Nostalgia Fall Championships, October 5-6, 2013, Famoso Raceway
SUNDAY RACING
Fall colors add variety to northern climes, but the Nostalgia Fall Championships supplied race fans with a mix of track action in Southern California on October 5th and 6th. From stock-appearing street cars, hot rods, gassers, nitro-burning funny cars and dragsters to the 250 mph, 5 second ProMods there was something for everyone. Throw in the beautiful fall weather and the week-end race was perfect.
The lanes filled up early Sunday morning
Racing this week-end included the Hot Rod Heritage Series Group 2 (A,B,C,D Gassers, NE I, NE II, NE III, and Hot Rods). This was the final points race for Group 2 allowing a few racers to take home the trophy as race winner and a trophy for Heritage Series winner.
Mega Mopars (Bracket 1, Bracket 2, DOT Street, and Challenger Shoot Out) also ran for trophies. Bracket 1 cars run with slicks using electronics while Bracket 2 runs slicks but no electronics. DOT classes require street tires and mufflers and no electronics. The Challenger Shoot Out included street legal Challengers with only one power adder (turbo charger, super charger or nitrous).
West Coast ProMods were running this week-end too. The ProMods provided the fastest, quickest racing of the week-end running in the 5 seconds at speeds upward of 250 mph.
With Hot Rod Reunion 2 weeks away, several Nitro Funny Cars, Top Fuelers and A Fuel cars were doing some tuning.
Except for delays after a couple of oil downs and the skyward launch of a funny car body by Adam Sorokin in Nitro Express, the racing was continuous from morning to night both Saturday and Sunday.
Nitro Express with the body in place
HERITAGE SERIES
Nostalgia Eliminator I – Mark Whynaught was the points leader going into this final race but went out in the 2nd round of eliminations. While he took home the trophy as Series winner, Don Taros from San Pedro, CA won the race. Taros, the #8 qualifier beat Alan Hull the #4 qualifier in the 12 car field. With a reaction time of .005 Taros motored down the track after Hull tripped the red light.
Nostalgia Eliminator II – Gary Ryan and his ’32 Bantam, Pure Adrenaline, stayed ahead of a 15 car field to the finish line. In the final round, Ryan took the win over Terri Scaduto. Scaduto broke out with an ET of 8.575 while Ryan ran a near perfect 8.609 ET on this 8.60 index class. Jason Francev was the points leader going into the race and although he went out in the second round of eliminations he kept his points lead to become the Series winner.
Nostalgia Eliminator III – 15 cars took the field in this class. Roger Turley went into the week-end leading the points race. While he didn’t win the race he did keep his points lead to take home the Heritage Series trophy. Ernie McAllister ran the ladder in his ’27 Ford to win the race. McAllister beat out the ’27 Ford driven by Bret Faqua. McAllister had a reaction time of .044. In this 9.60 index class, McAllister ran ET of 9.631 at 137.58 mph. Faqua broke out with an ET of 9.567.
A Gas – Dean Hall won the Series last year and went into this race as points leader. However, a break-out in the second round of eliminations cost him both the race and the series lead. Chris Beanes in a ’51 Henry J beat out a field of 15 and took home the Wally for the race. Beanes went into this race in the #3 spot in the points and only one point behind #2 Terry Newton. After Newton went out in the first elimination round, and Hall in the second, Beanes moved into the lead in points. In the final round, Beanes with a reaction time of .010 squeaked past Eric Bush whose reaction time was .018. The Henry J crossed the finish line first at 179.06 mph while Bush followed at 178.95 mph. Both racers had ETs of 7.607 in this 7.60 index class. Beanes went home with double Wallys.
B Gas – With 17 cars filling the B Gas field, Jessie Wooton, the #6 qualifier took the win over #2 qualifier Roy Castagnetto after a double break-out in this 8.60 index class. Wooton broke-out least with an ET of 8.592 to Castagnetto’s ET of 8.560 Wooton had a reaction time of .008 and went 153.51 mph. While Castagnetto had a reaction time of .034 and crossed the finish line going 158.91 mph. While Wooton took home the race Wally, John Saliani took home the Series Wally. Saliani had a wide points lead going into the race, and Wooton (#3 in points) didn’t close the gap.
C Gas – Ken “Racer” Brown qualified 18 of 18 cars in his ’52 Chevy and found himself in the final round of eliminations where he lost to #4 qualifier Chris Kurtis after he fouled at the start line. Despite a break-out Kurtis took the win, and the Wally, with an ET of 9.567 (index is 9.60) at 141.21 mph. Racer Brown was No. 4 in the points but after No. 1, 2, and 3 in the points all went out in the first round of eliminations, Racer Brown walked away with the Series Wally.
D Gas – Ed “the Ferret” Carey, the 2012 Series winner, was #1 this week-end and went home with both the Series and race Wallys on Sunday. Carey, the #1 qualifier, met Steve Barta, #5 qualifier, in the final round of eliminations. After a double break-out Carey took the win. Carey with a slightly slower reaction time, .037, to Barta’s .021, ran an ET of 10.567 to Barta’s 10.564. This was one time coming off the start line second worked out. Carey ran 124.38 mph to Barta’s 124.58 mph.
