Some More Quick (32) Updates
The Eastern-Canadian Napa Quick 32 Series is beginning to rev up as it heads towards it’s season-opener this spring. Here are some recent off-season developments for the popular circuit…
By: Tim Miller
Transport Team Corvette Steps Up Effort
The 1963 Split-window Corvette of the TTK Transport Inc. team has received a new powerplant over the off-season, and team driver Darryl McMillen is hoping for a stronger showing in the 2011 Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts when he takes to the track.
“We’re running the same chassis,” noted McMillen, “but we’ve got a better and faster motor along with a new tranny.”
The Top Sportsman team placed 11th in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series Championship Point Award Series standings in 2010. The team qualified for each event, and took some eighth and quarter-round finals.
The team placed 10th in the Championship Point Award Series in 2009, highlighted with a win in the Top Sportsman class during the September 19 race at the Cayuga Dragway of Toronto Motorsports Park that year and the overall victory for an event title with a 7.158-second, 189.60-mph posting.
Darryl McMillen Corvette
McMillen, who is based from Goderich, Ontario, added they had some problems with the car later in the year, but with the new equipment, the team should be ready for opening day.
The Advantage Race Cars Corvette will be powered by a 632-cubic inch engine with new Brodix heads set up by Virginia cylinder head guru Sonny’s Racing Components. Pat Musi has provided a new nitrous system for the Corvette, and a new Powerglide-based two-speed with torque convertor from Hutch sits behind the big engine.
McMillen has been racing for about 10 years. Wife Carol is the team’s crew chief, and others who help get the car down the track include Ted Lucas, Richard Butler and Perry Wood. The team is sponsored by TTK Transport Inc., Huron Tire & Auto, and Lucas Freight Systems.
McMillen said he has enjoyed racing in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series, adding he appreciates the efforts in running this popular drag race series.
“This has been an awesome series,” said McMillen. “The Quick 32 Sportsman Series has done a good job of organizing and promoting our races, and we’ve had a lot of fun.”
Guist Top Dragster is Primed
Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts competitor Paolo Giust (Osgoode ON) is ready for the upcoming season in this popular drag race series.
“I’m ready to go,” he said recently. “And the car is ready. There won’t be many changes to the car as it was a new car last season.”
Giust, driving in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series Top Dragster class, did not attend all events in 2010 due to business commitments, but the driver of the 2009 Race Tech Race Cars and Components Top Dragster made his mark.
Right at the start of the season, he captured an event win during the first event in May held at the Cayuga Dragway of Toronto Motorsports Park. For other events, he always qualified in the top five, and took home a couple of first-round wins and was also a quarter-finalist during the Quick 32 Sportsman Series event at the IHRA Nitro Jam at the Grand Bend Motorplex in his first year of Quick 32 Sportsman Series racing.
The Top Dragster is powered by a 632-cubic inch Big Chief engine and a Select Performance gearbox transmits the power. A Rupert’s Racing Products and Speedtech Nitrous system feed the big-block.
Paolo Giust Top Dragster
The team is comprised of driver Paolo, and Shannon Giust, who provides crew chief and all other duties to allow the team to compete. Sponsorship includes Ottawa Greenbelt Construction.
Giust said he has purchased another race car, this 1957 Chevrolet Top Sportsman car, but is not sure yet if he will race it on a steady basis this coming season. He added he started his racing in the street classes at Luskville Dragway, but soon opted for a dragster and has continued to race in one for the past several years.
He also said he is looking forward to getting back on the track in 2011.
“I’ve really enjoyed the Quick 32 Sportsman Series,” he said. “I can’t wait until the new year. The caliber of cars is great.”
Double Duty for Quebec’s Orr Racing Team
Veteran drag racer Tom Orr, from Shawville Quebec, will not only return to the Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts for 2011 with his Top Sportsman entry, he will be heading up a two-car team with his son Lance driving a Top Dragster.
“I’ve raced all over, and this is the best Series I’ve ever raced in,” said Orr, who drives a 2008 Dodge Stratus in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series Top Sportsman class. “We’re not changing the car a great deal for this year, except that we have a new motor to go into the car.”
Orr explained he damaged the engine in the Stratus during the IHRA Nitro Jam event at Epping, NH late last year, but was able to take the runner-up spot in the Top Sportsman class.
He has also raced his Top Dragster with success, capping off his year in that car with a win in the Top Dragster Pro-Am event at Epping.
And now 20-year old Lance Orr will be behind the wheel of the Top Dragster for Quick 32 Sportsman Series competition.
“Everything is almost ready to go,” he said. “We will be a two-car team.”
Orr qualified at all Quick 32 Sportsman Series events he entered in 2010 with his Stratus had several quarter-round showings and a runner-up finish in the Top Sportsman Division.
His highlight of the season was being in seven final rounds in two different cars.
The Stratus will be powered by a 604-cubic inch B-1 engine from the Ohio Mopar engine shop Koffel’s Place, running a TRE Racing Engines two-stage nitrous system. A two-speed from top tranny builder Abruzzi Racing Transmissions will be hooked up to the engine, which sits in a Jerry Haas Race Cars product.
Tom Orr's Dodge Stratus was impressive last season
Bob Brown will continue to crew chief for the car, and Suzie Lance and Lance Orr make up the rest of the crew for the Top Sportsman entry.
Sponsors include Orr General Contracting, Orr Waste Services, Koffel’s Place and Abruzzi Racing Transmissions and Torque Converters.
Orr said he was looking forward to getting back to the Quick 32 Sportsman Series.
“This is a good gig,” he said about the Quick 32 Sportsman Series. “We’re pretty well ready to get out there and race.”
About the Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts:
Early in 2009 the Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts, www.Quick32.ca, was instituted as an alternative for high-horsepower Sportsman-class teams to compete on a regular basis, and will begin its third season in 2011.
The Series is comprised of 32-car qualified fields of the 16 quickest open wheeled cars (Top Dragster) and the 16 quickest door cars (Top Sportsman), and presents the best in ET-style, dial-in drag racing, competing on a Sportsman ladder. After eliminations in both classes, the final Top Dragster entry and the final Top Sportsman entry pair off to determine the event Champion.
Competitors in this exciting Series must comply with the IHRA Top Dragster and Top Sportsman Safety rules and regulations, and the maximum dial-in will be 7.95 seconds for the quarter-mile.
The Series provides $3000 to win for each event and $5000 for the annual Championship Point Award Series Champion, payouts very popular with competitors and will provide large fields of race cars.
The Quick 32 Sportsman Series is committed in providing a professional atmosphere for its teams. It also provides solid media and logistic support, ensuring itself as one of the most popular drag race series running Top Sportsman and Top Dragster race cars.
The Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts competes several times with the Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA), www.PMRA.ca, as well as selected special events, offering fans a great show of drag racing.
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
