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Litton
repeats as Mardi Gras champion
Evans, Gallen win in front of packed Sunday
crowd
PORT ALLEN, La.
(March 7, 2010) – For the second straight
year Mardi Gras Nitro Jam provided sold out
crowds and thrilling on-track action as
State Capitol Raceway hosted two straight
nights of packed stands and Mardi Gras fun
capped off by the crowning of champions
Sunday afternoon.
Three different winners pulled into victory
lane Sunday as Bruce Litton (Top Fuel)
finally hit his stride with a victory over
Bobby Lagana Jr., while
Bill Evans (Pro Fuel) and Peter
Gallen (Prostalgia NFC) also claimed wins in
their respective classes.
In exhibition action Joseph Palmisano bested
a field of eight to win the Outlaw
Pro Modified shootout.
Joining the quartet of professional winners
were the duo of Chris Gulitti (Top
Sportsman) and Sheldon Bissessar (Top
Dragster) who won in the second ever Harland
Sharp Elite 8 Shootout. Gulitti bested a
packed field to win for the first time this
year while Bissessar continued his
domination of the class with his second
straight Harland Sharp Elite 8 win.
In sportsman action seven champions were
crowned on Sunday included Glenn Wright (Top
Sportsman), P.J. Vicari (Top Dragster), Tim
Herbert (Super Stock), Jody Simoneaux
(Stock), Mark Powers (Quick Rod), Chris
Arnold (Super Rod) and Marlon Goates (Hot
Rod).
Local racers David Dupont (Box) and
Chris Chenevert (No Box) also hoisted
an Ironman in front of the largest crowd to
ever see a drag race in the state of
Louisiana.
And that crowd witnessed a tremendous
afternoon of professional racing.
Litton (Indianapolis,
Ind.) spent the first three rounds of the
2010 season trying to get a grip on his
Top Fuel dragster with new crew chief
Mike Wolfarth at the helm and finally hit a
stride on Sunday.
After a blistering first round pass Litton
returned to the track in Sunday’s final
against Bobby Lagana Jr. and put down the
low elapsed time of the weekend to take home
his first Ironman of the year.
“We struggled last night. We had a hard time
getting a feel for the track, but Mike and
the gang got it figured out this afternoon,”
Litton said. “We found a combination today
and we found a stride and had a big speed, a
bigger speed than we ran here last year, so
it was good to finally find the car.”
Litton ran a 4.741, 314.79 in the final to
get around Lagana’s 4.822, 308.95 in a
tremendous drag race that saw both cars
welded together the length of the
quarter-mile, a much different scene than
the night before.
“Last night I had to pedal it a couple times
and broke a few things. We got those bugs
worked out and returned with a great run
today,” Litton said. “I just have to thank
Lucas Oil. Lucas is a great group
that stands behind me with great products.
United Trailers is also on the car, which is
now the official trailer of the IHRA, so it
was a nice introduction for them. We just
feel very blessed today.”
In Sunday’s consolation round Spencer Massey
cruised to a win over Del Cox as Cox ran
into trouble early in the run and had to
shut it off. Massey ran a season best 4.881,
309.27.
Litton and Lagana replaced Cox and Massey in
the final on Sunday after Cox won the
opening night of competition against his
teammate.
In first round action Litton finally found
the track with a solid 4.753, 314.13 to get
around Cox while Lagana was just behind with
a 4.839, 306.64 to eliminate Massey.
In Prostalgia Nitro
Funny Car Peter Gallen produced
similar results as Litton, correcting three
rounds of sub-par runs to finally take home
an Ironman.
Gallen bested John Lawson in the first round
before meeting Saturday winner Mike McIntire
in the final. In that matchup Gallen and
McIntire put on a tremendous show for the
fans with lengthy burnouts and side-by-side
passes with Gallen coming out on top.
“I had never run Mike before and obviously
he runs good, he proved that last night, but
I know our car runs good as well,” Gallen
said. “It was a great race and a big win for
our team to finally come out on top.”
Gallen (Broomall, Pa.) ran a solid 5.813,
246.84 to get around McIntire who ran a
6.079, 239.36.
In the consolation rounds Greg Jacobsmeyer
defeated Jon Capps and Steve Nichols
defeated John Dunn.
“We struggled last night, but I think a lot
of that is driver. We had a meeting last
night with the crew and we all agreed that
this is how it is going to be done,” Gallen
said. “It seemed to work on both runs here
today. I told one of my guys the most work I
had to do in the run was push the button to
shift. It was as smooth as can be.”
In the opening round Gallen got around
Lawson with a round best 5.837, 246.44 while
McIntire placed himself in his third final
in four tries this season with a 5.970,
239.48 to get around Capps.
In other first round action Krafft defeated
Nichols and Jacobsmeyer defeated Dunn.
