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Atco which has undergone some major cosmetic changes with the wall behind the burnout box and the smaller tower being torn down.  Atco now has a different look as the cars come down the lanes and make a right into the burnout box. A much needed change in my opinion that opens up the track view. The index racers ran along with NHRA’s Super Stockers, Stockers, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street cars at the NHRA National Open sponsored by PC Richard.
The weather couldn’t be any better for the fans and racers with no clouds in the sky and a nice mid 60’s temperature! It was a good day for some racing!
Be sure to check out the entire gallery of the Index Classes at Atco!
11.50 Index
 11.50 Index saw 12 cars battling for the top spot with David Harvey Jr running the closest with an 11.517 with James Moshier and Bob Sanders running close behind with a 11.518 and 11.520 respectively. Once eliminations started it was a battle of reaction times as most everyone who moved onto round 2 had a better reaction time than there opponent other than James Moshier who was able to run down Lynn Townes with his 11.517 over a slower 11.571.  Round 2 saw the #1 qualifier David Harvey Jr. take out # six qualifier Joseph Trantas, Bob Sanders taking out Keith Huffman and James Moshier taking treeing John Grob Jr to move onto round three. Round three saw Bob Sanders and James Moshier running for a chance to move to the finals and both cars ran under the 11.50 Index but Sanders running closer with his 11.498 to Moshier’s 11.487. David Harvey Jr. had a bye into the finals and he ran under the 11.50 as well with a 11.488 and a -.008 reaction time.
In the finals we saw Bob Sanders and David Harvey Jr. Unfortunately Harvey Jr. fouled away his chance at a win going .017 red. Bob Sanders saved his best run of the weekend with an 11.509 to take home the 11.50 win and a wally!
10.0 Index
 10.0 Index had 12 cars come out and battle for the 10.0 Index class as well with Harry Lutz in his 1968 Camaro take the top spot with a 10.004 to take the top qualifying spot! Jim Harvey was right behind with a 10.010, Doug Frisch’s 10.015 was #3, Billy Gibbs who was running the 88 Monte Carlo who came out Saturday morning for the last qualifier took the #4 qualifying spot with a 10.016 in his only attempt,  Ed Riordan Jr ran a 10.018, Brian Grinnell 10.024, Carl Ungaro 10.062, Al Broan ran 10.062, Keith Reis Jr 10.076, Paul Revaitis 10.113, Jack Mullin 12.054 and Steven Silver rounded out the qualifying with a 9.999. The story here in 10.0 Index was that is Steven Silver and Ed Riordon Jr. These two racers worked hard to finish up there respective cars to make it out to Atco. In the first round Steven Silver from the bottom of the ladder took on #1 qualifier Harry Lutz and both cars ran very close together with a 10.014 for Silver and a 10.015 for Lutz but Lutz fouled away the win going .010 red. Ed Riordan Jr. was up next against Al Broan. broan broke so Riordan Jr ran it out to a 9.985 to move onto round two.
In round two Riordan Jr was up against Jim Harvey who was qualified #2 and Ed took the win with a 10.048 over Harvey who fouled. Steven Silver and Carl Ungaro both fouled in round two but Silver only went .006 red compared to Harvey’s -.014. Silver ran a 10.004 in round two to move to the semis. In the semis Silver has a bye to the finals so he ran it out with a 9.990. Riordan Jr. and Keith Reis Jr met in the semis with Riordan Jr. going a .001 on the tree with a 10.007 to take out Reis Jr who ran to quick with a 9.946.
The finals saw Riordan Jr and Silver meet with both going red and with Steven Silver taking out his friend Ed Riordan Jr. with a 10.007 to Ed’s 10.009. Congratulations to Steven Silver on his 10.0 Index win and wally at Atco Raceway.
8.50 Index
 8.50 Index only saw 8 cars in the field at Atco. Angelo Valla in his beatuful Corvette took home the top qualifying spot with an 8.502, followed by Dan Purdy with an 8.515, Al Davidowski 8.519, Joe Albrecht 8.532, Delon Pleasants 8.537, Alfonse Magliocco in his Fonse Performance 93 Camaro was number 6 with a 8.550, Zach Obert followed with a 8.567 and Dennis Moore rounded out the field with an 8.598.
First round Joe Albrecht in his Monte Carlo was up against Delon Pleasants with Joe moving on with an 8.588 against Delon’s 8.604.  Angelo Valla the number one qualifier was up against number eight qualifier Dennis Moore and Valla moved on with an 8.628 over an 8.647. Dan Purdy in his very clean 2002 Camaro ran Zach Obert with Dan Purdy running a perfect 8.500 to take down Zach Obert’s 8.571. The Fonse Performance 93 Camaro was up against number 3 qualifier Al Davidowski and Alfonse took the win here going .009 on the tree and running an 8.529 over Davidowski’s 8.565.
 In the semis we had Joe Albrecht and Angelo Valla meet with Albrecht taking the win with an 8.528 over Valla who ran to quick with an 8.498. Dan Purdy and Alfonse Maglocco met up in a battle of Camaro’s with Dan Purdy running an 8.510 to Alfonse’s 8.529.
The finals saw Joe Albrecht and Dan Purdy with Joe treeing Dan with an .014 light to Dan Purdy’s .130. This is where the race was won with Joe Albrecht running 8.610 with the faster 8.509 of Purdy’s.
Congratulations to Joe Albrecht in his 8.50 Index win and wally at Atco Raceway!
Editor’s Note – we are having problems with our gallery at the moment, so our photos from this race have been posted in a Facebook album. Sorry for the inconvenience, and we will have this fixed by the next race.
Heads Up Racing in our area kicked off with quite an amazing start to the season, with the first installment of the 2013 Finishline Performance / Cecil County Dragway Outlaw Street Car Shootout series. Besides some cool temperatures after sunset, the weather was perfect and it was a delightful day to suck in as much burnout smoke as possible.
During the off season, precision machinery was brought out to Cecil to touch up the year old racing surface – all of the concrete was ground to a perfectly level height. The results of this work are evident with the elapsed times on the boards, and the consensus from the racers about how great the racing surface was on the first race day.
Another big change is Finishline Performance coming on board with Cecil County to run the fuel shack. Dave O and the team have every fuel available for any engine combination, on the premises – there’s no need for you to go pick up fuel and haul it in yourself, any longer – you’ll get the same competitive prices, right at the track, along with the usual professional service from Finishline Performance.
When the sun went down, we saw some auxiliary lighting on the track – another welcomed addition. The staff at Cecil is learning about the best places and angles for the extra lighting and will continue to improve on this throughout the season, maximizing light on the track without any impact to the drivers.
Besides our photo galleries, be sure to check these photos out from the other awesome photographers on the property!
