Third Annual Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals Marion County International Raceway, LaRue, OH August 7th, 2010 Photo by Dave Ferrin As with any big gathering there were months of preparation and at times it seem like the race would never get here. Then in the blink of an eye it's over and we are planning for next year. The day started early with most of the funny cars already in the pits and being prepared for battle. This year there were eleven states represented and The Rainmaker injected funny car came from Canada. When the cars were called to the lanes for the preview the final count was 6 injected, 21 blown and 2 nitro funny cars on the grounds. Photo by Mike Grosso To add even more excitement to the show there were also 4 front engine nitro dragsters, 20 gassers plus the track ran their regular bracket program and a quick sixteen class. When the funny car class began, back in the mid 60's they were injected on gas and nitro. We had 6 injected alcohol car that were on hand to show their respect to these pioneers. Some of the cars had stack injectors and all of them did wheels up launch as they did in the old days. These cars ran in the mid to low 8 second range with MPH's in the 140 range. Next up were the blown alcohol funny cars. There were 21 blown cars entered. The Lill Miss Behavior Challenger broke testing and was unable to make the call. This left 10 pairs of cars that made fast unpredictable and exciting runs. The Fuelish Monza did his usual quarter mile dance and wowed the crowd. There were many low seven-second runs and two six-second passes. Photo by Jeff Unfried Twenty wild gassers, the nitro dragsters and the nitro funny cars filled out the show. Justin Grant's Stardust Cuda driven by Mike Lewis took on Army Armstrong in The Mexican Revolution. Both cars came out belching nitro and doing dry hops. It took some negotiating to get down the quarter mile for both cars. The Mexican Revolution took the win light. The second round came with the sun setting and it was time for funny cars under the lights. Photo by Dave Ferrin Out first again were the injected funny cars. The Rainmaker Arrow was unable to return for the second round. Brad Cashel out of Carmel, IN had the original Don Geradot Corvette. It is the same as it was when Don ran the car back in the mid 70's. The Poison Arrow and The No Money, No Funny Nova were the class standouts and will meet in the Injected finals. First blown pair was The Total Insanity Monza from NJ taking on The Fuelish Monza from In. The Fuelish car again did not disappoint the crowd. At the hit Tracy pulled the front end up and carried it for sometime then the car reacted and was side ways with Tracy finally getting the car calmed down enough to get down the track. Photo by Dave Ferrin The Destroyer Trans Am out of NC was definitely the one to beat this round, but they had to work for it as the car was a handful but clicked the timers with a 6.34/217. The crowd went nuts. There were many great runs with some of the cars reaching personal best. Jerry Streb in The Dazed & Confused Camaro ran almost back-to-back 7.25's. Bob Rosetty in The Rollin Stoned Cuda from Philadelphia ran a strong 7.29 and The New Generation Corvette driven by Matt Stambaugh ran a very stout 7.11/183. Photo by Jeff Unfried The Nitro funnies came out for on last run. Both cars thrilled the crowd with their burnouts and dryhops. On the line there was some confusion with The Mexican Revolution car and the crew only took out on of the parachute safety flags. Once the car took off and shook a little it rattled the other chute loose with The Camaro running the full quarter with the chute out. In the other lane Mike Lewis had his hands full with the slippery track and could not catch the Camaro. Winner Mike Klontz Driver of Snakebite The blown finals had The SnakeBite Mustang (6.86) taking on The Destroyer Trans Am (6.34). On paper it didn't look good for the SnakeBite but I'm sure he was planning on doing his best on the tree. Both cars put on a show and did great smoky burnouts. They staged and where ready to do battle. Unfortunately there was some oil under the Destroyer and they were shut off. The SnakeBite took a single and the win. It was later found out that the oil came from the puke tank. Next up was the Injected finals with Frank Barnard in The Poison Arrow (8.04) taking on The No Money, No Funny Nova (8.32). Photo by Jeff Unfried Either way the injected crown was going to NJ this year. The cars were staged and the Poison Arrow car was lined up in the oil tracks from the previous run. At the hit the Poison Arrow took a hard right but Frank fought it and caught Willie at the strip with a .099 win margin. This years Funny Car Nationals was a great success with a great crowd and the biggest field of funny cars this side of The Mississippi for probably 25 years. Thank you to the following companies for helping with the event and sponsoring the special awards. Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels, Sylvanson Web Technologies, Fowler Engines, Len Hughes Magneto, Good Vibrations, Minute Man Staffing, Warped Worm Engineering, Finish Line Car & Truck, Classy Carts, MJM Trucking, HERCULINER, Mr. Gasket, Ramco Rental and Mike's Roofing. Thanks to the great people at Marion County International Raceway for giving us a place to put on this great event.

