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Heading into the 27th Annual Snap On
Racing Superchargers Showdown, it
was no secret that Mother Nature has
played a major impact on the 2012
season at MIR. With events either
delayed or cancelled because of
rain, lightning, and even a complete
loss of power. Mother Nature decided
that she would let MIR win one this
weekend, as drivers came from all
over to provide the wildest show of
the year. The Pro Mods of the
Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association
were set to do battle on the full
quarter mile. With names such as
Fredy Scriba, Gary Courtier, Steve
Drummond, Tim O'Hare and others, the
question wasn't if or when we'd see
a 5 second run, but how many? After
4 qualifying sessions were
completed, 4 drivers eclipsed the 5
second zone, including Steve
Drummond's 5.97 at nearly a track
record speed of 246.30 MPH. Each and
every driver gave it everything they
had on every run, which
unfortunately caused a lot of broke
singles in eliminations. John
Mazzarana, President of the NEOPMA
and Royce Miller, President and
promoter of MIR, decided to pair up
as many broke singles as possible
and they created double bye runs,
which allowed both drivers to
advance to the next round, but still
giving the fans side by side action.
As the smoke cleared to the final
round. Isaias Rojas in his 2006
Chevy Colbalt, who struggled all
through qualifying, unleashed the
quickest pass of both Pro Mod
classes at 5.937 taking out heavy
local favorite Fredy Scriba. Making
a statement to Steve Drummond ahead
of their match race showdown at the
17th annual World Cup Finals Import
vs Domestic November 2-4. Drummond
answered right back with a class win
of his own at 5.966 defeating Tim
O'Hare who ran a vcry competitive
5.967.
The Wild Bunch gave a great show of
their own,providing wild smokey
burnouts, 200 MPH runs on the edge
of control. However there was one
thing that none of us ever thought
we'd see. Bunny Burkett stepping out
of the car and inserting a backup
driver. Marking perhaps the first
time in her legendary career, that
anyone but Bunny has driven one of
her cars in an elimination round at
MIR. She entrusted the veteran Matt
Stambaugh to drive her car. With the
longest burnout and high MPH awards
already in hand, Stambaugh looked
for the clean sweep against Richard
Wilson in the final, which was
determined as both drivers has the
two quickest winning times through
the first two rounds of
eliminations. On this night, Richard
Wilson took the win with an .018
reaction time and the quickest et of
the night at 6.110 to Stambaugh
impressive 6.187. The Wild Bunch
will make one more appearance at MIR
this season at the rescheduled 3rd
annual Legends of Budds Creek on
November 10th.
Two jet dragsters also highlighted
the action as the legendary Queen of
Diamonds Jet Dragster piloted by
Jill Canuso, took on the Jersey
Thunder machine driven by Terry
Rosberg, who was racing in memory of
his father, former IHRA Jet
Inspector Dick Rosberg, who passed
away last year. During round 1, both
drivers left before the Christmas
tree came down, so Royce Miller and
MIR Operations Director Chris Miller
changed the christmas tree autostart
settings to an instant flash of
yellow and green once both drivers
staged. Canuso took home both wins
in round 2 and 3 with the fastest
passes of the season at MIR, both at
over 300 MPH.
Winners of the 27th annual Snap On
Racing
Superchargers Showdown
Pro Mod Nitrous:
Isaias Rojas
Pro Mod Blower/Turbo:
Steve Drummond
Wild Bunch:
Richard Wilson
Jet Dragsters Match Race:
Jill Canuso
Top ET Friday:
Severn Johnson
Top ET Saturday:
Willy Hess Sr
Modified ET:
Frank Thompson Jr
Motorcycle ET:
Jimmie Miller
Hubble Motorsports Junior Dragster:
Jacob Mattera
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