2002 * Event 1
* Event 2
* Event 3
* Event 4
* Event 5
* Event 6
* Event 7
* Event 8
* Event 9
* Event 10
* Bonus * Top 4 * Final Standings
Bill Wilson wins 2002 Event 2
 All watched in anticipation as the ominous black Corvette
pulled into the burnout box, a quick dry hop to get the tires wet and then
a good 'ol fashion roast-'em-to-the-cords burnout to make sure adhesion was
at it's best. The yellows come down and bang the dark coupe is gone in a
flash. Then, the scoreboard told it all--11.50, at a terminal velocity of
126 mph. That was the gauntlet thrown down by Bill "Boweryboy" Maloney with
his 1997 Corvette, to set off the 2nd Cartek Corvette Challenge of the
season. With such a strong field and impressive turnout at the 1st event,
everyone knew the 2nd time around would be even more impressive. A
record-breaking total of 79 Corvettes of all vintages and various stages of
owner-induced alterations were lined up in the staging lanes, all looking
to take the crown from the event's own Edgar Perez, the first season event
winner. Even though, this event's turnout was record breaking, it was still
a few cars shy, because 20 or so additional owners of GM's premier
performance car were making their presence known at the Corvette Forum
Cruise In at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Nevertheless, there were more then enough participants on hand, even some
from as far away as, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and the most east ends
of New York to enjoy the event and put on a show for all spectators, family
and friends alike.
As it went, you couldn't have asked for a better day for some serious
strip action. Though, there was a slight scare of some light rain possible
later in the day, the sun and 80-degree temps held strong and kept the
event flowing smoothly. All racers were eager to get their time shots in
and get started. Cartek Racing, the event's main sponsor, brought
several of their more prominent customers out to wow the crowds and do
battle with the competition. Even Cartek co-owner Julio Hormilla's son Max
was on hand with his 1999 Torch Red hardtop, complete with a cold air
package, LS6 intake, headers, cat-back exhaust and a set of 4.10 gears, to
do his father proud with some ETs in the 12.40-range, at better then 115
mph. Cartek customers Brent Grigsby Romolo Cifelli, Mark Ramos and Adam
Brandt were also on-hand as well, along with a few others to
"Run-what-ya-brung-and-hope-you-brung-enough" for the competition.
Some serious Vette Doctors customers were in attendance to meet the
Cartek boys in the usual friendly rivalry fashion. In fact, it was Bill
Maloney who was the main man backing up The Vette Doctors boys with his 382
cubic-inch, nitrous sniffing 1997 Corvette. Though, there have been
comments that the engine is over the 400-cube mark, Vette Doctor co-owner
Carmen Melillo emphatically states it's only 382 cubic inches. Whatever it
is, the numbers it produces are very impressive. Also for the record, it
was told that the big, bad, black machine wasn't inhaling from the little
blue bottle for this event, "the bottle was empty," stated Carmen as he and
Bill just wanted to get some preliminary runs in and get the car sorted out
for future competition. Bill's ET's ranged in the 11.40 to 12.70 area,
because of some possible fuel pump issues. Another indication of this
problem was the 104-126 mph variance during the runs, because the car was
shutting down in 4th gear on several of the passes. But, rest assured any
and all problems were probably sorted out days after the event. No matter
the case, Bill's car laid down some very impressive numbers for a car with
issues, and Bill still set down one of the fastest ETs of the day and held
the record for the best mph at the start of the event.
To combat "Boweryboy," the Cartek boys were all running some serious
numbers as well. Brent and Mark were knocking out 11.40s and .50s, at
anywhere from 120 to 122 mph with Mark's '99 hardtop and Brent's '02 Z06.
Both cars and owners have previously posted times in the 11.0 range at 125
mph, at other tracks. Though Mark had no issues this day, except for a lack
of traction, Brent's car was suffering from a loss of 3rd gear synchros in
his car's transmission. Romolo, like Bill Driber, was also on the
"shakedown" band wagon, trying to get a grip on his 458 rwhp
head-and-cammed 1999 Nassau Blue hardtop. As it stood, Romolo was only
given a chance to harness his beast on two passes. His best pass of the day
was an 11.86, at 122 mph, then he was ejected from the competition, because
of a lack of 6-point monkey bar in his machine. Adam ran far into the
competition with his top-halved, 346-cubed '97 coupe, having gone the most
rounds during eliminations, but finally beating himself by breaking out of
his 12.0 dial-in and running out the back door with an 11.86, at 119
mph.
