Raceway Park Index Results – Race #3 - June 9, 2007
by Neil Van Oppre
Heads-up Pro Tree fun continues at Raceway Park thanks to the all-new Heads-up Index series being run on select Saturdays. With 10.00, 11.00 and 12.00 classes there’s a place for everyone. Two more races remain on the schedule, July 28 and October 27, both at 4pm.
With three Index races under our belt we’re beginning to see interesting story lines develop. Not the least of which is that none of the Atco Index racers has come up to take a win. Rivalry’s and winning streaks have begun to take shape and the fourth race on July 28 may be a turning point for these stories. Will you be a part of the story?
12.00 Index
By virtue of its slower ET some might think that 12.00 Index would be an easy class to win. But after three races it’s become obvious that the competition level in this class is as high as any other at Raceway Park. The top five qualifiers in this 14-car field ran between 12.003 and 12.04. In addition, we again saw multiple 12.00 runs during eliminations and other than “Awesome” Don Arnesen, no other racer has made a repeat appearance in the final round.
Bill Fischer Sr. took the top qualifying spot with a stellar 12.003, followed by “Awesome” Don at 12.008; Jerry Muniz, 12.016; Lynn Townes, 12.026 and John Panuzzo at 12.046.
In first round action Stephen Wells fell off his 12.08 qualifying pace, but was still able to advance over Michael Archibald, who also slowed from his qualifying time. The ’02 Camaro driven by Wells ran 12.555 to Archibald’s 12.771. Veteran racer John Panuzzo registered an unusual redlight in his first round matchup, giving Ken Tyler a free pass into round two. Tyler ran 12.444 to Panuzzo’s slowing 13.090. Paul Bogdan was one of several racers who fell off their qualifying times in the first round, but despite his strong .018 reaction time it was the negative .014 reaction of opponent Larry Draper that allowed him to continue into round two. Number six qualifier Draper wasted a fine 12.085 e.t. against Bogdan’s 12.444. Newcomer, and number one qualifier, Bill Fischer Sr. served notice that his son Eric (winner of the inaugural 12.00 Index race) wasn’t the only tough racer in the family. Fischer dropped the best package of the day on N.J. Index stalwart John Stankunas. His .007 light and 12.028 e.t. forced Stankunas’ ’69 Chevelle into a breakout at 11.954 (.018 reaction). The Lucky Dog award for this day has to go to Dave Hartzell, while the What Was I thinking Award must simultaneously go to Jerry Muniz. Number three qualifier Muniz (12.016) was a little late on the tree at .163, but had no reason to breakout (11.994) against Hartzell who registered a .456 light and a 15.686 e.t. Hartzell parlayed this first round fortune into a final round appearance. Lynn Townes continues to be a consistent threat in 12.00 Index. His sharp ’67 Camaro has made it to the Semis at all three Index events and may be the most consistent car in the class. His .021 reaction and 12.035 was enough to eliminate the lone Mustang in the field driven by opponent Chris Lansford who ran 11.946 in the loss (.062 reaction). The final pair of the first round pitted “Awesome” Don Arnesen’s sinister looking Monte carlo against the bright orange ’68 Camaro of Keith Riley. Riley was game with a .181 reaction and 12.289 e.t, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Arnesen’s .049, 12.108.
In round two Townes recorded the first 12.00 run (.033, 12.007) to defeat Stephen Wells who broke out by a wide margin at 11.754 (.114 light). Dave Hartzell gave up the tree to Paul Bogdan, but his 12.222 was still strong enough to hold off the 12.448 of Bogdan. “Awesome” Don then took out Ken Tyler’s ’79 Olds with a holeshot and a 12.162 to 12.233 win. Bill Fischer Sr. had the bye run into the Semis.
In what should have been a good semi-final matchup Bill Fischer Sr. (12.163) fouled away any chance against Dave Hartzell, who continued to improve his reaction times and his e.t. Hartzell ran his best of the day, 12.130, to advance to the final. In a repeat match of the May 26th 12.00 Index final, Lynn Townes met “Awesome” Don in the other semi-final pairing. Once again Townes was better on the tree (.031 to .049) but even his great 12.037 couldn’t hold of the spectacular 12.000 recorded by Arnesen. Remember, Townes had run 12.007 just the round prior. These two racers have proven to be the toughest and it’s only a matter of time before Townes breaks through for a win.
