U. S. Street Nationals
QUARTUCCIO AND RUNNER-
UP LYLE BARNETT ARE GOOD FRIENDS, SO BOTH DRIVERS AND TEAMS FELT THEY’ D WON EVEN
BEFORE THE FINAL ROUND.
I’ m going to race this thing hard, and hopefully these guys know that if they want to beat me, they’ re going to have to race hard too.”
Barnett, meanwhile, returned to Bradenton with a vengeance after failing to qualify at the Snowbirds in early December. Joining Tommy Youmans Racing for this season, Barnett piloted the team’ s ProCharger-boosted‘ 18 Camaro to a runner-up finish. With the performance, he also catapulted himself from 41st in points all the way up to eighth.
“ I’ m living a dream that most will only dream of, and I’ m so grateful for that,” said Barnett.“ Tommy Youmans gave me an opportunity, and I’ m so thankful he did. I’ m trying to do the best
I can for him. Lee White on the keyboard, Craig as the car chief, Hammer, Will, Taylor, Eddie, you know, everybody that works on this team. I’ m so proud of them. I didn’ t lose today; Ken Quartuccio won.”
Barnett and Kenny Lang drew each other in the first-round chip draw, with Barnett using a sizable holeshot and a 3.748 at 194.83 to outrun Lang’ s 3.924 at 156.77. Barnett then benefited from No Prep Kings star Scott Taylor’ s-. 011 red light in round two, as both drivers had to pedal. Barnett only managed a 4.097 at 194.83 while advancing to round three. In the quarterfinals, Barnett would find himself against four-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown in the Manny Buginga-owned 2020 Lexus. After double-bulbing Barnett, Brown went-. 002 red, securing Barnett’ s spot in the semifinals. There, Barnett was the beneficiary of a red-light trifecta, as for the third round in a row his opponent – this time 2024 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association champion Mike“ Hollywood” Decker III – left too soon. Barnett, meanwhile, ran a stout 3.617 at 209.10 to set up the final round against Quartuccio.
“ If you want to sum up our weekend with one word, I think resilience fits best,” Barnett said.“ There’ s no denying that we did not have a very good showing at the Snowbirds, and we made some yard sale changes coming into the U. S. Street Nationals. We had some luck along the way, but you know, you’ ve got to have that every now and again. We’ ve got lot of momentum going into the World Series of Pro Mod, and I think we’ ve got a ride that come February, you’ re going to know it was here again.”
The first round of competition also featured one of the most highly anticipated matchups in recent memory, with 2024 Snowbirds winner Kye Kelley facing off against two-time NHRA Pro Mod champion“ Stevie Fast” Jackson. With social media melting down both before and after the race, Kelley took the win in his screw-blown“ Can’ t Get Right”’ 85 Camaro, using a slight holeshot and 3.595 to beat Jackson’ s 3.601.
“ Growing up, Stevie Fast was my idol … and I just took him down,” Kelley said.“ It was a badass feeling – it kind of feels like I won the finals by beating him.”
The action became wildly unpredictable in round two, with four redlights in eight races. By the time the round was over, seven of the top 10 drivers in points coming into the event were eliminated, including Kelley and No. 1 qualifier and defending event champion Mark Micke. DI
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