englishtown weather N - NON-points and '07 Top 16
T - Includes Pro 10.0
P,E - Includes Pro 8 Shootout and 11.50
16 - Top16 - NON-points
'08 National, VA
Featured Drivers
2008 East Coast Supercharging Corvette Challenge Event 4 Winner Ralph Savarese 2008 American Racing Headers Pro 8 Shootout Race 1 Winner Could be you 2008 Cartek Racing Pro 10.0 Race 2 Winner Wayne Keegan
2008 Vette Doctors Pro 11.50 Race 1 Winner John Panuzzo
04/26/08 - Englishtown, NJ - Race two Cartek RacingPro 10.0 Index had just as much drama as Race 1. The field featured 11 Corvettes covering three generations. The boys were walking the ten-ohh line and this time we had to dish out several penalties for going under 10.0 in eliminations. Wayne Keegan was not one of them but he sure did tempt fate with two dead-on passes with one being perfect. More on that in later. As usual, rain was in the forecast though periods of sun and clouds did not put a cloud over the field.
For today's Corvette Challenge bracket results click here.
Qualifying
At the end of the first round of qualifying we had a first time pole sitter in Marc Scharago. Mark put his 2000 Black convertible Corvette in the 1 spot with a 10.024 @ 135.39 in the ECS supercharged entry. In a 2nd spot was Jay McCardle in his supercharged 1997 Blue Corvette. McCardle scored a 10.037 @ 137.96, also an ECS prepped model. The first turbocharged entry was Anger Management's Troy Nikola. Troy races the White C5 with APS twin turbos which he tunes himself. A new converter over the winter was the only change for Troy, okay, a few new converters, but he found the perfect one for the car, a Pro Torque (another Corvette Challenge sponsor), and was in the third spot with a 10.081 @ 137.06. Our top naturally aspirated car in the field was Chris Young, back with his own 1993 Corvette with 434 cid small block Chevy motor put together with his uncle Ralph Savares, tuned by Paul from Mass. Young was even sporting a little bit of breathing room in the jacket having taken 30 lbs off dirver doing some serious biking for exercise (keep it up). He took the fourth position with a 10.21 @ 107.35. Maybe he lost the 30 lbs on the foot because it seems a little light with that MPH. Our next entry was our top nitrous entry, Joe Latona, with a 10.328 @ 128.39 for the 5th qualifying position. He was followed by Mark Shaw in the 1970 big block 511 cid motor with a 10.328 @ 128.69. Alan Eckert with the supercharged 2003 Corvette, a third ECS entry, would be in the 7th spot with a 10.540 @ 130.96. Edgar Perez, yours truly, with the 402 cid 1999 Torch Red Corvette built by The Vette Doctors, was in the 8th spot with a 10.783 @ 127.59. In the ninth spot we find our smallest cid motor that remains naturally aspirated. Rob Zona piloted his 2003 Z06 to an 11.986 @ 76.68. Zona has been putting up some great numbers in the 346 heads and cam combo with the help of Tommy Michalkowski, Anger Management himself, with his new highly adjustable clutch that just did not put it down this run. He did run a 10.2, that is right 10.2 in the Corvette Challenge lanes. Can he repeat it? You bet! Now for the, "thanks for the extra eight spots this season" breakout bunch. Wayne Keegan put his wheel standing Corvette in the air again and ran a 9.981 @ 134.59. Back to the pits to do some adjusting. David Shen, the defending series champion, went under with the 4 barrel carb going 9.9801 @ 132.86 to round out the field of 11.
Runner-up Jay McCardle
The Perfect Run
Winner Wayne Keegan
Photos by Edgar Perez. For over 5000 Corvette Photos, click here.
For the second round of qualifying, Scharago and McCardle did not improve but held the 1 and 2 spots respectively. Wayne Keegan however bumped the rest of the field down with 10.04 @ 118.95 to take the third spot. Most of the remainder of the field improved times but not qualifying position. Nikola did not improve but held the fourth spot. Young improved to 10.128 @ 134.5 but did not advance in the ladder. Latona bumped up the nitrous a little and improved to 10.221 @ 131.34. Mark Shaw held and improved to 10.232 @ 134.55. Alan Eckert also improved going 10.315 @ 132.99. Had we remained and 8 car field, this would have been the quickest bump ever for the class and the quickest field at a 10.176 average for the eight. It would have been second fastest with an averager of 132.71. The next three drivers would have been bumped but it is not the case so Edgar Perez (10.71) Rob Zona and David Shen were in the field. Shen with two barrel's and still went under. Shen has not been able to get above 10.0 at all this year in qualifying.
We were on our way to first round and notably missing was long time supporter Michael Conway. Hopefully we will see him at the next race. Points racers Edward Monari, Tom Sabolevsky and Jerry Land (whose car is for sale) did not make the event either.
