .068. Brian runs an awesome 8.507 but the deficit was too large as Thompson goes 8.546 and advances. TJ Kasper and Bill Cannon rolled up next. Both of the racers were nice enough to let everyone go get a fresh beverage and maybe a snack before pulling into the beams. Cannon goes .006 at the tree to the Kid's .037. Cannon's Camaro is blowin smoke the whole way down, he goes an 8.678 which normally means a trip to the trailer, but he gets lucky as TJ breaks out and goes .014 over for an 8.486. The two red 80's Camaros came up next, Moyer and Puller. Puller takes a big holeshot win, his 8.621 moving along to Jeff's 8.574. Joe Lagrossa goes in deep and gets the foul, Pyott gets a freebie to the next round, he runs it out for an 8.491... slow down, Mike..... Angelo Valla and Rob Poochigian finish up the round. Valla was out as Poochigan watches him take off, Poochigian shows us how fast that car goes, and runs an 8.367 to Valla's 8.550. Al Jr. takes the beams and coasts to the next round, having some trans issues and not wanting to push it.

Round 3

Al Jr. and Angelo Valla make up the first pair. Both leave dead even with .065 lights, we hear some engines off and on the throttle as Fonse's chute comes out early and he runs a nice pass, an 8.522 to Valla's 8.600. Mike Thompson and Robb Puller line up. Puller goes red by a hair, .001, hangs the tires and takes off. Thompson moves along with a nice pass, an 8.547 and an .031 light. Finishing off the round was Mike Pyott and Bill Cannon. Cannon's car lets something loose, breaking in the burnout box and he's done for the night. Pyott takes the single, and listened to everyone's thoughts and runs an awesome 8.509 pass.

Semi-finals

Mike Thompson and Al Jr. line up. Fonse has some problems, he goes in deep inadvertantly and gets the foul, moving Mike Thompson along. The other Mike left in the race, Pyott, gets the single to the finals

Finals

Mike Thompson spins a little then gets going, Pyott leaves late and then he's out. He runs a little too fast and gives away the race to Thompson. Pyott goes 8.485 to Thompson's 8.802. Congrats to both Mikes for making to to a final, and Mike Thompson for his second win in as many Cecil races.

Arnie Cohen 8.50 Index Videos
8.50 Index Eliminations Results
8.50 Index Qualifying Sheet





Outlaw 10.5

8 cars made it to today's Outlaw 10.5 shootout. No surprise to see the reigning champ Joe Newsham from J&E up at the top of the qualifying list, with a 4.458 @ 171.69 pass. Tommy Kasper and Mo Hall, tied for first place, were right behind Joe. Tommy went 4.563 and had some issues with his chip, we'll see if they make it back for eliminations. Mo Hall was itchin to take out some turbo cars again, as well.

Round 1

Mo Hall in the Nitrous powered Camaro comes to the line first against Doug Harris' unique twin turbo GTO. Doug tries to get the jump but lets go of the brake .024 early and goes red, Mo zooms on down the track with a 4.575. Joe Newsham and Gary Naughton rolled up for the second pairing. Joe trees the heck out of Naughton and his rocket ship of a blue mustang takes off down the track with the front wheels off the ground to a 4.508 pass. Tommy Kasper and Steve Kleuepfel make up the final pair of the round, twin turbo versus blower. Kluepfel goes way red, by .259. Tommy has the car fixed after a trip to the Cecil County speed shop, and goes 5.279. Dale Collins and Billy Mitchell didn't make the call for round 1.

Semi-finals
Tom Kasper and Mo Hall came up for the only pairing as we had an odd number of cars... not the first time we saw these guys battle it out at Cecil, they are currently tied in points. Jaws dropped as Mo Hall took off early and his red light came on, it would have been a great race. Tommy runs it out for a 4.596. Joe Newsham says he's not going to coast down the track, he makes a hit with the tires in the air again, this time a race quickest 4.437. The final is set, the south jersey boys are headed to the finals for another rematch - Kasper versus Newsham.

Finals

Kasper vs. Newsham. Tommy has a .005 jump on Joe, but Joe brought his A game and just flew down the track, for a 4.469 to take the win. Kasper goes 4.685, we find out after the race that the car never shifted into high gear. The South Jersey boys brought home the win, this time, +1 for Newsham and J&E performance

Arnie Cohen Outlaw 10.5 Videos
Outlaw 10.5 Eliminations Results
Outlaw 10.5 Qualifying Sheet







Outlaw Drag Radial

You know we are in for a wild ride today when Alex Vrettos is down in the middle of the field today! Chris Evans in the bright green, procharged beast of a Mustang, takes the #1 qualifier spot tonight with a 4.856 pass. Paul Major and team are right there, with a 4.889. Scott Bitzer, Lewis Jones, and Alex Vrettos are not too far behind, with 5.070, 5.105, and 5.136 passes, respectively. Because the shootout always runs late into the evening, the drag radial boys are constantly battling track conditions and we'll see if the dew sets in when the sun goes down. Don Barnett, always a crowd pleaser, was doing wheelstands in the firebird like it was his job all day.