Pro Fuel had a breakthrough weekend with
consistent laps and solid numbers as Evans
returned to his dominating ways and won for
the third time in four tries.
“Last night in the first round we burnt both
heads off of it and my guys worked on the
car until 3 a.m. to get it ready,” Evans
said. “We then went out and set low E.T. and
burnt both heads off again. We thrashed on
the car and got back out here for the final
and we were able to hold on for the win.
“I really have to give this win to my guys,
they earned this one.”
Evans (Miramar, Fla.) defeated Saturday
winner Buddy Domingue in the final with a
solid 5.927, 252.03. Domingue ran a 5.986,
238.15.
All three professional finals produced
side-by-side runs and incredible numbers for
the fans.
“What more could you ask for than to get a
chance to race in front crowds like these,”
Evans said.
In the consolation round Robin Samsel won on
a bye and Jeff Hamelink defeated Mike
Manners.
Pro Fuel’s first round saw some of the best
numbers of the season as Evans and Domingue
raced to the top of the charts. Evans
regained his spot at the top of the class
with a win over Robin Samsel with a fine
5.486, 250.55 pass. Domingue made a bye run
and produced the second best run of the day
with a 6.181, 229.29.
In the other first round pairing Hamelink
raced around Mike Manners.
Outlaw Pro Modified produced plenty of
exciting racing capped off by a victory by
Palmisano (Abita Springs, La.) over Steve
Benoit. Palmisano ran a 4.347, 163.36 in the
eighth-mile final, besting Benoit’s 4.459,
161.23.
Palmisano defeated Benoit, Bill Doucet and
Jim Jolley on his way to the win.
For the second straight race one of the
highlights of the weekend was the Harland
Sharp Elite 8 race. Placing the top eight
qualifiers from the sportsman rounds on a
heads-up ladder, the shootout has created
new rivalries and
great racing for fans.
On Sunday Gulitti (Spring, Texas) and
Bissessar (Marabella, Trinidad) proved the
best of the night with Gulitti besting
Scooter Hampton in Top Sportsman and
Bissessar defeating John Angelle in Top
Dragster.
“It was exhilarating to come out here and
win the Quick 8 at a national event,”
Gulitti said. “To come out here in this
field with our car and win is tremendous,”
Gulitti said. “I am not the fastest car out
here, but we can get down the track.”
While Gulitti won for the first time,
Bissessar once again dominated the eight-car
field.
“We were thrilled to win the first one and
to win for the second straight time is
thrilling for us,” Bissessar said.
“Hopefully we can keep this up and continue
to win this thing.”
After two straight sold out events Nitro Jam
packs up and heads north for the Spring
Nitro Jam at
Rockingham Dragway April 30-May 2.
Nitro Jam
continues to build momentum
Sold out crowds pack State Capitol Raceway
Saturday
PORT ALLEN, La.
(March 6, 2010) – Nitro was in the air and
three new champions were crowned during the
third straight sold out Nitro Jam event
Saturday night at State Capitol Raceway in
Louisiana.
Reigning Top Fuel World Champion Del Cox
rebounded from a late arrival to the track
to win his first race of the season while
Mike McIntire (Prostalgia) and newcomer
Buddy Dominigue (Pro Fuel) bested defending
race winners to claim their first wins of
the year.
Cox, who missed his flight to Louisiana the
night before, arrived at the Baton Rouge
airport roughly an hour before his run on
Saturday. Once at the track Cox had just
enough time to throw on his suit and jump in
the dragster as the pair in front of him
were warming up.
He then proceeded to put down the low
elapsed time of the round and eventually go
on to win the entire event all just moments
from missing his run entirely.
“I was here at the track at 6:50 p.m. and in
the pits pulling in after my run a little
after 7 p.m. I literally pulled in the pits,
ran down the track and now we are here in
winners circle,” Cox said. “It was actually
a little easier for me mentally. I just
jumped in and went. I had a job to do and I
did it.”
After besting Bobby Lagana Jr. in the
opening round Cox (Downey, Calif.) met up
with teammate Spencer Massey in the final
and ran to a sloppy 5.386, 204.77 to take
home his first win of the year. Massey ran
into trouble much earlier in his run.
“It was a heck of a deal for our team and
our sponsors. And getting to race Spencer
was a pretty awesome deal,” Cox said. “I
feel like I need to cut the
Ironman in half and share it with him
so we both get a piece. Hopefully we can get
another one tomorrow and just share.”
In the consolation round Lagana put up the
best numbers of the night with a 4.817,
304.98 to defeat Bruce Litton.
Cox reached the final with a first round win
over Lagana while Massey took down Litton in
a tricky opening round. All four cars ran
into some sort of trouble in their first
hits at the track leaving the victory to the
best man at pedaling the track.
