Vinny Budano repeated as Super Pro Street's top qualifier, but he was forced to make a decision in the final round against Mike "Hit Man" Hill that cost him $6,000 in less than seven seconds.
In the battle of nitrous-powered Corvettes, Hill, the No. 5 starter from Lithonia, Georgia, streaked to a 6.381-second, 220.15-mph victory, while Budano, representing "The Boyz From New York," shut off his engine early. Hill claimed the $10,000 winner's share of the purse. So the South won that war.
Hill had been 2003 runner-up to Steve Kirk in the Mickey Thompson 10.5 class. Budano was runner-up for the second straight year, as Annette Summer took the 2007 title.
In the Outlaw 10.5 division that saw perennial rivals Chuck Ulsch and Tim Lynch lead the field as the Nos. 1-2 qualifiers, No. 3 Bill Futch, of Lehigh Acres, Florida, was $10,000 winner. In his twin-turbo '02 Camaro, he eliminated Lynch in the semifinals and Ulsch in the finals (6.853 seconds at 198.90 mph to 8.042/179.53).
A pair of top-five drivers duked it out in the Heavy Street final, and Scott Husted, of Safety Harbor, Fla., used a 7.478-second elapsed time at 194.32 mph in his plain-black '69 Camaro to defeat Ellettsville, Indiana's Mike Hupp, who stayed close on his tail with a 7.635/184.30 in his '80 Malibu. Husted, the No. 3 qualifier, earned $5,000, while No. 5 Hupp took home $1,500.
The Drag Radial final pitted nitrous against turbocharged, and top qualifier Paul Major was the easy winner, thanks to a .008-second reaction time. That translated to a 7.442-second, 202.18-mph run that gave the Fort Salonga, New York, driver the $3,000 jackpot in his 454-inch '01 'Vette. Scott Bitzer, who started in the No. 15 position, took $1,000 home to Hughesvile, Maryland, after his .099 light and 10.973-second pass at 82.61 in his 632-inch '81 Malibu.
So all has settled back to normal now at Weisinger World, which is a little bit less commercial and polished than Disney World's mega-cult attractions across town. Hotels, restaurants, and Mickey-Mouse-ear-shaped utility poles signal the family-fun, break-the-bank adventure ahead. But you know you're almost to Weisinger World, Orlando Speed World Dragway, when you see ol' Swampy grinning at you from the side of the road.
Swampy is a giant alligator who's as big as a building. Actually, Swampy is a building, snuggled into the scrub-pine- and palmetto-lined Colonial Drive incorporated as the almost-oxymoronic "Christmas, Florida." From snout to tail, he's supposed to be 200 feet long, but according to an employee, "the Channel 6 news van backed over the tail and crushed the last three or four feet."
Anyway, step past his menacing stalagmite-like teeth, and you're inside the Jungle Adventures experience. It's a bit of a circus sideshow, one of the last of the tacky tourist attractions straight off a faded 1950s or '60s Florida post card.
In the gift shop you'll find frozen alligator meat, in case you want to be a "tail-gator." If you'd rather wear the reptile than eat it, the store offers alligator suspenders, belts, money clips, and other items.
Leave Swampy and beware of the wildlife outside Jungle Adventures. Four sand hill cranes march across the road, seemingly oblivious to the cars and trucks that have stopped for the procession.
Disney has its fantasyland, Weisinger his reality. "We just play the hand we're dealt," he said with a shrug during Sunday's downpour.
But come Monday, with more than a fair number of loyal fans back to see the race to the end, Weisinger held four aces in his hand.