Ohio’s Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown event once again includes Canadian racer clout….

A huge amount of horsepower was in the house for the 2018 edition of the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. The event (held Sept. 13-16) at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio once again reaffirmed the notion for this event being one of the premium annual Fast Doorslammer orientated independent races held annually in North America.

The event’s solid reputation for showcasing some more great cross border rivalry was again prevalent — with a very large number of Canadian competitors coming south to duke it out with their American counterparts.

The event’s marquee Aeromotive Fuel Systems Pro Mod was a perfect example as drivers from both sides of the border chased the $40,000 prize which awaited the winner.

New Jersey’s Carl Stevens, driver of Jim Bell’s Edmonton-based JB’s Power Centre Camaro, ran a 5.645 to set the set the pace and appeared to be fully prepared to push through the rounds. But a rather shocking first round development, had that turbocharged Camaro slapping the wall ending his team’s weekend prematurely.

Orillia Ontario native Melanie Salemi came out on top for Pro Mod class racing during Norwalk’s Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown.

That seemed to open the door for #3 qualifier, Canadian born and raised Melanie Salemi (originally from Orillia ON.) who advanced all the way to the final round in her Buffalo-based Strange-Engineering sponsored Firebird. Ultimately she sailed to the lucrative event victory when her final round run of 5.722 secs at 251.39 mph was uncontested after scheduled opponent Dave Norris was shutoff on the starting line due to a fluid leak.

“Shakedown is one of our favorite races, and we usually have good luck here,” said Salemi. “We were the runner-up at this race in 2016, so it was nice to win it this year. The competition was great, our car was making consistent runs and it was an awesome weekend.”

Despite losing in round one on Sunday – Jim Bell and driver Carl Stevens Jr did score in the event’s popular “Money Shot” feature held Saturday night when the car clocked low ET of the entire race at 5.638 secs to pocket a quick $5000 posted by G-Force Race Cars/Resolution Racing Services.

To link to complete results from the 2018 Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown please click: HERE

Posted with files by Mary Lendzion and Bruce Biegler

Below is DragRaceCanada’s “Canadian Racer Photo Extra” featuring just some of that participation action last weekend.

The team owned by Edmonton’s Jim Bell (top) was an early favourite to score at Norwalk after winning the “Money Shot” contest Saturday night and also qualifying #1. But his potent turbocharged Camaro (driven by Carl Stevens Jr) was disqualified in round #1 when it hit the guard wall.

Canadian Pro Mod star drivers Mike Yedgarian (top) and Mike Gondziola were both in the mix at the “Shakedown”. Mike Y (from Toronto) qualified 4th and went to round two while Mike G (from Saskatoon) raced his world class C7 to the semifinal round – before some mechanical issues took him out of competition.

Racing in TS — Wes Goddard’s Ariss ON based ’58 Nash was once again a major fan favourite at Norwalk!

Despite just getting into the super tough TS eliminator as a alternate – Stratford’s Travis Gueguen made the best of that opportunity – taking his late model Camaro to the “final four” during eliminations.

Coburg’s Al Martorino made the best of the awesome track prep while testing out a new engine combination with his PM Mustang. Al qualified #11 at 5.913 secs while getting lots of attention from the crowd.

Racing his ’86 model Mustang Randy Darcy (from Lasalle ON) placed runner up in the event’s Callies Pro Street category.

Ontario’s Jeff Williamson raced in the 1/8th mile UPR Products Ultra Street class and qualified 7th with a 5.226 @ 134.35.

Pro Mod drivers Sam Andreacchi (near lane) and Spencer Hyde both qualified at the Shakedown — #16 and #12 respectively.

Burlington’s Glen Vardy raced his Pro-charger Camaro in TS and he qualified #2 at 6.342 secs.

All photos by Brennan Shortall