National Parts Depot -
ZDDPlus
F.A.S.T.
SUmmer Nationals
US 131 Dragway in Martin, Michigan was again host to this ever growing event, an impressive number of cars participated. There was not a drop of rain during this event, Friday was warm and alittle humid with a 3900ft air density. Saturday was less humid and slightly cooler. Most cars ran their best times on Saturday. US 131 track personnel have a tall task of keep the track in good shape, with 100's of passes down the 1/4 mile and all cars have either radial street tires of bias ply street tire. Not a slick or drag radial in sight, not an easy situation in anyone's book, but they do an admiral job prepping the track. How good? Good enough for several mid ten second passes! Friday is an all-day test and tune session, where racers had the opportunity to make as many quarter mile passes down the track as they pleased. All runs on Friday are counted towards qualifying, this creates a realistic ladder for qualifying.
For the first time we also requested that racers bring their best ET slip, in order to minimize any potential computer errors. That process worked well and we will do it again next year. Lane Carey debuted his brand new FAST 1971 Ford Mustang with a 429 Super Cobra Jet engine First time down the track with his all new car netted him an impressive 11.11 ET at over 126 MPH! Ed Cook's Original Black A-12 RoadRunner was fighting tire traction issues all day. After running a 10.94 at the Spring Maple Grove Regional race, Ed had to switch to new tires and has not found that magical combination yet.
Terry Pennington and Dave Dudek lead the FAST class with consistent 10 second qualifying passes. Terry qualified in the number one spot with a 10.72 and Dave was close behind with a 10.75! Talk about action in the pits!! After making 2 qualifying runs on Friday, Dave Dudek proceeded to remove his cylinder head right in the pits for all to see. Lets just say that there had been some rumors that Dave was running a nonlegal block and Dave wanted to set the record straight. For complete coverage of Dave's voluntary teardown, CLICK HERE.
Lane Carey's new 429 Mustang qualified in the #3 spot with an 11.09 and Dave Finn's 426 Max-Wedge with a crossram and 2 4bbls was #4 with a 11.29! Ed Cook was on the out looking in for most of Friday as he was having alot of trouble getting his 440 Six-Pac car to grip the Martin surface, as a last ditch effort to qualify for the FAST Quick-8, Ed borrowed his son James tires and managed to Qualify in the #5 position with his best run of Friday, a 11.63. Qualified right behind Ed was James Cook with a 11.73. James was the only FAST Quick-8 racer with a manual transmission. Being consistent ET wise and cutting a good light with a manual trans car is challenging, but James makes it look easy. Witnessing James run down the track is an experience not to be missed, he does it so well he makes it look easy!
Mike Nasi's 1971 440-6 GTX was in the #7 spot with an 11.75, Mikes bright green GTX, with stripes and wing is a real attention getter. Even though it is green, I don't this environmentalists would think its "green". Adrian Beltrame is a new comer to the FAST class and debuted the orange 1969 Pontiac Firebird with its RamAir IV 400 cid Pontiac engine. Adrian was learning the car all weekend, running as fast as 11.50's at 120 MPH. Expect this car to get alot faster! Well that rounds out the top 8 cars in F.A.S.T., the F.A.S.T. Quick-8 bump spot was 11.77.
Don Giannone was in the Quick-8 hunt until he experience a detonation problem and wisely decided to trailer the car instead of causing serious damage. Jeff Patterson was the "Little train that could" With his light 340 Duster, Jeff played hardball with the Big-Block cars. Jeff qualified with a 11.88! Tom Cannon brought his 1971 440-6 SuperBee from Pennsylvania, but was having ignition problems that was traced to low voltage to the coil. Tom was the other F.A.S.T. car with a manual transmission. Watching Tom's big Superbee go thru the gears is a musclecar lovers dream come true! Scott McKenzie's car is quite amazing, it consistently runs in the mid to high 11's, yet retains its stock CID and is a drive anywhere street car. Expect to see more F.A.S.T. cars modeled after Scotts A-12 RoadRunner.
Steve Vanderwall's 1967 Ford Fairlane was sporting new and improved cylinder heads and a fresh rebuild, but an ignition snafu caused what is believed to be a blow head gasket. Tough break for Steve, he is after a ten second run like a bloodhound is after its target.
Saturday morning brought with it cooler "cleaner" air and along with it came quicker ET's. With better air Lane Carey was looking to lay down his first 10 second pass. Lane was not certain of the starting line capabilities, so he was conservative on his leave. Still he managed the first ever 10 second pass for a FORD product as he ran a 10.97!! Congratulations Lane Carey! Everyone was running quicker and faster today, many running their best ET ever.