Outlaw 10.5
We heard rumors of some impressive time slips during the Friday test session, however, the fans showed up on Saturday to see the real thing. During the winter, most 10.5 teams changed a good bit of their setups, and the first race is always tricky for them as they get new gear dialed in. Two teams we do not usually see at Cecil were on the property, Nick Agostino from Ontario, Canada (yes, Canada), and George Williams out of Mastic, NY. While the qualifying order had Tommy Mauro, Anthony DiSomma, and Mo Hall at the top, the other twelve teams could just have easily gone to the top spot – their qualifying order that day was not indicative of the power they make and the hard work they put in. Tommy Mauro took number three with a 4.345 @ 180, while Anthony DiSomma took number two with a 4.186 at a big 191mph. At the top was Mo Hall, his Fulton powered, HFR Fabrication built Camaro going an impressive 4.175 @ 179 – setting the stage for the year by snatching the top spot with a nitrous car.
Half of the wins in round one went to the lower qualified teams – Brad Harris, Nick Agostino, and Mike Decker all earned spots to the quarter finals. Decker in the Decker’s Salvage car improved big time, figuring out their setup and putting up a 4.261 pass, with plenty more left in it. Anthony DiSomma continued to improve as well, running a 4.144 pass up against Billy Mitchell, who had a .073 advantage leaving the line on DiSomma but could not keep the tires stuck to the track.
In the quarter finals, Nick Agostino met up with the #1 Qualifier, Mo Hall. Nick caught Mo leaving absolutely dead late, and shot down the track to a 4.361 @184 pass, taking the win over Hall. Hall had a huge fireball (caught by Bill Robaey) when his fifth system came on, a victim of the cool night air. In one of the fastest side-by-side races ever at Cecil County, Shawn Zubler & KOS Motorsports took out the Decker’s Salvage Camaro on a holeshot. Decker went 4.156 @ 188 with a .187 reaction time, while Zubler’s Trans Am ran a blistering 4.162 @ 188, his .041 reaction time earning him a spot in the semis. TJ Kasper, no stranger to round wins, took out Tommy Mauro. Kasper went 4.310 @ 190 while Mauro spun the tires. Closing out the semi-finals could have been a huge upset, as Anthony DiSomma pedaled his way to a 4.523 pass against Brad Harris’ 4.389 – however, Brad was a bit late with a .197 reaction time to DiSomma’s .056, handing DiSomma the holeshot win.
Semi-final action brought us Nick Agostino and the team out of Canada, with the (relatively) little 480ci, twin turbo power plant, against Shawn Zubler. Zubler ran his career best on his last pass, but could not duplicate the effort and had to pedal to a 4.519 pass, while Agostino also had to pedal, but made it to the stripe first, with a 4.349 @ 155. TJ Kasper got the jump on Anthony DiSomma, leaving the line with a .018 advantage, but Ant improved yet again and ran an amazing 4.121 @ 192 pass to TJ’s race day best of 4.238 @ 183.
By the time the final round action came to the starting line, the air was drastically different than it was at the beginning of race day, with temperatures in the 30s. Nick Agostino and team quickly figured out Cecil County, and even though their times were not as quick as DiSomma, could easily exploit any error in DiSomma’s setup and take the win. Agostino was improving throughout the day and we would only assume that streak would continue. Agostino did end up running his best time of the day, a 4.357, but had tospot pedal just a bit and his mph was down to 171. DiSomma also had to pedal, but was able to recover the run, and take home the win for the day with a 4.203 @ 179mph pass. Congratulations to Punisher Motorsports and DiSomma racing for opening up the season on the right foot.
X275
With the popularity of the X275 class, particularly strong in our area, we have seen fierce competition at every single Outlaw Street Car Shootout. These race teams have to work quite hard to keep up with rule changes, but also to stay competitive, as each race we see the bar being raised. Chris Little, fresh off a win the night before at MIR, continued to run strong, and took the number two qualifying spot with a 4.689 @ 154mph pass. Ron Rhodes, also running record numbers for a small block nitrous car at MIR, was right behind Little with a 4.729.
An impressive story worth its own paragraph is that of Rich Bruder and the Bruder Racing family, who made it to the top of the qualifying field with a 4.662 @ 151. What is impressive is the fact that to compensate for rule changes, the Bruder family changed their entire powerplant, yet still ran at the top of the pack with barely any testing under their belt. No longer sporting a Procharger, the Bruder’s are now using a mid frame 88mm Garrett turbocharger, and DiSomma racing engine. During the off season, the car also spent time at Crazy Don’s Chassis Works for a double frame rail setup, and the entire front end was redone. While most teams would need a whole season to figure out how to run at the top of the qualifying field, let alone in the 4.6x range, this team’s hard work and knowledge is evident with their performance on the track.
Ron Rhodes (Rhodes Custom Auto) hurt his motor and unfortunately had to sit out eliminations, so Mike Cerminaro took his place. Mike faced Dan Whetstine, who with the help of Essick Motorsports, has had a strong start to the season. Whetstine was able to get past Cerminaro in the first round, but lost to Chris Little in the semi-finals.
Chris Little’s car was quite consistent, running 4.665, 4.661, and 4.654 to land him in the finals against the #1 qualifier, Rich Bruder. Bruder had spun in the first round on a single, but then ran 4.660, and 4.694 passes to land in the finals. Chris Little had a big advantage over Bruder leaving the line, but unfortunately could not get the 275’s to hook, and Bruder shot down with a 4.710 @ 156 for their first win of 2013.
Outlaw Drag Radial
Fresh off some impressive runs at SGMP, all eyes were on Frank Soldridge to reset the radial record at the County. He would not do it in qualifying, laying down a 4.593 for the number two qualifying spot. John Bova took third with a 5.061, while the rest of the field was made up of Bill Dutka, Paul Major, Mike Boccella, and Mike Modeste. This was the first time Major’s car has been out in competition since being rebuilt, due to an unfortunate incident at last year’s Shakedown at E-town. Boccella, also out in a new ride, made progress as the day went along. Mustang Mike Modeste had his twin Procharged ride out for the first time as well, and was getting a handle on the setup.
During eliminations, fans were not disappointed in the PSI Motorsports Cobra, driven by Soldridge. Soldridge went 4.335 in the first round over Mustang Mike’s 5.559, and was able to get by John Bova who had traction problems in the semi finals. Soldridge met Bill Dutka’s Malibu (J&E Performance) in the finals. Dutka had traction problems in the first round, but came back and ran a 4.786 in the semi finals. Dutka could not make a clean pass in the finals, as Soldridge had a great setup in the car, running a 4.295 (yes, 4.295, on radials) to take home the win for the day.
Outlaw Big Tire
Right from the start, we were all quite surprised at the qualifying numbers put up by the Outlaw Big Tire teams – with the top four being 4.55x or quicker. Ralph Hardesty brought his amazingly clean ride to the strip and took #4 with a 4.555 @ 167. Smokin’ Joe Schroeder set off just about every car alarm on the property, while running a 4.493 @ 169 in his blown ’69 Camaro. Mitch George, wheeling the Jack Boer Monte Carlo, had the candles lit on each pass and was so close to the #1 spot, landing #2 with a 4.479 @ 159. John Schroeder and family, no strangers to the top spot in Big Tire, were back at it with an impressive 4.454 @ 162 pass.
Ralph Hardesty made it past Smokin’ Joe in the first round on a holeshot win, his 4.570 to Joe’s 4.540. John Schroeder was behind James Houston by .070 at the line, but made up the difference and took the win with a 4.964. Mitch George didn’t have a clean pass on his single in the first round, but made up for it in the semis, taking out Ralph Hardesty with a solid 4.481 pass.
