Shelly Smith Takes the X275 Win at VMP
#1 Qualifier Justin Smith - picture by Jenna Burks
Story by: Agent X275
Fredericksburg, Va – Saturday May 8th brought out 22 racers from Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland to Virginia Motorsports Park to race in the X275 Drag Radial Class. X275 drag radial offers a unique blend of cars,
combinations, and characters and after 2 rounds of qualifying Justin Smith claimed the Masters Transmission 804-526-7050 #1 qualifier money with a 5.15/138 mph pass by his 2002 SS Camaro with a nitrous LS based combo built by RPM Motorsports.
Justin was followed closely by Dale Handy in the red 4 eyed mustang with a Handy Racing Engines built nitrous SBF.
CA Services of Fredericksburg (540)371-3866 X275 Drag Radial
16 cars qualify at each race and then divides the class into a Q8 field and then a 9-16 qualifier shootout.
X275
Final Q8 Qualified Positions:
1. Justin Smith 5.15/138
2. Dale Handy Sr 5.20/136
3. Al Marlow 5.22/138
4. Joe Alverez 5.30/133
5. Shelly Smith 5.32/135
6. Randy Haywood 5.45/134
7. Jon Rittenhouse 5.46/129
8. Bobby Flippin 5.593/131
Final 9-16 Shootout Positions
9. Tim Savoy 5.594/125
10. Lyle Barnett 5.607/126
11. Russell Mcmanious 5.608/131
12. Dan Whetstine 5.67/127
13. Mike King 5.703/121
14. Steve Haun 5.706/121
15. Ryan Ellington 5.73/121
16. Ryan Clark 5.80/119
Non Qualifier list
17. Clinton Smith 5.83/119
18. Keith Lafoon 5.85/120
19. Steve Montgomery 5.95/128
20. Louis Gross Jr 6.03/112
21. John Sears 6.06/111 (Big Wheel Stand 2nd rd qual.)
22. Jerome Ward 6.27/129
After 2 rounds of qualifying it was evident that the Staff at Virginia Motorsports Park brought their “A” game and kept the track in fine shape throughout the day. All rounds of eliminations were run in a timely manner and many racers remarked on a how well everything went from the time they got in at the gate, went through tech, and went rounds racing. Each of the non qualifiers was allowed to run behind the field to find what they missed in their tune-up in hopes of getting things sorted out for the next race.
As eliminations came up it was evident some teams were going to step up and improve upon the numbers they ran earlier in qualifying with Shelly Smith stepping up to run a 5.21/137 over Joe Alverez’s 5.34/134. Joe and his team won the Street Boss Race the night before so they still had a good weekend of racing. Jon Rittenhouse was making his return to X275 and ran a 5.44/129 over Dale Handy 5.62/135 pass. Justin Smith was late on the tree and had a front limiter break but was able to overcome those issues and make a 5.35/139 pass to hold off the red S-10 of Bobby Flippin 6.79/100. The final pairing in the Q8 had the SBF with the 83 mm turbo of Randy Haywood up against the nitrous assisted big block Chevy Camaro of Al Marlow, Al ran a quicker 5.75/136 but Randy held on for the win running a 5.77/134 taking the holeshot win.
In round 2 we saw a battle of Smiths with Shelly taking the win over Justin 5.15/137 to 5.25/138! Jon Rittenhouse’ comeback was cut short in a close race with Randy Haywood as the “little turbo that could” continued on with Randy running a 5.34/135 to Jon’s 5.40/134.
In the Final round we saw the Shelly and his team were getting handle on things as they put down the quickest pass of the event with a stellar 5.11/137 over Haywood slowing 5.74/136. After talking with Randy and Tony after the race they had stepped up the turbo car knowing what Smith was capable of running and she lost a little traction out of the gate which as we all know kills ET.
Congratulations to Shelly Smith and PSI Racing for winning VMP X275 season opener! Shelly collected $1000 from VMP ($850) and CA Services of Fredericksburg ($150) and also picks up the $200 contingency cash from Mickey Thompson Performance Tires! And Randy takes home $400 from VMP ($350) and CA Services of Fredericksburg ($50) and also picks up a voucher for a Goodyear Eagle SS drag radial tire for his runner up finish.
Not to be out done the 9-16 Shootout had some great racing with some upsets happening during the elimination rounds. Round 1 saw Steve Haun in the Barney Nova take on the Turbo Charged Mustang of Russ Mcmanious with Mcmanious taking an early lead but had some mechanical issues as the Nova drove right by winning 5.81/116 to 6.13/82. Tim Savoy and Ryan Clark both from Maryland made the drive down to face off with Savoy taking the win over Clark 5.66/125 to 7.31/113. Dan Whetstine had his new combo out shaking it down and found a 5.43/130 pass to overcome Mike King’s 5.73/121 in DD Mahoney’s Mustang. Lyle Barnett of North Carolina had the Mac-Fab Camaro running well and faced off against Ryan Ellington in his Virginia based SBC powered Mustang. Each car had to peddle to find traction with Lyle leaving first and taking the win 6.54/121 to a 6.35/120.
In round 2 of the Shootout Lyle Barnett would find the traction he needed running a 5.57/126 to Dan Whetstine when Dan had to lift a little as his mustang was heading to the bumper and ran 5.66/126. Steve Haun and his purple Nova were up against the nitrous assisted mustang of Tim Savoy in the next pairing and Steve’s Crew Chief Ben of A-1 Speed and Custom put the tune up into the small block but it wasn’t enough as Tim ran his best time of the event a 5.52/126 to Steve’s 5.69/122.
In the final round Lyle Barnett carried the tires to win 5.62/127 to Tim Savoy and his red light 5.54/127 pass.
Thanks to all of our racers, sponsors, and friends that continue to make this the hottest class in Street Legal Drag Racing!
