BRADENTON, Fla. — A last-chance hero run in the final pair of the final Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying session at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission kept Mark Micke on the top of the qualifying order Friday night at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Micke laid down a 3.579-second pass at 221.02 mph in his twin-turbocharged 1969 Camaro, an improvement of five hundredths of a second on his Thursday night effort.
Behind Micke, 27 other drivers in PJS Racing Outlaw Pro Mod presented by FuelTech made passes in the 3.60-second range.
The drag radial classes of the FuelTech Radial Outlaws Racing Series, as well as Summit Racing Outlaw 632 presented by Rife Sensors, received two Friday qualifying sessions to build on their one session from Thursday.
Those classes will get a final fourth session on Saturday morning. The provisional low qualifiers are Mark Woodruff in PST Driveshafts Pro 275 presented by Pro Line Racing, Eric LaFerriere in Mickey Thompson Tires X275 presented by Precision Turbo & Engine, Greg Blevins Jr. in Energy Manufacturing Limited Drag Radial presented by Callies Performance, Shawn Pevlor in TRZ Motorsports Ultra Street presented by Motion Raceworks, Bill Kubiac in SP Tools Limited 235 presented by ICE Ignition and Jacob Naumann in Summit Racing Outlaw 632 presented by Rife Sensors.
PRO MOD
Over the course of three qualifying sessions on Friday, Micke traded back and forth for the No. 1 qualifying position in Outlaw Pro Mod. He went into the final qualifying session in the top spot, then watched Derek Ward go around him by two thousandths of a second. As the last car down the track for the evening, Micke reclaimed his No. 1 spot with an unexpectedly quick 3.579 at 221.02.
“It was an unbelievable run,” said Micke, the owner of M&M Transmission. “It was more than we thought. We’re stoked. It’s been fun fighting back and forth for that No. 1 spot. We were watching the cars ahead of us and I figured it would be Ken Q [Quartuccio], Derek Ward, or maybe ‘Turbo Todd’ [Moyer].
“We thought those guys had the potential to bump us. We were trying to go .59 flat because I figured Derek would go .59 something just knowing they’re pretty badass. So I was like, ‘All right, guys, let’s do it.’”
PRO 275
Small-tire veteran Woodruff, who was the Pro 275 runner-up at the snowbirds, grabbed the provisional No. 1 spot from Jason Collins by just one thousandth of a second when he fired off a 3.737 at 195.19 in his screw-blown 2010 Corvette.
Collins, the reigning Radial Outlaws Pro 275 champion, slid to No. 2 with his 3.738 at 201.37 in the screw-blown Scott Tidwell Racing 1969 Camaro. Second-generation racer Brylon Holder is third in his ProCharged 2015 Camaro with his 3.745 at 198.12 from Thursday.
X275
Thursday’s provisional low qualifier in X275, LaFerriere, didn’t improve on his 4.144 at 181.11, but he held on to the top spot in the turbocharged “White Rice” 1997 Nissan 240SX.
Frank Mewshaw also maintained his No. 2 position but it took an improved 4.182 at 173.94 in his turbo 1989 Mustang to do so. Ron Rhodes laid down a 4.20 at 173.74 in his nitrous-fed 1968 Camaro to move up to the No. 3 spot.
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL
Limited Drag Radial saw some movement in Friday’s two sessions. Blevins Jr. moved up a spot to the provisional No. 1 position with his 3.867 at 194.63 in his ProCharged 1969 Camaro.
He traded places with Mitch Mika, who dropped to No. 2 in his ProCharged 1969 Camaro with a 3.87 at 189.47 from Thursday. Kenny Hubbard moved up to third in his ProCharged 1972 Nova with a 3.902 at 186.56.
ULTRA STREET
Shawn Pevlor stayed on top of the Ultra Street qualifying sheet with his 4.455 at 154.67 from Thursday. Brian Keep and Shawn Pevlor, who were qualified No. 2 and 3 after Thursday’s lone session, reversed roles when they both ran 4.480. Spina’s speed of 157.59 in his 1990 Mustang put him ahead of Keep, who went 156.34 in his ’98 Camaro.
LIMITED 235
The top three drivers in Limited 235 are stacked closely together. Kubiac stepped up to a 4.925 at 137.08 in his 1990 Mustang to get around Louis Filippides and Dean Fluhart, taking over the provisional No. 1 position in the process.
Filippides also improved to a 4.929 at 142.82 in his turbocharged 1986 Cutlass to sit No. 2. Fluhart’s 4.945 at 139.73 from Thursday kept him in the top three at No. 3.
OUTLAW 632
Naumann held on to the No. 1 spot in Outlaw 632 by improving his numbers to a 4.182 at 170.04 in his nitrous-fed 1970 Nova. Cape Coral, Florida’s Mark Hoagland jumped to the No. 2 position in his 2015 Camaro with a 4.225 at 168.49. Another Florida resident, Port Charlotte’s Kyle Salminen, filed into third with a 4.254 at 165.88 in his 2003 Cavalier.