Just like X275, the Outlaw Big Tire finals put the top two qualifiers against each other. Mitch George lost before the race even started, going red by a mere .022. John Schroeder wasn’t just handed the win, though, he ran the best pass of the day in Big Tire, a 4.411 @ 159, to take home the win for the day, and also reset the track record at the same time!!
Ultra 275
We heard something we would have never thought would come over the PA speakers – a bonus prize to the first Ultra 275 car running in the 4.xx second range. With many teams still struggling in X275 late last year getting into the 4 second zone, we’re impressed to see how far Ultra 275 has come in such little time, that teams are knocking on the 4 second area.
Three of those teams include Marc McCloud, John Keesey, and Todd Geisler, who rounded up the top three qualifying spots in Ultra 275. McCloud ran 5.131, Keesey 5.122, and Geisler 5.103, all so close that the fans could not wait to see any of these three line up against one another. The rest of the field was not far behind, with most teams less than 4 tenths behind the top 3.
Eliminations brought along some close racing, with upsets always possible as the race teams teeter on losing traction in this class at any second. David Cappolina was making some good hits with a 5.413 in the first round, and 5.408 in the second, but unfortunately hurt the motor and could not make the semi final call. Marc McCloud ran nice 5.127 and 5.104 passes, both the quickest passes of the rounds, but also could not make the semi-finals.
The fans had to wait until the Ultra 275 finals to see the top two teams face each other – Todd Geisler and John Keesey. Keesey was not able to make a clean pass, while Geisler’s car was on rails since the second round. Todd took home the win with a 5.086 to Keesey’s 6.461.
11.50 Index
Wayne Roatche, Matt Downwarel, Jim Schmidt, and Cliff Sebring made up the top four spots, respectively, in 11.50 Index qualifying, all running in the 11.50x zone. Downwarel made it the farthest in eliminations, eventually falling to Michael VanDenHeuvel in the semifinals by a few thousandths of a second. Keith Huffman, frequent winner in 11.50, made it from the 8th qualifying spot to the finals against VanDenHeuvel, where he fell to the winner. Michael VanDenHeuvel made 11.590, 11.491, 11.493, and 11.511 passes in his journey to the winner’s circle.
10.0 Index
Not that we are surprised by the qualifying results in 10.0 Index, but, we should be – 15 out of the 16 qualifying spots were all in the 10.0x range – WOW! We may sound like a broken record, but, 10.0 Index is insanely close racing, and performing well in this class is extremely difficult. Qualifying order is a good indication of racer skill, but, it’s anyone’s race to take.
Taking top honors in qualifying was RJ Facchine, running a near perfect 10.008. The rest of the field is too long and distinguished to list take a look at the qualifying results for yourself!
We mentioned that in 10.0, qualifying order is a good indication of skill, however, there are predators everywhere in the field, ready to upset. Rj Facchine felt this, losing in the first round against Bob Romano in the 16th spot, Romano running a 10.003 with .056 light. We saw another 10.003 in the second round, this time from Mo Bolduc (#4 qualifier), but his .057 was late compared to Kevin Baker’s (#12 qualifier) .018 light, and Baker’s 10.010 held up. Rob Ward had strong 10.197, 10.045, and 10.031 passes to make it all the way to the finals against Kevin Baker. Rob came correct on his final pass of the day, running a 10.002 w/ 027 light to take home the win for 10.0 Index.
8.50 Index
This class houses some of our favorite rides to see, as they could just as easily win a car show as well as a drag race. The exception to that may be Rick Steinke – “Honk if Parts Fall Off” may be his motto, but he his tiring work on his Chevelle has finally paid off and the car is running great. Rick took the bragging rights in qualifying for 8.50 Index, running an 8.501 to take the top spot. Not far behind was, well, the rest of the qualifying field – all 16 spots ran in the 8.5x range. Behind Rick was Mike Pyott, running an 8.505, and newcomer Bill Pedus, with a 8.509.
Steinke kept his streak alive with 8.591 and 8.689 passes, until he ultimately lost to Zach Obert in the semi-finals. Zach’s clean, wheelstanding mustang was running great as well, reaching for the sky on each launch. Al Davidowski may have qualified 15th, but he is a serious contender in 8.50, running 8.510 and 8.541 passes, earning him a spot in the finals against Zach Obert. Obert and Davidowski left the line near simultaneously, but Zach was not able to make a clean pass, and Davidowski went 8.561 for the win.
We had the privilege of being able to make a short visit to the Yas Marina Circuit Drag Racing Facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, back in late December 2012.
 Yas Island is a popular tourist destination spot near Abu Dhabi City in the UAE, housing attractions like Ferrari World and Yas Waterworld. For gearheads, the biggest destination on the island is the Yas Marina Circuit, which hosts the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2009. On the grounds of the Circuit is the Yas Marina Drag Racing facility, which in our eyes (no offense to our track owner friends in the USA), is the nicest drag racing facility we’ve ever visited.
Inside the racing facility, besides the annual Formula 1 race, many activities keep visitors busy. After Drag Racing, we hit the on-site Go Kart track for some road racing of our own. Visitors to the track are able to participate in many on-track experiences, from their 3-seat dragster, renting an Aston Martin for a track day, or riding along with a professional driver on the Formula 1 track.
 Drag Racing in the Middle East kicks off in late December each year, and runs through to May, before the weather conditions become too hot for racing. We had the pleasure of being able to watch and cover the first race of the season at Yas Marina, the Pro Drag Racing Series. Be sure to check out our photo galleries from the event – be ready to be impressed on the facility itself, from the bleacher seats to the scenery, it is truly amazing.
We put together a short video that features a drive through the Yas Marina property to the Drag Strip, and some of the racing action. Check it out on Youtube!
Special thanks to Tariq Zuroub, Communications Executive at Yas Marina, as well as the entire Yas Marina staff for their hospitality and welcoming us to their world class facility.
Photo Galleries – Yas Marina Circuit Drag Racing – December 21st, 2012
2012 brought the heads up race community in the Northeast the closest racing we have ever seen, and it shows just by looking at how close the points were up to the final moment in each class. Race teams worked hard all year, through all types of hardships, from weather to mechanical, and still managed to shatter records in every class we follow.
Outlaw 10.5
Steve Gorman (Precision Transmission / Precision Powdercoating ) had a very strong year this year, finishing second in points at Cecil County Dragway and fourth at Atco Raceway. Mo Hall (R.V. Carey Plumbing and Heating) also had an extremely strong year, setting the bar high for the Nitrous 10.5 entries, finishing fourth at Cecil and second at Atco Raceway.
As much as Gorman and Hall tried up until the last minute, they were not able to catch ‘Kid Kwik’ TJ Kasper out of the Gil Christy Motorsports / Kasper’s Korner camp, who took home the Double Crown, taking both Cecil and Atco Outlaw 10.5 Championships for 2012. The entire team worked hard the whole year, with the help of their new engine program out of DiSomma Racing Engines and a ton of track time learning how to tune their setup. The highlight of TJ’s year was at the Shakedown Nationals, running a 4.08 @ 201MPH , and backing it up later in the event, taking both the Quickest and Fastest Outlaw 10.5 records!