Hot Rod – Dan Cargill retained his points lead and took home the Series Wally. Hot Rod was a 27 car field and Rod McGregor in a ’69 Dart running on a 10.16 dial-in won the race. At the start line McGregor the #9 qualifier was next to Kurt Kaemeale the # 3 qualifier. Kaemeale left .005 too soon and lit the red light. McGregor ran an ET of 10.135 at 131.60 mph giving him the Wally for the race.
MEGA MOPAR
DOT Street – Gary Szabo of Lakewood, CA in a ’64 Fury Sport with a 440 ci big block won this class with John Harris in a ’09 Challenger as the runner up. Szabo ran 12.314 on a dial-in of 12.32 going 110.78. This class requires street tires and mufflers. Harris with a Hemi in his Dodge red lighted. Nine Mopars filled this field.
Bracket 1 – Shiloh Davis in a ’67 Plymouth GTX with a 440 big block won the race after Lynsi Snyder in a ’69 Dart broke. Electronics are allowed in this class.
Bracket 2 – Twenty-five Mopars showed up to race in this class with Dale Thomas in a 1968 Dodge Dart winning the trophy in Bracket 2 running without electronics. Thomas prevailed over Brandon Clark racing in a ’68 Roadrunner. Thomas won with an ET of 10.936 on a 10.92 dial-in running 120.22 mph.
Challenger Shootout – This class is open to any driver of a DOT street legal Challenger with only one power adder. Terry Rollin in a 2011 Challenger took home the trophy with Pete DeLaRosa in a 2013 Challenger coming in second.
PRO MOD
The ProMods turned in some impressive times this week-end. Rod Burbage in a ’69 Camaro ran an ET of 5.880 at 259.59 in round 2 of eliminations and wont he race with an ET of 5.945 going 225.30 mph. Dan Myers ’69 Camaro was next to Burbage in the final round and turned in an ET of 6.180 at 244.65 mph. Dan Myers had the fastest speed of the week-end at 256.55 mph.
Although there were a lot of cars racing this week-end, things moved along and racing was over by 6:00 pm on Saturday and 5:00 on Sunday. Seeing so many different classes of cars out on the track at one event made for the unique week-end of racing.
Next up – Hot Rod Reunion, Oct. 18-20, 2013. The classes racing at the 2013 Reunion are:
Nostalgia Top Fuel
Nostalgia Funny Car
A/Fuel
Junior Fuel
7.0 Pro A
7.0 Pro B
A/Gas
Nostalgia Eliminator 1
A/FX
Nostalgia ProMod
Of course, Cacklefest will again be held on Saturday night and exhibition cars will run throughout the week-end. Only Top Fuel and Funny Car will be running for Heritage Series points; final races in all other Heritage Series classes have already been held this year.
SATURDAY RACE RECAP
All cars spent Saturday qualifying. Not only are the Heritage Series cars running this week-end, but the Mopars are running as are the Pro-Mods. A half-dozen nitro funny cars and a couple top fuel cars showed up to do some tuning before the Hot Rod Reunion.
The No. 1 qualifiers for the Heritage Series classes are:*
A Gas: Brendon Frye in a ’57 Chevy ran an ET of 7.602 at 181.18 mph. Steve “Flat Top” Faller had the top speed of the day at 185.64 mph. A Gas runs on a 7.60 index.
B Gas: Steve Pullin in a ’69 Camaro ran 157.12 mph and hit his number with an ET of 8.60. Running 159.72 gave Randy Armstrong the top speed of the day. B Gas runs against an 8.60 index.
C Gas: William Becker in a ’68 Nova had an ET of 9.609 going 140.77 mph. Neal Westbrock ran 143.54 mph to give him the top speed of the day. C Gas qualifies against a 9.60 index.
D Gas: Ed Carey’s ’71 Camaro ran 125.49 with an ET of 10.602. Top speed of the day was run by Tim Gorman at 128.11. D Gas index is 10.60.
NE I: Dale Taros in a ’99 Tutle ran 175.05 mph with an ET of 7.611. Top Speed of the day was taken by Eily Stafford with a 177.95 mph. NE I runs on a 7.60 index.
NE II: Jay Huckleberry had an ET of 8.604 going 150.68 mph. Steven Olmscheld ran top speed of the day at 161.04. NE II qualifies against an 8.60 index.
NE III: Craig Wallace and his ’29 Ford had an ET of 9.60 going 137.76 mph. Max Cassie ran 143.28 to capture the fastest time of the day. NE III runs on a 9.60 index.
The 7.0 Pro class was cancelled. Hot Rods were also part of the Heritage Series cars running today. Hot Rods run on dial-ins.
*These are the results from the tower, but not all the results have been verified.
Photos of a few of the great cars that ran today are shown below.
Eliminations will take place tomorrow. A full article and photos will be posted on Monday evening.
Look here for a race update on Saturday night with a full article and photos posted on Monday evening.
Brian Rogers, B Gas winner at 2012 Nostalgia Fall Championship, getting his trophy and a congratulatory dousing.
