Friday, July 23, 2010

Great Lakes Nostalgia Funny Car Circuit - In the Groove Newsletter

Here are a few reports from our last several races. Last Saturday we were at National Trails in Columbus, Oh.

The other two are from Dunn Tire Raceway Park in Lancaster N.Y. and Quaker City in Salem, Oh.


Our next race is our Third Annual Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals. For more information check out the website. www.nostalgiafunnycarnational.com.



www.glnfcc.com
25th Annual Night Of Thunder
National Trail Raceway, Hebron, OH
July 17th, 2010

Photo on file by Bob Wenzelburger
The GLNFCC was scheduled in at National Trail Raceway to be a part of their Night Of Thunder jet car spectacle. On hand were two jet dragsters, one jet funny car, The Cool Bus and Bob Motz's Jet Kenworth.
The show began with the drivers of the exhibition cars being introduced to the crowd while riding down the return road in various classic convertibles.
First out for The GLNFCC was The Doran Chevrolet Camaro taking on The Damn Yankee Vega. The Vega was out first and took the win.
Next up was The Dazed & Confused Camaro taking on The Fuelish Monza. Both cars boiled the hides on the burn out and the crowd went wild. The Monza had some issues shortly off the line and went sideways about half-track and took out a foam block. The Camaro stopped the timers at 7.43/178.
Last pair was The Old & Fuelish Corvette taking on The Snakebite Mustang. Both cars left on cue with The Mustang going through the lights at 7.05/197 and The Corvette close behind with a 7.29/186.

Photo on file by Bob Wenzelburger
Second round came up quick, as there was a possible storm in the horizon. The cars did not get the proper cool down time and it seem to show on this round of racing.
First up was The Fuelish Monza taking on The Doran Chevrolet Camaro. Both cars seem to be stunned by the tree, with the Camaro finally moving first. The Camaro shook the tire real bad and had to get off the power when the wall seemed to be getting closer. The Monza took the win.
Second pair was The Dazed & Confused Camaro taking on The Old & Fuelish Corvette. If your fogging for bugs you want these two guys around. After their burnouts the tree was not visible. The Corvette was off first and took the win with The Camaro having to shut off as the car came close to the wall. The left lane was an issue on this round.

Winner
Mike Klontz
Driver of
Snakebite
Last pair was The Snakebite and The Damn Yankee Vega. These two teams have built up a rivalry this year and are constantly going head to head. The Damn Yankee team knew they had to have something in the bank for the bigger C.I. Hemi, but unfortunately it was a red light, handing The Snakebite the win.

Photo on file by Bob Wenzelburger
The two quickest cars came back for the final. This pitted The Snakebite Mustang (7.05) against The Old & Fuelish Corvette ( 7.27). It was getting late and both teams were worried about the dew setting in and affecting the track bite. After two great burnouts the crowd was into it. The Snakebite was off with a .038 light giving him The Good Vibration Reaction Time Award. The Corvette was a little late and tried to catch the Mustang but came up a little short. The Snakebite crossed the finish line at 7.07/193 with The Corvette hot on his heels with a 7.24/185.
The GLNFCC had a great time at National Trail Raceway and looks forward to going back soon.
Next stop The Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals at Marion County International Raceway in LaRue, Oh. August 7th. For more information please visit the event website: www.nostalgiafunnycarnationals.com.




GLNFCC July 4th WEEKEND DOUBLE HEADER
ROUND TWO
Quaker City Raceway, Salem, OH
July 3rd, 2010
Saturday morning we had a funny car caravan leaving New York and Heading toward Salem, Ohio.
This race was billed as Mid Summer Explosion. Scheduled to appear was Danny O'Days SuperWinch Wheelstander, two fuel cars Carl West in the Untouchable altered and Bill Walls with his Nitro Flyer front engine dragster, plus 10 cars from The GLNFCC.
It was a clear summer day, a little warm but dry. As the day progressed the place filled up with spectators looking to feel the thunder.
Vic Miller who is on a world tour stopped by to make a few runs. He has Ken Veney's Original 72 Vega. Vic found this car in Hawaii and had it shipped to Oregon, then over the past several years he has restored it to its original glory. Vic and his son are covering nostalgia events in the Midwest and then will be heading back to Oregon in July.
The Veneys Vega and the fuel cars opened the show, next up The GLNFCC.
First pair up was The Blown Money Nova pairing up against Sharky's Machine Omni. Both cars made two good burnouts with The Omni doing a few dry hops. The Nova was off first with a great reaction time of .29 and never looked back, running a 7.27/173 to a losing 8.23. That was a great run out of the small block Nova.
Second pair was David vs. Goliath with the previous nights winner Snakebite taking on the 56 T-Bird. The T-Bird was throwing everything it had at the Mustang but unfortunately The T-Bird moved before the tree was even activated. Handing the win to the Mustang.
Next up was The Old & Fuelish Corvette taking on Butch Chovan in The Red Baron Mustang II. Butch ran The Red Baron as an injected car last year and he decided to step up and put together a blower motor. This was not Butch's first event as we had him fill in at a race in Columbus last year. The big Hemi over powered the BBC and The Corvette crossed the stripe at 7.22/185.
Next up a pair of 69 Camaro's. The Original bodied Mike Burkhart Doran Chevrolet taking on The Dazed & Confused Camaro driven by Jerry Streb. The Doran Camaro was out first and held on with a 7.61/177.
Last pair for the round was The Solid Rock Mustang taking on The Damn Yankee Vega. These two cars ran each other the week before at The Pinks All Out Show in Joliet, IL. The Mustang got the better of the Vega and The Damn Yankee team was looking for redemption. Both cars did burnouts with Mustang barking out a few dry hops. The Mustang was out first but could not hold the Hemi back. The Vega turned on the clocks with a 7.39/184.
The round was capped off with the Superwinch Wheelstander and Daryl Arnold and his wheelstanding golf cart.
Second round started with Vic Miller making another pass with the Vega.
First up for The GLNFCC was The Detroit Thunder taking on The Red Baron. The Mustang II was out first but seem to have some engine problems at half-track. The T-Bird seems to be back as they ran a 7.51/179.

