08/15/15
ALGIERI AGAIN IN S/P
HAKUCSA VS WACKERMAN TIMES TWO
A problem plagued first half and some early mistakes has kept Donny Algieri off the top of the leader board in the points, but over the past three weeks he has scored victory in Super Pro twice, along with capturing a Wally during the National Dragster Challenge race. This weekend was another good night for the dragster driver from West Caldwell as he moved easily out of the early rounds and then sent the dragsters of Jean Ann Zetterberg and Todd Martin packing to get to the final against Barry Luyster. Algieri posted times of 6/21 and 6.19 in the QF and SF and RTs of .013 at worst and .007 at best. Luyster ran hard enough to push out Randy Wendtland in the quarters and had a solo in the semifinal round. Both finalists were on their games when Algieri left on a .005 and cranked out an on the number 6.190 at 165.62 to take the win. Luyster gave him all he could handle as a .014 launch was followed by his ever so close 6.452 and 157.98 for second place.
A pair of new faces showed up in the Pro final when Darren Elia drove his Nova to a victory over the Cutlass of Chuck Morris. Morris got out of the quarters when Steve Gillan went red on the tree with his Monza while Elia outgunned Rob Zetterberg’s Monte Carlo. Steve Shadis ran unopposed. Elia and Shadis hooked up in the semis and although the Mustang racer had the starting line advantage Shadis ran under the dial at 11.81, 110.90 and made Elia a first time finalist at 9.06, 139.03. After Morris had the bye he staged up with Elia for the money. Here Elia was hot on the tree and as the pair approached the finish line is appeared both were concerned about going under the numbers, or Morris ran into top end problems. Elia finished first at a slowing 9.28, 114.53 as Morris dropped the round with a 10.98 and only 83 mph.
Street eliminator was another good time event for Bill Hakucsa as he rolled up more points to secure his spot as the number one seed for the bracket finals. As an interesting side note, Hakucsa faced the Camaro of Bill Wackermann for the honors in this bracket, and Scott Hakucsa raced Connie Wackermann in the Consolation Two title race. As it turned out, the father and son team bested the couple from Stewartsville for a clean sweep on the night. Hakucsa was better than Sal Bisesti and Sean Conway in the late rounds of Street as Wackermann proved superior in matches with Frank Maffiore. Although both drivers were brilliant on the tree in the quarters, Hakucsa made the better moves over the last two rounds, including the final where he took .080 to start and cranked out an 11.74 at 117 mph to down a losing 11.58, 116 for Wackermann.
During the first half of the season Scott McGrath made it as far as the final race in Bike only to come up a round short and have to settle for runner-up. But since August has rolled around, McGrath has been in two finals and won them both. Riding his machine out of Newton NJ McGrath pushed Dave Ferguson out in the semis while Artem Romaliysky took care of business with Vinny Cianci. McGrath climbed on the tree and posted up a dial equaling 9.87 at 133.16 mph for his second straight title in the eliminator. Romaliysky took the second spot with a ticket of 10.20 and 140.40.
Consolation One ended with David Hebig besting Greg Georges as the RED entry went 6.24, 163.75 that proved better than the 7.68, 133.38 for the Camaro. And as mentioned , Consolation Two was won by Scott Hakucsa’s Camaro over the Camaro of Connie Wackermann. This final was close from start to finish as there was only .001 difference in reaction times. Hakucsa carded a 10.06 and 130.59 for the win light as Wackermann broke out on a 12.02 and 111.57.
The East Coast Impala club was on hand for another of their double races, and this weekend proved very fruitful for one Dan Fahey. Fahey, making the haul from Rockville Md went two for two, nailing both eliminators for a sweep of the competition. Fahey took the first race when final round opponent Stew Drozd of Newington Ct fouled out while running right on his dial of 13.48, 101.22 that gave Fahey’s 13.37 and 97.85 the light. Fahey again showed up in the final for Race 2 but this time his victim was Norman Pelton out of Lexington Park Md. Using a superior starting line reaction and a time slip of 13.41 and 93.61, Fahey collected his second trophy of the event . Pelton ran hard but ended up falling short with his 12.16 and 112.38 mph.