Don "Burndown" Burton has had a myriad of crewmembers, but former Pro 5.0 standout Tom Sanders has been in his corner so far at Bradenton and Reynolds. That's a lot of nitrous knowledge on one team, and the two use it on every pass. Don's Gene Fulton Racing Engines' big-block-powered '80 Mustang didn't do well on his one qualifying pass. As a matter of fact, Don found himself at the bottom of the qualifying list, so there was only one way to go-up through eliminations. Don and Tom had the car running 7.50s in eliminations until the final round when a 7.82 wasn't enough to overcome Jarrett Halfacre's 7.47
So far in 2008, the sight...
So far in 2008, the sight of Conrad Scarry in the other lane has been downright scary. He started eliminations with a 7.03, but followed that up with 6.90s the rest of the day. His twin-turbocharged 10.5W Mustang has been consistent so far, which is what every racer wants, but running consistent 6.90s is no easy task. Conrad's team has been working hard to keep the car in top form, and the effort showed on the track at Reynolds with another win.
The lack of test-and-tune...
The lack of test-and-tune passes wreaked havoc on the Pro Outlaw 10.5 racers. Tim Essick was one racer off pace of his usual bottom 7s, but his 7.44 showed promise, and his 201-mph trap speed showed the power was there. Tim is always working on applying the power earlier in the run to realize quicker e.t.'s. At Reynolds he was able to return to 7.0s at 205 mph and take out Dan Millen, Brian Carpenter, and Ed Rice. That's quite the list for sure, but Tim was unable to overcome Conrad Scarry's 6.94 in the final with his own 7.15.
We're two races in and John...
We're two races in and John Kolivas' Cobra is still powered by a Bennett Racing-built Four-Valve modular. He's not sure how much is left in the combination-if anything-but so far it's been enough to keep him out front in Drag Radial. At Reynolds, the gap between John and his Drag Radial brethren was 0.2 at the end of qualifying, but if there's a class that needs a couple rounds of qualifying it's Drag Radial. However, John and his crew are always testing back home so he's usually on top of the game, and it was the same story at Reynolds.
To hear EFI Renegade racer Brian Mitchell at a race, you'd wonder how his car makes it down the track. Something's always wrong with it, whether it be a warped crank pulley or a snapped widget holder. This reverse psychology is most likely used to loosen up his EFI Renegade competition, but at this point in the game, we don't think anyone is fooled by Brian's "aw, shucks" demeanor-especially when he runs an 8.60-something right after saying the thing was going to come apart any second. With his new car, Brian doesn't have many of those arguments to fall back on anymore, but we're sure he can come up with something. After running in the 8.40s at Bradenton, he was "only" able to run 8.60s at Reynolds. Final-round competitor Bob Cook was in the 8.50s, so Brian had to push the Tree. It pushed back with a red-light start.
Bob Kurgan left his car in Florida after the Bradenton race and flew back home to Illinois; he then flew back to Florida to haul the car to Georgia. The only thing Bob changed on it was the rear gear. "After sitting for two days while it rained, we ran a single round of qualifying and my car started idling funky," Bob says. We normally think funky is good, but not so much in this case. He checked the car's ignition and the fuel system, but he traced the problem to a faulty map sensor. Bob and his crew fixed the problem, and the car ran consistent during eliminations until the final round against John Kolivas. Bob was hoping the track would be there for him like it was in previous rounds, but he blew the tires off as John pulled away for the win.
It looks as though the coming...
It looks as though the coming together of Sutton High Performance and driver Bob Cook is going to pay big dividends for everyone involved. The man with a million nicknames, Bob has an established EFI Renegade past and Sutton is known for building fast cars. At Reynolds, the team was unstoppable with an 8.50 pass to qualify number one; number-two qualifier Bart Tobener checked in with an 8.64. That gives you an idea of how well the Sutton car was working. The Sutton team put together a fast car, but Bob's talent at the Tree made sure the Reynolds win was theirs.
Tim Matherly has found the...
Tim Matherly has found the sweet spot with his Real Street ride's tune-up. He's no longer changing engines every other race-or every race like he was most of last year. Instead, he's down to performing regular maintenance on the car between rounds to get him to the final. Tim had to concentrate on the suspension setup more than power delivery at Reynolds. However, by the time the finals came around, he had the chassis dialed in and was able to get past his teammate Jim Breese to take the win.
Ask Tim Matherly which Real...
Ask Tim Matherly which Real Street racer scares him the most, and he will say teammate Jim Breese. A trait he learned from his days racing Modular Muscle, Jim can cut a light, and Tim knows the ins and outs of Jim's car since he built it. He knows what Jim's car is capable of, and especially of what Jim is capable of as a driver. At Reynolds, Jim qualified number one ahead of Tim and was able to get past Kevin Scott in the semifinal round for a race with Tim in the final. Jim had the quicker reaction time with a 0.435 light compared to Tim's 0.471, but Tim was able to power around Jim ever-so-slightly for the win.