A TIMING system problem at Atco Dragway caused a short delay before the start of racing on Day Three. First to run was Ben Paganoni in the Fox-body Mustang, going 9.07@155mph despite a touch of wheelspin off the hit. Ben Neal in the Cresta was up next, going 9.03@149mph. It was the car’s fastest mile-per-hour at Drag Week, and it probably would’ve gone even faster if the team hadn’t forgotten to remove the air filter!
Brenton Gault in the big blue Chevy ran a 10.57@126mph, while Corty Haig in the Malibu went 10.87@129mph. Corty’s co-driver Robby Abbott decided one run for the car would be enough, so he didn’t have a steer. The boys then navigated US lingo to organise the use of a ‘garage lift’ (known in the civilised world as a hoist) at a local workshop to replace Malibu Stacy’s flexplate.
Harry Haig and ‘Stevo’ rocked up a couple of hours after the lanes opened and immediately put out a call for a new fuel pump. They got one and installed it before the Chevelle ran its third PB in as many days – an 8.65@157mph. Harry thought there was more in it and mounted a late charge to get it down into the 8.5s. He had two cracks at it, but the blazing hot track wouldn’t hold the power.
Glenn Hunter in the ’56 Chev went 7.35@195mph to retain third spot Overall, while second-placed Bryant Goldstone in the Javelin went 6.75@218mph. Leader Tom Bailey rattled the tyres, pedalled it, got a little out of shape, pedalled it again, lifted the front wheels and then just coasted down to an 11-something. He was back out soon after and had no such problems, putting in a near-perfect pass to run his best time ever at a Drag Week event – a 6.18@239mph.
“First run, it launched good but there was no track there,” Tom said. “Then when we took it back out it went right down. It was still a little washy – I mean, it had more power than the track should’ve held – but we were able to get it done. We want to give it what the track can handle, and that was right on the edge of what it could do.”
TOM BAILEY PUT IN A NEAR-PERFECT PASS TO RUN HIS BEST TIME EVER AT A DRAG WEEK EVENT – A 6.18@239MPH
Jim Eby’s 1919 Franklin Series 9-B Touring has been in his family for 100 years! “My grandpa bought this new,” he said. “It was his first car and then he gave it to my dad when he was nine. Dad drove it through high school and college. He picked my mum up for their first date in this car.” It still has the original Franklin motor – a 200ci, air-cooled, overheadvalve six that makes around 26hp. Its best pass at Drag Week 2019 was a 28.35@47mph
Pittsburgh’s Lisa Fischer had her turbo V6-powered ’87 Buick Grand National back at Drag Week for the third time in four years. “My goal coming to Drag Week this year was, firstly, to finish the week,” Lisa said. “The second goal was to finish with an 8sec average.” Lisa accomplished her first goal, while her final average of 9.143sec was just a smidgeon off where she’d hoped to be
Craig Groebner’s ’71 Nova has had several different engines, but now has a tough Steve Morris-built 540ci big-block with an F3 Procharger. The package is only teched to run as fast as 7.50sec. “It’s been a pain in the ass trying not to break out,” Craig said. The Procharger broke on Day Four, so he ran it naturally aspirated for its final pass at Virginia Motorsports Park. While his time of 11.51@121mph was a long way from the mid-tohigh 7s he ran on most of the preceding days, he still claimed first place in the Ultimate Iron class
It took Dennis Sandboe 41/2 days to trailer his ’62 Mercury Comet all the way from Alberta, Canada for the start of Drag Week. The motor is a bored and stroked 383ci Cleveland with Pro Comp aluminium heads and intake and a 750 double-pumper carb, fed a 150-shot of nitrous right off the hit. The nitrous plate gave Dennis trouble all week, and on the drive from Cecil County to Atco, the Comet was up on jacks at a service station at 2am after Dennis drove over a big hump and ripped the tranny shield off
Jonathan Coleman from Spring Hill, Tennessee was doing Drag Week for the fourth time in his 2003 Mustang. It’s got a 388ci LS with twin 80mm Forced Inductions turbos and a Powerglide trans with Gear Vendors overdrive. Teched to run as quick as 7.50sec, the car ran a mix of 7.6s and 7.7s all week to finish with a 7.68sec average and win the Super Street Small-block Power Adder class
Dan Hirsch inherited his ’65 Mustang from his father when he was 16, and it’s currently rocking a Bennett Racing Engines 427ci small-block with 76mm turbos. It ran 8.1s the first two days of Drag Week before dipping into the 7s on Day Three with a 7.93@178mph. “We were excited about that,” said Dan. The car finished with an average of 8.184sec and won the Modified Power Adder class
Bryan Anders from Inwood, West Virginia raced his plucky wheels-up ’77 Chevy Chevette at Drag Week for the first time, powered by a 427ci small-block with a Turbo 350 trans. Bryan needed to replace the starter motor and flywheel on Day Three, but he achieved his goal of 10s every day and got the Chevette to the end of Drag Week with a healthy average of 10.241