Romine' Recks, Rebuild, Returns!

The second round of qualifying for the first of the Drag Racing Online AA/FC Challenge is in the books. Last night Romine brushed the wall on his qualifying lap and was disqualified. A fellow racer offered the team a spare header and with a lot of re-engineering the header was attacned and the body repaired. The team thrashed this morning and repaired the car in time for the second and final round of qualifying. While number one qualifier Doc Halladay opted to set out the second session Romine went out and ran a 6.092/223.02. The time was just a tick off of the track record which is a 6.08/2310 which was set some years ago at the Funny Car race here at Gateway by a SoCal racer whose name escapes me at the moment. The 6.09 timing by Romine would become really significant after the last AA/FC made a qualifying attempt. Despite not running the second round Halladay retained the second spot on the ladder with a 6.365. Number three qualifier was Jake Jacobsmeyer with a easy 6.484.216.63. Fourth in qualifying is Randy Baker in the Ford with a shutting off 7.237/140.99. The fifth spot goes to John Dunn with a 9.693/107.15.

Mike Lennon did show up this morning with his new Mopar bodied AA/FC that they had worked around the clock on for a couple of days but after a good burnout the motor shut off on  the starting line and he didn't even stage the car. So we will have five cars in the first round and Paul Romine will get the bye run to the second round. John Troxle kindly offered Lennon $250 tow money and if he choses to make a lap after eliminations tonight they will pay him $500. The Five cars that did qualify will split the entire $12,500 purse as promised by the race promoters and Drag Racing Online's Jeff Burk who put the series together. First round of AA/FC Eliminations will be at run at 8 O'clock. Results and photos to come later tonight.

Funny Cars Star at St. Louis Muscle Car Reunion Event

Despite some first day issues due to the massive amounts of rain the St. Louis area had sustained in the week before the third Annual Muscle Car Reunion and Nostalgia drags the MCR crew and the Gateway International crew not only solved the track issues buy delivered a track that Fuel Funny Car drivers Paul Romine and Doc Halladay said was as good a track as any National Event they have ever ran on.
This race was the first of  six-race Drag Racing Online AA/FC seriesn races to be held at Midwest events including two of the Goodguys Midwest events and the World Series of Drag Racing.

These race was set-up for six cars with a 6-4-2 format which has the quickest loser in the first round returning in the second. For the First qualifying round set for Saturday night four of the six cars that were on the premises made qualifying attempts. Doc Halladay with Jerry Newman tuning was the only car to make a full pass or almost a full pass.

He ran a 6.365 at just 183.97. "The track was so good that when I shifted it bogged the engine so I clicked it early." Halladay had a 3.97 660 and a 2.67 clocking to the 330. They hurt a couple of pistons. Paul Romine wasn't quite as llucky as he kissed the guardwall at about 1000ft on his pass and the pass was DQ'd. He did get a 4.04 ET to the 660 but no quarter-mile ET. He was able to replace the header and fix some very minor damage to the left rear quarter-panel.

Randy Baker driving for Danny Miller shook the chutes out on his qualifying pass. Miller's motor is the loudest Nostalgia nitro motor I have ever heard. It sound like a Jack Hammer. Miller swears they are just burning 87 percent in the tank and have moderate compression but it sure sounds like they are burning 98 percent nitro. John Dunn in the Dunn and Gone Plymouth Duster had traction issues and ran just a 9.69. The Funny Cars will make one more qualifying lap this afternoon and then the first round of racing takes place this evening. An early morning rain shower set the schedule back some so it may be late tonight before we get the first round of eliminations in.

There were some other classes that made laps yesterday. Pro Comp 1 is ran on a seven-flat index and Richard Edwards from Terre Haute Ind in a 48 Fiat AA/A ran a 192.22 for Top Speed. Low ET went to the digger of Frank Cervelli in a front motored dragster at 7.053.
The weather looks exceptional for tonight and tommorow and Sundays Eliminations should be fun.  Check DRO on Sunday for more photos and features on the Nostalgia Super Stockers and the Nostalgia Pro Comp racers.

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