Eastern Circuit Racer Updates
Eastern-based racers are gearing up for the opening round for both the Quick 32 Sportsman and PBSS drag racing series; including TS driver Dan Flanigan and Pro Bike Suzuki racer Dave Vandereyken…
Dan Flanigan is excited about racing in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series this year. The Buffalo, NY driver of the NOCO Motorsports Top Sportsman Chevy Camaro will be racing with renewed vigor both on and off the track.
“Last year was a good year for us,” noted Flanigan, who finished seventh in the Championship Point Award Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts. “But this year we plan to go to a new improved level.”
Track-side, NOCO Motorsports has employed the talents of Mike Mitchell as crew chief for the NOCO Motorsports Racing Team Camaro in 2014, Mike will be dedicated to the performance and set-up of the car, leaving me the driving duties and devote my time to other NOCO Motorsports activities including marketing, promotion, and public relations for the team and specifically NOCO, according to Flanigan.
Off-track, NOCO Motorsports will be promoting all of their petroleum based products with a strong marketing campaign at the tracks and at related industry shows including construction and agriculture.
Flanigan has raced for close to 30 years, and has been a strong competitor in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series for several years. He qualified for all events in 2013, and his season was highlighted with a final round Top Sportsman appearance. The car travels down the quarter-mile in the 6.80 second range at speeds over 200 mph.
This year marks the sixth season of the Quick 32 Sportsman Series, a popular drag racing series presented by NAPA Auto Parts. It pits Top Dragster entries against Top Sportsman entries in 16-car fields with the top eliminator of each going up for an event winner in the final round.
Underneath the Camaro is a G-Force Race Cars Inc. chassis with a nitrous-assisted 680-cubic inch Jan-Cen Racing Engines big-block Chevy powerplant coupled to a Competition Transmissions Powerglide transmission. A pair of Nitrous Oxide assisted 1150 Dominator carburetors sit atop the engine.
With Mitchell retained as crew chief, others on the team include Sam Christian, Jim Flanigan, John Flanigan, John Fletcher, Molly and Audrey Flanigan. The state of the art Camaro is prominently displayed with the colorful NOCO Energy corporate identification.
His Pro Bike Suzuki will have a new paint scheme in 2014, but a new and larger engine should provide Dave Vandereyken with some quicker times down the quarter-mile in this year’s Pro Bike & Sled Series.
“We should be quite a bit faster and are looking at improving times,” noted Vandereyken, of Acton, Ontario. “And the bike will look a little different.”
The rider of the Animal Racing entry placed third in Championship Point Award Series last year in the PBSS, presented by Wiseco Performance Products. And with a larger 1500-cc engine replacing the previous 1425-cc unit, Vandereyken is expecting to better his mid-eight second times. He qualified for all PBSS races last year with the Suzuki, and highlighted his season with a victory at the Cayuga Dragway during the track’s South Coast Community Weekend. He said he plans to run the entire PBSS circuit this year.
His Pro Bike ride is a 1982 Suzuki GS110E model with a new engine and larger carburetors sitting on a modified frame and a five-speed transmission. Louise Reid is crew chief for the team, and sponsorship is courtesy of Halton Power and Koojo Powder Coating.
The 2014 season for all three series opens May 16-18 at the Grand Bend Motorplex with the running of the RPM Magazine / Lucas Oil MAYHEM at the BEND Presented By Mickey Thompson Tires.
The Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA), www.PMRA.ca enters its 10th season of popular Pro Modified racing this year, while the Quick 32 Sportsman Series, presented by NAPA Auto Parts, www.Quick32.ca will begin its sixth season, and the Pro Bike & Sled Series (PBSS) presented by Wiseco Performance Products, www.PBSS.ca begins its fourth year of operation. Several times during the race season all three series compete at the same weekend events, offering a colourful, diverse, and exciting package of drag racing action.
Posted by: Tim Miller
Photos by: Brennan Shortall
