12/8/2024
Midwest Drag Racing Series
Mark Micke moves past Derek Ward, Dietsch takes down Goolsby
Round One of Eliminations for the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals was an intense round! After a WILD Round Four of Qualifying, Mid-West Drag Racing Series Racers Mark Micke and Keith Goolsby stood to carry the torch for the series.
Mark locked the #1 Qualifier spot with his 3.591 in an earlier round, thankfully. His Round Four pass, next to Erica Enders, saw some three-wheel motion as the car wheelied hard and pulled left when he poured all of the Harts Turbo power into the car.
Keith made the pass of the round in my opinion. With the car moving around and heading toward the center line, he never lifted and drove the Black Pearl to a 3.625! Which, at the time, put him in the #3 Qualifier spot! The rest of the field found the extra power they needed and his 3.625 would land him in 17th Qualifier by the end of the 60+ car round.
The Snowbirds Outlaw Nationals, now under the Drag Illustrated Winter Series, uses a Chip Draw for round pairings, so just making the show was the goal.
A big shoutout goes to Chris Juliano and his team for the impressive 3.677 ran in Q2. In any other event, that would have landed him in the Top Five of Qualifiers. In the Final Round of Qualifying, Juliano had a purge solenoid hang, costing him the run. Great job for his team!
Scott Palmer fought the Corvette all weekend. The car wheelied hard in Q3 and Q4, sadly resulting in Scott not making the field.
Round 1 of Eliminations
During the Chip Draw Presentation, Mark Micke drew the 2024 WSOPM Champion Derek Ward! Keith Goolsby would draw Matthe Deitsch (the only nitrous car to make the field!)
Keith and Matt was an intense side by side race!! Matt got it on a holeshot with a Margin of Victory of 0.0118! Matt’s reaction time of .050 was enough quicker than Keith’s 0.97 to make up the difference in Matt’s 3.716 to Keith’s 3.680! The announcers were saying it during Q4 of Qualifying that this race would come down to Reaction Times. Great Job Keith!
Mark Micke and Derek Ward were up a few pairs later. Mark chops the tree on Derek, with a .028 to Derek’s .064! Derek rattled the tires as Mark’s Camaro power wheelied through the 330’ mark on his way to a 3.614 at 216MPH to move on to Round Two!
Great job to the MWDRS teams so far! Let’s all get behind Mark Micke and show him the support to take it all the way!
Article Credit: Michael Narx
Submitted By: Michael Narx
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