8/8/2008 Englishtown 8.50 Index, Mean Street, T&T

[iceman]

Some beautiful weather up at Englishtown tonight for the latest installment of the 8.50 Index race, as well as Mean Street bracket racing and some test and tune action.

We hit some bad luck as a brief shower wet down the track just as the gates open, which delayed the start of the racing action. On top of that, just as the 8.50 guys were about to run, a Chevy blew a motor, crashed, made a mess of the track with pistons and rods all over. Unfortunately, that meant that in order to make the curfew, all racers only got one qualifying pass. 4 or 5 more cleanups did not help the situation, but the show went on and everything was done before curfew.

With the weather cooling off fast, racers needed to be at the top of their game in order to make it through eliminations.

8.50 Qualifying

9 entrants produced an 8 car field. Unfortunately, Tony Russo's dart did not make it to eliminations, and John Goss, the alternate, got a shot in the show. Ali Buscio put up her best pass to date (I think) with an 8.789

8.50 Index Round 1

Jason Penna vs. Wiso Melendez: Last race's winner Jason Penna caught Wiso sleeping at the tree, and also Wiso broke out to an 8.471, giving Jason the win light
TJ Kasper vs. Rob Poochigan: Two seasoned veterans here.. unfortunately for Poochigan, he redlit by .177 and TJ takes it easy and coasts down the track
Brian Ferrari vs. Bobby Moran: Bobby goes red by .062, giving the Mean Green Machine the instant win, Brian did not run full out on this one
Ali Buscio vs. John Goss: John got loose on the launch and could not make it down the track in time, while Ali takes it down and gets the win in round 1

8.50 Index Semifinals

TJ Kasper vs. Jason Penna A rematch of the last 8.50 race's final round.. both racers are close at the tree, Penna with an .035 and TJ with an .043, but Pena's 8.588 will not cut it against TJ's 8.510. TJ on to the finals yet again
Brian Ferrari vs. Ali Buscio Both racers with solid starts, but Ali's car can not keep up with the Mean Green Machine on the top end, Ferrari takes the win and moves on to the finals

8.50 Index Finals

"Kid Kwik" vs. "The Mean Green Machine: " With reaction times within 5 thousandths of each other, TJ's 8.527 pass takes it against Brian's 8.578 .. Kid Kwik and Team Kasper once again make it to the winner's circle at E-town, making it even more difficult for the rest of the field to catch up in points. Congrats TJ and Team!

Mean Street, Test and Tune
I don't have any results here, and too many cars for my stupid self to keep track of.. but I did snap some photos of you guys, the link to the gallery is below

Thanks again to Raceway Park and staff, for giving us access to cover tonight's races.. especially Michelle for being so generous to us.

Thanks Walter and Moody on the PA for mentioning the site, much appreciated to hear kind words from you guys.. It looks like having the kids in the audience be "car owners", and get trophies and winner's circle pictures is a hit with the crowd

by the way, did everyone know that Cruise Night is coming up ?? And that Raceway Park has soft serve ice cream, and roast beef sandwiches??

Good to meet some new faces in person tonight .. Keith especially, now I know the man that makes these 8.50 races happen Good to see the rest of you yet again, too many people to name, you know who you are


8/8/2008 Englishtown 8.50 Index Race Photos
8/8/2008 Englishtown 8.50 Index Race Results
8/8/2008 Englishtown 8.50 Index Arnie Cohen videos in HD!!
8/8/2008 Englishtown Mean Street, Test and tune photos

[R/T]

Great pictures Seth.
Do you ever sleep ?????

[JOE REDD]

Thanks seth. it was too bad on the first pass when the dart hit the bars real hard and went left we bent the bar in-between the ladder bars. and i know the guy in the camaro that blew. he realy saved the car, it could of been realy bad. and then to boot none of the money races went off, but it was still a good time at the track

[iceman]

Great pictures Seth.
Do you ever sleep ?????

nah, I am a vampire I work nights, I can't help staying up late

Thanks seth. it was too bad on the first pass when the dart hit the bars real hard and went left we bent the bar in-between the ladder bars. and i know the guy in the camaro that blew. he realy saved the car, it could of been realy bad. and then to boot none of the money races went off, but it was still a good time at the track

[drag-girl]

Thanks for the write-up and pics seth. Your pics are getting better and better!

[iceman]

I am trying my best.. that's all I can offer