Round 1
Scott Bitzer in the "Monte Bu" rolls up first against Craig Walls. Walls gets the jump and is out, he gets a little squirrelly in the mustang near the end and clicks it off, Bitzer goes 4.967 and moves on. Don Barnett and Alex Vrettos come up next. Don catches Alex working on a burger at the starting line, as Don zooms on down and does not one, but two big wheelstands as the power comes in (you HAVE to watch Arnie's video for this pass). Alex takes advantage and scoots on by Don to a 4.916 pass. Lewis Jones makes a nice straight clean pass against Bill Dutka, both not taking off too quickly.. Jones goes 5.134 over Dutka's 5.509. Paul Major in the Vette flies past Bill Weber, his 4.887 was quickest of the round and he advances. Chris Evans in the Procharged Mustang gets the bye, he was on a pass then got out of it and click it off, for a 5.033

Round 2
Lewis Jones was movin down the track but got out of it and moved around a bit, it was a good race as he had Scott Bitzer at the get-go. Bitzer drives around and goes 4.974. Next up was a matchup that brought everyone to the fence, Alex Vrettos versus #1 qualifier Chris Evans. Alex made up for round 1 and burned him at the tree by a tenth, and goes 4.939 to move along. Evans doesn't have the cleanest pass, goes 5.310. Paul Major takes the bye to the semis and runs a nice 5.026.

Semi-finals
Alex Vrettos and Paul Major, two big HP twin turbo powerplants. Alex brought the noise and goes a race quickest 4.785@164.83, earning his way to the finals. Major gets out of it and goes 5.302. Scott Bitzer rolled down for the bye.

Finals
It sounded like some jet airplanes were taking off as Bitzer and Vrettos got on the throttle. Alex was out of the gate first, Bitzer was starting to move then BOOM, little bit of a backfire and fireball, he shut it off. Vrettos was moving, then as the power came in he lit up the tires and was all over the track, Alex did a great bit of driving to avoid getting a Cecil stripe. The win goes to Alex, on a messy 5.668 pass.


Arnie Cohen Outlaw DR Videos
Outlaw DR Eliminations Results
Outlaw DR Qualifying Sheet









7.50 Index

Surprise surprise, the dominator in 7.50 Index was #1 qualifier yet again. John Schroeder has that car dialed in, he went 7.519. Kenny Doak in the green Camaro was not far as well, with a 7.575 to take the #2 spot.

Round 1

Both Schroeder and Jimmy Reutter left about even, but Schroeder had what it takes to move on, he goes 7.594 to Reutter's 7.656. Michael Ingrossio came up in the mean looking big tired Cutlass, his opponent had some issues and was not able to take the beams. Ingrossio was on the throttle for a little bit but coasts on and saves it for another pass. Rick Righter in the Comet takes the bye to round #2, running a 7.637.

Semi-finals
Ingrossio versus Rick Righter. Ingrossio was a little bit late at the tree but gets flying, as Righter has some trouble. Ingrossio has his head on straight, checks the mirror, and shuts it down early without breaking out. He goes 8.027 to Righter's 8.769. Schroeder gets the bye.

Finals
John Schroeder versus Rick Righter. Righter was late, something Schroeder will easily take advantage of every time. Schroeder goes 7.624 as Ingrossio shuts it off early and goes 8.807. Yet another win for John Schroeder and his family, congratulations!


Arnie Cohen 7.50 Index Videos
7.50 Index Eliminations Results
7.50 Index Qualifying Sheet




Some extra stuff in the gallery... you'll see the bad twin turbo Pro-Mod mustang making some passes.. also, Jim Halsey was making some 1/8th mile hit in his Pro Nitrous Camaro. We got lucky with the sunset scenery, check out the gallery for my take on the scenery with some HDR images. Also, there are many of the cars from the Super Street and Pro Street classes. Enjoy

Wow Seth I love the colors in that picture!

They are fun to take, it's actually 3 different pictures combined into one, it's called HDR. Google it you'll find some damn cool images. If I have time I'll try and do different versions of it

Seth what would we do without you ? Thanks for taking the time to write all this stuff up and take the pictures. How the hell did you ever get along in life without your golf cart also. By the way thanks for the food to. Keep up the good work !!!
Thanks Jr......