Round 1
So on with the blow by blow for the first round of eliminations. With the field uneven, Marc Scharago, the number 1 qualifier, would get a single. Not to risk any chance of running under and absorbing a penalty he ran a launch and release pass running 13.840 @ 85.36. David Shen (11) and Joe Latona (6) were up next. Latona was off with a .126 reaction time and Shen followed with a .132. Latona was reeled in by Shen and his 10.519 @ 129.38 would not be enough for Shen's 10.221 @ 124.08. Shen had no problem keeping it over in "this" round. The next pair was Jay McCardle (2) v. Mark Shaw (7). Shaw got out to the nice lead with a .054 reaction time to McCardle's .211. McCardle chased the red C3 and closed a little with a 10.120 @ 136.43. He could not catch him but he was in Shaw's blind spot and Shaw tried to slow....too late. Win light, McCardle. Penalty light, Shaw. He ran a 9.816 and it earned him the first penalty shelled out this season for running under in competition. Tough break for Shaw as it not only cost him the round but rewarded him with a 20 point penalty. Wayne Keegan (2) and Alan Eckert (8) were next. Eckert left the line behind Keegan, with a .194 RT and Keegan was ahead with .033. He ran it to the finish and ran a 10.06 tightening the top end with a 118.45 MPH. Eckert kept it close with a 10.376 @ 132.15. The next race was our sleeper's race. Troy Nikola (4) v. Edgar Perez (9). The last time I entered the Pro 10.0 I snapped a rear axle and lost the round. Now I back hoping to make up a large chunk of ET ground the tree. I put it in deep and waited for the lights to flash and was away and ahead of Troy. After the 1000' I still had the lead then Troy came flying by with a 10.249 @ 137.20 to my 10.577 @ 125.15. Sleeper race because I was dead late with .214 but Troy was .448 so I had a shot. However, not a realistic one as even the late tree and some tire spin, Troy was able still blow by me. How close? It was a .009 margin of victory. The final pair was Chris "434" Young (5) v. Rob "346" Zona (10). On paper, this one would not even be close. Young ran out the quarter with 10.227 but Zona made him sweat. The little 346 blasted the quarter in 10.270 seconds at 133.20 MPH. If only the tree were closer, who knows. Young socked the tree to a .013 to give himself a cushion to Rob's decent .181. Close race it was. Still we have to give credit to Zona and Anger Management wiht the astounding number they are pulling out from ta 346 cid motor.
Round 2
In the second round Scharago would face Nikola and Nikola was better on the tree then the first with a .345 and had a shot against Scharago with a .346 RT. The two C5's raced up the track side-by-side in the kind of action we expect this class to deliver, and it does. Scharago starts to pull and way and takes the win by a less than a tenth of a second. Scharago was 10.092 @ 115.78 and Nikola 10.169 @ 137.00 and the supercharged had defeated the twin turbo. They were followed by the two blue cars...McCardle and Young. As they staged, Young went deep. The tree dropped and McCardle was green but Young went red after staging too deep. He was -.036 red and McCardle was on the way to the final with a bye in the semi final coming up. The final pair was Keegan and Shen. Keegan was out first with a .020 and Shen was off with a .068. Again this pair were neck-in-neck up the track, the way we like it. Both driver have the power to run 10.00. Shen chased and could not catch him but got himself caught on the line. 9.988 went up on the board and Shen had run under and earned himself a penalty of 20 points in the process. Keegan on the other had, came within a thousandth of a second of doing the same thing. 10.000 on the board. A perfect 10.000, the first in the series and the win.
Round 3
Jay McCardle would be on the lucky end of the ladder that would get the bye run this round of three Corvettes. He gave the launch another test as he has struggled with the hooking all day today. This pass was no better. A .l36 reaction time and spinning and release pass of 11.763 @ 110.28 to keep it safe and positive. Now Keegan would face Marc Scharago. Mark is still learning the pro tree but has the goods to run the number. He was late with a .390 while Keegan was .055 on the tree. Scharago ran it out the back door trying to catch Keegan but did not. What he did catch was a penalty for running 9.951 @ 134.20. Impressive run but not in this class. Marc was assessed the third breakout penalty of the day for the class. Keegan, he kept on cruising to another dead-on pass, this only a 10.002.....slacker! Seriously this one was close he did it at 118.78 meaning he narrowly escaped a penalty. Keep walking that line and you just might end up on the other side.
Final Round
Now it was the Wheelstander vs. the Tire Spinner in an attempt to win two in row. McCardle cuts a .122 reaction time but Keegan was better with a .042 and with two straight dead-ons, McCardle had an uphill battle. The C3 settled after the wheelstand, (this is the prettiest site to see when you are the car in the burnout box waiting for him to make the pass, which I had the opportunity to do twice today) and held the lead to the end. Keegan was across the finish in 10.066 @ 119.53 as McCardle could not catch him with a 10.320 @ 133.25 with, again, a fair amount of tire spin. Keegan had taken his second in a row. Wayne gave a lot of credit to the class for being so competitive and especially gave kudos to champ Shen. With a two event win and the load of penalties, Keegan is holding a commanding lead in the points standings.
Winner Wayne Keegan earned a payout of $100 in addition to the winner trophy
Runner-up Jay McCardle earned a payout of $50 in addition to the runner-up trophy
Number 1 Qualifier Mark Scharago received a plaque for his 10.003 qualifying run
Chris Young received the Best Reaction Time plaque for the best winning reaction time in the first round at .013
2008 Points Standings
Two in a row gives Wayne Keegan an commanding 53 point lead over runner-up Jay McCardle. The bigger damage was done by the other drivers to themselves. Scharago and Shaw follow after taking 20 point penalties each. Joe Latona got around David Shen who also took a penalty for running under the 10.0 index in competition.
The next Pro 10.0 race of 2008 is June 28, 2008 with the gates opening at 2:30 PM. If you have a 10-second or low 11 second ride, check us out. Be sure and check out all the action if you not race as the competition heats up for this heads-up index class.
Videos
April 26, 2008 ECS CC Event 3 won by Jeanne Linke, Event 4 won by Ralph Savarese, Cartek Racing Pro 10.0 won by Wayne Keegan and The Vette Doctors Pro 11.50 won by John Panuzzo
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