NHRA Heritage Series Racers Roast At Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park!


NHRA Heritage Series Racers Roast At Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park!

(Photos by Bob Snyder – Words by NHRA-Steven Justice) – The third race this year for Groups 1 and 2 of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series was held at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park May 5 – 6 in Chandler, AZ.  The weather tested the mettle and stamina of the racers with temperatures in the triple digits. The track’s starting line crew did a terrific job providing a racing surface that was both fair and safe for the drivers. Despite the heat from that fireball in the sky, the competitors did not seem to be fazed by it and put on a thrilling show with plenty of close races in every class.

In Nostalgia A/Fuel Dragster, Drew Austin and his team made the long tow from Tacoma, Wash., worthwhile with their win. Points leader Kin Bates had the performance edge in qualifying, but it was the Walt Austin Racing Ford horsepower that dominated on Sunday. Austin recorded the only 5-second run (5.990) of the weekend in E1 and his 6.050 in the final round was enough to defeat Rick Ewens’ 6.380. Points leader Kin Bates led qualifying with a 6.006 and recorded top speed at 230.49, but came perilously close to the wall in E2 and had to slow to a 6.824 in a loss to Ewens.

Jr. Fuel Dragster turned into a real duel between No. 1 qualifier John Marottek and No. 2 Kevin Carter (near lane). Right on script, the two performance leaders met in the final round. Carter got out first with Marottek in hot pursuit. At the stripe, Kevin’s 6.989/187.68 was just enough to hold off Marottek’s 6.940/159.12 by a MOV of .008!

 

 

The Wally in 7.0 Pro went to Lake Havasu City’s Richard High. Crew chief Terry Caldwell had the dragster purring on Sunday taking out points leader Brad Denney in E1 and the ever-tough Ed Middlebrook in E2. In the final round against Derrick Moreira, the quick-leaving High’s starting line advantage (.184) was enough to leave Derrick’s late, hard charge and better ET, 7.083 to 7.027, for naught.

 

 

In Nostalgia Eliminator 1, John Lawson, Dustin Lee, and Ed Silbermann were the performance leaders in qualifying, going number one, two, and three, respectively. Joined by No. 4 qualifier Kenny Upton in the semi-finals, Silbermann ousted Lawson in one of the best races of the day; 7.600 to 7.601. Similarly, Silbermann used his starting line advantage in the final round to defeat points leader Dustin Lee (7.642 to 7.640).

A very consistent Robert Johnson won Nostalgia Eliminator 2. Johnson’s series of 8.617, 8.632, and 8.635 in eliminations possibly could have been a factor in Todd Ferrendes’ breakout 8.588 in the final round.

Nostalgia Eliminator 3 came down to 2017 champion Ed DeStaute (near lane) and 2016 champ Lindsey Lister. DeStaute got out on Lister (.024 to .035), but Lindsey’s 9.651 was enough to overtake Ed’s somewhat off 9.681.

The balance of the Group 2 classes (A/G, B/G, C/G, D/G, and Hot Rod) were no less fiercely contested by the competitors. In A/G, both number one and two qualifiers, Casey Treur and Ray Padgett, were sent packing in E1 as was number three Tom Fowler in the next round. In the end, it was Frank Merenda driving his 1959 Rambler station wagon (last year Nash produced them) holding the Wally in the winner’s circle.

B/G turned out to be a similar story. Both points leader Neal Westbrook and number one qualifier Jim Finn saw their race day end early in E1. On the other side of the ladder, Kevin Riley was wreaking havoc on the rest of the field. In a marvelous display of consistency, Riley ran 8.620/8.602/8.609/8.609 (an average of 8.610) ending with Kevin rolling his ’67 Barracuda into the winner’s circle.

In C/G, it was pals Chris Rea and Scott Morgan duking it out in the final round. Rea, always sharp on the light, used his better RT (.050 to .075) to hold off a quicker Morgan with a 9.653 ET to Morgan’s 9.632.

D/G went to Bruce Boardman’s high flying (literally) ’55 Chevy over number one qualifier Ed Carey, and Hot Rod saw Tim Vargas (Chandler, Ariz.) win over Tony Cutala (Phoenix) in an all local Arizona affair.


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