SHOOTING GALLERY
Who is this guy? That’s what a lot of people were asking after Florida’s Randy Leavy qualified second in Outlaw 10.5 in his first ORSCA appearance. Leavy previously ran Fun Ford events but said he’s tired of the long trips north to race with that series. “Besides, we want to race against actual cars,” trackside helper Nick DeCarli cracked. AC Carcraft in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, updated the chassis of Leavy’s ’88 Mustang earlier this year and it carries a small-block Ford 411 built by Mike Fiorelli at FIG Performance in Hollywood, FL, with twin 88mm Turbonetics turbos providing the boost. Leavy lost to Rob Hale in round two at Atlanta.
After breaking the bolts that held in his torque converter in a Saturday-morning shakedown pass, Ken Rainwater received a rush delivery of a new converter from sponsor PTC, but it was about 1,000 RPMs tighter than the old one, he said. “So we were trying to retune for it the whole weekend and we learned the engine actually likes a little bit tighter convertor,” Rainwater said. “A half second into the run we had 11 pounds of boost and now we’re seeing 24 pounds.” Rainwater and his turbocharged 526 Hemi-equipped, Dave Sheppard-built ’66 Rambler went out in the second round against top qualifier Terry Robbins, but the Kimberly, AL-based racer was far from disappointed. “I feel like we learned more these last three or four runs than we did the last two races.”
Rob Hale made it to the third round of Outlaw 10.5 at Atlanta, but feels hampered by his 10-year-old car, a ’68 Camaro owned by John Ferguson, who also owns Steve Kirk’s points-leading ride. “We’ve got just as much motor, but you start throwing power at it and this old car just gets ill,” the Statham, GA-based chassis builder said. “We’ve got a new 2000 Camaro in the works and a new Fulton 762 to drop in it; now if we could just stop racing long enough to get it finished.”
On Thursday morning, Jimmy Blackmon’s ’92 Trans Am had no engine and certainly didn’t look like it was going racing that weekend. After the last ORSCA event at Farmington, NC, last month, Blackmon, a chassis builder in Rockmart, GA, decided to strip the car down and redo it from the ground up in just three weeks. The car now carries the same engine Tim Lynch runs, built by Steve Petty with the “big” 88mm turbos, though Blackmon handled the installation, which included remounting the engine, building the ductwork, and installing the turbos. The car was so fresh his team was seen finishing the wiring and installing a new windshield at the track after arriving early Saturday afternoon. After qualifying 12th, Blackmon made it to the second round, where he lost to Brad Brand after first gear in his transmission broke off the launch. Still, he ran 5.720 seconds at an incredible 168.28 mph. “It was impressive coming out of the gate. If it would’ve 60-footed there it would’ve run great speed,” an obviously ecstatic Blackmon said later. “It’s got great, great power. It really builds steam in the top end.” |
Jon Phillips (near lane)—yes, that Jon Phillips of Nitrous Express—had a great run going in the Open Street Legal final of Year One’s special-event, quarter-mile race on Saturday night and appeared destined for the win over Nick Yarber’s ’95 Mustang when Phillips’ ’73 Datsun 260Z got very loose at the top end and eventually crossed over in front of Yarber in the left lane. Fortunately, Phillips kept his Erwin, TN-based ride off the wall, but received no time, while Yarber was credited with the 8.927-seconds win, though it appeared from the starting line that Phillips may actually have tripped the win light in Yarber’s lane. Also winning in Year One index classes were Jeff Harris (10.0), Tom Moran (11.0), Chris Stratton (12.0), and Lester Hawkins (13.0).
His own car may have been working just fine, but Michael Robinson (right), the eventual Outlaw 10.5 runner-up, was burning the midnight oil in Bob LaBrecque’s EZ Street pit on Saturday night. LaBrecque’s ’73 Nova (last month’s DRO feature car) burned a piston in Saturday’s opening qualifying session and though LaBrecque had the spare parts on hand he freely admitted he didn’t have the knowledge to field strip his engine and get it back in the game for Sunday. Enter Robinson, who also helped LaBrecque out at the previous event in Farmington, NC. Repairs were completed shortly after 2 a.m., about an hour after this picture was shot, and LaBrecque made it to the third round, where he fell to number-one qualifier Tommy Brewer. “I can’t thank Michael enough,” LaBrecque said. “What he did really tells you a lot about the kind of people we’re racing with.”
Tony Johnson runs the only blower car that’s currently a regular in the ORSCA 10-wide series and said he’s been dealing with fuel management problems the last few times out. At the Atlanta event he credited Julius Hughes at the Atlanta Speed Shop with helping him sort it out and added Dave Sheppard also was a great help. “I’m learning every day and it’s definitely getting better,” he said after qualifying ninth, then losing to a holeshot by eventual finalist Michael Robinson in the second round.
Driving Mike Hill’s 738-powered ride from last season, Memphis, TN’s Bobby Cole qualified 11th and made it only as far as the second round, where he fell to eventual race winner Marcus Birt. Discouraged by the result, Cole said he’s ordered a new 762 cubic incher from Gene Fulton and hopes to have it in place by September. “I’ve got to go faster if I want to keep up with these guys,” he said. |
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