Drag Illustrated Issue 137, October 2018 | Page 111
ALL-AMERICAN NATIONALS
yet another win in his already impressive career.
Late model muscle cars have a new class to
run in, as Mickey Thompson Heavy Street de-
buted over the weekend. The heads-up elimina-
tor category does not use a standard qualifying
order as pairings are handled via a chip draw
system. Three hits are given prior to elimina-
tions, though, and Terry Reeves was the quick-
est of the bunch as the man from Bethel, Ohio,
clicked off a cool 9.439 at 155.24 mph hit in his
’18 Mustang. Making it through the rounds to
the finals, it was Reeves against Simon Haddad
of Shelby Township, Michigan, in his ’16 Chal-
lenger. Reeves had the holeshot, but Haddad was
able to drive around him and take the win with
a 10.400 at 136.06 mph pass against Reeves’s
11.899 at 124.90 mph effort.
The much-loved Baskin Truck Sales F.A.S.T.
group’s (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) class is
a great example of what classic, period-correct
muscle cars can do. Top qualifying honors were
awarded to Terry Pennington of Mishawaka, In-
diana, as he ran 9.966 at 140.14 mph in his 427
ci ’69 Corvette, then in the finals, Pennington got
the win over Bill Atwood while Julie Pennington
also recorded a win over Eric Simpson in the
corresponding Factory Stock class.
A special addition for the Cobra Jet celebra-
tions at this event, Diversified Products Market-
ing Vintage Cobra Jet pitted classic CJ-powered
vehicles against one another. Ultimately, Stephen
Klacik from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, showed
‘em how it was done in qualifying with a quick
0.005-second reaction time to take the lead in his
’72 Gran Torino. Five rounds of classic CJ action
saw Steven Hall of Sweeny, Texas, take on Jacks-
boro, Texas, native Rod Hetzel. A -0.009-second
foul start for Hetzel meant game over, while Hall
stopped the traps in 9.768 seconds at 126.23 mph
to make his win official.
Meanwhile, for the ’08 and newer group, the
Diversified Products Marketing Modern Cobra
Jet class was the perfect playground to let their
pony power shine. Hailing from Bayshore, New
York, Gary Richard cut a perfect 0.000-second
light in qualifying and earned the right to be at
the top of the list. In the finals, Mike Pustelny of
Almont, Michigan, and Rod Hetzel of Jacksboro,
Texas, were the last two men standing and had
qualified third and fourth. Hetzel once again red
light-itis struck, and Pustelny went on to earn the
win in his ’14 Cobra Jet on an impressive tear of
9.831 at 136.25 mph.
After the winners from both the Vintage and
Modern Cobra Jet classes were determined, they
faced off head-to-head in a winner take all battle
of old versus new. Hall in his ’68 and Pustelny in
his ’14 both left the line hard, but Pustelny went
9.863 at 135.88 mph on his 9.81 dial-in over Hall’s
9.754 at 136.46 mph trip on a 9.74 dial.
The street car haven class of Gear Vendors True
Street was won by Randy Thomas of Paducah, Ken-
tucky, as Thomas and his ’10 Mustang averaged an
8.777-second elapsed time across their three runs.
Greg Woodlard was deemed the runner-up on his
9.346-second average, while Codey Woodby won
the 9-second group with a 9.406-second average
and Jeff Yepper won the 10-second group with
his 10.059-second average. Topping the 11-second
group was Joe Glockner, Dakota Poston won the
12-second average, Mark Storts won the 13-second
bunch, and Rob Tackett rounded things out as the
winner of the 14-second contenders.
Racing in the Chevrolet Performance Street
Car Challenge, Pittsburgh resident Stephen
Chechak brought his ’80 Firebird out for some
fun and his resulting 9.411-second average meant
he was the overall winner in the group. George
Messer was the overall runner-up after averaging
10.234-seconds, Kevin Rowand was the 11-second
winner, Bob Sanders was the 12-second winner,
Bill Schoenberger was the winner for the 13-sec-
ond section, and Kurt Hindel found success in
the 14-second group.
Additionally, in the Dodge/Mopar Hemi Shoot-
out, Brian Fielder and his ’08 Challenger saw
no challenges as they averaged 10.032-seconds
to take the overall win. In the runner-up spot
was Jim Jarrett with his ’18 Challenger and a
10.043-second average, John Keyes was a win-
ner for the 10-second pack, Eric Cunningham
and Brian Borawski won the 11- and 12-second
groups, respectively, Rich Sprintzl won the
13-second honors, Casey Fitzgerald won for the
14-second runners, and Grady Alley won in the
15-second pack.
Bracket 3 brought together a variety of com-
petitors from several classes including True Street,
Vintage Cobra Jet, Modern Cobra Jet, HEMI
Shootout, and more, but it was VCJ contender
Don Fotti who took the win in the finals. Coming
all the way from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada,
Fotti went 11.595 at 97.77 mph on his 11.50 dial
in with his ’68 Cobra Jet against Rob Tackett who
ran a low 14-second pass.
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
MIKE PUSTELNY’S ’14 COBRA JET
October 2018
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 111