2nd Annual Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals August 15th, 2009 Marion County International Raceway, LaRue, OH Photo by Bill Truby Once again the nostalgia funny car world came to LaRue, Ohio for the annual Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals. This event was sponsored in part by Mickey Thompson Tires, Mikes Roofing, Ramco Rental, Mr. Gasket, Classy Carts and Rays Custom Welding. For some of the racers the event actually kicked off Friday Morning as Johnny DiLoretto from Fox 28 TV out of Columbus, Ohio did his morning show live from MCIR. Johnny interviewed the teams, talked about the event and what type of drag cars the spectator would see. The show was topped off with a few burnouts and a side-by-side run which pitted the Snakebite Mustang against the Damn Yankee Vega. Johnny and The Fox 28 team had a blast and said they would like to do it again next year. Photo by Bill Truby As the sun came up on race day we knew it would be a dry hot day. Many of the teams had arrived Friday night. The rest of the funny car teams came in Saturday morning along with a long list of gassers and other nostalgia cars. Winner Mike Klontz Driver of Snakebite At ten o clock the racers took to the track for bracket qualifying. This was a good time for the funny car teams to get reacquainted with old friends and mingle with the spectators. Bill Holder from Muscle Car Review was on hand to document the event for a future issue. Bill picked out 7 cars to photograph for the magazine. These cars were brought up to the line to do burnouts. The cars that Bill selected were the Blown Money 69 Nova of Shaun McHattie, No Money No Funny 69 Nova of Willie Johnson, Excalibur 82 Corvette of George Reidnauer, Glory Daze 68 Camaro of Kevin Johnson, Solid Rock 70 Mustang of Rocky Ausec, Doran Chevrolet 69 Camaro of Steve Timoszyk and The Illinois Patrol 79 Omni of Mike Johnstone. These guys did some great burnouts and launches. It was exciting to have an opportunity to get magazine coverage. Midday the funny cars were brought out onto the racetrack for introductions. The cars were lined up facing the spectators on the track just like the big 32 & 64 funny car shows of the past. Early evening brought the show to a start. First out were some exhibition vehicles. Daryl Arnold had his wheelie golf cart performing along with Jim Brewers Peacemaker wheel stander. It was now time for the racecars. This year we had over 18 gassers. These cars are as wild and unpredictable as the funny cars with much shorter wheelbase. Next up there were four nitro front engine dragsters, which did awesome halftrack burnouts. First up were the injected funny cars. This year we had four cars in this class. They were Kevin Johnson's Glory Daze 68 Camaro, George Monahan's Rainmaker 77 Arrow, Willie Johnson's No Money No Funny 69 Nova, and Mike Johnstone's Illinois Patrol 79 Omni, and yes Mike is a real police officer. Photo by Bill Truby First pair was the old school injected Glory Daze Camaro taking on the Rainmaker Arrow. Kevin was out first and hung on, as the Arrow seemed to have an ignition problem and sputtered its way down track. Next pair was the always-smiling Willie Johnson with his somewhat unpredictable No Money, No Funny Nova taking on the Illinois Patrol Omni. Mike was out first but by the stripe Willie had caught up with an 8.53/140 to a 9.04/144. Next up, blown funny cars. This year we had nine cars competing in the Chicago style format. They were Blown Money 69 Nova driven by Shaun McHattie, Damn Yankee 77 Vega driven by Mark Horvath, Detroit Thunder 56 T-Bird driven by Bill Hallet, Doran Chevrolet 69 Camaro driven by Steve Timoszyk, Excalibur 82 Corvette driven by George Reidnauer Jr., Fuelish 77 Monza driven by Tracy Klingermen, Mutiny 69 Mustang driven by Rob Pfeister, Snakebite 79 Mustang driven by Mike Klontz, and the Solid Rock 70 Mustang driven by Rocky Ausec. First pair out was the freshly painted Solid Rock Mustang. This car looks great. Rocky took on the always-tough Damn Yankee Vega. Both cars put on a show for the crowd with long burnouts and a few dry hops. The Vega was out first just slightly and held on for the win at 7.34/183 to Solid Rocks very straight and solid 7.98/169. Next up the Fuelish Monza against the Blown Money Nova. This pairing looked like it was straight out of the past. The Nova took off early, as it appeared that they were having some mechanical issues. The excitement continued as the Monza got up on the wheelie bars, then unloaded the tires and skated down the track making for a good photo opportunity. Photo by