News
First we would like to thank all of the racers who participated in this year’s championship. With constant rainouts we finally finished off the season with some spectacular racing. Our most talked about event of the year is definitely the Mason Dixon event in August. With the addition of the ECPRA Pro Stocks and Pro Mods, Aircooled Street Car Association (ASA), and H-GAS this event produced over 70 race cars and was clearly the largest event on the east coast in terms of race car participation. Please keep up the good support and we look forward to bigger things to come in 2018.
In our A/GAS class it came down to the final race of the year and only 6 points separating 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Jerry “The King” Lewis came into the race with a 1 point lead over Kirk Adams and Stephen Hawes was just 5 points behind that. Unfortunately for Stephen he couldn’t make the final race due to engine trouble at the previous event. So it was up to Jerry and Dale to battler it out at the final race at the Import Revolution taking place at Maryland International Raceway. With a strong qualifying effort by Jerry taking the #1 spot and with shifting issues by Kirk these two would face off in the first round of racing. With Jerry taking out Kirk the championship was solidified and Jerry would win his 3rd championship in a row. He would also carry on to win the race as well. Congratulations to Jerry and his entire crew.
The I/GAS championship chase would also come down to the wire. Scott Pocaro came into the final race at 60 points and we had 4 racers tied for 2nd place at 35 points and 2 more tied at 30 points. If Scott went out in the first round the door was wide open for just about anyone to sneak into 1st place. At the completion of 1st round Scott advanced with a win over Pete Peek to solidify his second championship in a row. It was now a race for 2nd place. It came down to the semi finals when Michael Hall had to race Rick Lazar who was just 5 points behind him. With Rick breaking out it gave Michael 2nd place in the series. Thank you for Michael for supporting the series making the drive from Richmond, VA every race.
Thank you again to all the racers, sponsors, and family members supporting us year in and year out. Without you we wouldn’t have these crazy hobbies that we love so dearly. See everyone in 2018.
The final race of the year for our IGAS Series took place on Sunday September 23rd at Numidia Dragway. This was our first time at this event and it definitely didn't disappoint. The weather was beautiful with Mid 80’s and a cool breeze. The concession stand was cooking FRESH food, the track surface was wide and smooth, and the pit area was HUGE and could accommodate just about any event.
As race day commenced all eyes were on Scott Pocaro. Coming into the event with the points lead it was up to a select few to try and take him out early and chase down the points leader. Unfortunately for the rest of the drivers after taking the win in Round 1 Scott wrapped up the championship. Congratulations to Scott and the entire Pocaro Racing Team. Unfortunately for Scott in Round 2 he had a catastrophic engine failure so it was one of those Bitter Sweet moments. Scott vows to be fixed and ready for 2018.
Even though the championship was over the race was not. The Semi Finals paired up Michael Hall and Rick Lazar who was currently tied for 2nd in the points series so the winner of this race would decide runner up in the championship. Rick had the advantage off the line with a .012 reaction time to Michaels .020. However Rick couldn’t manage to keep his foot out of the gas at the top end and broke out with a 7.85 on a 7.95 dial in giving Michael Hall the win and runner up in the championship.
On the other side of the ladder it was Jonathan Abrams paired up against Turbo Tim Vinkuns. As the two left the starting line it was looking pretty ugly at first. Jonathan had a .129 reaction time and Tim had a .186. At the top end it was Jonathan taking the win with a 7.33 on a 7.30 dial in against Tim’s 6.41 on a 6.35 dial in.
This set up the finals for two Virginia boys taking the money down south. Both drivers definitely let it all hang out in the finals and neither one lifted at the top end and we had a double break out. In the end it was Michael’s package that took home the win with a .040 light and a 7.538 on a 7.55 dial in. Jonathan posted a .062 and a 7.276 on a 7.30 dial in. Congratulations to Michael Hall for taking the win and 2nd place in the Vw Heritage Championship.
On September 17th we had our final A/GAS Points race at the acclaimed Maryland International Raceway. We ran in conjunction with their Import Revolution or IREV for short. The weather was absolutely perfect with cool 80 degree temperatures and a nice cool wind just strong enough to dry the sweat off your brow. We had a few new racers show up for this event with their new cars such as Nathan Lee and Austin Johnson III. Also making the long drive from North Carolina was Corbitt Marshburn in his front engine fastback. With this being a 1/4 mile event it was definitely going to be survival of the fittest.
At the end of qualifying it was Jerry Lewis sitting on top of the field with a 9.265 @ 147mph. Following by the naturally aspirated pro stock of Oliver Frey in the 2nd position with a 10.58 @ 132mph. Corbitt followed in 3rd, Austin in 4th, Nathan in 5th and Kirk Adams in 6th.
In round 1 Jerry took out Kirk Adams when he has transmission issues. Oliver took out Nathan when he couldn't build boost on the starting line and Corbitt took the holeshot win over Austin with a 10.73 to Austin's 10.54.
Round 2 Jerry had the bye run into the finals. And for Oliver and Corbitt things got interesting at the starting line. Both cars were staged and Corbitt rolled the lights and automatically got the red light. Shortly there after Oliver rolled the beams as well and got a redlight also. However rules state FIRST OR WORSE. Since Corbitt rolled the beams first he's the loser and Oliver advanced to the final round against Jerry Lewis.
