OSCA & PTRA Late Season Wrap-up
And so ends another year of pro tree racing as OSCA and the PTRA say farewell to the 2014 season….
The Pro Tree Racing Association would have record payouts as a large number of competitors took part in the last weekend of their race season held at St.Thomas Raceway Park. Along with the usual classes of Open and Pro Comp, it was time for the Fall East vs West heads up shootout. The finals would be a family affair as Paul Silva and son Ryan would take to the line together. Ryan piloting the 2000 Mustang of Joey Severiano would run a little off the pace only managing a 5.26 at 137mph in the 1/8 to Paul’s 5.05 at 145mph giving him the win, the large trophy and bragging rights.
Nerd Pickle sponsored Pro Comp would see the 86 Monte Carlo of Chris VanBalen taking the win over Larry Satchel and his rear engine dragster.
Chris VanBalen would find himself in his second final of the day in Drew’s Auto Body sponsored Open Comp. Jay Branning would be VanBalen’s competition but his 69 Dodge Dart didn’t have quite enough as VanBalen used his starting line advantage to take the win as the pair went through the finish line side by side in a very tight race.
Nate Cooper would take the Trophy Comp win driving his Dad’s cool turbocharged 61 Chevy truck. Cooper would defeat Tyler Stonham and his 83 Mustang.
Steve Sack Jr., went red handing Rob Becker the easy win in the final of Can Am Stock/Super Stock.
Sundays winners included:
Pro Comp W- Chris VanBalen R/U- Glen Gray
Open Comp W- Jarrod Kolne R/U- Dan Pepper
Trophy Comp W- Nate Cooper R/U- Steve Bida
Can Am S/SS W- Brian Clayton R/U- Chuck Nagy
2014 was a success for the PTRA as more and more racers are coming out for a chance to compete with some of the best pro tree racers around for big payouts and lots of prizes.
25 years of fast times and 25 years of good times! Johnny O retires from competition after 25 years of racing.
OSCA would see their season end under beautiful weather conditions which helped competitors run record times as well as new personal bests on the sticky track at Toronto Motorsports Park.
EZ Street was running a make up race during Saturdays qualifying from the Nitro Nationals held earlier this Summer. Paul Silva took home a cool $4000 for taking the win during qualifying then would put himself in the finals on Sunday after making his way through the rounds. Silva would line up against a competitor he has faced in the final round many times this season, Ernie Zambri and his nitrous powered 86 Mustang. An uncharacteristic move by Silva sent his Mustang through the line before the tree was activated giving Zambri the easy win. Ernie would have been tough to beat laying down an impressive 7.55 at 181mph.
The Street Eliminator final was a classic Ford vs Chevy battle as Tony Nicoletti and his 87 Mustang took on the 91 Camaro of Zack Cudizio. The pair left together but Nicoletti powered ahead taking the stripe with a 10.16 to Cudizio’s 10.33.
Joe Carlos and his GSXR 1000 ran a stout 8.05 at 162 mph in KOTS action at Cayuga
Black Cat Pub King of the Street bikes had some impressive numbers being layed down by #1 qualifier and sponsor Joe Carlos. A record setting 8.05 during qualifying aboard his GSXR 1000 put Joe within reach to be the first in the class to the 7’s which will be a great feat for an all motor no bar bike. Although the 7 second barrier did not fall Joe did manage to make his way to the final where he took on the Kawasaki ZX14 of Dan Storms. Storms cut a perfect .000 light but his 8.78 wasn’t enough as Carlos powered by on his way to another 8.12 second pass.
Sundays Index results:
8.90 W- Brad Dean
9.90 W- Tim Kennelly R/U- Tony Stevkov
10.90 W- Mike Thompson R/U- Eric Webber
11.90 W- Randy Nunn R/U- Peter Spinelli
12.90 W- Kelly Cooper R/U- Christina Stein
Pro Comp W- Chris VanBalen R/U- Glenn Moose Shoemaker
Open Comp W- Lance Bisson R/U- Elan Imseis
B/S Comp W- Pete Stewart R/U- Tyler Priddle
An added bonus to the weekends racing schedule was the appearance of Canada’s fastest 10.5 door cars as the Outlaw 10.5 Association held their final race of the season as well. Nick Agostino ran an incredible record setting pass of 4.05 at 201mph in the 1/8 to qualify his gorgeous 2000 twin turbo Camaro in the #1 spot. Maximum Performance would be well represented as Eddie Timal who qualified #3 with an impressive 4.18 would take on Agostino in the championship round. Timal got out first then Agostino started a hard charge in the right lane but got out of shape and crossed into the left, spinning and making hard contact with the wall that sent him careening down the guardrail. While all this was happening to Agostino, Timal watched helplessly and got out of it early running 4.42 to the 1/8 but the bitter sweet victory was already his when the Camaro crossed the centreline. Fortunately Nick would walk away from the incident with no major injuries. Repairs to the Camaro are already well under way and expected to be finished in the near future.
Prior to his crash –Nick Agostino made his way to an amazing 4.05 at 201mph in the 1/8th mile.
And so wraps up another incredible season of drag racing in Ontario, Canada. Thank you and congratulations to everyone on a great year! I’d like to send out a special thank you to the beautiful Tammy Byng for being such a great sport posing with some of the cool cars amd bikes of the OSCA. Thanks Tammy!
Photos and Post by Mark Ackert www.DragNDen.com