Outlaw Drag Radial
 Frank Soldridge (PSI Speed Solutions) had an amazing year, getting a handle on their ODR Mustang and destroying both the Cecil County Dragway and National Outlaw Drag Radial records, with a 4.29 @ 185mph pass during the October Outlaw Street Car Shootout at Cecil. His efforts, while extremely impressive, landed him the number two spot in points at Cecil, behind the 2012 Champion, Bill Dutka. Dutka sports a unique Malibu, J&E Performance Powered, and brought on John Balinsky of OAB Tuning this year, a very successful move! Dutka reset his personal best each race, and is looking forward to 2013 to continue lowering that number. Dutka also took home third place honors at Atco Raceway.
 Team J&E was busy at Atco Raceway within Outlaw Drag Radial, providing the powerplant for Bill Dutka’s third place finish. Konstantine Zografos, with a late season start, ended up in the fourth place spot. At the top of the pack was Marcus Thompson (UPR Products) in his sick 1980 Mustang, taking home the points championship for the year. Marcus had his tough times at Cecil this year, trying to tame the wild beast under the hood and put the power to the ground, but he had it figured out by the time he needed to up at Atco, enough to take the crown.
275 Drag Radial
 275 Drag Radial is the source of a ton of “discussion” on the Bullet every day, mainly due to the incredible on track performances that we see in our own back yard twice a month during the racing season. Rich Bruder and family set the X275 world in a spin this year, with dominating performance and even induced mid-year rule changes. That didn’t keep team Bruder down, who along with Mustang Mike Modeste and Procharger power, motored their way to a second place finish at Cecil County Dragway, and a first place crown at Atco Raceway. The competition was tough between both tracks, especially at Atco where Ron Rhodes (Rhodes Custom Auto) was on Bruder’s bumper the entire season, eventually ending up with a second place finish.
 Down at Cecil County, Nitrous entries surrounded the Bruder Family at the top of the points, with Ron Rhodes finishing in third place by a mere four points. Dean Marinis was able to edge by Rhodes and Bruder, taking home the points championship for 2012. Marinis’ bright orange Mustang does not only look great, but runs great as well. Dean’s car may not put on a show at the starting line, but the numbers that show on the scoreboard draw a reaction each and every time he makes a pass. Dean puts a ton of work into chassis and engine tuning and has reaped the benefits of his hard work.
8.50 Index
Alfonse Magliocco Jr. (Fonse Performance) was looking to back up solid performances in 2011 this season, and he did quite well, taking home fourth place at Cecil County Dragway, against some extremely tough competition. Angelo Valla had a strong year, finishing second at Atco Raceway, with Zach Obert quite close behind him. Mike good, always a tough competitor, took home second place honors at Cecil. Despite everyone’s efforts, there was one race team that was able to best them, and take home the championship at both Atco Raceway and Cecil County.
 That race team and driver would be Harry Gerb (H&J Motorsports, Fonse Performance). Harry’s Firebird would take home the awards at any car show he showed up to if he wanted, but he chooses to spend his time battling the 8.50 Index competition. His hard work paid off, beating out Mike Good and Angelo Valla at the last races of the year, taking home the jacket at two tracks in the same year. If you follow 8.50 Index racing, you know how difficult that is! Congratulations Harry, we look forward to seeing you dominate in 2013.
10.0 Index
 Carey Cable (J&E Performance Powered) and the entire Cable family are not only good friends of ours, but also seasoned 10.0 Index Racers. Carey constantly goes rounds, and his effort put him in the third place spot at both Atco Raceway and Cecil County. Ahead of Cable at Atco was another Nova, that of Doug Frisch, who beat out Cable for the second place spot by 12 points. In the lead by a good bit and taking home the 10.0 Index Championship at Atco Raceway in 2012 was Ed Riordan Jr, in his ’69 Pontiac Firebird. Riordan’s racing operation is a family affair, like most teams, and his win was well earned by over thirty points.
 At Cecil County, Christian Benedict was able to beat out Carey Cable for the second place spot on the year, in his ’88 Mustang. Both Carl Ungaro and Rich Sosnowski did their best to try and win, but brought up the third and fourth place spots. Taking home the top honors for the year was Rob Ward, having a strong year and finishing the year with a six point advantage over the number two spot.
11.50 Index
 At Atco Raceway, when you mention 11.50 Index, you can also take the time to mention the Harvey Family, which usually has at least one entry going rounds each race. Dave Harvey Jr. took home top honors for the Harvey Family this year, with a third place finish in 11.50 Index. Jim Schmidt, making the trek from Connecticut for each race, had a great year and finished second, beating Harvey by over 20 points. The story of the year, however, goes to Bob Perrottet, who absolutely dominated the class by over 70 points and took the championship for the 2013 season.
 For Cecil County 11.50 Index Racing, Jim Schmidt was at the top of the ladder yet again, with a solid third place finish, making his mark on the 11.50 Index community. Keith Huffman, a Cecil regular, finished ahead of Schmidt in the number two spot by 7 points. Taking home the win for the year was Steve Gurnick, beating out Huffman by 4 points. Gurnick is a Cecil regular, who drives his ’85 Mustang to and from the track for each Street Car Shootout. Most of the time, he’s leaving from the Winner’s Circle, as he is a very successful racer in 11.50 Index as well as Pro Dial, where he doubled up and also took home the 2012 Championship.
Ultra 275
 Ultra 275 surprised everyone this year, with passes dipping extremely low in the 5 second range by the end of the season. John Keesey’s wild paint job had everyone’s attention at Cecil, and not only did it look fast, his Mustang performed well and he took home the fourth place spot for the season. The top three spots were taken up by racers that battled to the last inch each race – Marc McCloud, Todd Geisler, and Mike Barry. Barry’s Malibu took home third place honors with 55 points. By a mere two point margin, Marc McCloud inched by Todd Geisler for the championship, 69 points to 67. We’re looking forward to see if these guys can hit he 4’s in 2013!
Outlaw Big Tire
 We saw 20 entries in Outlaw Big Tire at Cecil County throughout the 2012 season, a strong showing, and many more combinations expected for the 2012 season. The range of cars that come to compete in this class is impressive, from Fieros to late model GTO’s. One of the best looking rides belongs to James Houston, who took his ’64 Ford to the third place position for 2012. He was beaten by a mere point by Charlie Boy Micallef’s 70 Chevelle, who took the number two spot. Taking home the win for the year and having a dominating year was Tom Tarsia. Tarsia’s Supercharged entry blew out eardrums on each pass, making his way to the winner’s circle a few times on his way to the 2012 Championship.
While we gather all of the results and many records that fell from this past weekend, enjoy some photos!
October 6th, 2012 – Cecil County Dragway / Finishline Performance Outlaw Street Car Shootout Photos
There is an epic-sized raffle taking place at the 2012 Shakedown Nationals, organized by our buddy Rob. Check this thread on YellowBullet.com to see the insane amount of items up for grabs, as well as the companies and individuals that have stepped up!
