In Fun Ford’s Street Outlaw class, Travis Franklin runs a 7.42 @ 190 despite the high altitude at Bristol, taking out Dan Millen to reach the semi-finals before racing was halted by rain. Look for Travis to be running 7.20’s, with his chain-driven reverse F-3R, when this race is continued in September at Cordova. In Street Renegade action at the same event, Jeremy Mortorella takes the wheel of Mark Mainiero’s F-1R powered Renegade car, and backs up the 8’s he has run in testing with a very strong performance at Bristol. With big power and solid driving, Jeremy reaches the rain-delayed semi-finals, and will be looking to take his first Renegade win when racing is resumed in Cordova. Jeremy also reaches the finals in Street Warrior class during his busy but very successful weekend in Bristol.

Donnie Walsh, Jr. posts the hat trick once again by taking the win, qualifying #1 and re-setting the mph record in NMRA competition at Atco with a 6.80 ET @ nearly 212 mph. With this win at Atco, his fourth NMRA win during this dominating season, Donnie also wraps up a well-deserved Pro 5.0 championship. Among other ProCharged Pro 5.0 racers, the new team of Ross Stomp and Phil Pickering run a 6.98 @ 205 on their way to meeting Walsh in the finals, and Doug Mangrum maintains second place in the points race. In Super Street Outlaw, Todd Fluman qualifies #1 with a 7.85 @ 178, but it is Mike Trimandillis who advances through eliminations, however, and sets the mph record with a 7.87 @ 182. In EFI Renegade, Jeremy Martorella, the fifth ProCharged Renegade racer in the 8’s, backs up his performance at Bristol by qualifying #2 and taking runner-up. In Drag Radial competition, Phil Clemmons continues to push the envelope as he qualifies #1, posts the mph record with an 8.72 @ 164 mph, and misses the win in the finals by a mere .05 second.

At the Fun Ford event in Epping, New Hampshire, the team of Tim Huston and Tony Gillig qualifies #1 and becomes the first to run 6.50’s in a supercharged Pro 5.0 car, posting a spectacular 6.58 ET. This championship team is powered by a belt-driven, self-contained ProCharger F-3R. In Street Outlaw action at Epping, after suffering electrical problems at Atco, the Briantes begin shaking down their latest combination and run 193 mph with a reverse chain-driven ProCharger F-3M. This team is running the restricted F-3M to prepare for PRO Super Street competition, and they appear ready to run 200 mph before the end of the season. In Chevy news, Jamie Hutchins runs his Pro-Mod ’63 Corvette, with a 632 cid, chain-driven reverse F-3R combination, for the first time and posts a 4.54 ET @ 164 mph in 1/8 mile testing (equivalent to approximately 6.95 @ 205 in the 1/4 mile). They hope to soon have the car deep in the 6’s.

At the PRO event in Reading, Pennsylvania, Joel Greathouse runs a 7.33 ET in Super Street, and qualifies #1 once again. Although traction problems kept him from taking the win, Joel’s strong performance over the weekend allows him to maintain the championship points lead. In other Super Street action, the Briantes run 190 mph but have trouble getting cleanly down the track. Ray Sanchez posts the quickest ET of any racer on Sunday with a 7.60, but goes down to parts breakage. All three of these racers are powered by chain-driven, self-contained, reverse F-3M’s. Also at this event is Ricky Peters, who brings his colorful Hemi-powered 7-second ’72 Dodge Demon to the show, equipped with a ProCharger D-3R. Although Ricky doesn’t crack into the 7-second zone this weekend, he runs an 8.20 @ 172.

Meanwhile, Phil Pickering, after a recent runner-up finish at Atco, decides to run his new car in Pro Street class at the same PRO event in Reading, to continue shaking down the car. Ross Stomp is teamed with Phil to drive this car in NMRA Pro 5.0 competition, but gives up the wheel for testing this weekend. As part of testing, the team also decides to switch from the restricted F-3M to the F-3R for this event, since the F-3R is legal in Pro Street, but not in NMRA Pro 5.0. With Scott Johnson driving for the weekend, this former turbo car runs a 6.79 ET @ 209 mph with the intercooled, self-contained ProCharger F-3R.

View 2003 Race Schedule