Bill Truby Next up was the Excalibur Corvette taking on the Doran Chevrolet Camaro. Both cars smoked out the crowd and the Camaro came up to the line and gave the crowd a show as this was the only clutch car in attendance this year. The Corvette wandered out of the groove just enough to almost put the car sideways. The crowd was on their feet for that one. Next pair was the Snakebite 79 Mustang and the Mutiny 69 Mustang. This should have been a good paring but the always-deadly Mutiny team was experiencing some unusual mechanical issues. The Snakebite turned off the timers at 7.23/159. This made the Snakebite #1 qualifier for this round. Last car out was the gorgeous Detroit Thunder 56 T-Bird. This was a single run. Bill ran a 7.62/171. Second round again brought up the injected cars first. The Glory Daze 69 Camaro took on the Illinois Patrol Omni. The Camaro brought the front end up hard and had to get out of it to calm down the beast, by then it was too late with the Omni running an 8.91/147. Photo by Bill Truby Next the No Money No Funny Nova took on the Rainmaker Arrow that came all the way from Ontario, Canada. Again Willie was on his game and came out ahead of the Rainmaker Arrow, which seem to have the ignition problems behind them. The two quickest injected cars were No Money No Funny 8.53 and an 8.91 for the Illinois Patrol. These two cars will compete for the injected title. Second round of the blown cars started with two cars that had mechanical issues in the first round. Both cars did smoky burnouts and it looked like the troubles were fixed. At the hit the Mutiny Mustang bucked and shuddered and Rob just idled it down the track. The Nova appeared to have some issues at first also, but got it under control and powered down the track. The Excalibur Corvette was next up to take on the Damn Yankee Vega. Mark was out first with the Vega trying to nail down the Good Vibration Reaction Time Award. The Vega ran a 7.33/178 against the Corvette slower but more exciting run. Next up were the Snakebite Mustang and the Fuelish Monza. We had been waiting for an outstanding run all night and the Snakebite was the one to do it with a 7.00/198 to the Fuelish personal second best run at 7.39/176. This Fuelish car is starting to come around. They should be tough next month at U.S. 131 in Martin, MI. The Solid Rock Mustang lined up with the Detroit Thunder. Both cars seem like they were out to make a hard run, they started with great burnouts. As they staged the Mustang was not sounding right so the crew shut him off. The T-Bird made a single at 7.7/164. The Doran Chevrolet Camaro made a single to bring the round to a close. Photo by Bill Truby The two quickest blown cars were The Snakebite Mustang with a 7.00/198 and the Damn Yankee Vega with a 7.33/178. These two cars will compete for the blown title. The injected final was first. The No Money No Funny Nova taking on the Illinois Patrol Omni. Both cars were excited to travel all the way to Ohio and get into the finals. They both did hard burnouts and were ramped up for the run. It was a close start and a very tight finish. Mike Johnstone edged out Willie Johnston with an 8.95 to a 9.09. The blown final was next. The Damn Yankee against the Snakebite who seemed to have this one locked in. The Vega was popping like they had a killer tune up in it. The Snakebite threw down a killer burnout. As the two staged the Vega tried one last dry hop, the car sputtered and stalled. The Snakebite was staged and the starter motioned to Mike for a single. There was some confusion on the line and the timers did not work. That was a shame as the run looked hard and straight and sure looked like it was a 6 second run in the 200 M.P.H. range. We would like to thank Daryl & Heidi Arnold of Classy Carts in Wooster, Ohio and Ray Hudic of Rays Custom Welding in Evans City, Pa. for putting up traveling money for the injected funny cars. Good Vibrations from Whittier Ca. sponsored the reaction time award which was won by Mike Klontz with a .519 Len Hughes Magneto out of Bristol, In. put up awards for the following categories. Longest tow which was given to Willie Johnson with The No Money No Funny Nova who came all the way from Edison, N.J. 2nd. & 3rd. Fastest M.P.H. in the first round which went to The Detroit Thunder T-Bird driven by Bill Hallet at 171 and Solid Rock Mustang driven by Rocky Ausec at 169. 2nd & 3rd. quickest E.T. in the second round which went to The Damn Yankee Vega driven by Mark Horvath at 7.33 and Fuelish Monza driven by Tracy Klingerman at 7.39. Len also awarded Rocky Ausec with the hard luck award.

