Drummond Sets Speed Record in Mountain Motor Nationals Victory
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Drummond Sets Speed Record in Mountain Motor Nationals Victory
Mechanicsville, MD - 5/14/2012
By Andy Marquis
Steve Drummond picked a great time to set a new speed record during the 34th Annual Mountain Motor Nationals at Maryland International Raceway on Saturday night. Drummond put up a 6.008 second/254.58 mph quarter mile run in the final round of eliminations for the Blower Pro-Mod class.
“We knew we better turn it up a little bit,” Drummond said. “Saved it for the final, make sure you put a good run in the final. We struggled in the middle of the track and it was just a matter of getting the car set up. We’re still working with it. It was trucking on the back half, from half-track on it was getting busy.”
Maryland International Raceway regular Ed Burney took the win in the Nitrous Pro-Mod class on a solo pass when Fredy Scriba couldn’t make it to the tree due to a broken driveshaft. Burnley’s fastest time of the day was a 6.142 second/227.34 mph pass.
“A win’s a win but you like to run side-by-side with somebody,” Burnley said. “Things happen; we just take it like it is. We’re going to run a lot of one-eighth mile racing (Maryland International Raceway President and Promoter Royce Miller) is going to have here, some more of the Northeast Pro Shootout and some ADRL.”
Cary Goforth from Holdenville, Oklahoma scored the victory in the Mountain Motor Pro Stock class with a 6.260second /223.50 mph pass, beating Michigan driver Matt Bertsch’s 6.259 second/222.47 mph pass in the final. That was also Goforth’s fastest run in the day, despite hitting 223.84 mph in qualifying. After the race, Goforth expressed disappointment that more Pro Stock drivers did not show up, saying the cars are designed for quarter mile drag racing and not for the one-eighth mile drag racing in the popular American Drag Racing League (ADRL).
“I want to thank Royce Miller for having us,” Goforth said. “This is a 34 year old event. I’m really grateful and appreciative. I’m really disappointed that we don’t have more cars showing up and showing support. I know there are some reasons why but there was something that just doesn’t come. I’ve been very vocal about that in the past year about quarter mile racing. There’s nothing worse than going an eighth mile and having to cut out of the throttle, what’s wrong with people? We appreciate Royce having us and he’s supported us for years. We’re going to support him until we can’t walk anymore. I like quarter mile better than ADRL. These motors aren’t made to shut off at eighth mile.”
Dean Goforth was the fastest qualifier in Pro Stock, laying down a 6.243 second/223.10 mph pass. However, Todd Hoerner laid down a 6.234 second/224.17 mph pass in the Semifinal, which set a Pro Stock speed record at Maryland International Raceway though he lost on a holeshot to Cary Goforth who had a .048 second reaction time on his 6.262 second/222.77 mph pass compared to Hoerner’s .140 second reaction time.
Fredy Scriba had the fastest Nitrous Pro Mod run of the night with a 5.954 second/237.42 mph pass in qualifying. Tim O’Hare ran a 5.947 second/238.22 mph pass in qualifying in the Blower Pro Mod class. Ricky Harbaugh was the winner in the quarter mile Top ET class while David Meador collected the win in the Mod ET class and Shayne Proctor won in the Motorcycle ET class. Maria Estevez beat TJ Estevez to win in the Junior Dragster final. Maria Estevez sits third in Junior Dragster points, looking to be the second female to win the Junior Dragster championship one year after Heather Schneider’s remarkable come from behind championship triumph in the season’s final race in 2011.
The Mountain Motor Nationals drew thousands as the conditions were perfect all day. To the surprise of people who have gone to the track for years, the entire schedule was in the book well before Midnight and the event got through with no wrecks, oil-down stoppages and only one red track condition during eliminations. All the eliminations were started and completed on schedule, something that is rare for a pro race at Maryland International Raceway.
TheBAYNET's Toni Byrd contributed to this report.
Photography by Andy Marquis and Toni Byrd. More photos can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150873509929437.428589.508899436&type=3
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