|
|
|
Funny Car Reunion Marks 9th Year
By Ted Pappacena
 |
| Pat Walsh burns out in Nick Boninfante's U.S. Male. |
When you think of Englishtown in July, two things come to mind, well maybe three: drag racing, heat, and thunderstorms. Pretty much in that order, too. This year’s edition of the Summernationals/Funny Car Reunion had these three ingredients in spades. It was HOT. Sizzling to be exact. The racing was, too, although a lot of racers, exhibitors, and fans stayed away because of the excessive heat.
 |
| The Pacer's Automotive AA/Fuel Altered is a jewel. |
Before the racing started, Brian Beattie cackled his beautiful Jim & Allison Lee “Great Expectations” AA/FD restoration and the Pacers from Long Island had their newly recreated AA/FA on hand as well. It was supposed to cackle, but an unexpected fire in the pits kept it out of action.
 |
| Rocky Pirrone's Screamin' Eagle Trans Am BB/Funny Car. |
 |
| John Cerchio's Warpath Buick. |
Those who did attend despite the heat were treated to some exciting racing. Nitro and alky funnies managed to run big numbers despite the oppressive humidity. Most of the big players in alky funny car stepped up and ran in the 6.8 second range, including Rocky Pirrone in his Screaming Eagle Trans Am F/C. Rocky buried the track in smoke with his torrid burnouts, earning him the Jungle Jim Showmanship Award. Crowd favorite John Cerchio in the Warpath Buick Somerset also ran hard, posting a personal best of 6.88 at 192mph.
 |
| Jon Capps wheeled the Texas Jungle car of Harry Gutierrez. |
 |
| Nitro Nick Vega AA/FC. |
John Capps, at the helm of the Paul Smith tuned Texas Jungle Camaro, flirted with the 5 second zone and Pat Walsh crested it in the U S Male Mustang posting a 5.97 ET. The two other nitro cars on hand, Crazy Jake Crimmins’ 80s something Mustang and the Nitro Nick Vega, ran respectable times, too.
 |
| Kevin Johnson's Glory Daze injected alky Camaro flopper. |
 |
| Rocky Pirrone burns out in the amazing K.S. Pittman restoral. |
Rocky Pirrone provided added excitement with a 4-car gasser match race. Rocky has quite a stable of period correct Willys gassers, including the Boss Hydro and KS Pittman 33s as well as the Big Time Memories 41 Willys. Fred Bear’s 40 Willys S&S Racing Team gasser rounded out the field. If you ever get a chance to see this mini circuit, by all means do so. The Hall brothers are at the controls of the KS Pittman and Big Time Memories cars and Rocky handles the Boss Hydro 33 Willys. If there is any problem, it’s trying to stay focused on any one of these gems. Great burnouts, dry hops, and the rumpity-rump of the engines make for a great visual show. The racing action continued with support from NETO as well as the East Coast Gassers.
 |
| The Total Insanity Chevy Vega BB/FC burns out. |
 |
| John Morrison's Fiat. |
 |
| Cool '55 Chevy Gasser pulls the wheels. |
At about 3:10 PM, Mother Nature stepped in with a classic thunderstorm, the type that Englishtown is famous for. It provided needed relief from the heat, albeit about 3 hours too early. However, up to that time a great time was had by all.
Ted Pappacena
www.dragracingimagery.com
| |
Copyright 1996-2022 by