{"id":51739,"date":"2014-02-21T01:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T09:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bangshift.com\/?p=51739"},"modified":"2014-02-21T11:29:20","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T19:29:20","slug":"bangshift-exclusive-the-auto-club-fontana-pro-mod-noise-test-we-were-there-full-results-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/bangshift1320\/bangshift-exclusive-the-auto-club-fontana-pro-mod-noise-test-we-were-there-full-results-inside\/","title":{"rendered":"BangShift Exclusive: The Auto Club Fontana Pro Mod Noise Test – We Were There – Did They Pass? (Gallery)"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Words and photos by Darr Hawthorne) – As we get down to the first NHRA Street Legal event this weekend at\u00a0Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, Wednesday\u2019s test session to determine\u00a0which racecars would pass the Court mandated level of 85 Decibels at\u00a0the nearest monitoring point. \u00a0The results proved to be bittersweet for\u00a0racers and drag fans. Ray Wilkings, VP And General Manager of the Speedway, led the\u00a0testing with a track staff to see just what the new 1,800 foot sound\u00a0attenuation wall could handle. \u00a0Track Manager Tracey Fischle invited\u00a0some of the racers who were expected to show up for the upcoming\u00a0PSCA and NMCA events in a couple of weeks.<\/div>\n
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Eyes were focused on the Pro Mods of Scott Oksas, Mike Maggio and\u00a0John Scialpi \u2013 a turbocharged Camaro, a supercharged Camaro and\u00a0Scialpi\u2019s blown \u201957 Chevy, all had run in competition at Auto Club\u00a0Dragway in the past. According to Manager Tracey Fischle, track personnel had been\u00a0dragging and prepping the track for a couple of weeks prior to the test,to get some rubber into the inactive racing surface, dormant since\u00a0March of 2012.<\/div>\n
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In a controversial decision, the San Bernardino County Courts\u00a0shuttered the Dragway, the last active, weekly LA area quarter mile\u00a0dragstrip when a local community group filed suit and won citing\u00a0environmental and noise issues. \u00a0The remedy, based upon multiple\u00a0sound studies at other tracks, was to build a sound attenuation wall\u00a0estimated as at additional $1.2 Million over and above the massive\u00a0costs to defend the lawsuit.<\/div>\n
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To start the morning sessions, a couple of Super\/Street, Super\/Gas cars\u00a0made it down the track, but traction was difficult and even racers with\u00a0throttle stops and delay boxes often spun their slicks as they launched.\u00a0Heritage Series NE1 Champion Bobby Cottrell made a solid pass and\u00a0Joe Glenwinkle\u00a0launched in his Top Dragster, but all this effort was to test\u00a0how the sound wall works.<\/div>\n
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The track was still green as the first of the Pro Mods rolled forward with\u00a0Mike Maggio in his blown Camaro; his company was a major player in\u00a0building the Dragway wall. \u00a0When Maggio hit the throttle, the tires\u00a0spun, but the decibels from the burnout were recorded, he motored\u00a0down the track. John Scialpi in his potent \u201957 Chevy made a crossed-up burnout, staged\u00a0and launched, spinning the tires, but again the sound from the burnout\u00a0was enough for gathering data.Last was Scott Oksas in his red twin turbo Camaro, who overpowered\u00a0the track, but the sound level was being recorded at the two remote\u00a0locations.<\/div>\n
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Calling a break on the track, Track Manager Tracey Fischle, Ray\u00a0Wilkings and other track personnel met to compile their information\u00a0and Wilkings came forward with his observation, \u201cWe are getting some\u00a0good data, but we\u2019ve got some cars that are not going to be able to\u00a0run here. \u00a0We are reaching too much of a decibel level, but the wall is\u00a0doing what it is supposed to do, it\u2019s showing that the (sound) studies\u00a0we did are verifying what was showed.\u201d \u00a0Wilkings added, \u201cWhat we did today was to bring out something that\u00a0we thought would exceed those numbers and, in fact, they are\u00a0exceeding those numbers. \u00a0We proved that the studies were accurate,\u00a0what they said we could run \u2013 we can run, what they said would be\u00a0borderline were in fact borderline.\u201d\u00a0Wilkings had been measuring the sound from approximately 1\/8 mile,\u00a0directly north of the dragway starting line, on the other side of the newwall. \u201cEverything was fine, we didn\u2019t even reach a decibel level that\u00a0exceeded the level of normal traffic on the road. \u00a0It was the blown Pro\u00a0Mod cars that were the problem.\u201d<\/div>\n
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An observer to the testing was MNCA Event Director Rollie Miller who\u00a0commented, \u201cWe\u2019ll make the decision as to what we\u2019ll be doing over\u00a0the next few days \u2013 all other classes (except Pro Mod) are going to be\u00a0fine.\u201d \u00a0The NMCA Lucas Oil NMCA West Street Car Nationals is\u00a0scheduled for Auto Club Dragway on March 28 \u2013 30.\u00a0Pro Mod owner Mike Maggio was humorous in his response, \u201cI love the\u00a0way the wall looks, its pretty. \u00a0We were hoping we could run out here,\u00a0it\u2019s a half hour from my house! \u00a0But it doesn\u2019t look like it, this year we\u00a0are just going to run at different places.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Scott Oksas\u2019 Camaro registered only 77 decibels on the burnout, but\u00a0was philosophical about the day, \u201cI kind of expected this result, and I\u00a0just came out here to help them with the sound study so they could\u00a0see what happens. \u00a0They’re not going to have a problem with me (turbo\u00a0Pro Mod), the problem is the blower cars and that stinks, we\u2019ve got to \u00a0be able to have blower cars to run these Pro Mod classes.\u201dSadly for Pro Mod fans, this is going to be a \u201cgood neighbor\u201d year for \u00a0Auto Club Dragway, but there will still be plenty of fast racecars going \u00a0down the track, with a full schedule planned. \u00a0The 2015 schedule may\u00a0allow for some additional \u201cnoise\u201d racedays, but only time will tell. \u00a0The\u00a0dragway is open for business!<\/div>\n
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This Saturday, March 22, marks the first of fourteen scheduled NHRA\u00a0Street Legal events at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana.<\/div>\n
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