In the finals it was once again a redlight start for Oliver as his car rolled the beams again once he got on the 2-step and was building RPM's. Jerry cruised to the winner circle running a 9.27 @ 148mph. Congratulations to Jerry Lewis and his team for winning 2 out of the 3 races this year and wrapping up his 3 consecutive championship.
With over 70 racers onsite at Mason Dixon Dragway nestled just outside of MD, VA, PA and Washington DC its the perfect location to merge the southern racers against the northern racers. Beautiful sunny skies and a cool 80 degrees, you really couldn’t ask for a more perfect day. Not only did we have the new addition of 7 ECPRA Pro Stocks but we merged Pro Mod and Vw Heritage Series A/GAS to have a combined total of 13 entries. The Air cooled Street Car Association brought 11 cars and in our bracket classes we had 23 in I/GAS and 16 in H/GAS.
In our I/GAS 7.99 and quicker it was proving to be survival of the fittest with 23 cars making the race. We had racers as far north as Connecticut and as far south as South Carolina. In the final round it was a true North vs South Shootout. Bucky Holling in 63 Ghia from South Carolina was paired up against New Jersey’s own Scott Pocaro. With a redlight start from Bucky the race was over before it even started. Now only was Scott busy promoting the race but he did a hell of a job racing it as well. Congrats to Scott and his entire family for the support.
Attention A/GAS (Pro Mod) racers. Since our first race of the year at Bug Out got rained out we were able to find our 3rd points race of the season. Jerry Lewis made some phone calls and Rick Lindner at Maryland International Raceway was able to accommodate our class at their Summer iRev Import Revolution event on Sunday September 17th. We will have our own lane and race amongst our own racers. This will be a ¼ mile event. And to make things even better they are allowing us to race for FREE. Yes that’s right the CAR and DRIVER will get a tech card for free. Crewman must pay admission but drivers will be racing for free.
We have to give your names to the track prior to the event, if your coming please let me know ahead of time so you can be on the list. Jerry and I will be sponsoring the purse for this event. If you want to jump on board and increase the payout by all means please let me know. The more the merrier.
Once again thanks to Jerry and Rick for making this happen so we can finish our season with 3 points races. Also as a last reminder... this is for A/GAS only. If your confused about which class you run…. A/GAS is heads up and I/GAS is brackets.
With the threat of rain in the forecast our first race at Bug Out was unfortunately rained out. Just one week later our next event had a chance of rain as well. It sprinkled on and off but unfortuantely around 430pm the track called it quits. We were down to 3 cars in the I/GAS Bracket Class and A/GAS finished earlier in the day.
In A/GAS we had 5 racers show up to qualify. At the end of qualifying it was Stephen Hawes sitting in the #1 spot with a 9.79 (1/4 mile), followed by Jerry Lewis at #2, Kirk Adams #3, Paul Wolf #4, and Reggie Lee #5. A few racers were having issues after qualifying and chose not to cause more damage and sat out the remainder of the race so the finals paired up Jerry Lewis against Kirk Adams. Jerry took the win and the points lead after Kirk had motor issues.
In I/GAS 11 racers made the first round call. Going into Round 3 it was Michael Hall, Joe Cooper and Oscar "Grumpy" Ortiz. Unfortunately the rain came at the same time and the race was called off. We have a 4 way tie in I/GAS our next race will definitely be exciting to see how it plays out.
Join us on August 5th at Mason Dixon Dragway for our next race. We will have our A/GAS, I/GAS racers there as well as ASA, H/GAS and ECPRA Pro Stock & Pro Mod.
A/GAS (pro mod) Racers... We would like to welcome Michael Hall with Michaels Sign Company as our official 2017 A/GAS Series Sponsor. For the champion of this years points chase Michael will be hand painting your racing helmet. His artwork and painting skills are truly in a league of their own.
He not only paints, air brushes but also he's an amazing pin striper. Please visit his facebook page for more samples of his work. Thank you once again to all of our sponsors and we'll see you at the track.
We would like to congratulate our 2016 Heritage Series champions. In our Jerry Lewis Roofing sponsors A/GAS it was none other than Jerry Lewis himself wrapping up the championship my a mere 2 points over newcomer Stephen Hawes. These two battled it out all year and it came down to the final event of the year at Maple Grove. Stephen had to take out #1 qualifier Todd Pavics in the semi final round to secure his first championship, win and you’re the champ, lose and you have to wait and see if Jerry loses in his semi final round against Reggie Lee. After Stephen missed 4th gear all eyes were on Jerry and Reggie at the starting line. Just as Stephen did Reggie missed 4th gear and Jerry cruised to his 2nd in a row championship with A/GAS. We would like to thank Jerry Lewis Roofing for sponsoring the class this year and congratulations to Jerry Lewis Racing for their consistent efforts all year long.
In our GelAir.com sponsors I/GAS field coming into the final race Nelson Rodriguez Jr had a 5 point lead over Scott Pocaro. Unfortunately for Nelson he could not attend the event and that opened the door up for Scott to take the championship. However it wasn’t an easy road for Team Pocaro. They ended up breaking 2 axles on 2 different runs and were thrashing to continue going rounds so they could accumulate enough points to take the championship. With a semi final appearance it was enough points to secure his first championship. We would like to thank GelAir.com for sponsoring the class and we look forward to seeing Team Pocaro in the winners circle again in 2017. Thank you once again to all of our sponsors. Without you we wouldn’t be here. Stay tuned for bigger and better things to come in 2017.