Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

The weather was perfect to start Friday qualifying as Floridian Frank Cersosimo grabbed the #1 position running a 6.476 at 218.30 MPH in the second round of Super Pro Street Qualifying at the 16th Real World Street Nationals at Orlando Speedworld in his nitrous-fed, Buck Racing Engines 738 inch Hemi ‘99 Dodge Avenger.  There are forty-seven Super Pro Street machines that have made it down the quarter mile on opening day.

In the Outlaw 10.5 class Chuck Ulsch leads thirty-six qualifiers with a stunning 6.555/213.37 pass in his BAE 526 ‘02 Camaro.

Buck Walker’s ‘88 Camaro leads the Drag Radial class with his 7.468 run and Heavy Street’s #1 qualifier is the Camaro of Connecticut’s Sam Gottier leading with a 7.329.

The track was tricky for most of Friday’s competitors as most teams overpowered the “green” track, however some exceptional runs proved there’s a combination out there to get it down the track.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Matt Deitsch improved on his first round 6.655 to a 6.510/216.58 charge to grab the #2 qualifier position on the later session.  Deitsch’s New York-based 2002 Cavalier sports an 815 inch Pat Musi-built motor.

In the Pits

This tiger “Trick-or-treater” was handing out candy to anyone who walked by his dad’s pit spot, there is nothing like Halloween at the drags!

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Corky Markwart moved up in the afternoon qualifying session into the #15 spot with this 7.010/209.88 run in his Motive Gear-sponsored Mustang.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Texas’ Pro Street driver Todd Moyer is in the 31st qualifying position with a best of 7.632/179.64 MPH in his 618 cubic inch 2000 Pontiac Firebird.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Tony Christian’s 2002 Pontiac Grand Am improved in the second qualifying round to 6.560/210.24 MPH.  With the 738 cubic inch Reher-Morrison engine, we’ll see what they can squeeze out of the hard charger on Saturday with Christian sitting in the #3 qualifying spot.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

This cool new 2010 Camaro-bodied Pro Street racecar owned by Tony Baudier is recently out of Richard Earle’s Suncoast Race Cars and Advanced Fibreglas Concepts in Homosassa, FL.  Nicknamed the “Bumble Bee” for the recent Transformers Movie, Baudier transformed his former Monte Carlo-bodied chassis with the new Camaro and a Moran-built 509 cubic inch twin-turbo Chevy.  As Richard Earle said back in the pits, “I made a way to make your car new with a new body for the next couple of years.”

At the end of Friday qualifying a 7.923/163.57 was the quickest Baudier could muster, outside of the quick 32 for now.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Under the watchful eye of Pro Mod and Funny Car veteran Scotty Cannon (left) helps line up his son Scott prior to a thundering, tire shaking aborted run in round two of qualifying.  In the early session the younger Cannon powered the 526 Hemi Plymouth Superbird to a 7.345/212.23 MPH pass, he now is 24th in the quick 32.

Outlaw 10.5 Qualifying

The ‘88 Pontiac Trans Am of Frank Mewshaw, powered by a twin turbo assisted 509 cubic inch Chevy, sits #14 in Outlaw 10.5 with this 7.258/208.84 pass.

Charlie Sikes ‘62 Impala made a solid afternoon pass in his 480 cubic inch Chevy running 6.763/210.80, yes it is a full-size twin-turbo Impala!

Friday Outlaw 10.5 Qualifying

New Jersey’s Brad Harris sits 23rd in round 2 of Outlaw 10.5 in his Chevy-powered ‘99 Mustang.  He carded a 7.901 at 179.52 MPH.

In the Pits

You’ve been thinking about finding that perfect Holiday gift for the racer who has everything, well the shopping is good here in Orlando.  A brand new, complete, carb to pan, 746 cubic inch from Charlie Buck Racing Engines built Pro motor… take it away for $38,000.

Friday Outlaw 10.5 Qualifying

Tim Lynch must have received some good luck from the friendly Halloween witch shooting video on his crew.  On this pass Lynch nailed a 6.580/220.22 in his 620 cubic inch ‘02 Mustang Cobra and sits #2 in Outlaw 10.5 qualifying to Chuck Ulsch’s #1.  Ulsch driving his Camaro ran a stout 6.555 at 213.37 MPH during the afternoon when the adjusted altitude hovered at around minus 100 feet.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Pete Demos wont forget this afternoon pass driving his red Camaro nitrous Pro Street machine.  With traction problems at the hit of the throttle Pete got out of shape in the left lane making a hard move toward the right, up in two wheels behind and missing Annette Summer in the other lane.  Demos smacked the right-hand guardwall destroying the front fiberglass and a little chassis damage.  Back in the pits Pete declared, “I’m OK, nothing that $5,000 won’t fix… did you guys get a good shot?”

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

George Landis makes a burnout in the Friday’s second Pro Street session, but his first round 6.960/207.11 pass leaves him in the lucky #13 slot in qualifying.

Friday Super Pro Street Qualifying

Todd Amandus from here in Orlando ran best in today’s second of qualifying at 6.727/208.91 MPH and at the end of the day sits in the #8 spot in his camo 337 cubic inch ‘98 Ford Mustang.

Friday Super Pro Street 1st Session

Steve King sits third in Super Pro Street in his ‘68 Camaro running a 6.656 at 217.77 MPH in the first qualifying session.

Super Pro Street - Friday

It takes all kinds, including ‘49 Chevy pick-up driven by Virginia’s Lee Angles.  Motivated by a 526 BAE power plant this cool truck will wait for the afternoon qualifying session after running in the low 13:00’s in the first round.

Super Pro Street - Friday

Susan Vanderspool from Melbourne, Florida carries the front wheels a second time after the first bounce in her red, short wheelbase ‘84 BMW sporting a 509 inch supercharged Chevy for power.  She slowed to a 12.237 elapsed time - outside the quick 32.

Ian Tocher Photo

Well, here we are again, boys and girls, at Orlando’s World Street Nationals, the oldest, quickest, fastest, biggest, and acknowledged by all as THE street legal race that all racers want to win. It is a race that is equal in importance to the Indy 500, U.S. Nationals, the Daytona 500 or the Bonneville Speed trials!

Win it and your career is made; don’t and the resume is always short.

As is our tradition, DRO is once again bringing readers same day coverage of the event with DRO West Coast Editor Darr Hawthorne—flown in to see how it’s done on the other side of the country—and Max Chevy Editor and former Hot Rod Magazine Editor Ro McGonegal, along with photographers Steve Gruenwald and Adam Cranmer bringing you all of the action we can cram into three days. Please enjoy and tell Orlando’s Carl Weisinger you saw it on DRO.