It’s Elimination Day here in Commerce, and the threat of afternoon rain and thunderstorms will mean we’re all hustling to get the full program in… Keep it tuned right here for updates, results, and photos, and while you’re waiting, be sure to check out yesterday’s coverage of qualifying and the full photo gallery after the jump.
Yep. That 70% chance of rain turned into 100%, with all the classes run down to the finals except 5th Gen Camaro, which got their final round in. The race has been scrubbed with just 4 pairs of cars left to run, and the make-up for the final will be held at the event in Indianapolis later on this year. Here’s how things went down, before the sky fell…
Drag Radial
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The Drag Radial final will be a showdown between the number one and two qualifiers, Anthony Manna (left) and Mike Brown. Manna had a tough time getting out of the first round - after his opponent Joe Dedonna almost rolled the beams, Manna cut a dismal .269 light, spun and pedaled, and had to fight to keep the car off the wall before finally driving around for the victory. The semis saw Manna pedal the car twice in his competition bye, and coast through the traps into the finals. On the other side of the tree, Brown moved around a lot but kept things in check enough to get past Meeks, then advanced in the semis against Litz, when Litz had to do a bit of driving to keep his own car in the assigned lane. The change of venue may be a godsend for Manna, who definitely wasn't getting down the track as well today as he was in qualifying...
Real Street
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The Real Street final will pair Rodney Massengale's Corvette against Kevin Rounsavalle's Camaro. Rounsavall advanced past Nick Mobus with a clean first round victory, then cracked off a bracket-consistent second round competition bye before coming up against defending class champ Adam Preston in the semis. Preston, coming off of what would turn out to be the quickest RS pass of eliminations, hit bad luck and bad traction straight from the get-go, and could only watch as Rounsavall's Camaro got small in the distance. Meanwhile, Massengale drove around a .006-.092 holeshotting in the opening round from James Rowlett, then got an early Christmas present when George Toll couldn't make the call for round two. That put Massengale into the third and final competition bye of the ladder, setting up the final round in Indy.
All Motor
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All Motor overdog Jud Massingill will face #2 qualifier Greg Delany in the make-up round at Indy. With a four-car field, the naturally-aspirated racers had but a single round of competition here in Commerce. Massingill drove around a bit of a holeshot from Danny Niceley, 8.227 to 8.723, recording the fast past of eliminations in the process, while Delaney's 5th Gen Camaro was just too, ahem, strong for Robert Strong's Monte Carlo.
LSX Rumble
The LSX Rumble category came down to Ron Farley and Kevin Lumsden (not shown).
5th Gen Camaro
May we present you with your 5th Gen Camaro winner, Tom Calabrese…
That will wrap up our coverage of the second annual LSX Challenge event from Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia – We had a great time despite getting rained out, and it was wonderful to see the support from the community here for this event. The stands were packed with fans on Saturday, and the car show was truly outstanding. We’re looking forward to next year’s race, and we hope that everybody has a safe trip home!
We have a little under an hour left to go before the start of heads-up qualifying here at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia, so stay tuned for photos, results, and news in just a bit… in the meantime, click through to see yesterday’s test and tune coverage to whet your appetite for some LSX racing!
Qualifying Round 1
JE Pistons Drag Radial
Holley EFI Real Street
Yeah, just a little bit of a timing system glitch there…
ERL All Motor
The “opening ceremonies” actually kicked off at about 2:30 in the afternoon after first round – the Georgia National Guard was on hand to take care of Color Guard duties.
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The car show was packed with interesting cars. This 2002 Camaro SS uses twin Turbonetics 62mm turbos strapped to the 383 stroker mill to produce over a thousand horsepower to the tires. Traction would seem to be a problem, though, with a claimed quarter mile time of just 10.3 at 139 on low boost... There’s quite a bit of between-rounds maintenance required for cars equipped with ‘slider’ clutches…
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LS power shows up in all sorts of unusual places, like this roadster...
Qualifying Round 2
Drag Radial
Real Street
All Motor
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It wasn't just straight line competition today - the autocross is in full swing as well. Many a cone died a valiant death that day... Speaking of orange things getting slaughtered, All Motor racer Danny Niceley creamed a reflector block when he got loose and crossed the centerline during round 2 of quals. He was back in action for round 3, no worse for wear – there’s a reason why they make those out of foam!
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Here's another awesome twin turbo from the car show today - in this case a 1991 C4 Corvette with Precision 61mm whirly mufflers force feeding 434 cubic inches, backed by a 4L80E automatic and a Ford 9-inch solid rear end conversion.
Final Qualifying
Drag Radial
Anthony Manna leads the Drag Radial field going into tomorrow’s eliminations. Mike Brown and Ray Litz round out the top half of the six-car field, and all three are piloting ’98 F-bodies. Coincidence? Yes. Definitely.
Real Street
Adam Preston holds a two-tenths lead on the rest of the Real Street field – thanks to the 9-car ladder, he’ll get a competition bye in round 1 of eliminations tomorrow.
All Motor
Jud Massingill continues to be the man to beat in LSX All Motor competition, qualifying the SAM Camaro on the pole with better than a tenth and a half cushion on the number 2 spot.
LSX Rumble
5th Gen Challenge
That’s going to do it for us tonight – see you again tomorrow for more updates, results, and photos. Speaking of photos, be sure to click through to the gallery page to see all the shots we’ve posted so far.
Round 2 of the 2013 LSX Challenge Series tour kicks off today at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia, as part of the Chevy High Performance Nationals, and we’ll have boots on the ground all weekend long to bring you daily updates, photos, and news. The LSX Challenge incorporates three heads-up classes, the LSX Rumble index class, and the 5th Gen Camaro Challenge, so you can expect to see everything from LS-swapped daily driver Mustangs to some of the fastest drag radial cars in the world to make their way down the strip this weekend.
Coverage starts today with photos and pit notes, so keep checking back for more good stuff straight from our fingers to your brains…
Test & Tune Notes
It’s been a light day here at the Atlanta Dragway – though turnout is good in the LSX classes for a Friday, the track itself isn’t cooperating. For all but the index cars, there’s more power than available traction, leading to some frustration for the RS, DR, and AM teams looking to get a clean pass. Tomorrow’s first qualifying session will tell the tale – if the crew can get the tarmac groomed properly overnight.
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Brian Massingill is piloting the School of Automotive Machinists’ 2012 COPO Camaro this weekend. The #29 out of 69 is a naturally-aspirated 427 (of course, since the SAM team is known for dominating the all-motor class) and per Brian’s dad Jud, “We’ve never even had the valve covers off,” relying on tuning tweaks to get the car into the low nines.
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Mike Brown heats the drag radials on his '98 Trans Am.
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Defending Real Street champ Adam Preston is undefeated so far this year, winning the season-opener in Bradenton.
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That’s going to do it for today – take a look at the gallery page for more photos, and keep us bookmarked for notes, results, and pictures all weekend long!
Yep. That 70% chance of rain turned into 100%, with all the classes run down to the finals except 5th Gen Camaro, which got their final round in. The race has been scrubbed with just 4 pairs of cars left to run, and the make-up for the final will be held at the event in Indianapolis later on this year. Here’s how things went down, before the sky fell…
LSX Challenge Classes