Cox eliminated Lagana with a 6.161 second
pass, good enough for low E.T. of the round.
Massey was just behind with the next best
pass.
Cox’s victory set up a battle of teammates
in the final as Lagana, who won both finals
at the season opener at
Palm Beach, failed to reach a final
for the first time this year.
In the Prostalgia Nitro
Funny Car final Mike McIntire
(Chesterland, Ohio) made up for a
disappointing opening weekend with a victory
over Steve Nichols.
McIntire made a final round earlier this
year at the season opener Palm Beach Nitro
Jam, but a broken part kept him from making
the call. It was a completely different
story on Saturday as McIntire bested one of
the best in the business in Nichols to claim
his first career Ironman.
“At the last race it was a whole new
combination and we just missed it. We spent
a lot of time and money figuring this new
combination out and it worked tonight,”
McIntire said. “We were disappointed down in
Florida, but this sure did make up for it.”
McIntire, behind the wheel of the McAttack
’69 Camaro, was glued to Nichols and his
“Mill Road Boys” entry from start to finish
and crossed the line with a career best
5.926, 240.77 pass. Nichols ran a 6.515.
“I never saw him. I was geared up to leave
because he is such a good racer and we did
that. I left on him hard and the car just
ran straight as an arrow,” McIntire said. “I
pushed it into second gear and just kept
going. We really hit on it tonight.”
In the consolation rounds Greg Jacobsmeyer
defeated Rick Krafft, John Dunn won on a bye
and Peter Gallen defeated
John Lawson.
Nichols, who won the most recent Prostalgia
race last month in Palm Beach, once again
put himself in a final round with a
blistering 5.974, 241.15 to defeat
Jacobsmeyer’s 6.165, 230.88 in the first
round. McIntire reached his first official
final of the year with a 6.111, 235.04 to
get around Dunn.
In other first round action Gallen defeated
Lawson and Jon Capps defeated Rick Krafft.
While McIntire’s victory was a big plus for
the team, the biggest surprise of the
weekend came when Pro Fuel newcomer Buddy
Domingue toppled two of the best in the
class to claim an Ironman in his first time
out.
“I just have to thank everyone here and
especially my crew. Winning in my first
weekend out is a pretty neat deal. We are
all very excited,” Domingue said.
Domingue (Port Neches, Texas) reached the
final with a victory over favorite
Bill Evans who dominated the class at
the season opener. After getting around
Evans Domingue shifted his focus to the
other newcomer to the class Brandon Pierce.
But after Pierce ran into trouble and failed
to make the call, Domingue was able to
cruise to his first win with little issue.
Still, even with the win wrapped up, he
still ran a Saturday best 5.452 time at 250
miles-per-hour.
“It was an exciting night. We beat Bill and
then backed that up with the best run of the
night. What more could we ask for in our
first night out,” Domingue said.
In consolation rounds Jeff Hamelink won in a
bye and Robin Samsel defeated Michael
Manners.
In the opening round of Pro Fuel Domingue
knocked Evans from his spot at the top of
the Pro Fuel podium with a solid 5.731,
240.38 pass, barely edging Evans’ 5.985,
254.45. Pierce occupied the other final spot
with a 5.576, 254.09 to eliminate Michael
Manners.
In the other Pro Fuel round Robin Samsel
defeated Jeff Hamelink.
Drivers in the Outlaw
Pro Modified class shifted away from
two nights of eliminations and elected to
instead use Saturday to qualify for Sunday’s
elimination rounds. After two passes on
Saturday Shawn Davis (Lake Charles, La.) led
the pack with a 4.214, 137.42 pass in the
eighth-mile. Jim Jolley was second, followed
by Wayne Collins, Steve Wheeler and Steve
Benoit.
Saturday’s large crowds began rolling into
the facility in the early afternoon and
enjoyed an entire day of exciting sportsman
action prior to the start of the pro rounds.
By 11 a.m. the parking lot was at capacity
and the stands were already full – and not a
single professional car had even fired up
yet.
That was the scene early
Saturday morning as
IHRA’s best sportsman racers put on a
show in front of an overflow crowd hours
before the start of Saturday’s “Night
of Fire” at the Mardi Gras Nitro Jam
at State Capitol Raceway.
“It is really exciting to see the stands
packed full of fans watching every single
sportsman pass. It really stands as a
testament to the quality of racing in IHRA’s
sportsman divisions,” said Skooter Peaco, VP
of Race Operations. “We were almost at
capacity by noon today, seven hours before
the start of the professional rounds. That
speaks volumes about the new format and the
racing we have to offer.”
Sunday’s sportsman eliminations will get
underway at 9 a.m. with professional rounds
set for 1:30 p.m.
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