F.A.S.T. Quick-8 round 1 contained no upset wins, low ET of the round was Terry Pennington's 10.50 at 132 MPH. Round 2 was lanes Carey's 10 second Ford Mustang verses the sinister black Hemi powered RoadRunner of Dave Dudek. Two ten second cars at the starting line, staged and ready to go. Both cars had exceptional quick reaction times but Lane was out of the gate first with his .0491 RT verses Dudek's .0900 RT. Four hundredths of a second advantage for Carey, but will it be enough? The cars blast thru the ET lights at the top end of the track. Carey runs 11.00 @ 127.94 MPH, but Dudek's win light comes on with an 10.79 @ 131.01 pass. Dave earns entry into the F.A.S.T. finals. The next two cars are #4 qualifier Dave Finn. Dave sorts 2 four barrel carbs siting atop his factory crossram intake manifold. his opponent is Terry Pennington's L88 Corvette, F.A.S.T.'s ET and MPH record Holder. Finn knows he must go all out for an upset win over the Corvette. The cars are staged and the lights flash, Finn goes all out but the track does not want to work with him and he looses traction. Pennington blasts out of the gate like a rocket to another 1050 pass, 10.52 @ 131.81.
Final Round, Chevy Verses Mopar, Dudek vs Pennington. This is not the first time these two have met up in the finals, in fact it is de-javu of the Spring Nationals held at Hemmings Musclepalooza. Number ! and number 2 qualifiers ready to run for all the glory. Terry was quicker in both previous elimination rounds by over two tenths of a second, but he did not take that for granted. Terry cooled his engine down in preparation for the final and towed it into the staging lanes for keep it cool. Dave was well aware of the ET difference in eliminations and also the consistency of Terry's car. Dave knew that he had to go all out to win this race. Since Pennington has low ET in the prior round, he had lane choice. just a before each elimination round, the Martin track crew did a full track prep to ensure the best possible traction. Pennington chose the left lane, was that the right choice? Only time will tell. The announcer called for F.A.S.T. Finals! Racers get to your cars. Both racers pulled into the burnout box and heated their tires for the last time today. Dudek pre-staged first, then Pennington prestaged and Staged. Dudek inched his Hemi powered Missile forward and lit the final stage light. All was quite, nobody at the track moved as all eyes and ears were fixated on the final race. Will Terry take the win or will Dudek score an upset victory again? The lights flashed yellow and both cars reacted as if they were shot out of a cannon. Terry had a slight starting line advantage, but it didn't matter, the red light was lit in Pennington's lane giving the win to Dudek. Both racers, maybe not aware of the red light, stayed into it. Dudek crossed the finish line first with his best ET of the event 10.56 @ 132.84 to Terry's losing 10.74 @ 132.20. For the second race in a row, Dave Dudek upset Terry Pennington in the final round by running his Best ET of the event. After it quietened down, the announcer reported that Dave cut a mind blowing .0053 RT!!! This was truly an unforgettable final in F.A.S.T.. Congratulations to Dave Dudek on his victory!
F.A.S.T. Qualifying Order
| Qualifying # / Name | State | Car | Transmission | ET | MPH |
| 1- Terry Pennington | Indiana | 1969 Chevrolet Corvette, L88 427 | Automatic | 10.72 | 130.32 |
| 2- Dave Dudek Jr. | Michigan | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 426 Hemi | Automatic | 10.75 | 130.20 |
| 3- Lane Carey | Delaware | 1971 Ford Mustang, 429 SCJ | Automatic | 11.09 | 125.85 |
| 4- Dave Finn | New York | 1963 Dodge 440, 426 Max Wedge | Automatic | 11.29 | |
| 5- Ed Cook | New York | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Automatic | 11.63 | 103.40 |
| 6- James Cook | New York | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Manual | 11.73 | 122.52 |
| 7- Mike Nasi | Connecticut | 1971 Plymouth GTX, 440-6 | Automatic | 11.75 | 119.80 |
| 8- Adrian Beltrame | Canada | 1969 Pontiac Firebird, 400 RAIV | Automatic | 11.77 | 119.33 |
| 9- Don Giannone | Pennsylvania | 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle, 396 | Automatic | 11.86 | 119.33 |
| 10- Jeff Patterson | Ohio | 1970 Plymouth Duster, 340 | Automatic | 11.88 | 115.96 |
| 11- Tom Cannon | Pennsylvania | 1971 Dodge Super Bee, 440-6 | Manual | 11.99 | 118.72 |
| 12- Scott McKenzie | New York | 1969 Plymouth RoadRunner, 440-6 | Automatic | 12.11 | 112.94 |
| 13- Steve Vanderwall | Indiana | 1967 Ford Fairlane, 427 | Automatic | 12.59 | 99.85 |
| 14- Steve Hodges | Kansas | 1970 Dodge Challenger, 426 Hemi | Automatic |  | |
Note: Other registered cars broke or withdrew from competition
F.A.S.T. Quick-8 Eliminations
F.A.S.T. Consolation Races
(for first round Quick-8 losers)
x
F.A.S.T. 2 of 3 Shootout Races
 |