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511165
Sit tight as we have a ton of photos to go through and get posted from this past weekend’s YellowBullet.com Nationals held at Cecil County Dragway.
Here is a link to the gallery, where the run sheets and qualifying sheets have been posted.
It is with heavy hearts that we once again have to announce the passing of a great friend of ours from the racing community. Today, we lost our friend Mike Romeo, who battled severe injuries from a car accident in Bucks County for almost two days until ultimately losing the battle and passing on.
 Mike was hands down one of the nicest people we had ever met, always wearing an infectious smile at the track whether win or lose. He was often found not in his own pits, but in others’, helping out his friends or any racer in need. Mike had numerous track championships under his belt in the 10.0 Index class with his trademark Camaro, and also dabbled in 8.50 Index in the past until joining it full time in 2012. Mike is currently the points leader in 8.50 Index at Atco Raceway.
On a personal level, Mike was one of the racers at the track that always brightened my day, making it worth it to travel each weekend to cover heads up races. Always with a smile on his face whether he was going rounds or knocked out early (a rare occurrence), I am going to miss him dearly both on the track and off and will miss seeing the smile on his face during each and every launch through my camera.
We wish our deepest sympathies to the entire Romeo family during this tough time. A support fund has been created by Harry Gerb from H&J Motorsports, please click here for info.
Funeral Info
(Funeral details are what we have as of Thursday, August 9th 11PM – final details should be in the Bucks County Courier Times Obituary section on Friday)
The funeral will be on Tuesday, August 14th at St Vincent de Paul Church on Hatboro Road in Richboro, PA, opening at 9:15AM and service beginning at 11:30AM.
Address: 654 Hatboro Road, Richboro, PA 18954
Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Park in Huntingdon Valley.
Address: 333 County Line Road, Feasterville, PA 19053
The heat at the last Cecil County Dragway – Finishline Performance Outlaw Street Car Shootout was intense and although the heat did cool off a bit the racers were out in full force trying to take out the #1 racers in each and every class! The crew at Cecil were up to the task getting the track to work for the Streetcar Shootout racers and that was evident with the low numbers in qualifying. The Northeast has some of the most dedicated and hard working racers around and those who follow the Cecil County Outlaw Streetcar Shootout fans and racers alike know that when they show up each and every first Saturday of the month they will be in store for some of the greatest and close racing around!
Click here for the photo gallery with over 700 images of the race!
(don’t forget, if you click on an image within the gallery, a bigger version appears… with a smaller watermark in comparison)
Outlaw 10.5
 Outlaw 10.5 the premier class here at Cecil County Dragway in the Finishline Performance Outlaw Street car Shootout series saw twenty cars on the property trying to qualify for the 16 car field. Billy Gordon took the #1 qualifying spot with a 4.319 at 184 with T.J. Kasper right behind him with a 4.336 at 182. Lou Sciortiono held the #3 spot on the qualifying ladder with a 4.353 at 168. Harry Buck Jarvis who had a bad crash at the 2011 Yellowbullet Nationals recently has been seen testing at Atco Raceway with his 1969 Camaro and came out swinging and was able to put up a stout 4.356 at 187. Mo Hall in his Fulton powered big block ran a 4.36 at 168 held the #5 qualifying spot with Larry Wood in his beautiful Proline Powered 2010 Corvette #6 at 4.381 at 184. Charlie Dolbin running the Caldwell Motorsports Nitrous fed 2005 Mustang pulled in the #7 qualifying spot with a 4.383 at 172. The #8 qualifier was Tim Essick who has been thrashing to get his car complete and ready for action the past few weeks ran a stout 4.384 at 174 in his small block Mustang for the #8 spot on the ladder. Tom Kasper of Gil Christy Motorsports and DiSomma Racing Engines was right on Essick’s heels with a 4.385 at 181 to take the #9. Kenny Doak in the amazing blown 69 Chevy held the #10 spot on the ladder with a 4.389 at a mere 147. Anthony DiSomma who builds many of the motors in the Outlaw 10.5 class was #11 with a 4.412 at 178 but on DiSomma’s other qualifying pass he took low MPH of the event with a 192.66 hit. Bill Mitchell who last month brought out his new 2004 Corvette and has been making tons of progress on the new car took the #12 spot with a 4.426 at 179. Steve Gorman the current points leader had the #13 spot in the order with a 4.476 at 181. Scotty Guadagno the Brooklyn racer who can compete with the best racers in almost every class had the #14 spot on the ladder with a 4.492 at 163. Brad Harris and Shawn Zubler rounded out the 16 car field with Harris running a 4.508 at 177 and Zubler running a 4.52 at 166.
Round #1
 The first pair up in round 1 was the #14 Scotty G and #3 Low Sciortino who both run EFI NOS combinations and saw Low Sciortino go up in smoke for Scotty G to move on to round 2. The next pair up was Kenny Doak of K&K taking on the Caldwell Motorsports Mustang and Kenny Doak running a 4.292 at 179 to move on over Dolbin who overpowered the track and spun the tires. The third pair up was the #8 and #9 qualifiers Tim Essick and Tom Kasper. Essick runs a 4.398 at 172 with his small block to take out Kasper who runs a 4.468 at 179. Joe Newsham who was #17 on the qualifying ladder came in as an alternate since T.J. Kasper couldn’t make it to take on Brad Harris with Newsham winning on a huge holeshot taking Harris out with a 4.648 to Harris’s 4.556. Bill Mitchell in his new vette was up next against the Fulton Powered Camaro of Mo Hall. Hall spun the tires and shut down so Mitchell moved on with a 4.38. The #1 qualifier Billy Gordon was up next taking on the #16 qualifer Shawn Zubler. Gordon took this with a 4.30 over Zubler who hiked the front end up in the air and drifted towards the centerline so he had to shut it down. Anthony Disomma and Larry Wood were up next with DiSomma taking out Wood with a 4.429 to Woods 4.441. The last pair up in round 1 was Steve Gorman and Harry Buck Jarvis. Gorman treed Jarvis with an 002 light to take the win with a 4.362 to a faster 4.325.
Round #2
Gorman who treed Jarvis in the previous round fell victim to the tree with a .114 light running a 4.384 to Bill Mitchell’s .007 light 4.434. The next pair up saw the #11 and #14 qualifiers of Anthony DiSomma and Scotty G. DiSomma took out the Brooklyn NY racer who had some troubles with a 4.415 over a slowing 4.784. #1 qualifer Billy Gordon was next up taking on the small black of Tim Essick. Gordon who has been very consistent the past few Streetcar shootouts takes out Essick with a 4.305 Essick and Gordon were dead even at the 330 but Essick had to get out of it slowing to a 4.413. Kenny Doak and Joe Newsham were up next with Doak showing how much of a class act he is waited for Newsham who had to replace his convertor twice taking the J&E powered Camaro with a 4.310 to Newsham’s 4.404.
Semi-Finals
 The Semi-Finals saw three of the four with twin turbo combinations. First up was Kenny Doak and Anthony DiSomma. Doak turned on the redlight giving this win to DiSomma who ran a slower but winning 4.461 to Doak’s 4.412. Billy Gordon and Bill Mitchell were up next and Gordon went low for the event with a 4.213 over Mitchell’s 4.38.
