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MICKEY THOMPSON 10.5 CLASS (Super Street
Clones)
This class is basically a 3,000-lb Pro Modified class
with the only restrictions being that the rear tires were supposed to
have a 10.5-inch wide tread and no tube chassis cars allowed. (The rules
allowed the tread to actually measure 12 inches wide.) No less than
72 cars attempted to qualify for the elite 32-car field. The good news
was that the bump was a relatively soft 7.877. The bad news was that
Billy Glidden qualified into the middle of the field with an also soft
7.601 at only 179.92!
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Glidden didn't fool any
of his competitors with that performance and was a prohibitive
favorite among the betting crowd that populated the pitside stands
close to the starting line. (Adam Cranmer photo) |
Despite Glidden's intimidating presence, former Pro Mod/Pro
Street competitor Steve Kirk Jr and his 706 cubic inch motored 2000
Camaro got everybody's attention when he ripped off a stunning 206.23-mph
pass on a 7.504. On his last qualifying pass he ran a 7.373 for the
number one spot but the speed was only 193.50. The 206 pass made Kirk
the first "ten wide" car over 200 mph. Elias DeLatorre drove his turboed
'Stang to the number two qualifying spot, recording a 7.382. This race
would be the newly married DeLatorre's last as he sold his car, transporter
and all other equipment before the event and delivered it when the race
was over.
The "ten wide" Mickey Thompson tire-backed class went
according to form. Kirk was gone after the quarterfinals and the two
class favorites DeLatorre and Glidden ran within a couple of thousandths
of each other, while engine builder Tony Bischoff lurked just off the
pace. DeLatorre red-lighted in the semis against Bischoff who eased
to an 8.96 lap while Glidden went to the whip on his Mustang, running
a 7.468, which got him lane choice in the finals. It was all Glidden
in the finals. He ran a 7.471/184 to overcome Bishoff's slight holeshot
and 7.62/189 effort and took home the $5,000 winner's share.
HEAVY STREET
(and we emphasize the word heavy)
The minimum weight for this class is a portly 3,500 lbs
and that is about the only rule the class has other than if the car
has a strut front suspension it must be OEM. As a result, there were
plenty of big, blown, turbocharged and nitrous oxide-injected Pro Mod-style
motors shoehorned into the engine compartments of the almost-street
cars.
Once again over 50 cars attempted to qualify for the 32
spots available in this class. The qualifying spread went from Richard
Sweeny's 7.801 pole position to Mike Schmidt's 8.834.
Sweeny was involved in one of the more bizarre races of
the event when in the first round he lost to number 32 qualifier Mike
Schmidt. Schmidt's 1.130 reaction time was just a little better than
Sweeny's equally bizarre 1.196. Schmidt's 9.225 ET was more than good
enough to cover Sweeny's 9.852.
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