In the finals Arnesen met Hartzell, who had his best light of eliminations, .083, and ran 12.203. That wasn’t enough to hold off The Don of 12.00 who recorded his 2nd consecutive win thanks to an .040 reaction and a 12.174 e.t.
11.00 Index
Raceway Park’s 11.00 Index class is the only one of it’s kind in the Northeast. Unlike 10.00 and 12.00 Index the 11.00 class does not have the same track record and established racer base the other two indexes enjoy. However, that doesn’t mean the competition is any easier in 11.00. In fact, it’s quite tough. The only thing this class needs is time for the word to get out to racers who otherwise fall into that no-man’s land between 10.00 and 12.00. Do you know someone with a car suited to 11.00 Index? If so, tell them how they could be racing door handle to door handle here at Raceway Park.
Qualifying for the four car field was led by Edgar Perez at 11.017, followed by Scott Bodine, 11.030; Paul Sanseverino, 11.075 and Eric Fischer, 11.084.
Past 12.00 Index winner Eric Fischer led off the first round by surviving a double breakout affair in his street driven Mustang. In a close race on the tree Fischer held off Scott Bodine’s Chevelle, 10.976 to 10.918. Next up, Edgar Perez advanced to the final round by besting Paul Sanseverino in close race, 11.042 to 11.071.
In the final round Perez used a holeshot (.042 to .081) to get ahead of Fischer and he never looked back, taking the win 11.062 to 11.103.
10.00 Index
After the domination by Corvette racers at the first 10.00 Index race many wondered if they would have a strangle hold on the class all season. At the second event we saw a wider variety of cars and, a Firebird and a Mustang in the final. At this race we saw a repeat of the previous final round with Mike Beck and Craig Curtis returning to do battle. So one has to wonder, will we see a return of the Corvette contingent at race four, or have those guys faded away?
There were two Corvettes at the top of the qualifying ladder for this event. Mike Conway’s ’97 led with a 10.016. David Shen put his ’65 in the number two position with a 10.08. he field was rounded out with Craig Curtis at 10.125, Mike Beck at 10.166 and Jose Rodriguez at 10.270.
Race three runner-up Mike Beck was the winner of one of the oddest races you’ll ever see. Both drivers fouled with identical negative reaction times (-.007). He ran 10.189 to David Shen’s 10.119. But since NHRA uses the first or worst ruling in a situation like this it’s up to the computer to decifer who actually left first, and that was Shen. Next, Craig Curtis was paired with Raceway Park Mean Street racer Jose Rodriguez. Curtis put a light on the bottom bulb racer (.038 to .106) and 10.19 to 10.225 for the win.
Number one qualifier Mike Conway had the bye run into round two where he met the Mustang of Craig Curtis. And we’re guessing he wishes he hadn’t. Curtis strapped a serious .020 to .216 holeshot on Conway and then laid down a near perfect 10.006 to force Shen into a 9.859 breakout loss. Mike Beck then took the tree for his bye run.
The final round was a repeat of the previous 10.00 Index race between Beck and Curtis. But this time Curtis got out ahead of Beck’s Firebird (.013 to .048) and motored to his second consecutive win, 10.269 to 10.407. The Curtis family is a friendly, but tough, bunch of competitors who appear to have their combination figured out. So the question is, can someone stop their winning streak?
We continue to see new faces, as well as returning racers, in the inaugural season for Raceway Park’s new Index classes. That’s a good sign as this new Eliminator builds momentum for the future. With the wide variety of cars and close racing things can only get better. If you haven’t tried it yet, we guarantee you’ll love the excitement of racing on a Pro Tree. If you have tried it, tell a friend. They’ll be glad you did.
Saturday July 28 4 pm
Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ
www.racewaypark.com
Rules for the series
http://forums.godragracing.com/viewt...6158ced9db6e41