Split Winner!!
Mike Klontz and Butch Chovan
Driver of
Snakebite & Red Baron
Next up The Dazed & Confused Camaro taking on the Snakebite Mustang. The Camaro did almost a half-track burnout. The Mustang did turn on the red bulb, but made a exciting run with the car getting a little out of shape at about the 1,000 foot mark. Then stopped the clocks with a 6.91/200.
Next up The Doran Chevrolet taking on the Damn Yankee Vega. The right lane seem to have a spot down track that made the drivers work a little and proved to be exciting for the spectators. This run was exactly that. The Camaro is a short wheelbase car and can be a handful. When Steve hit the hump the car took a sharp right and came o so close to the wall. The Vega took the win with a 7.53/183.
Next up were two guys that have fun putting on a show. Lance Good in The Sharky's Machine and Rocky Ausec in The Solid Rock Mustang. Both cars did great burnouts and tempted one another with a few dry hops. Lance did not wait for the tree so he handed the win to Rocky.
Last pair was to be the two fastest from the first round, which were The Old & Fuelish Corvette (7.22/185) and Blown Money Nova (7.27/173). The Nova popped the burst panel on the first run. After replacing the burst panel and warming up the car it was found that the intake manifold was also damaged. The Corvette made a single after smoking out the fans with a burnout. The Corvette made a statement with this ran putting down a 7.29/184.
The Good Vibration Quick Reaction Time Award was split. Mike Klontz in The Snakebite and Butch Chovan in The Red Baron Mustang II both had a .14 reaction time.
Thanks to everyone at Quaker City Raceway for making The GLNFCC a part of their schedule for the past three years. Also thanks to Good Vibrations and Mickey Thompson Performance Tires And Wheels for supporting The GLNFCC.
Next stop July 17th is at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, OH for their Night Of Fire Race.




GLNFCC July 4th WEEKEND DOUBLE HEADER
ROUND ONE
Dunn Tire Raceway Park, Clarence NY
July 2nd, 2010
The GLNFCC headed out for what is becoming a Fourth Of July tradition. This year we took 10 cars to both tracks.
The first stop was at Dunn Tire Raceway Park in Clarence N.Y. Several of the cars put on a display at Lunchtime at The Quaker Steak and Lube just down the street from the track.
By 8:00 the place was busy with well over 200 racecars and buzzing with spectators. The drag strip is the straight away to their oval track. It is a 1/8-mile with a short shutdown.
First pair out was Sharky's Machine taking on The Damn Yankee; The Vega left on the Shark but turned on the red bulb. Which is very uncharacteristic of The Damn Yankee.
Next up was The Solid Rock Mustang taking on The Doran Chevrolet. This was the Camaro first trip to this track. Both cars had some issues getting hooked to the track surface with the Camaro crossing the finish line first.
Next up was The Old & Fuelish Corvette Taking on The Snakebite Mustang. Both cars did killer burnouts with the smoke just hanging in the air. The Snakebite took the win with a 4.43/158
Next up The Visionary Cuda and The Blown Money Nova. Scott is still shaking down the Cuda's new Hemi. He will get a handle on it soon and when he does look out, I expect to see a 6 second pass out of it some day. The Nova rattled the tires pretty good, which in turn shut off the motor.
Last pair was The Detroit Thunder T-Bird and The Dazed & Confused Camaro. Unfortunately The Camaro had some engine issues during the warm up and was unable to run. So the T-Bird made a single.

Winner
Shaun McHattie
Driver of
Blown Money
Second round came and the sun had set. Funny cars running at night are cool. First up was the Blown Money Nova making a single. This time the Nova hooked up and stopped the clocks at 5.03/128.
Next up The Visionary Cuda Taking on The Solid Rock Mustang. Both cars did great burnouts. When they were staging the Cuda was spitting fire out of the zoomies and was shut off. The Mustang made a single.
Next up was The Detroit Thunder taking on John Decort in The Old & Fuelish Corvette. John did another killer burnout that had the spectators screamin. The T-Bird laid down a great 4.71/142 run but threw it away on a red light.
Next up was the Doran Chevrolet taking on Sharky's Machine Omni. Both cars did great burnouts and a few old style dry hops. The Camaro is a clutch car and seem to have issues getting a hold of the track surface. The car shook violently twice with Steve shutting it off early.
Last pair was the two quickest from the first round. The Snakebite Mustang (4.43) taking on The Damn Yankee Vega (4.83). Both drivers were pump up as these two have built up a rivalry over the last year. Both cars were ready for this race. The Vega turned on the red bulb and ran a 4.79/132 to The Snakebite's 475/118. Giving the Mustang the race win.
Shaun McHattie in The Blown Money Nova won The Good Vibrations Reaction Time award with a .09 light. To show that was not a fluke he also had a .44 reaction time in the second round.
Now on to Quaker City Raceway on Saturday for another cool 10 car Funny Car show.