Tragedy & Triumph: The 2021 U.S. Street Nationals
/When we roll into a new season of racing, especially after the year that we all experienced in 2020, the expectations are extraordinary. Over the weekend we kicked off the 2021 season with a triumphant return to heads-up drag racing, but amid overwhelming tragedy as well.
As most in the drag racing world are well aware of by now, we lost a great man on Friday at the race track. Chaps was someone that always had a smile and usually a cigar. You would see him pretty much doing everything that needed to be done at the track. Most of you don’t realize that since I get to these events long before they even start, I get to know the track personnel quite well. Chaps was no exception to that. We saw each other all the time while I was there and tried to chat as much as possible. Even though we lost Chaps during a freak top-end incident, we all knew that he would expect the show to go on, and that is exactly what happened in his memory.
The U.S. Street Nationals featured Pro Mod, Radial vs. The World, Pro 275, LDR, X275, Ultra Street, Heavy Street, Florida N/T, and Outlaw 632. It also featured some of the best side-by-side racing that you will see. Whether it was holeshot wins, freight train back-halves, etc. All day Saturday and Sunday put on a show that still has me mindblown.
Kicking off with the king of door cars, Pro Mod. There were well over 30 entries in the Pro Mod class, and we are talking about some of the best in the world. There were champions from NHRA, NMCA, Mid-West Drag Racing, PDRA, etc. Series owners Keith Haney and Tommy Franklin were both on the property gunning for that elusive pro mod victory in Florida. It was a nitrous car that took the win on Sunday night, but it was Cecil County Dragway Owner, and 2x back-to-back PDRA Pro Nitrous World Champion, Jim Halsey that was victorious over Pro Mod Legend Todd Tutterow in the finals. A holeshot victory for Jim, as we all were well aware that this would be a titanic matchup between two champions of the sport.
Rollin’ into the class that has taken over the world of drag racing in the last ten years or so, Radial vs. The World. These 3000-5000+ horsepower beasts boast a 315 tire and are dropping times well into the mid 3.50’s on a regular basis. This time though, it wasn’t meant to be for heavy hitters like Stevie Jackson or David Reese. David had some oil on the belt during his eliminations loss, and Stevie lost to eventual runner up Daniel Ray during the first round of eliminations. In the water box during the finals were two heavy hitters looking for that big victory though. Daniel Ray, driving the Jack Greene nitrous powered monster vs. Bryan Markiewicz and his Procharger powered Camaro. Unfortunately, Daniel left early and handed Bryan the win, but Bryan still motored down the track and lit the boards with a 3.56 run. That run was going to be tough to beat no matter how great the tree was.
Pro 275 seems to be that talk of the town when it comes to radial racing over the last year or so. With many of the previous RvW drivers assuming roles within the class, all while attempting to lay down the same power to an even small tire. Names like Micke, Slavens, Woodruff, Jackson, Mewshaw, Decker III, have all made the change to the 275 tire in an attempt to compete in the class. When Sunday night rolled around though, it was Mark Micke in his Garrett Turbos boosted, Jason Carter owned, Malibu that was victorious over the ridiculously clean Foxbody of Ziff Hudson. Ziff was in the right lane and hit the tires immediately when the tree dropped, as Mark ripped down the track with a solid 3.81 victory pass.
Limited Drag Radial, better known to most as LDR was on the property for their first points race of the year. Some of the top guns were unable to make it as their cars weren’t ready yet. That didn’t stop of from adding another 3-second car to the books. The HED heart, boosted by Garrett Turbos hotrod of Justin Martin was on a tear over the entire week in Florida. Dropping three-second passes like there was nothing to it. Unfortunately, some mechanical damages left him relegated to a spectator on Sunday. When it was time to crown an event champion in LDR, it came down to the new guy on the block, Justin Cyrnek taking on the Champion, the Thrillbilly Shane Stack. Justin had been dropping the boom with high 3-second passes all weekend, and his tuner Steve Summers had him loaded for bear in the finals too. Tree drops and Justin jets off to another 3-second pass at 3.97, taking the victory over Shane’s 4.01 pass.
X275 has been and might always been the most controversial class when it comes to rules. At the end of the 2020 season we saw multiple 4.teen passes from Manny, Charles, and Rob. During the offseason, everyone wondered what was going to be done. There were small rules changes, and we didn’t see a bunch of teens dropped during the week in Florida. What we did see though was two imports and two domestics in the semi-finals of X275. When all was said and done, it was White Rice and 2020 World Champion Rob Goss squaring off in the finals. White Rice, driven by Eric LaFerriere bumped in but unfortunately turned on the red light, handing Goss the immediate win. For good measure though, Rob still had the car wicked up and ran a stout 4.19 in the finals.
Ultra Street, a championship that was decided by the narrowest margins in the history of the class during the 2020 season is always a class filled with characters and fast cars. 2020 World Champion Brian Keep, along with Runner-Up Kirt Sanders were both there in an attempt to start off the 2021 season on the right foot. NMRA superstars Haley James and Joel Greathouse both made the drive as well. None of them would be in the seat when the final round came about though. Instead, it was a Buick V6 powered Mustang facing off against a nitrous Camaro. Scott Parson’s in the Camaro was attempting to out spray the turbo Mustang. While Scott got off the line first, it was Dave that took the victory with an amazing 4.52 to Scott’s 4.56.
Outlaw 632 has been a staple in drag racing for years now, especially in the south. These nitrous purging behemoths have constantly put on a show for the fans. Some of the most beautiful cars that you will see at a drag race are the Outlaw 632 cars. It’s not just a Camaro and Mustang class. Such a wide variety of cars makes for a spectacle of epic proportions. What made this weekend even more interesting was what happened at the end of the evening on Sunday. In the semi-finals, we saw Holdorf vs Distefano and Voss vs. Lannigan. That wasn’t the strange part though. During the Voss vs. Lannigan matchup, neither car was able to get fired and stage with the engine running under its own power. This is only the 3rd time that I can remember seeing a double DQ. What that meant was since there was no winner of that match, whoever won the Holdorf vs. Distefano matchup would be the event winner, as long as they could come back for the finals and take the tree. It was Holdorf, who had issues of his own during the Semi’s taking the win over Distefano, and capturing the event win.
Heavy Street had drama as well at the end of the night. Rick Prospero couldn’t get his car fired up to take the tree on his bye run. All they had to do was get the car staged and take the tree drop to move on to the finals. They were down to their last few seconds before it fired up and they were able to get it to stage. This set him up to take on Jimmy Stanley in the finals. Rick seemed to have it fixed for the finals as he dropped a 4.61 in the finals to take the victory over Jimmy.
Lastly was the Florida N/T class. Florida is known to have some of the best and baddest N/T cars in the country. The finals in the class showed that to be true, as it was Mike Stavrinos who held off the Johnson family in the finals. The Johnson family is known to a lot of people as stout racers over at another Florida track, Emerald Coast Dragway, and they made it competitive in the finals, but just didn’t have enough for the Stavrinos ride.