Other impressive showings for the day include the event's own John
Mackey laying down a string of impressive passes, all in the 11.60-range,
at better then 116 mph. John, being the experienced racer he is, was
cutting lights in the low-to-mid .500 area. Mackey was finally taken out in
the 3rd round of eliminations, by none other then himself, when he left to
the tune of a .471 red-light, giving John Policastro and his '97 C5 and
easy win, and spot in the 4th round of competition. On the subject of
reaction times, a quick shout-out has to go to Anthony Pugliese, from
Caldwell, NJ and his 1977 Corvette. Anthony held the reaction time record
for the day, when he started the clocks on the last yellow bulb with a .505
reaction time. Very impressive to say the least. Congrats Anthony.
As time trials came to an end, all participants had their dial-ins set.
It was going to be a dash for the gold, or trophy in this case, by all. By
the time 5th round eliminations were at hand, there were two pair ups with
our own Edgar Perez squaring off against Jamison, PA resident Tony
Buonassisi and his low 13-second 1996 Corvette. Perez took the win from
Buonassisi when he ran a 12.508, on a 12.46 dial in, vs. Tony's
"on-the-money" pass of 13.143, on a dial in of 13.14. It came to better
reaction times, as Edgar pulled a .620 light to Tony's .678. That margin in
a bracket race can mean the win, obviously. There was no "win-to-be-taken"
during the other match race of round five competition. East Meadow, New
Yorker Vic Gandhi, also played that unfortunate song of beating himself
when he red-lighted against Bill Wilson, from Columbia, MD. This just
wasn't Vic's round in any aspect, as he also ran under his dial in, posting
a 13.124, on a 13.27 dial. Bill also ran under his dial, stopping the
clocks with a time of 13.842, on a dial in of 13.85. Bill Driber, of
Burlington, NJ got to run solo this round, posting a time of 13.513, well
above his 13.00 dial in.
So, for the three final contestants we had Perez, Driber and Wilson in
round six. This time around Perez faced off against Driber. Edgar was able
to put Bill on the trailer with the help of a red light on Bill's part,
when he started the clocks on a reaction time of .498 to Perez's .534. A
.498 had to hurt, just ever so slightly on the wrong side of a perfect
light. Edgar still ran a 12.492, on a 12.47 dial in, while Bill knocked out
an "also under" ET of 13.308, on a dial in of 13.40. Wilson was the one on
his own during this round. He still ran it close to his dial in when he
posted a 13.901, on a dial of 13.83.
It was now the final round, two men and two cars squaring off for the
win. The burnouts were done and both man and machine combos staged. The
lights came down first for Bill, as he was the slower car and this is
bracket racing at it's best. On the last amber bulb, Wilson left with a
reaction time of .593, not too long after Edgar was let lose and reacted in
.556 of a second. Perez was doing all he could to real Bill in and cross
the beams first. But alas, it wasn't meant to be this time for Perez, as he
bested his dial in by .019 of a second, running a 12.461 on a 12.48 dial.
Bill got the win with a time of 13.873, with the dial in on his window
reading 13.83. It was a clean win and some great racing.
Wilson is a member of Corvette-Troy (Ohio) www.corvette-troy.com and Corvette Club of America (DC
area) www.corvetteclubofamerica.org and has been into
Corvettes since 1973, which is when he joined his first club, the
Corvette-Troy club. Since then, Bill has owned six Corvettes in total, the
white 1994 LT1 auto car he raced at this event prominently displayed the
fact for all to see, as it's plate reads "SWT 6TH." For the most part this
car is a stocker and a daily driver. Bill has only added a KN Air Filter,
180 degree thermostat, Hypertech Programmer and BFG Drag Radials for some
consistency. Wilson doesn't really have any major plans in the works for
the car, as he states; "I drive the '94 on the street a great deal and even
take it on vacation to places like Myrtle Beach so it's doubtful I'll make
any big changes to the car, I 'm just looking to make it as consistent as
possible in the drags and fun to drive on the street." Bill, his girlfriend
Jane Pino and fellow Corvette Club member Ernie King all made the trek from
the MD area for some fun and competitive racing and a chance to spend a day
making new friends into the same thing we're all into-Corvettes. "I really
looked forward to the chance to race against other Corvettes and Corvette
owners, as my enjoyment truly lies in drag racing my car, especially since
I was never too good at auto-crossing, but it was fun to try," says Wilson.
He also wanted to say, "I want to thank all the other competitors who have
sent me E-mails and stopped by to shake my hand that night. It was great to
win but the whole event was made even better by everyone sharing in the
victory with me and Jane. I also want to say how this was such a great
event! It was well run and had a very friendly atmosphere."
Well, here you have the highlights for the 2nd Cartek Corvette Challenge
race of the season. You don't want to miss the 3rd, which will be on
Saturday, June 29th, 2002, at Raceway Park http://www.etownraceway.com. If you were unfortunate
enough to have missed the first two events, you simply can't miss the 3rd,
or the seven remaining events that will follow, as the Series has a total
of 10 races. All the dates can be found on the www.corvettechallenge.info
and on www.racewaypark.com web sites.