Finals
The finals saw Billy Gordon’s 2004 Mustang taking on Anthony DiSomma in his 2002 Camaro. DiSomma had a low MPH on his 4.450 run of 169 to take the loss to Billy Gordon’s 4.23 at 192.
Outlaw Drag Radial
 Since the August Streetcar Shootout wasn’t quite as hot as the previous month the radial cars were able to get down the track easier. Frank Soldridge of PSI Motorsports in the 2004 Cobra was #1 with a 4.526 at 174 well ahead of #2 qualifier Bill Dutka in the J&E powered OAB Racing tuned 79 Malibu at 5.009 at 153. Bill has been working real hard in the Malibu and he currently sits #1 in points. #3 on the ladder was Chris Evans who has been battling some issues with a 5.211 at 142. Robby George in his Camaro took the #4 spot with a 5.344 at 136. Steve Drummond driving a beautiful 68 Chevy sat in the #5 spot with a 5.375 at 149 and right behind him was Steve Willingham in the gorgeous 67 Mustang built by Drummond Racecars with a 5.771 at 141. Ed Pfeiffer in the 93 Mustang who has a thread on Yellowbullet.com is making headway in his Mustang and continually improving each run. He sat at #7 on the ladder with a 5.800 at 120. In the #8 spot on the ladder newcomer Joe Giambanco ran a 7.303 at 124.
Eliminations on Saturday turned out to be a dominating performance by Frank Soldridge of PSI Motorsports. First round saw Bill Dutka taking out Ed Pfeiffer with a 4.829 at 167 to Pfeiffer’s 5.843 at 121. Steve Willingham in the 67 Mustang came up next taking on Big Green Chris Evans. Evans who has been dealing with some car issues hit the tree well but Willingham was a bit quicker on the tree and Evans wheelied and had to peddle so he came up short running a 5.57 to Willingham’s 5.295. Steve Drummond and Robby George were up next with George taking the win light. Drummond sat spooling the car up and went 5.13 his best time in the car but Robby George takes the win with a 5.31. The last pair up in the 8 car field was #1 qualifier Frank Soldridge and Joe Giambanco with Soldridge easily taking the win with a 4.53 to a slowing 6.68.
Semi-Finals
 In the semis Bill Dutka who is going rounds at each Streetcar Shootout shows why he is the current points leader ran Steve Willingham taking him down with a 4.70 to a 4.95. The next pair up was a battle of Team PSI with the owner Frank Soldridge taking on Robby George. George had some issues and slowed to a 9.35 and Soldridge gets his car into the 4.40’s with a 4.496 at 176.
Finals
The Finals saw #1 and #2 in the points do battle and Soldridge who is #2 and deadly consistent today took home the win with a 4.52 at 175 to Dutka’s 4.94 at 153.
Outlaw Big Tire
 Outlaw Big Tire which has been pretty good as of late saw 10 racers trying to get into the 8 car field. Tom Tarsia, last months winner qualified #1 with a 4.492 at 164 with John Schroeder who is back in action after missing the first few races with a 4.528 at 159. Charlie Boy Micallef the Long Island native ran a 4.619 at 157 to shore up the #3 spot. Roger Sterling in the beautiful red 2006 GTO formerly owned by Doug Harris ran a 4.706 at 152 to take make the field at #4. Joe Schroeder in the 69 Camaro ran 4.727 at 154 to hold up the #5 spot. Number 6 belonged to Kevin Ashely in the procharged El Camino running a 4.894 at 148. Number 7 was Jimmy Reutter in the 74 Nova running 4.945 at 146 and Rick Righter held #8 with a 4.986 at 142.
 Charlie Boy Micallef and Kevin Ashley were up first with Ashely fouling away the win but Charlie Boy who has been running very well ran a 4.61 to the losing 5.64. Roger Sterling and Joe Schroeder were up next and Sterling was very late on the tree, Schroeder hit the tree hard but blew the tires off so Sterling moves on to round 2 with a 4.508 in the N/A combo. Tom Tarsia and Rick Righter were up next and Tarsia takes this one as he has been running at the top for the last few races with a 4.49 over Righter’s 4.99. John Schroeder and Jimmy Reutter in a battle of nitrous entries has Schroeder step up and run a 4.51 over Reutter had some issues and ran a 9.66. In the Semi’s we saw the N/A setup of Roger Sterling and Tom Tarsia do battle with Tarsia moving on with a strong 4.52 to a losing 4.94. John Schroeder and Charlie Boy up next and although Charlie Boy steps up his E.T. it wasn’t enough to overcome Schroeder’s 4.50. In the finals we saw Tarsia and Schroeder. Schroeder ran into some issues but Tarsia matches Sam Gottier’s track record with a 4.46 to take home his second consecutive win.
X275
 X275 which has been a hot topic with rules lately saw 17 cars trying to qualify on the 16 car ladder. At the center of the rules debate has been the combination of Rich Bruder who is tuned by Mustang Mike Modeste. Bruder who was running the Procharger F1X along with the billet head has had to change setups back to the Procharger F1R. The Bruder Brothers and Mustang Mike even with all the debates around them came out testing on Friday and ran a 4.80 off the trailer. Qualifying this month didn’t see the Bruder Brothers #1 but instead Dean Marinis sat #1 with a 4.790 and 151. Rich Bruder was right behind him running a 4.805 at 150, Ron Rhodes of Rhodes Custom Auto said he’s only running one big stage today trying to figure out the progressive system. Rhodes didn’t look like it was to hard for him to fogure out running a 4.844 at 145. Mike Cerminaro sat #4 with a 4.963 at 144, Andrew Willingham ran a 5.066 at 138 for #5, Bob Clayton runs 5.076 at 141 for the #6 spot. Frank Provenza who hasn’t been at Cecil for a little bit came out and qualified #7 with a 5.099 at 144. Number 7 saw Darrell Varner in the 85 Camaro run a 5.126 at 140, Steve Thompson in the HFR Mustang sat in the #8 spot on the ladder with a 5.156 ar 139, Vince Palazzolo in the 2002 Mustang qualified #10 with a 5.248 at 139, Jeff Beish in the 1987 Buick sits #11 with a 5.267 at 134, Tony Mullin runs a 5.323 at 137 for #12, Brendan Mills who we didn’t see here last month sits #13 with a 5.445 at 145, Craig Walls holds the #14 spot with a 5.569 at 141, Terry Kowalevicz Jr runs 5.679 at 133 and rounding out the 16 car field is David Winder Jr in the S-10 with a 5.778 at 122.
