A Canadian-based Outlaw 10.5 team continued class leading propenisty during one of drag racing’s marquee annual independent events…

The Toronto-based and nitrous-injected Camaro owned by Mike Pereirra, once again finished on the top of the heap following Norwalk Ohio’s annual Shakedown at the Summit event – held last weekend at Summit Motorsports Park.

For the 2nd year in a row, this race car operation which features bantering co-drivers Jerry Mitrovic and/or Phil Sliskovic, stood tall following the completion of the Precision Turbo and Engine-presented class competition. Mitrovic won this event title last year as driver and Sliskovic this year’s race.

The GTA-area based 1968 Camaro owned by Mike Pereirra continues to make waves within North America’s Outlaw 10.5 class category.

After qualifying #1 (at 4.058 secs) Sliskovic earned a competition single in round one based on the 15-car entry list.  He then advanced to the final round while taking round wins over two Corvette racers – fellow Canadian John Carinci in round two and Mo Hall’s machine in the semi final round.

In the championship final Sliskovic unloaded both low ET and top speed for the breed with a more then convincing 3.972 secs at 190.73 mph decision over Mike Decker’s Baltimore MD-based Camaro. Decker ran a losing 4.060 secs at 188.33 mph.

This event finish was just the latest strong placing for a team which has arguably become one of the most feared cars racing anywhere within the Outlaw 10.5 class genre. Recently (over the past Labour Day weekend) they had placed runner-up in Outlaw 10.5 during the infamous Yellow Bullet Nationals held in Maryland.

The dedicated team also includes Ed Varao, Andy DeSilva, Paul Scarlato, Ron Carle, Mario Velho, Alex Tadic and Joe VanOverbeek,

The Outlaw 10.5 class at the “Shakedown” included 5 other Canadian based cars including Nick Agostino who qualified #2 behind Sliskovic. Agostino and fellow GTA racer Carinci both won their first round match ups.

The event’s marquee fan attraction was however a very lucrative to win Pro-Line presented Outlaw Pro Mod class category. That included a $40,000 payment to the winner (part of the event’s overall $150,500 purse) the largest ever paid in Summit Motorsports Park history.

As the event’s quickest and fastest category contested on the quarter-mile,  ProLine Outlaw Pro Mod featured cars with superchargers, turbos and nitrous and 10 out of 27 of them clicked it in the high fives in qualifying.

Don Walsh, Jr. drove the loud and proud Skinny Kid Race Cars ’72 Olds to a 5.851 secs (low ET) to lead the pack, but the final round featured Flash Fiscus and his ’12 Mustang and Canadian-native Melanie Salemi and her ’68 Firebird.

Fiscus flew to a 5.972 secs to find victory over Salemi, who ran into trouble and lifted to a 12.22. While Fiscus was photographed with the $40,000 check in the winner’s circle, his proud parents were later spotted posing for a photo with it, too.

Racing his Mustang, Florida’s Kevin Fiscus collected a nice cheque after winning the Pro-Line presented Outlaw Pro Mod title

“We had to thrash all week to get here, and then thrash some more when we got here,” said Fiscus, whose crew consisted of Fiscus/Klugger Racing teammate Josh Klugger, Johnny Drama, Steve Cooks and his parents, Marsha and Sandy Fiscus. “We blew two burst panels out of the intake and we were only running at 80 percent all weekend, but somehow, we were able to go rounds and get the check at the end of the day.”

Fiscus, who was formally a teammate to Edmonton’s Jim Bell in Pro Mod class racing, had qualified #7 for the 24-car field. Prior to his final round appearance he had taken the measure of opponents Tom Bailey, Jay Santos and Don Walsh in class competition.

Don Walsh Jr qualified this awesome looking ’72 Olds on the pole and set low ET.

Canadian-based racer participation was again significant within the event’s highly competitive Outlaw Pro Mod class category with a total of 11 Canadian drivers qualifying.

Melanie Salemi’s runner-up was the top placing overall and came from the #4 qualifying seed. The popular racer who now resides in Buffalo NY with her husband Jon Salemi, ran her potent supercharged 1968 Firebird to some consistently quick times while advancing to the final round. That included three consecutive bracket racer like 5.87 secs ETs while winning her first three rounds!

Racing her Firebird — Melanie Salemi was super consistent at Norwalk while advancing to the final round.

Guelph’s Wes Goddard also ran extremely well at the event as his 1970 Camaro ran it’s first ever “fives” while going to the event’s semi final round. But Wes was then edged out by Salemi in that very exciting match by a narrow 5.867 to 5.877 secs margin.

Goddard’s FD Powersport’s turbocharged Camaro (which is owned by Fred DeJonge) was also credited with top speed of the meet overall at 252.00 mph.

