Norman Hall of Waldorf, Md.,...
Norman Hall of Waldorf, Md., qualified well with his mint '98 Firebird, but fell victim to the Grand Am of Jeg Coughlin in the fourth round.
Rain pounded the pavement for 13 days preceding the 1998 NHRA Mopar Parts Nationals at Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., but the drag racing gods smiled on the anxious fans and racers, because the sky cleared just one day prior to the event and racing went off without a hitch.
Pontiac Firebirds ruled the professional ranks of both Funny Car and Pro Stock. Cruz Pedregon topped the field in Funny Car and set a new Englishtown elapsed time record of 4.83 seconds. In Pro Stock, Mike Thomas's Firebird narrowly missed topping the field, but Warren Johnson picked up the slack and ran the only 200-mph speed of the weekend.
High Performance Pontiac's...
High Performance Pontiac's '97 Firebird was in action at the Mopar Nats with Wendy Caliendo of Colts Neck, N.J., behind the wheel. Caliendo ran as quick as 11.19 and was victorious in class competition, defeating the ever-tough Mike Walter in the F/SA class final.
In addition, the Mopar Nationals featured the Pro Stock Challenge, a special race-within-a-race for qualified Pro Stock drivers. The NHRA posted a $50,000 prize for the eight Pro Stock Challenge drivers, who in the past year acquired points through top qualifying positions to make up the field. The field was dominated by Firebirds, but only one would make it to the final. Engine-builder Steve Schmidt did it with his Pro Stock 'Bird despite the damage his car suffered in the previous round when his parachutes tangled, sending him to the sand trap. Schmidt was able to take his wounded Firebird to the final, but was defeated by the strong-running Camaro of Kurt Johnson (7.00 to 6.97).
Pro Drivers weren't the only racers driving fast Pontiacs at English-town. In Stock Eliminator qualifying, Carol Yacavone's '78 Firebird, sponsored by High Performance Pontiac magazine, led the Pontiacs in qualifying with her impressive No. 8 spot on the ladder. She piloted the Firebird to a notable 11.90-second run and then went on to win the L/SA class with a 12.08 over the '84 Olds Cutlass of Rob Hudlow, who ran 12.21. Other Pontiacs that qualified well were Dave Ribeiro in his '78 Firebird and Wendy Caliendo in her '97 LT1-powered Firebird.
Jim Penta wheeled this cherry...
Jim Penta wheeled this cherry C/S '97 'Bird that features an LT1 and a G-Force 5-speed transmission.
Ribeiro, who was featured in last month's issue, also went on to win the M/SA class runoff, while Caliendo took F/SA honors. Other Pontiac class winners include the '77 LeMans of John Rodnite of Maspeth, N.Y., campaigned in N/SA and another '77 LeMans, that of Candia, N.H.'s Dean Ribeiro in O/SA. Also winning in class competition was New Jersey native Don Himes in his '77 Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, in regular eliminations the Pontiacs did not fare as well as they had in class competition. The lone Pontiac to make it past the third round of Sunday eliminations was the beautiful E/SA '97 Firebird of Jack Matyas. The Bethlehem, Pa., native fell victim to the I/SA Nova of Don Quinn in the fourth round when Matyas redlighted.
Don Himes defeated the similar...
Don Himes defeated the similar '77 Grand Prix of Bill Groton for the P/SA class title (12.72 to 13.09).
Much like Stock, Super Stock saw some fast Pontiacs taking the field by storm. Joe Scott took his '98 Firebird to the No. 12 spot, while other fast Pontiacs were the Firebird driven by Angelo Di Tocco and the '98 Grand Ams of Jeg Coughlin and Arnie Martel, who qualified No. 21 and 22.
During eliminations, just three Pontiacs survived until the later rounds. Both Peter Biondo and Norman Hall in their '98 Firebirds would lose in the fourth round. Only Jeg Coughlin, who defeated Hall, would emerge victorious. Disappointingly though, Coughlin would be beaten in the following round by eventual race runner-up Scotty Richardson, driving a Camaro. However, the day was not over for Coughlin. Later on, he would defeat the Firebird driven by Mike Edwards to take the Pro Stock title in his Olds Cutlass.