Beaver Springs Dragway - Jalopy Showdown - September 26 & 27

It was great to be back at Beaver Springs for our fourth race of the season. We began the day with a solid 22 car field and began eliminations with 21 as Ray Bloom had mechanical issues. The forecast called for mixed sun and clouds with a chance of showers which arrived as promised…but only slightly delayed afternoon racing.

Qualifying results were as follows:

Category	Racer
Low ET	Paul McCorkel - 8.40
Top MPH	Paul McCorkel - 159.57
Best RT	Paul McCorkel - .0033

Eliminations Round One:

Race One: This was a race of Demings with Bruce taking on Clayton. Bruce advanced running a 10.84 on his 10.72 dial and with a .012 reaction to Clayton’s 10.70 on a 10.49 dial with a .032 reaction.

Race Two: Bob Bower lined up against Scott Hasko in the Relic. Bob ran a 10.43 on a 10.30 dial for the win as Scott broke out running 11.63 on an 11.70 dial.

Race Three: Dan Bergeron took on Ray Bruno in an Atco first round re-match. This time Dan came out on top. Ray had issues down track and Dan wisely got out of it crossing the stripe at 13.01 on his 12.89 dial.

Race Four: Ed Linus was pitted against Pat Kelly. This was a close race with Ed taking the win by virtue of a slightly better reaction time (.1102 to .1340) and running 10.21 on a 10.18 dial vs Pat’s 10.59 on a 10.55.

Race Five: Denny Stewart squared off against Wayne Beach. Both racers went red (Denny’s -.0361 and Wayne’s -.0490) with Denny taking the win.

Race Six: Vinny Cocchiaro matched up with Bill Magliane for this one (sounds like an episode of The Sopranos!) Bill had the better light by almost a tenth but Vinny ran closer to his dial taking the win running 10.56 on a 10.52 dial to Bill’s 10.91 on a 10.76 dial.

Race Seven: Dave Fenzel and Jim Wheeler went at it in round 7. Jim broke out by .07 but took the win as Dave went red.

Race Eight: John Labuda defeated Tommy Magers running a razor close 10.607 on his 10.60 dial with a .143 RT. Tommy ran a very respectable 10.49 on his 10.47 dial with a .228RT.

Race Nine: Kevin Lynch paired up with Robert Carson in race 9. Kevin’s 10.42 was closer to his 10.36 dial but Robert’s .023 reaction to Kevin’s .23 was the difference that gave Robert the win.

Race Ten: Carly Boyer ran a 10.72 on her 10.60 dial with a respectable .013 RT to defeat Ron Carson who went -.03 red.

Race 11: Paul “Mr. Low RT, Low ET, and High Top Speed” Mc Corkel had a first round bye by virtue of his low reaction time.

Eliminations Round Two:

Race One: Race One: Carly Boyer met Bob Bower in race one and advanced via a hole-shot win. Bob ran 10.32 on his 10.30 dial to Carly’s 10.82 on a 10.60 but Carly’s .037 light made the difference.

Race Two: Vinny Cocchiaro and Robert Carson were paired for race two. Both racers cut extremely good lights, Vinny a .0047 and Robert a .0053 but Vinny came out on top running 10.56 on his 10.54 dial to Roberts 10.60 on his 10.55 dial.

Race Three: Ed Linus prevailed over Dan Bergeron with a .085 light and running a tenth over his dial as Dan broke out by .03.

Race Four: Denny Stewart was pitted against Jim Wheeler. Jim ran closer to his dial (10.88 on a 10.85) but Denny’s .07 RT to Jim’s .29 provided him the margin of victory.

Race Five: Paul McCorkel and John Labuda met in race four. Both racers cut good lights but John broke out by a heartbreaking .01 running 10.59 on his 10.60 dial while Paul legged his ride to an 8.64 on his 8.60 dial for the win.

*Flight 117A you are cleared for take-off!*

Race Six: Bruce Deming earned the bye run by virtue of his .012 reaction in round one.

Eliminations Round Three:

Race One: Ed Linus advanced over Paul McCorkel as Paul cut this one a little too close and went -.048 red.

Race Two: Bruce Deming lined up against Carly Boyer for this one. Bruce ran a 10.801 on his 10.80 dial! Unfortunately his .355 RT wasn’t good enough to overcome Carly’s .055 who advanced to round four running a 10.71 on her 10.58 dial.

Race Three: This was another run on the dial race with Vinny Cocchiaro clocking 10.544 on his 10.54 dial for the win as Denny went uncharacteristically red by -.118.

Eliminations Round Four - Semi Finals:

Race One: The first match-up in the semi-final was between Vinny Cocchiaro and Ed Linus. Ed went a 10.19 on his 10.18 dial but went a heartbreaking -.023 red handing the win to Vinny who ran 10.53 on his 10.54 dial.

Race Two: The second race of the semi was a bye run for Carly Boyer. Carly ran a 10.64 on her 10.58 dial with a .035 light. This will be a good final!

Eliminations Round Five - Finals:

The final match-up of the day was Vinny Cocchiaro vs Carly Boyer. Vinny was victorious with his .0818 RT and 10.63 on a 10.52 dial to Carly’s .0621 RT and 10.73 on a 10.60 dial. As expected this was a good race! Congratulations Vinny and Carly!

Final thoughts for the Beaver Springs event…

It is always good to be at Beaver. Great atmosphere, and friendly track staff. A racer’s track where we always feel welcome. We were also happy that Dave and Karen Swiatek made the long drive to be with us at Beaver. Below is a cut and paste note from Dave:

“Karen and I want to let all those who attended the Jalopy Showdown know what a special time we had visiting with each one of you and watching 22 gassers put on a great show. It was nice to just be able to talk and watch the racing, and when Vinny Cocchiaro won his first race ever; that put the icing on the cake. You’re still the best group of nostalgia gasser racers on the East coast. The Wheeler/Deming team is doing a wonderful job running the club and their addition of the “Candy Bowl” under the club tent is a sweet addition!!!! Thanks everyone for a very nice time.

Don’t forget to keep those front wheels in the air. ”

— Dave & Karen

– Ray

Please excuse any errors or omissions…they are purely unintentional!