Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 113

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The Quick Star Shootout
class is based on Top Sports-
man racing, but like Greg Lair’s
clutch-equipped, naturally aspirated
Camaro, Mike Candelairo’s super-
charged ’57 Chevy Bel-Air isn’t exact-
ly your class-standard combination.
That fact wasn’t lost on Candelairo
after he fell to Lair in the final round.
“I drive the car,” Candelairo said.
“I don’t have any automated timers
or anything like that. I manually
shift the car off the shift light. We
[Lair] were really complimenting
each other on that piece of it. To be
able to say, ‘Hey, we mowed through
the field and put together some re-
ally tight passes.’ I think we hit the
number twice in eliminations.”
Indeed, Candelairo ran a 6.327 on
a 6.32 dial-in to beat Kelly Land and
a 6.316 on a 6.31 dial to defeat Nick
Johanns in the first two rounds. He
lifted early after semifinal opponent
Tommy Johanns went red, then he
broke out in the final round.
The runner-up finish was a ma-
jor accomplishment for Candelai-
ro and his wife, Beth. The duo has
only been out for a couple events
this season, focusing their efforts
on the WSOPM. Furthermore, the
Brighton, Colorado, driver has only
had the supercharged, Brad Ander-
son Hemi-powered ’57 Chevy for
around two years, and spent most
of last season sorting out chassis is-
sues. Considering the limited num-
ber of laps on the car, Candelairo
was thrilled with its performance
and praised his wife for her role in
the performance.
“We rely on each other
whole-heartedly,” Candelairo said.
“She dials the car. I do all the tuning
and whatnot. But I can tell her to go
set the valves and we look at the data
together and she makes suggestions
and we make the tune-up calls to-
gether. We don’t have a jet program
or all the fancy stuff. I tune old-
school. For us to be able to do that
in minimal amount of time was a
huge feat for us.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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CHRIS WARNER
SUNOCO KING STREET WINNER
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Bandimere Speedway’s popular Sunoco
King Street class made its second annual
appearance at the World Series of Pro Mod this
year, adding a mob of unique street cars to the
scene. A mix of classic and late-model muscle
cars filled the staging lanes when King Street
was called up.
After six intense rounds of competition, the final
round came down to Chris Warner in his Pontiac
Trans Am and Kipp Smallwood in his ’69 Dodge Dart.
Warner won the race on the starting line, leaving first
with a .051 light to Smallwood’s .077. Warner lit up
the scoreboard with a 10.79 on a 10.76 dial-in next
to Smallwood’s 11.102 on a 11.08 dial-in.
“Usually to win any race it takes one lucky round,
and I had one of those rounds,” said Warner, who
went on to thank his wife, Carol. “Getting that lucky
round was important.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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DALTON ALLENDORF
JR RACE CAR 7.90 SHOOTOUT WINNER
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Pro Mod winner Scott Oksas and his crew
may have had the most boisterous winner’s
circle celebration, but Dalton Allendorf ’s winner’s
circle experience was a close second. His friends
poured water on him from the grandstands as
he finished up his interview on the PA system,
helping the Wiggins, Colorado, resident celebrate
his win in the JR Race Car 7.90 Shootout.
After defeating Kylee Nazarenus, Branson Kai-
ser and Dakota Shuler in prior rounds, Allendorf
grabbed a holeshot advantage in the final round
and motored on to an 8.306 in his ’15 JR Race Car
dragster. He let out early after realizing his opponent,
Jay Everhart, broke shortly after leaving the starting
line. Everhart, from nearby Aurora, ran a 12.221 in
the runner-up effort. – NATE VAN WAGNEN
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ZACH SACKMAN
ONE CURE REVERSE RACE WINNER
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One of the constant elements of the
World Series of Pro Mod since the inaugu-
ral event in 2017 is the One Cure Reverse Race,
where eight drivers and their street cars – usually
rental cars or tow vehicles – race in reverse to
the 330-foot mark. The winner receives a trophy
October 2019
complete with a rearview mirror and backwards
writing, while the $100 entry fees are donated
to One Cure. NHRA Top Dragster standout Zach
Sackman won the Reverse Race for the second
consecutive year, pacing the field in the Novak
family’s MINI.
DragIllustrated.com
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