Mechanicsville,
Maryland – Fans were greeted with postcard
weather and record setting performances all weekend long
at the 8th Annual Haltech Door Wars presented by Winegardner
Auto Group at Maryland International Raceway™ (MDIR).
Pro
mod racer Bill Lutz of Canal Winchester, Ohio would serve
notice first in his turbocharged Camaro laying down a
MDIR track speed record in the class at 262.95 mph early
on Friday during qualifying. In X275, Rich Bruder of Edison,
New Jersey once again used the famed MDIR track prep to
his advantage as he re-established the national class
ET record at 4.379 with his sharp blue ’88 Mustang.
X275 was not the only class to establish a new national
record over the weekend. Limited Drag Radial also joined
the ranks as Don Burton of Glen Allen, Maryland did the
same with his ’80 Mustang laying down a 4.146 ET
set during qualifying on Saturday. They say that three
is a charm and during this weekend, a third national record
would be established in Outlaw 10.5 as Mike Decker, Jr.
of Baltimore, Maryland would lay down an ear-splitting
3.955 ET with his supercharged Camaro. What these racers
also shared in common over the weekend; none of them would
go on to win their respective class, a testimony to the
quality of the cars on the property for the event.
With
over $60,000 in prize money up for grabs, bountiful sunshine
and temperatures in the high 60’s, as well as low
winds and low humidity, race teams took advantage of the
elements and the results continued to bring fans to their
feet all weekend long. Beyond track and national records
re-established at the event, eliminations proved to be
equally as exciting.
Over
24 pro mod cars invaded the Budds Creek property to lay
claim on the season opening Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association
(NEOPMA) 2016 points event. Harwood, Maryland resident
Mac McAdams used a consistent performance weekend to eventually
top the 16-car qualified field in his supercharged ’53
Corvette to claim his first ever class win. McAdams would
take out Tyler Hard of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s
nitrous Camaro in round one followed by Bill Lutz in round
two, Dave Norris of Sarver, Pennsylvania in the semi-final
round and 2015 NEOPMA points champion; Kevin McCurdy of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the finals.
“Winning
this weekend has really been a long last few years of
hard work and dedication by my entire team,” said
Mac McAdams. “We have gone through a lot of trials
and a huge learning curve right up to all the issues we
had to overcome to go to each round! Huge thanks to my
wife and daughter along with Brandon Booher (crew chief)
Leroy Dudney (engine builder) and my crew Derek Wisooker
and Will Rush! Absolutely couldn't be possible without
these people backing me up! Big thanks to Steve King and
Jeff Miller for all their help and parts they provided
to get us to the line every round! NEOPMA is bar none
the best series to be a part of and I thank John Mazzoranna
for that,” McAdams continued.
Outlaw
10.5 proved to be equally as interesting with nine quality
cars beginning eliminations. Mike Decker, Jr. would use
more near-record setting performance in the first and
second round eliminations to make his way to the final.
John Carinci of Woodbridge, Ontario Canada with his ’04
turbocharged Corvette would beat Anthony Disomma of South
Plainfield, New Jersey in round one, using a 4.048 ET
to take out Mo Hall of Olney, Maryland in round two, and
taking advantage of a bye-round in the semi-final to square
off with Decker, Jr. in the finals. Carinci would take
the trophy and oversized winner’s check back home
to Canada as he used a .098 reaction time and a 4.048
ET to take out Decker Jr. who ran a 3.971ET.
Radial
vs. the World made a historic first visit to MDIR for
the Door Wars event. Barry Mitchell of Hamptonville, North
Carolina would be the surprise class winner taking out
Fletcher Cox’s ’90 Mustang with Shawn Ayers
from Corinth, Mississippi behind with wheel in the final
with this ’02 Camaro. Ayers did establish a first-time
track record with a pass of 194.94 mph in the first round
of eliminations as he took out “The” Kevin
Mullins of High Point, North Carolina. Mullins established
the track ET mark at 3.996 during Saturday’s qualifying
rounds.
Ron
Rhodes of Townsend, Delaware became a back-to-back Door
Wars X275 winner on this weekend. The 2015 MDIR class
track champion continued his 2016 domination as he took
out new national ET record holder Rich Bruder in the class
finals in his shiny red nitrous infused ’68 Camaro.
Rhodes beat Jason Eberle of Chalfont, Pennsylvania in
round one, Dean Marinis of Whitestone, New York in the
semis before meeting up with Bruder in the final. Rhodes
will look for an event “three-peat” in ’17.
In
a fun story line, the Rhodes added another winner trophy
to the family inventory over the weekend as Ronny Rhodes
claimed a class win with his ’68 Camaro in Ultra
Street as well. Rhodes used a .068 light and a 4.920 ET
effort to top John Albrecht Jr. and his ’85 Monte
Carlo in the finals. It was all smiles in the winner circle
on this day for the Rhodes family.
Limited
Drag Radial made its maiden voyage to MDIR for the Haltech
Door Wars presented by Winegardner Auto Group. While it
was a different event and 1/8 mile vs. 1/4 mile, Steve
Drummond would take his ’69 Laurel, Delaware based
Camaro to the winner’s circle in two consecutive
competitions at MDIR when he beat Don Burton of Glen Allen,
Maryland in the finals. In his last trip to MDIR, Drummond
won the Radial vs. Modified class at the epic World Cup
Finals event last November.
The
Nitrous X class made its first visit to MDIR as well thanks
to Mr. John Sears. This class provides fans with exciting
wheels up, close competition and shows promise of great
things to come moving forward. Shawn Pevlor of Cincinnati,
Ohio with his ’93 Mustang would edge Tim Knieriem’s
of Shepherdsville, Kentucky’s ‘95 Mustang
with a 4.727 ET over Knieriem’s 4.781 ET effort.
In
Index competition, Louis Schalow of Chesterfield, Virginia
claimed the 8.50 weekend title, MDIR track regular Pat
Estevez of White Plains, Maryland took a win in 10.00,
and Keith Mayers of Middletown, Delaware did the same
in 11.50.
“The
2016 Door Wars event was a success and MDIR looks forward
to continuing the growth of the event and further it on
the national landscape,” said Rick Lindner, Director
of Marketing and Public Relations at Maryland International
Raceway. “I would like to personally thank all the
great first- time sponsors of the event this year as well
as the racers and fans. Bigger things are yet to come
for this spring-time classic,” Lindner continued.
For more event information, please visit www.RaceMDIR.com.