INUGURAL MARION COUNTY NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR NATIONALS August 16th, 2008 Photos courtesy of Jeff Unfried & Bob Wenzelburger On August 16th The little town of Larue, OH stepped back into the late 70’s. The inaugural Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals was held at Marion County International Raceway (MCIR). MCIR was the site of many funny car battles between legends such as Don Prudhomme, Jungle Jim, Tom Hoover and countless others. Back in the seventies these fiberglass warriors would travel from town to town making a living during an era that would launch legends and leave us memories that we longed to relive. Photos courtesy of Jeff Unfried & Bob Wenzelburger In recent times there has not been traveling shows like that, plus the funny cars of today do not resemble their street counterpart as they did in the 70’s and 80’s. Enter The Great Lakes Nostalgia Funny Car Circuit. (www.glnfcc.com) This is a group of period correct funny cars that match race throughout the eastern half of the US. The GLNFCC together with MCIR has put together a yearly event that would once again capture the excitement of the funny car scene that was the 70’s. Photos courtesy of Jeff Unfried & Bob Wenzelburger By 10:00 the pits at MCIR were overflowing with nostalgia funny cars. Just like in the 70’s these cars have nicknames and personalities. There were cars like Tweety’s Rat, The Detroit Hustler, Red Baron, Fuelish, Mutiny and many more that would make you feel like the year was 1978 not 2008. Along with 17 running funny cars there was also many on display. Some were barn finds like the 1968 Sikora Brothers built Corvette, the 1972 Cuda Wheel Stander that was once owned by Bob Perry who ran the Hell On Wheels Tank. Plus there was even a 1965 Dodge Altered Wheelbase car. The car that some say was the beginning of the funny car class. Before the racing began the funny cars were towed down the track with each team being introduced to the excitement of the crowd. This scene was reminiscence of the big 32 and 64 car funny cars shows that were common in the 70’s. The first round highlights were the Damn Yankee laying down a career best pass of 7.19 at 176 m.p.h. the Blue Thunder 69 Camaro of Tom Mitchell laid down a first time out pass of 7.56 at 167 M.P.H. The Good Vibrations quick reaction time award was handed out this round to the crew of The Mutiny 69 Mach I. with a .543 r.t. Photos courtesy of Jeff Unfried & Bob Wenzelburger The first round was finished out with Scott Burton bringing out Bill Linigers 1972 Don Hardy Vega to do a burnout. This car is powered by a 392 iron Hemi and is the same as it was the day it was retired from racing somewhere back in the early 80’s. Second round brought even more noise and unpredictable runs. It was after dark so the late summer dew was setting in which would prove to present a challenge to the drivers. Photos courtesy of Jeff Unfried & Bob Wenzelburger The breakout run in the second round was by The Detroit Thunder 55 T Bird of Bill Hallet. Bill ran a 7.41 at 182 M.P.H. against the nitro burning, up on two wheels Satellite driven by Eric Martin. The last run pitted the two fastest cars from the first round. The Damn Yankee 77 Vega went up against the Mutiny 69 Mach I. Both cars did very wild smoky burnouts. While backing up The Vega developed an oil leak and had to be shut off. The Mutiny staged ready to take a single run. When the tree turned green the Mach one let out a big bang, shuddered and came to a stop. It was later determined that they broke the rear end pinion. We had several companies provide special awards. There were as follows. Winner Rob Pfeister Driver of Mutiny Best Under Pressure/Most Consistent Ram Jet Racing Products in Hamilton, OH 14.1 Blower Restraint Winner: Scott Hohensee (Visionary) 7.62 & 7.67 The E.T. and M.P.H. awards courtesy of Len Hughes Magneto in Bristol, IN 2nd. Quickest E.T. Rob Pfeister (Mutiny) 7.29 $100.00 3rd. Quickest E.T. Bill Hallet (Detroit Thunder) 7.41 $50.00 2nd. Fastest M.P.H. Rob Pfeister (Mutiny) 181.30 $100.00 3rd. Fastest M.P.H. Chris Gerber ( Rubber City Connection) 177.84 Best E.T. By Fowler Racing Engines $200.00 credit toward parts and service Mark Horvath ( Damn Yankee) 7.192 Burnout Contest award by North Coast Rods Ashtabula, OH $100.00 Rob Pfeister (Mutiny) Enderle Quick Reaction Time Award Provided by Good Vibrations Whittier, CA $200.00 Rob Pfeister (Mutiny) .543 Photos courtesy of Jeff Unfried & Bob Wenzelburger Diversatech Racing Products from Pennington, N.J. provided burst panels for #2 to #12 qualifiers. Clear One Racing Products from Columbus, OH provided $25.00 certificates toward future orders. Mickey Thompson Tires and Summit Racing Equipment also provided give away items. Along with the funny cars, there was 4 nitro burning front engine dragsters that flirted with runs near the 6 second range. To round out the show over twenty cars that represented the gassers era of the 50’s and 60’s also invaded the track. Mark August 15th 2009 on your calendar as this event is already scheduled for next year and should be even bigger and better. For more info on the Great Lakes Funny Cars be sure to check out their website: www.glnfcc.com.