Written by Abraham Bergian
Pictures
Edgar's Pics and Jay's Pics (High resolution versions available by
e-mailing the webmaster with a link to the picture you want)
Many awards and prizes were given out to the drivers courtesy of the
sponsors.
- Event winner Bill Wilson went home with $200 cash and gift
certificates for a free dyno tuning session at Cartek Racing and a $100
gift certificate for $100 from Pro Torque and the Event Winner Shore
Motorsports sponsored Trophy. Shore Motorsports is located in Howell, NJ
and can be reached at 732-370-2067 or on the web at www.shoremotorsports.com. Cartek Racing is in
Garwood, NJ and can be reached at 908-317-4496 or on the web at www.cartek.net.
- Runner up Edgar Perez went home with $100 cash, a $50 gift
certificate from Pro Torque, the "Money Back Runner Up Award" for $20
cash from Boweryboy Racing and the event Runner-up Vette Doctors
sponsored Trophy. The Vette Doctors are located in Amityville, NY and can
be reached at 631-841-0779 or on the web at www.thevettedoctors.com.
- Bill Driber was the sole semi-finalist and won $50 cash.
- All winners of the first round were awarded a trophy sponsored by CFM Racing. With 79 cars making first round
that means that Chris, Frank and Mike gave out 40 first round
trophies.
- Tony Buonassisi won Closest to Dial Award by running a 13.088 on a
13.08 dial. Tony received a beautiful gift package from Walden Farms
filled with low calorie low carbohydrate products. You can purchase
Walden Farms products at local grocery stores or on the web at www.waldenfarms.com.
- Louis Vernarelli won the "Ohh so Close Award" when his 57 Vette (that
is right a C1) was edged out in the first round by a mere 13/10,000ths
(.0013) of a second. For losing first round by the smallest Margin of
Victory, Louis earned a Zaino starter package that includes Z1, Z2, Z6,
Z7 and a polish pad. Unfortunately Louis left before collecting his
prize. In the future if you earn a prize we would prefer you stay to the
end of the race for a presentation but if you cannot, let us know so we
can capture a photo of the presentation. Zaino products can be purchased
online at www.zainobros.com or at Shore Motorsports on Route 9
in Howell.
- Jason Cuniff won the Almost Perfect Award by losing in the first
round the red light closest to .500. Tony's light was .498 and for that
he earned a $50 gift certificate to the Raceway Park Souvenir store
donated by Roy Johnson of Roybuilt Racing. Jason also left before
collecting his prize.
- Tony Pugliese won the John Panuzzo Jr. Memorial Trophy" donated by Team Panuzzo Racing for the best reaction
time in the first round in his Orange 1977 C3 Corvette. Tony went on to
the quarter finals where he lost to eventual runner-up Edgar Perez.
Congratulation Tony.
 The Corvette Challenge is a series for all Corvette owners
regardless of experience and year of their Corvette. While the majority of
the cars are C5 and C4 models, we saw a dozen C3 models, 3 C2 models and
TWO C1's at this event.
The Corvette Challenge is in its 4th year and is made possible thanks to
the help of its sponsors. The 2002 sponsors are
. The officers for the series are
John Mackey, Dennis Kazimir, Edgar Perez and Bob Trieschmann. For
additional information and pictures and videos, please visit
www.corvettechallenge.info.
Points Standings
The points race did not change too much from Event1 to Event2 as Edgar
Perez went to the finals to maintain the number one position. As of now the
top 4 eligible drivers to participate in the 22nd ANNUAL P.C. RICHARD SON
ALL AMERICAN JET CAR NATIONALS at Raceway Park Wednesday night July 31,2002
are
- Edgar Perez 16
- Jack Schwarzwalder 11
- Aaron Askenback 10
- Vic Gandhi 9
Visit http://www.racewaypark.com/main/points/corvette.html
to see the complete points standings.
Cartek Corvette Challenge helps Toys for Teens and Tots
A 50/50 raffle was held at the track and the proceeds were donated to the
Toys for Teens & Tots fund. The winner of the 50/50 was Miss Theresa
Savarese, Ralph's daughter. Theresa will also answer to the name "The Cub".
The 50/50 will be held at each of the Cartek Corvette Challenges this year.
Please see Jaymie Shuleski in the staging lanes if she does not find you
first. You do not have to be a racer to participate. Raceway Park officer,
Tim, thanks the Corvette Challenge racers and fans for supporting the Toys
for Teens and Tots. Thank you for your continued support.
Written by Edgar Perez
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