Muscle Cars At The Strip
New Name for an Historic Event
Las Vegas, March 18-20 -- She awakened in the a.m. and was stunned by the news. MOPARS at the STRIP had been changed by Phil and Jill Painter to Muscle Cars at the Strip! Say what? For years she always went from her home in Pasadena, Calif., to the largest MOPARTY in the West at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Our gal from the Beach Boys number 1 hit joined the Los Angeles cruise at Glendora Dodge just down the street. The group expected to find the Cannery Hotel & Casino by 7 p.m., still in time for the lavish sea food buffet.
While they were traveling, other groups from Arizona, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, and Denver were all heading to Las Vegas as well.
The first Muscle Car event started Friday morning. One big change was the popular Quick 16 expanding to 32 cars. Sixteen were MOPAR powered and 16 with ‘other’ brands or engines. There is little restriction as to who can race except that all qualifiers must pass NHRA technical inspection and run quicker than 8.99 seconds.
Two more features were the Saturday afternoon start time of the Quick 32, and the $5,000 First Place prize!
Friday action saw a first round of 12 MOPARS and five ‘other’ brands in Quick 32 qualifying, After the round, Chris Wheatcraft from Janestown, Ohio, led the MOPAR pack at 7.47 – 182.18.
The feature field included 2012 Q16 winner Tom DeBartolo’ 2013 Q16 winner Judy Radford, and recent Nostalgia A/G winner, Ken Phillips. The ‘others’ were led by Jason Dawson who turned 7.30 at 183.84mph.
Meanwhile the manufacturer’s area was bristling with activity. Edelbrock, Mickey Thompson, and Dodge brought fully loaded 18 wheelers to the event. The midway had the feel of a national event. And there were two car shows too, one at the Cannery Friday and Saturday, and the other at the track in the pit area. The most outstanding engine display was shown at the Cannery.
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Muscle Cars At The Strip Volume XVIII, Issue 3 - March 29, 2016 - Page 1 of 7 |
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