First round saw Steve Thompson take out Darrell Varner who had issues on the line, Brendan Mills and Mike Cerminaro were up next with Mills taking out the number 4 qualifer with a 5.172 over Cerminaro who spun the tires. Frank Provenza and Vince Palazzolo were up next both had identical reaction times but the power of Provenza pulls out the win with a 5.004 to a losing 5.190. Ron Rhodes and Craig Walls were up next with Rhodes who has been in the 80’s all day takes the win with a 4.89 to a fouling 4.953. Jeff Beish and Bob Clayton were up next with Beish taking out the #6 qualifier with a 5.192 to a 5.424. The man with a target on his combination was up next with Rich Bruder running a strong 4.785 at 150 to put Terry Kowalevicz on the trailer. Dean Marinis and David Winder Jr came up next and the #1 qualifer runs a 4.857 to move on. The last pair in the first round were Andrew Willingham and Tony Mullin and Willingham steps up again running a 5.059 to Mullin’s 5.173.
 In Round 2 Rich Bruder and Frank Provenza were up next, Bruder runs even better with the F1R at 4.763 while something broke on Provenza’s car. Dean Marinis and Steve Thompson were up next in a battle of nitrous combos of Big Block and Small Block. Thompson’s 5.195 wasn’t enough to overcome the big block power of Marinis and his 4.791. Andrew Willingham and Brendan Mills were the next pair down the track and Willingham continues to improve his E.T. each time down the track going 4.920 to Mills slowing 7.836. The last pair up in the 2nd round saw Ron Rhodes take out Jeff Beish with a 4.847 to a 5.917
In the Semi-Finals the first pair up was Rich Bruder and Ron Rhodes in a tight race with Bruder running a 4.769 to Rhodes who runs a 4.819 which may be a personal best for Rhodes but it wasn’t enough. Dean Marinis and Andrew Willingham were up next for a chance to go to the finals and meet the Bruder Brothers. Marinis easily moves on with a 4.784 which should make for a great final.
In the finals we had a burndown until track officials saw a leak from Marinis car so Bruder easily takes home his 6th event win in a row!
Ultra Street
 Ultra Street the new class that is building steam and becoming a very nice alternative to some of the other classes saw a full 16 car field this month at Cecil County Dragway. Number 1 saw Todd Geisler in the 79 Chevy Malibu run 5.342 at 128, Larry Rhodes at #2 with a 5.39 at an off pace 112, Dennis Lowman Jr #3 with a 5.466 at 126, John Keesey in the beautifully painted yellow and blow Mustang at 5.624 at 131, Jeff Moyer #5 at 5.667 at 132, Mark Dill 5.691 at 123, Mike Barry in the very nice looking 65 Malibu run 5.840 at 128, Chris Hartman 5.844 at 118, Casper Pigott 6.073 at 121, Dave Shakespear 6.142 at 111, Ray Branden 6.195 at 112, Marc McCloud 6.278 at 130, Scott Rudinsky 6.291 at 113, Dave Mizell 6.487 at 121, Armand Guzman 6.509 at 108, and rounding out the 16 car field was Joe Boywill at 6.956 at 103.
First round started with Mike Barry taking out Dave Shakespear with a 5.84, Mark Dill takes down Ray Branden with a 5.67, Chris Hatman takes out Casper Pigott with a 5.88, Mark McCloud who has had issues getting down the track today in the 88 Monte Carlo goes low with a 5.252 to put Moyer on the trailer. John Keesey runs a 5.696 to move on over Scott Rudinsky, Armand Guzmand and Todd Geisler bother have singles to move on to the second round.
 Round 2 had Mike Barry move on past Armand Guzman with a 5.39, Marc McCloud moves past John Keesey and improves upon his last round with a 5.233, Todd Geisler moves on to the semis with a 5.347 over Chris Hartman, and Mark Dill moves onto the semis with a single and goes 5.690.
In the Semis we had Mike Barry and Mark Dill with Barry taking the win with a 5.345, Marc McCloud and Toddy Geisler in two very nice Ultra machines had McCloud move on with another run in the 20’s with a 5.249.
The finals saw Marc McCloud and Mike Barry do battle with Marc McCloud taking home the win with a 5.212 over Mike Barry. Congratulations goes out to Marc McCloud and his team who now own the Ulta 275 record.
8.50 Index
 8.50 Index one of the classes at Cecil County that draws a good number of racers and one that spectators like to see. Twenty cars filled the lanes to try and run the numbers to get into the sixteen car field. Unlike last month when only the top five qualifiers were in the 8.5x range this month the top nine were in the 8.50 range with the others not to far behind. Brian Ferrari took home the top qualifying spot with an 8.508 and Lil Man Marty Brown right behind him with an 8.513. Luis Martinez followed with an 8.523 in his small block powered 8.50 entry and eventual winner Mike Good had the number 4 spot with Mike Doak Jr behind him in the number 5 spot with a 8.559.
 Eliminations in 8.50 are always exciting with close heads up racing and this month was no different with Marty Brown and Mike Good doing battle all the way to the finals. Marty Brown who qualified #2 started with #15 qualifer Bill Pedus in the first round and ran an 8.598 to Pedus slower 8.722. Mike Good on the other hand had the Fonse Performance Camaro first round and ran an 8.608 to the the Fonse Performance’s spinning 9.194. In the second round Lil Man had Mike Romeo Jr who qualified in the #10 spot and Romeo Jr who is always a tough competitor but Brown took the win this time with a 8.513 to Romeo’s 8.606. Mike Good lined up with the H&J Motorsports Firebird and ran an 8.564 to Harry Gerb’s 8.616.
The semi-finals saw Mike Good, Lil Man Marty Brown, Brian Ferrari and Luis Martinez all competing for a chance to move onto the finals to take home the August race win at the Cecil County Finishline Performance Streetcar Shootout. The first pair up was Mike Good and #1 qualifier Brian Ferrari. Mike Good ran closer to the magical 8.50 number and moves in to the finals with an 8.516 to Ferrari’s 8.563. The next pair up was Luis Martinez and Marty Brown Jr. Martinez rolled the lights giving the win to Lil Man so he moves onto the finals to face Mike Good. In the finals both Brown and Good break out with Good running an 8.485 and Brown running an 8.476. Mike Good takes home the 8.50 win and moves into the #1 spot in points.
10.0 Index
 10.0 is another great class with a good amount of cars competing at each Shootout race with this one being no different. Fifteen cars were on the property with Carl Ungaro taking home the top qualifying spot on the ladder with an impressive 10.001 in his 67 Chevelle. Right behing Ungaro was Mark Plucinski who is #2 in the points with a 10.007. Thomas Wood in the 1984 Buick Regal is always a crowd pleaser when he pulls into the beams and hikes the front end up each run qualified #6 with a 10.038. Christian Benedict from West Babylon NY had a great day racing in 10.0 qualifying with a 10.045.
The first round of 10.0 Index Christian Benedict and Matt Jewell were the first up with Benedict killing the tree with an .002 reaction and running to a 10.103 over Jewell’s slower 10.169. When Mark Plucinski and Keith Reis Jr came up to the line Reis Jr hit the tree with an .008 reaction and Plucinski broke out running a 9.995 trying to catch Reis Jr. Number 2 in the points exits early this race. One of the best races of the first round belonged to Carey Cable and Thomas Wood. Cable treed Wood and ran a 10.067 to Woods faster but losing 10.063.Carl Ungaro the top qualifier in the 10.0 index ran a single to move on the the second round.
