27th Annual World Street Nationals @ Orlando Speed World Dragway !!!

The 27th running of the World Street Nationals has delivered quite a dose of action. Fast passes, wheelies, radial cars running in the Pro Mod category, yes folks Marcus Birt has entered Pro Mod with his radial tire Corvette and qualified number one.

In the Pro Modified final we had Jim Widener with a 3.73 at 202 MPH in his nitrous assisted Corvette, over Jerico Balduf with a 3.78 at only 194 MPH. Great outing for both teams. Jim Widener in his first World Street Nationals to my knowledge and Balduf earning a runner up finish in an event where the past few years has gone out early. Balduf enlisted the help of Jeff Pierce and the results where clear. Not the fastest car in the property in this outing but for sure one of the most consistent cars. Congrats to both finalists!

Melanie Salemi joined the list of the handful of drivers that have won the World Street Nationals back to back. Qualifying in the #1 position and one by one knocking them down on her way to the finals with David Reese which red lit against Salemi who blasted of a 3.57 on her quickest pass of the weekend. And yes…..they drove the car to the winners circle and drove it to the pits. Congratulations to the whole team.

So where do we start with outlaw 10.5
Blake Copson: Won the race, set low et in the final with a 3.73, and qualified number one. And could have also won a best appearing award if there had been one with that beautiful root beer color loaded with metal flake that in person in the sun is just stunning. The Josh Ledford tuned, Pro Line powered twin turbo machine showed us what total dominance looks like. And to the best of my knowledge Copson is undefeated this season. Against him in the right lane he had none other than Outlaw 10.5 legend Mo Hall in a Nitrous vs turbo match up, Hall gave him a race with a 3.79 which most of the time it will get the job done, but against Copson’s 3.73 it just wasn’t enough.

The bar in Pro 275 was set just a little bit higher when Eric Dillard lowered the record to a 3.741 from a 3.75 that was ran by Paul Gargus in this very car a few weeks ago. The Scott Tidwell owned Pro Charged Camaro (first photo) not only holds the record for the category, but also a 1st qualifier and an event win at the 27th annual World Street Nationals. Dillard Met with Jeff Miller in his infamous Bumblebee Camro in the Pro 275 final; in what was an example in sportsmanship, when Dillard and team waited for the Bumblebee crew to finish working on the car after some damage that the car had in the semis. Dillar’s 3.77 easily conquered over Miller’s 4.94.

Another driver that added his name to the back to back winners of the World Street Nationals ( which is not a long one) was Outlaw 632 heavy hitter Chris Holdorf in his Nelson Racing Engines powered 53 Corvette. The #2 qualifier met up with teammate Walter Lannigan in the final, and turned the win light on with a 4.21 @ 167 MPH against Lannigan’s 4.30. We want to congratulate the team for reaching a 1st and 2nd finish at the 27th running of the World Street Nationals.

The winner for the 27th running of the World Street Nationals was Rick Prospero in his twin turbo big block RX7 called The Green Mamba. Prospero not only won the final round but also set low ET with a 4.42 @ 168MPH in a street driven car. Runner up was #1 qualifier Nate Miskulin in his 1980 Z28 Camaro with a 4.58.

It was cool to see two unusual cars square off in the 8.50 index final, when Scott Kerven lined up with his 1967 Cuda against Greg Gallagher in his Volvo Wagon with a Small Block Ford power plant. Kerven had the upper hand in the final with an 8.52 against Gallagher’s 8.56 in a lost cause since he left on red.

The Sheriff laid down the law in Top Sportsman! Mathew Buck celebrated his birthday in style with a win in the Top Sportsman final round in his 2000 firebird against Jacky Bennett. Buck got the win light with a 4.44 in a 4.40 dial against Bennett’s Pro Charged Camaro entry with 4.29 in a 4.25 dial. The biggest factor in the final was the reaction time on Bucks side, with a 440 light against Bennett’s 576.

After countless rounds of competition Open Comp had Wesley Lee and Keith Hart meet in the final round. Unfortunately for Hart he handed the win off to Lee as soon as he let off the trans brake. Hart went red and Lee drove his 85 Monte Carlo to a win with a 11.55 on an 11.44 dial in, with an 434 reaction time. Open Comp was run as a bracket but with a pro tree.