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National Parts Depot -
ZDDPlus
F.A.S.T.
Musclepalooza Nationals
Hemmings Musclepalooza has been a favorite of F.A.S.T. racers for several years. This year it was upgraded from a North East Regional F.A.S.T. race to a full 2-day F.A.S.T. National event. Both Hemmings and F.A.S.T. were very excited about making this a F.A.S.T. National event. F.A.S.T.'s series sponsors National Parts Depot and ZDDPlus were also thrilled about having a national event at Hemmings Musclepalooza, so excited in fact that they put up $3,000.00 cash to be distributed to the F.A.S.T. and F/S racers. Every pre-registered racer received a check for $50.00, the winners of both Quick-8 classes (F.A.S.T. & F/S) received $400.00 and the runner-up received a $200.00 check. Racers started to arrive at the track as early as Friday and by Saturday morning the F.A.S.T. pits was buzzing with activity. The Lebanon Valley track crew worked tirelessly drying up the track after an overnight shower. Once the track was dry and fully prepped, the F.A.S.T. cars were ready to make their first qualifying run. Lebanon Valley is know for having a good hooking track and today was no exception.
When most people think of the colors Black and Orange, they think of Halloween, But F.A.S.T. racers are different, Very Different. To many F.A.S.T. racers and fans Black and orange are the colors of the 2 quickest cars currently in F.A.S.T. racing. Black is the sinister Black 1969 Roadrunner of Dave Dudek, 426, 2 four barrels, Hemi heads and all the good stuff. Orange is the bright orange 1969 Corvette of Terry Pennington, with a L88 427 Big Block Chevrolet engine, Aluminum heads, Holley carb and a sexy fiberglass body.
Right off the trailer, Terry Pennington's 1969 L88 Corvette ran a impressive 10.63 @ 131.74 MPH! Only .05 away from breaking Wayne Nelsons 10.59 ET record which has been standing since 2005. Everyone was wondering if today could be the day that the ET record gets broken. Dave Dudek, Terry's #1 competitor ran a superb 10.92 during the first round of qualifying, but was 3 tenths behind Terry. Next in line was Ed Cooks 69 440-six pac car running 11.39.
After the 2nd round of qualifying Pennington was still the #1 Qualifier and Dave Dudek repeated with another 10.92. It looked like it was going to be an easy weekend for Pennington's L88 Corvette. But in F.A.S.T. racing, wins don't come easy and almost anything can happen. The third qualifying run saw Terry run a 10.87, Dave Dudek pulled to the starting line and jack rabbitted down the quarter mile just as we have seen him do so many times, but this run was different, the lights flashed 10.62, Dave's Best run ever! A new #1 Qualifier! Now only .001 separated the top 2 cars, the pits was buzzing with heightened anticipation of when these 2 warriors would finally do battle for real. The Forth and final qualifier saw Pennington rip off another 10.63 pass, a clear shot over the bow, letting Dudek know that this is was no fluke. Ed Cook qualified #3 in this REAL (no clone) 1969 Roadrunner with a 440-6-pak engine, Ed ran a super 11.13 at over 124 MPH!. Lane Carey was tuning his new engine and posted a 11.44 for the #4 spot. Dave Finn's 63 Max-Wedge car has been getting quicker every F.A.S.T. event and he was Qualified at 11.51. Right behind was Steve Vanderwall's 427 Fairlane at 11.52. Steve has his car dialed in with killer 60ft times in the 1.6's! At the end of Saturdays qualifying session the F.A.S.T. Quick-8 bump spot was 11.73, with one more qualifying round on Sunday.
Sunday came with gorgeous clear blue skies, The first pass for the F.A.S.T. cars on Sunday was to be counted towards qualifying and many were hoping for even quicker runs. Several racers did improve their qualifying positions, Dave Finn ripped of a quick 11.32 at 122.30 earning him the #4 position. Ken Veit also stepped up to the plate with a 11.46 after correcting several issues from the day before. Ralph Barbagallo leaped into the F.A.S.T. Quick-8 with his 11.52 pass at 119 MPH. Both Dudek and Pennington could not better their times. Dudek ran a 10.66 and Pennington's L88 posted a 10.77. The stage was set and everyone was eagerly waiting for a possible final round clash between these two cars.
Before eliminations were scheduled to begin there was a final time trial for the F.A.S.T. cars. This was a time only run and did not count towards qualifying. Each time the announcer would announce that the F.A.S.T. cars were racing, the stands filled with fans. Either by coincidence or pre-planning, Pennington's Vette and Dudek's Hemi were lined up next to each other in the burnout box. Everyone knew that this was going to be a good run and that both racers were going to give it their all. In front of the packed grand stands, Both cars staged and waited for the yellow .500 pro lights to flash. Both cars got out of the hole cleanly, with a slight advantage to the Hemi. It was impressive to see two F.A.S.T. cars traveling so quickly down the 1320, side by side. So quick in fact that you could easily forget that these F.A.S.T. cars run with cast iron exhaust manifolds, 2.5" exhaust systems and don't forget the skinny bias ply street tires. The ET's flashed on the boards. 1069 for the Vette, 10.54 for the Hemi!!!! 10.54 a new F.A.S.T. ET record! The place went wild! in 10 seconds Dudek smashed the F.A.S.T. ET record and also earned a cool $1,000.00 from Hemmings magazine for braking the long standing 10.59 ET record. At Lebanon Valley, the return road passes directly in front of the grand stands, when the Black Hemi came back from its historic run the Fans went wild cheering for Dudek. Back in the F.A.S.T. pits, everyone one was equally excited, congratulating Dave on this long awaited achievement. Everyone was happy for Dave, even competitors of all makes. Terry personally congratulated Dave as he knows probably better than most anyone just how much work and commitment such an achievement takes. Terry was truly happy for Dave. It was jokingly said that Dave should be tied down so he doesn't float away as he was on cloud 9!
