News
In 2023 it marked the return of a few previous champions. Such as Tim Norwood, Gary Zipperian, and Eric Hellmuth. During the off season Eric Hellmuth made considerable changes to the car. It was kind of a craph shoot how these new changes would change his already proven combination. However at the first event of the year at Beaver Springs things looked good. Eric literally painted the car the day before and showed up for qualifying with the paint still wet from the day before. However that proved to be his lucky charm at the end of the day. Eric took over long time racer Tim Norwood in the final round and parked his car in winners circle to kick off the season with a bang. He also runnered up at the next event in Maple Grove. The championship came down to the final event at Mason Dixon. After going out in Round #2 it was a nail biter all the way to the finish. Once all the points were calculated he won the championship by 6 points over Tim Norwood. This is Eric's second championship with the series, he previously won in 2014, and finished 2nd in 2018. Congrats to Eric and his family for supporting our series since it's inception in 2013.
For the second year in a row Spencer Smith has become the Atomizer Racing Injectors Pro Outlaw Champion. With a semi final appearance at the season opener in Beaver Springs he kicked off the start to a great season. At the next event in Maple Grove at the June Bug event he followed that up with a win. Spencer and his team have burst onto the Pro Outlaw field quickly and have proven that to be a championship contender first you need to attend all of the events and second you need to go rounds. It's survival of the fittest in this class and for 2 years straight they have proven they have what it takes. Congrats to Spencer and his team and we look forward to seeing you again in 2024.
Congratulations to Rick Lazar for taking home the 2022 Rancho Transaxles Super Pro Championship. Rick had to win the final race of the year to win the championship and he did it in exciting fashion. Congrats to Rick, his family and his team for such an amazing win.
Our 2022 Atomizer Fuel Systems Pro Outlaw Champion is Spencer Smith. Unfortunately our final race of the year at Waterfest was rained out so Spencer held onto the points lead the entire year and was crowned the champion. We look forward to seeing Spencer and his team in 2023.
In our Rancho Transaxles Super Pro Class it was Todd Chicklo taking the win over Jimmy Boone.
Also in our Atomizer Fuel Systems Pro Outlaw class it was Brad Mcbride taking the win over John Laspisa.
The weather was beautiful. It never got above 82 degrees. It was sunny and a nice breeze. The race track was absolutely JAM PACKED. This is the GO TO EVENT of the year. I can’t wait until next year for an even bigger better event.
Thank you Scott Pocaro for all of your hard work in making this so successful.
Our 2022 kicked off in Maple Grove for the annual June Bug event. We kicked off the day with our Rancho Transaxles Super Pro class. Our 2018 champion Eric Hengstenberger made the long drive from Ohio and looked to kick off the day in his winning ways. Unfortunately, he faced off against Dennis Miller from in the second round. Eric was a little late off the line and Dennis took the win and had a bye run into the final round. Scott Pocaro made the trip from New Jersey and was driving a borrowed car and made it to the finals to face off against Dennis. Just before the final round began Scott’s car was having transmission issues so Dennis took the easy win and started the year off with the points lead.
In our Atomizer Injectors Pro Outlaw class, we had 7 racers in attendance. This year we tried something new and opted to not do qualifying and instead we would just have 2 rounds of time trials (TNT). At the end of the 2 rounds, we did a chip draw to determine the first-round pairings and from that point forward we would be laddered up. The final round paired Spencer Smith from Pennsylvania versus Ricardo Tolay from New Jersey. Ricardo fell asleep when the tree came down and ended up with a .998 reaction time and ran a 9.782 and lost to Spencer who won on a holeshot with a 10.19 @140mph. Margin of Victory was .035. That is just an insanely close final round. Congratulations to Spencer Smith on his first win and for taking the points lead in the 2022 championship chase.
Our next event will be the Vw Nationals at Mason Dixon on August 13th. Please visit http://vwnationalsinfo.com/ for more information.