Wes Goddard (from Guelph) had a very strong “final four” placing and set top speed of the meet!

The event’s highly touted G-Force Race Cars/Resolution Racing Services “Money Shot” was a special feature of the event which guaranteed that the driver of the quickest car – electing to take part – during qualifying would receive $5,000. That winner was 2015 Hot Rod Drag Week winner Tom Bailey (from Michigan) who turned in a time of 6.017 secs and 237.71 mph in his stunning street/strip ’69 Camaro.

“Money Shot” winner – Tom Bailey

Competition in the remainder of the event’s “all door slammer” class categories was also ferocious.

Speedwire Systems Outlaw Limited Street put the spotlight on Mark Micke, who piloted Jason Carter’s turbocharged ’78 Malibu to a whopping 3.99 for lead qualifying honors. On his heels, however, was Josh Klugger of Fiscus/Klugger Racing, who was 4.09 in his turbocharged ’93 Mustang to take the second qualified spot. The two met in the final, and in a tight race where both drivers blasted to a 4.00, Micke pulled off the win.

“I’ve been to three finals in the last three races, and it was nice to win one at Summit Motorsports Park,” said Micke. “It’s an awesome facility and the track prep was spot-on every round. I want to thank Garrett Turbo, Mickey Thompson, Aeromotive, Billet Atomizer, Visner Engine Development, Fuel Tech, Nelson Competition, VP Racing Fuels and Mark “Woodymart” Woodruff. You never know when you’ll need him.”

Mark Micke piloted Jason Carter’s spectacular turbocharged ’78 Malibu to victory in Outlaw Limited Street.

Boyd Beyer blew to a 6.32 and the lead in qualifying in his ’04 Mustang in  Holbrook Racing Engines Top Sportsman, but taking it all the way to the final were Marco Abruzzi and Glenn Butcher. Abruzzi’s trip to the winner’s circle started at the hit in his ’68 Camaro as Butcher turned on the red in his Camaro. Abruzzi went on to post a 6.78.

Home state racer Marco Abruzzi defeated a 38-car Top Sportsman program.

Ohio’s Boyd Beyer was the #1 qualifier in TS at 6.325 secs racing his Mustang.

In  Wiseco X275, Jamie Stanton wheeled his ’02 Camaro to a 4.50 to see his name at the top of the list of qualified entrants, but the final round featured Ohioans Darren Hilterbran and his ’90 Mustang and Trace Meyer and his Team Z Motorsports-built ’90 Mustang. Hilterbrand was to the finish line first and won with a 4.57 to Meyer’s 4.65.

After pounding pavement in  Callies Pro Street in his ’69 Camaro, Ed Parker produced a 4.47 to populate the top qualified spot. He remained on point on his way to the final, where he lined up against Charlie Cooper and his PTP Racing-tuned ’91 Mustang, but when the tree dropped, Cooper was ready for him with an .010 reaction time and won with a 4.54 while Parker had problems and limped to an 8.74.

Shawn Pevlor pushed his nitrous-gulping ’93 Mustang to a 4.76 in the super-competitive  Team Z Motorsports Ultra Street, which was good for the lead qualified spot as well as the category’s ET record. He faced number two qualifier Camren Massengale and his RPM Transmissions-backed ’01 Corvette in the final, and won with a 4.78 to Massengale’s 4.91.

“It was a good, smooth weekend, and we didn’t have any problems,” said Pevlor, who won in the same category at this event in 2014. “Setting the ET record for the category and winning the race were of equal importance to me. We’ll be at next year’s Shakedown.”

Ford Mustangs were very dominant at Norwalk with wins going to Charlie Cooper – Pro Street (top), Shawn Pevlor (Ultra Street) and Darren Hilterbran (X275).

In  Trick Flow Specialties Open Comp, Billy Buehrer lead qualifying in his consistent mid-eight second ’67 Nova, and as such, he won a $1,000 bonus from Trick Flow Specialties. In the final, however, Chris Cadle cruised his ’89 S10 to a 10.32 on his 10.30 dial-in to defeat Canadian Dan Pepper, whose ’67 Camaro cruised to a 9.13 on a 9.09 dial-in.

Chris Cadle wheeled his Chevy  S-10 to a win in the gruelling Open Comp class.

While rain was an issue affecting the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels in the end the 14th annual version was a major success story. That energy and excitement has added to the anticipation for next year’s event, which Summit Motorsports Park president Bill Bader, Jr. promises will be enhanced even further and “better than ever”.

Posted with files by Bruce Biegler & Mary Lendzion
Photos by Bruce Biegler & Brennan Shortall
Outlaw 10.5 Winners Circle – courtesy of Dave Rocheleau