When first round for F.A.S.T. came along, the stands were packed again. Dudek was paired up with Steve Vanderwalls 1967 Fairlane, Dave won easily, 10.53 to 11.76. 10.53!? A new F.A.S.T. ET Record!! The place went crazy again, just how fast could Dave's Hemi go? Terry Pennington was paired against the 1970 440 Six-pak car owned by Ralph Barbagallo, Terry easily won 10.86 to a losing 11.39. Number 3 qualifier Ed Cook in his 1969 Roadrunner was paired up with Ken Veit's 1969 427 Camaro. Ken won with an upset victory over Ed, 11.31 to 11.48. Dave Finn qualified in the #4 position with his 1963 Dodge Max Wedge car. Dave is still sorting out the bugs in this car and every race goes quicker and quicker. Dave was paired up against Lane Carey and his 429 Super Cobra Jet Ford. Dave edged out Lane in a close run 11.42 to a slower 11.48.
Round 2 came and four cars were left in the F.A.S.T. quick-8 class Dudek Pennington, Finn and Veit. It was Mopars verses Mopars and Chevrolets verse Chevrolets. One thing was certain, the finals would be Chevrolet verses Mopar. Dave Finn gave it his best shot but Dudek's Roadrunner was just too much. Dave won with another 10.53 to Finn's 11.36. Another 10.53!? Not only was Dave running fast, he was consistent as well! Ken Veit also gave a good fight, but was unable to upset the 10 second corvette. Terry won 10.71 to 11.35.
The race everyone wanted to see was about to happen. Two mid 10 second F.A.S.T. cars doing battle to finally settle the score. In the staging lanes both racers wished each other good luck, but now it was business, all business. Both cars pulled thru the burnout area and heated their tires, cleaning off any grit and getting the tires to just the right temperature. Without fanfare, both cars pre-staged and staged. All was quite (as quite as it can get at a dragstrip) starring at the bulbs awaiting for the start of THE RACE. Before you knew it they were off, Terry encountered some wheel spin but the Roadrunner was off to another clean start. The Vette chased the Hemi, everyone held their breath for the 10 seconds until the score boards lit up. 10.55 to 10.90 Dudek Wins! Terry had his car set on kill, but it was too much for the track to hold, once his tires slipped it was too late. Dave ran four 10.50's in a row, 10.54, 10.53, 10.53, 1055! What can you say but WOW! and Great job Dave!
For pictures of Dave's Record Breaking pass, Click Here.
F.A.S.T. Qualifying Order
| Qualifying # / Name | State | Car | Transmission | ET | MPH |
| 1- Dave Dudek Jr. | Michigan | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 426 Hemi | Automatic | 10.62 | 132.06 |
| 2- Terry Pennington | Indiana | 1969 Chevrolet Corvette, L88 427 | Automatic | 10.63 | 131.74 |
| 3- Ed Cook | New York | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Automatic | 11.13 | 124.46 |
| 4- Dave Finn | New York | 1963 Dodge 440, 426 Max Wedge | Automatic | 11.32 | 122.30 |
| 5- Lane Carey | Delaware | 1970 Ford Torino Cobra, 429 SCJ | Automatic | 11.44 | 120.34 |
| 6- Ken Veit | Pennsylvania | 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, 427 | Automatic | 11.46 | 121.52 |
| 7- Ralph Barbagallo | Connecticut | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Automatic | 11.52 | 119.60 |
| 8- Steve Vanderwall | Indiana | 1967 Ford Fairlane, 427 | Automatic | 11.52 | 117.07 |
| 9- Don Giannone | Pennsylvania | 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle, 396 | Automatic | 11.60 | 122.11 |
| 10- James Cook | New York | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Manual | 11.70 | 121.53 |
| 11- Scott McKenzie | New York | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Automatic | 11.99 | 114.66 |
| 12- Tom Cannon | Pennsylvania | 1971 Dodge Super Bee, 440-6 | Manual | 12.03 | 117.40 |
| 13- Gene Wilsey | New York | 1970 Plymouth AAR Cuda, 340-6 | Automatic | 12.12 | 107.12 |
| 14- Steve Voh ahm | New York | 1970 Ford Mustang, 351 | Automatic | 12.13 | 113.78 |
| 15- Chris Kuskowski | Connecticut | 1972 Plymouth Duster, 340 | Automatic | 12.30 | 113.10 |
| 16- John Gavin | New York | 1968 Dodge GTS, 340 | Automatic | 12.45 | 109.73 |
| 17- Greg McNichol | New Jersey | 1969 Dodge Cornet, 440 | Automatic | 12.93 | 108.33 |
| 18- John Suess | New York | 1969 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds, 455 | Automatic | 13.38 | 100.92 |
| 19- Jeremy Benson | Connecticut | 1969 Pontiac Lemans, 350 | Automatic | 13.50 | 101.57 |
| 20- Joe Albanese | New York | 1970 Plymouth RoadRunner, 340 | Automatic | 13.53 | 100.59 |
| 21- John Fredricks | Connecticut | 1970 Dodge Super Bee, 383 | Automatic | 13.54 | 101.98 |
F.A.S.T. Quick-8 Eliminations
F.A.S.T. Consolation Eliminations
(for first round Quick-8 losers)
F.A.S.T. 2 of 3 Shootouts
(for qualifiers #9 and up, round winner in BOLD)
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