Our 2021 Empi Vw Heritage Series championship has come to a close. Even in the middle of a Global Pandemic the turnout and support from the racers was amazing. We even broke attendance records at some of our largest races like the Vw Nationals at Mason Dixon Dragway. First and foremost we couldn't have done any of this without the support of the SPONSORS AND THE RACERS. It was a very uncertain year and none of even knew if we could even go racing. But we all perservered and moved forward and supported as many events as we possibly could and considering the obstacles we had this year it was a mind blowing success. From the bottom of my heart I want to personally thank each and every one of you that supported our race series during this difficult time.
In our Atomizer Fuel Systems sponsored Pro Mod Class it was a tight race coming down to the wire. The battle between Stephen Hawes and Austin Johnson III finally came to a close once qualifying was completed. With a small car count it was mathematically impossible for Austin to catch Stephen. Austin put up his best effort not only out qualifying Stephen but he even made it to the final round of the race. At the end of the day Stephen not only took the win of the event but also captured his first championship at the same time. Congratulations to Stephen Hawes and his entire team on their victory and championship. Also congratulations to Austin and his team for finishing 2nd in the championship and a runner up finish at the event.
In our Rancho Transaxles sponsored Super Pro Class it was long time east coast racer Pete Peek battling it out with Kevin Callahan, Bill Goehring and Rick Lazar heading into the final race of the year. When Pete Peek went out first round it opened up the door for Kevin Callahan to gain some points on the current point leader. Unfortunately for Kevin he was taken out by Rick Lazar who also went on to win the event. Kevin ultimately finished 2nd in points. Unfortunately for Bill Goehring he was unable to attend the event but was able to hold onto 3rd in the championship. Rick Lazar made up a lot of ground in points and finished 4th. Pete Peek was able to secure his first Vw Heritage Series championship with his daughter Megan at his side.
We want to thank all of our sponsors for 2021. Our Title Sponsor EMPI stood by us for 2 years during the pandemic and without them we wouldn't even have a championship series. Also Atomizer Fuel Systems for stepping up and sponsoring the Pro Mod Class and Rancho Transaxles for sponsoring our Super Pro Class. Each and every sponsor we have plays a vital role in helping this series survive. Please be sure to visit our website to see a complete list of sponsors. If you happen to order any parts/service from them please be sure to thank them for their sponsorship. Each and every thank you goes a long way. We wish everyone a safe and wonderful off season and we will see everyone in 2022.
On Saturday September 4th the Empi Sponsored Vw Heritage Series returned to Maryland International Raceway for their season finale. This year we brought 3 classes to showcase the Vw's in front of an import crowd at the iRev (Import Revolution). To kick things off we started with our fastest class which was the Atomizer Racing Injectors Pro Mod Class. After 2 rounds of qualifying new comer Brad Robertson sat in the #1 spot with a 6.21 @ 111mph in his street legal 63' Vw Beetle. Brad would have a bye run in round 1, Stephen Hawes took the win over Reggie Lee and Austin Johnson III took the win over Steve Kesterman. In the Semi Finals Austin had a bye run and Stephen Hawes took the win over Brad. Brad posted a career best run of 5.977 @ 116mph. That's smoking fast for a street legal bug with a side draft carburetor. The finals paired Stephen vs Austin with Stephen taking the win with a 5.593 @ 130mph. Also a HUGE thank you to Cookers Restorations for helping with the purse for this event.
In our Rancho Performance Transaxles Super Pro Class we had a mixed crowd of racers. Some coming all the way from Ohio to take on the locals from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. In the end it was our 2018 Champion Eric Hengstenberger facing off against Rick Lazar. At the end of the day it was Rick Lazar taking the win. Rick also finished 4th in the championship chase. We also want to thank Dale Adams Racing for sponsoring the purse for this event.
In the Pro Class sponsored by Steven Pocaro Sr. and Jerry Lewis Roofing it was David Snowden Jr taking the win.