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F.A.S.T.
Musclepalooza Nationals
Wait thats not 1970, its a F.A.S.T. Race!
The F.A.S.T. race series has been holding its race event during the Hemmings Musclepalooza event for many years. Even thought Hemmings was normally only a 1 day event, F.A.S.T. would use the prior day at the track for its qualifying day. This year for the first time Hemmings expanded its Musclepalooza event to two days and it was held at New Jersey's Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. The Musclepalooza event can only get bigger and better at Englishtown as there is a huge number of racers and car owners in this area and we anticipate this event getting stronger every year. Several racers arrived early on Friday to take advantage of Englishtown's Friday night test and tune session. What has become tradition at F.A.S.T. events is racers bring food or drinks and the F.A.S.T. community shares their meals together, being able to relax and enjoy each other company while talking about... What else??? CARS!!
Terry McGean, the Editor of Hemmings Muscle Machines again put up a $1,000.00 F.A.S.T. Bounty. The Bounty is for the racer that breaks the previous F.A.S.T. class low ET (10.46) at a Hemmings event.
Saturday was F.A.S.T. Qualifying, allowing racers multiple passes down the 1320 to test and qualify to their best ET. The F.A.S.T. cars we flying on the sticky Englishtown track surface, with a record number of 10 second F.A.S.T. cars in attendance!
Lane Carey brought out his 1971 Ford 429 Mustang which he debuted at the F.A.S.T. Summer Nationals in Martin Michigan breaking into the tens in the heat of the summer. Lane fixed a few new car bugs and he knew that he would run quicker in the cooler Fall air and with the help of the Englishtown traction. Lane qualified in the number 3 slot running deep in to the 10.50 range. Congrats to Lane for Flying the FORD banner so high and proud! Rick Mahoney and driver Scott Tieman brought out a F.A.S.T. 1968 Pontiac Firebird and made quite a splash in the F.A.S.T. ranks. If you recall from earlier events, Rick also owns a 1968 Firebird that he races in the Factory Stock Division. I guess you could say Rick has a thing for 68 Birds! Scott Tieman drove the Pontiac to the number 4 qualifying spot with several 10 second passes. With 4 cars qualified in the 10 second range, this was no doubt the quickest F.A.S.T. field ever! As more and more racers build cars for F.A.S.T. , the racing also gets tighter and more exciting.
Sunday was another perfect day and not a hint of rain anywhere. F.A.S.T. T-Shirt's were available for the entire event. F.A.S.T. unveiled their latest (version #4) T-Shirt design and the fans seemed to really like the new design on the black T-shirt. Also available earlier design T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts. Sunday is race day and also when Hemmings hosts a huge car show. Lots of nice Detroit Iron was in attendance and many potential F.A.S.T. racers and fans were checking out all the F.A.S.T. and Factory Stock racers. Sunday's F.A.S.T. eliminations were FAST and furious. Lots of good close racing with nail biting anticipation. Terry Pennington could not make the first round call due to mechanical issues. Terry was qualified in the number 2 position right behind Dave Dudek's Road Runner, and was looking to run even faster with Sundays better air density. F.A.S.T. Quick-8 round 2 saw Dave Dudek's Road Runner post his personal best ET of 10.35, taking the win over Scott Tieman's Firebird and also winning the Hemmings $1000.00 Bounty! Congrats Dave! Lane Carey ran a 10.48 with his round 2 win over James Cook.
The final round was Mopar verse Ford, Hemi vs Wedge, 2 four barrels vs a single four barrel carb, Dudek vs Carey. Each pass saw Lane Carey whittle his Mustang's ET lower and lower and Dave Dudek was a picture of consistency, piloting his Road Runner down the track seamlessly. This was anyone's race! One slip of the tire or one mistake and it would all over for either racer. Both racers prepped their cars in the pits prior to the final showdown. Engines at proper temperature, tires pressure was checked and the cars were given a final once-over before heading into the staging lanes. Two mid ten second F.A.S.T. cars battling it out for all the marbles. When the track announcer Walter Frey called the cars to lock & load, the tracks grandstands filled as everyone was waiting for this race. Both racers are know for having good reaction times, but in the first 2 rounds the reaction time advantage went to Carey. Everyone was watching the christmas tree, staring intently on the bulbs. First the pre-stage, then the staged bulbs were lit. Waiting for the pro tree to flash and their both off, a clean start for both cars. Watching the cars go down the track from the starting line, its had to tell who is ahead, we could only wait for the scoreboard to light up and see who won. Milliseconds seemed like hours before the lights can on...... Dudek's light came on first 10.425 to Carey's 10.593! Both cars were in the 130+ MPH range. Quite an impressive final round. Dave even turned the tables with a better reaction time in the final, .037 to Lanes .078, 4 hundredths Dave had in the bank, but ended up he didn't need it. Congrats to both racers for a spectacular final round!!
Congratulation also go to Steve Hodges for winning the F.A.S.T. Consolation race and in the process running his fist 10 second pass! 10.89 @ 129.82.
Steve Hodges 10 Second Challenger
Congrats to all F.A.S.T. 2/3 Shootout winners too.
F.A.S.T. Quick-8 Eliminations
** Ken Veit's cylinder heads did not have casting numbers on them and were deemed illegal. All of Kens' runs from this event are not F.A.S.T. legal.
F.A.S.T. Consolation Races
(for first round Quick-8 losers)
** Ken Veit's cylinder heads did not have casting numbers on them and were deemed illegal. All of Kens' runs from this event are not F.A.S.T. legal.
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F.A.S.T. 2 of 3 Shootout Races
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"Factory Appearing Stock Tire", and the acronym "F.A.S.T." as it applies to Muscle Car Drag Racing, are reserved for the exclusive use by the F.A.S.T. Board of Directors under U.S. copyright law. C.2004.
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