Second round saw three of the four pairs have red light wins. Number 11 qualifier Carey Cable upset #3 qualifier Kurt Wilh when Wilh fouled givng the race to Cable. Christian Benedict and Carl Ungaro faced off with #8 qualifer taking out the #1 qualifier. Ungaro hit the tree hard coming very close to red lighting with an .001 light but Christian Benedict wasn’t to far behind him with an .014 light and a dead on 10.000 to Ungaro’s 10.020.
Semi final action saw Rob Ward, Carey Cable, Christian Benedict and Rich Sosnowski. The semis also saw battles of Ford, Chevy and Dodge. First up was Rob Ward in the 92 Chevy and Carey Cable in the 72 Nova. Cable red lit handing Rob Ward a trip to the finals. Christian Benedict and Rich Sosnowski were up next with a chance for a trip to the finals. Both cars slowed down considerably with Benedict taking the win light with a 10.343 over a losing 14.37.
The finals saw Christian Benedict and Rob Ward and a Chevy Ford matchup. Benedict who has been very good on the tree forced Rob Ward to try and hit the tree hard and unfortunetly went red with a -.004 light to give Christian Benedict his first 10.0 win at Cecil County Dragway.
11.50 Index
 11.50 Index is a class at Cecil where the racers just like the 8.50 and 10.0 class see some great side by side runs and this month was no different. Jim Schmidt qualified #1 with an 11.545, John Secor was right behind him with an 11.568, and #1 in the points Steve Gurnick qualified #3 with an 11.569. The story today was Keith Huffman in his 72 Chevy who sits #2 in points but qualified in the #16 spot and mowed through a tough field.
During Eliminations, Jim Schmidt who qualified #1 took on Keith Huffman and Schmidt was slow on the tree giving the win to Huffman with a 11.545 to Huffmans winning 11.548. Round 2 saw much of the same close racing with Steve Gurnick running an almost perfect light with an .002 to Donte Garrett .080. Gurnick ran an 11.666 to Garrett’s faster 11.606. Huffman ran a nice 11.52 in round 2 to take out Michael Carchidi who ran way under with an 11.217 to end his day. The semis finals saw Steve Gurnick, Rocco George, Keith Huffman and Michael VanDenHeuvel line up with chances of making it to the final. Gurnick who is #1 in points was slow on the tree but he was able to chase down Rocco George beating him with a 11.579 to the slower 11.696. Huffman who is coming out of the #16 spot faced off with VanDenHeuvel and both cars run under breaking out but Huffman moves on to the finals with a 11.498 to an 11.487. Keith Huffman and Steve Gurnick faced off in the finals with another double breakout and Huffman was able to run closer to the 11.50 mark with an 11.496 to a losing 11.479.
An announcement from Dave O (Finishline Performance) about a test session open this Saturday, July 21st, to the Cecil County Dragway Outlaw Street Car Shootout regulars. Good deal at $25 for Shootout regulars!!
(Source / Discussion: YellowBullet.com)
“This Saturday July 21 is a bracket race and open TNT which is $50 to test. We are opening it up to all Saturday Street car Shootout racers that would like to test.
Brackets start at 12 noon and and we’ll run you as a class so you will be called up after Super pro. We will run till we’re done the bracket race should be till 8pm we should be done. There will be 2 lanes for TNT a slick lane and a Drag Radial lane. And it will cost $25 to anyone that ran any of the SSCSO this year.
Crew/Spectators $12.00
Also Big Red will be there testing. Hope to see a few of you’s down to test.
Also please call or send a PM so I can put you on the list.”
Dave can be reached under the screen name Dave@Finishlineperf on YellowBullet.com.
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Atco now has a different look as the cars come down the lanes and make a right into the burnout box. A much needed change in my opinion that opens up the track view. The index racers ran along with NHRA’s Super Stockers, Stockers, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street cars at the NHRA National Open sponsored by PC Richard.
11.50 Index saw 12 cars battling for the top spot with David Harvey Jr running the closest with an 11.517 with James Moshier and Bob Sanders running close behind with a 11.518 and 11.520 respectively. Once eliminations started it was a battle of reaction times as most everyone who moved onto round 2 had a better reaction time than there opponent other than James Moshier who was able to run down Lynn Townes with his 11.517 over a slower 11.571. 
Round 2 saw the #1 qualifier David Harvey Jr. take out # six qualifier Joseph Trantas, Bob Sanders taking out Keith Huffman and James Moshier taking treeing John Grob Jr to move onto round three. Round three saw Bob Sanders and James Moshier running for a chance to move to the finals and both cars ran under the 11.50 Index but Sanders running closer with his 11.498 to Moshier’s 11.487. David Harvey Jr. had a bye into the finals and he ran under the 11.50 as well with a 11.488 and a -.008 reaction time.
10.0 Index had 12 cars come out and battle for the 10.0 Index class as well with Harry Lutz in his 1968 Camaro take the top spot with a 10.004 to take the top qualifying spot! Jim Harvey was right behind with a 10.010, Doug Frisch’s 10.015 was #3, Billy Gibbs who was running the 88 Monte Carlo who came out Saturday morning for the last qualifier took the #4 qualifying spot with a 10.016 in his only attempt, 
Ed Riordan Jr ran a 10.018, Brian Grinnell 10.024, Carl Ungaro 10.062, Al Broan ran 10.062, Keith Reis Jr 10.076, Paul Revaitis 10.113, Jack Mullin 12.054 and Steven Silver rounded out the qualifying with a 9.999. The story here in 10.0 Index was that is Steven Silver and Ed Riordon Jr. These two racers worked hard to finish up there respective cars to make it out to Atco. In the first round Steven Silver from the bottom of the ladder took on #1 qualifier Harry Lutz and both cars ran very close together with a 10.014 for Silver and a 10.015 for Lutz but Lutz fouled away the win going .010 red. Ed Riordan Jr. was up next against Al Broan. broan broke so Riordan Jr ran it out to a 9.985 to move onto round two.
8.50 Index only saw 8 cars in the field at Atco. Angelo Valla in his beatuful Corvette took home the top qualifying spot with an 8.502, followed by Dan Purdy with an 8.515, Al Davidowski 8.519, Joe Albrecht 8.532, Delon Pleasants 8.537, Alfonse Magliocco in his Fonse Performance 93 Camaro was number 6 with a 8.550, Zach Obert followed with a 8.567 and Dennis Moore rounded out the field with an 8.598.
Angelo Valla the number one qualifier was up against number eight qualifier Dennis Moore and Valla moved on with an 8.628 over an 8.647. Dan Purdy in his very clean 2002 Camaro ran Zach Obert with Dan Purdy running a perfect 8.500 to take down Zach Obert’s 8.571. The Fonse Performance 93 Camaro was up against number 3 qualifier Al Davidowski and Alfonse took the win here going .009 on the tree and running an 8.529 over Davidowski’s 8.565.
In the semis we had Joe Albrecht and Angelo Valla meet with Albrecht taking the win with an 8.528 over Valla who ran to quick with an 8.498. Dan Purdy and Alfonse Maglocco met up in a battle of Camaro’s with Dan Purdy running an 8.510 to Alfonse’s 8.529.
