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Brandenton Motorsports Park.
PRO Edelbrock officials also used the 2004 season opener to experiment with a
unique category contested at high-profile events at Bradenton Motorsports
Park. Dubbed "Open Outlaw", the eight-car qualified field featured almost no
rules and entries ranged from polesitter Matt Gilmore incredible supercharged
methanol-burning '32 Austin Bantam roadster, (6.48/211.96), to John Alberigi's
blown alky Thunderbird funny car, to Brad Bowen's almost indescribable blown
alky 2004 Corvette roadster which featured a Top Fuel Dragster rear wing! The
final round may have been the most spectacular of the entire event; Alberigi's
flopper was ahead of Gilmore's blown altered when it veered into Gilmore's lane
at half-track; the altered pilot calmly steered the roadster toward the guardrail and drove around the errant funny car to a 6.53-second, 211.01 mph victory! In a post-race interview, Gilmore stated, "Everybody knows you never lift when you're driving a blown altered!".
Southern Fuel Coupes - Brad Bowen #1 Qualifier US 19 Dragway !!
SOUTHERN FUEL COUPES ROAR INTO U.S. 19 DRAGWAY
By Robin Stambaugh
Albany, GA. - Southern Fuel Coupes finished out their 2003 season
at U.S. 19 Dragway in Albany, Georgia on November 22nd. Eleven
cars were on hand to battle it out for the eight car field.
The 2003 championship was up for grabs as well as bragging rights
going into the 2004 season. Game faces were on and tune-ups
were tweaked as everyone had the same goal - a win at U.S. 19.
Buywrite.com Burnout Contest Winner, Monty Todd in his trick
1955 Chevy funny car ripped off an impressive 4.01 at 173.15
while taking on Charlie Gambino in Ed Parker's Cape Codder Corvette
funny car. The Cape Codder team was awarded the Horton Race
Cars High MPH award for their second round effort. Jim Dickey
in his 1923 T altered took the win light over Don Roddy who
had his hands full on a wild ride in The Untouchable's 1948
Fiat altered. Doing double driving duty was Charlie Gambino
in the Godfather altered who easily defeated pedaling Matt Stambaugh
in the New Generation Racing front engine dragster. For the
second race in a row, Keith Floyd in his 1963 Corvette pro mod
took home the Switchblaze Entertainment Quick reaction time
award with a great .405 light en route to a win over Harold
Barnhardt in his 1968 Camaro pro mod. Alcohol dragster driver
Todd Baucknecht continued his string of three second runs with
a great 3.90 at 180.18.
The stage was set for an impressive final with Brad Bowen in
his KB Oldsmobile powered 2001 Corvette Roadster taking on first
time Southern Fuel Coupes finalist Bill Naves in his Hemi powered
Shooting Star Cutlass funny car. Bill Naves and the Shooting
Star crew did routine maintenance on the Cutlass while Brad
Bowen, Sr. and engine builder Ron Kendzior hopped up the Corvette.
At the green, Bowen had a little too much horsepower for the
tricky racing surface and spun hard off the line while Bill
Naves took his first ever Southern Fuel Coupes victory.
The 2003 season came to an exciting conclusion with several
firsts. Keith Floyd and Jimmy Walton's Blown By You 1963 Corvette
clinched their first ever 2003 Southern Fuel Coupes Championship
dethroning 4 time champion Jim Dickey and Bill Naves took home
his first Southern Fuel Coupes Hoosier Race Winner award. The
2003 Southern Fuel Coupes season was only a glimpse of what
is to come in 2004. Be sure to check out www.southernfuelcoupes.com
for the latest news on these wild and crazy machines.