Story and Photos Courtesy of Rob Keister

Cecil County Dragway – Rising Sun, Md – The Mid Atlantic .90 Association continued the 2022 season down in Northeast Maryland and home to 3x Pro Nitrous Champ Jim Halsey. On Saturday and Race # 3 the event was going very smoothy up until the end of 3rd round when storms came rolling in and ended the day. With only two rounds left in competition and a total of nine cars, it was decided to work the semis and finals into Sunday’s qualifying and eliminations.

In Super Comp, 2017 MASCA & 2020 D1 Champion Amanda Boicesco became the first person to hand Chase Fahnestock his first loss of the season in series competition. Fahnestock doubled up at Maple Grove in June and was riding the hot streak till the semis. In the finals Boicesco faced her next-door neighbor in Don Bangs. The two live 3 minutes from each other and Boicesco was taking no prisoners with a hole shot victory (.001 to .022) 8.921 to 8.901 win after a not-so-great start to the season.

Last weekend at Numidia, Mid Atlantic .90 President Rob Keister hoisted his first Wally in NHRA competition. This weekend at Cecil County his dad Bob joined in on the party. Keister raced to the #1 qualifier at a 9.902 and earned a bye run in Round 1. The way the ladder worked out the winner in a repeat of the Numidia final between Keister & George Donhauser would earn the bye to the final.

Keister won when Donhauser broke out, meaning a match up against Rich Price’s Corvette in the final on Sunday. Neither driver was stellar on the tree but, Keister got the jump at the start (.042 to .072) and held onto the victory with a 9.917 to Prices slowing 10.23.

In Super Street, it might sound like a broken record for 2022 but, the Porsche of Keith Mayers came to life at Race # 3. Mayers, who has been on a tear in NHRA D1 competition with eight finals and six victories finally staked claim to his first MASSA win of the year on Sunday Morning. In the finals of Race # 3 Mayer’s faced third generation driver – 17-year-old Darren Mattern in his family Camaro. Keith got the jump at the hit (.016 to .029) and never looked back putting down a 10.909 to Matterns breakout 10.864.

On Sunday, Race #4 greeted racers once again with a Hot & Humid day with temperatures in the low 90’s on an overcast day.

Chase Fahnestock decided it was time to start another streak of his own after his fifteen round win streak was snapped by Boicesco the day earlier. Fahnestock started the day with a .000 light to take down John Asta in R1, he then matched up with back-to-back D1 champions. First, he took down 2021 Champ Kevin Scholl, then got a little revenge on Boicesco strapping down another .000 light to take the win. He then took out Race # 2 finalist Rich Leone in the semis to match up with first time finalist Billy Loveland in the finals. Loveland in only his second full year of .90 racing laid down an 8.904 but, was a little tardy at the tree giving Fahnestock win #3 on the season with a 8.909.

In the process of pictures for the winner circle Chase proposed to his girlfriend Ally of 3 years with a resounding “Yes” coming from her.

In Super Gas, Derek Clark was on the fence if he was even going to attend this event. The Hagerstown, Md. racer could have stayed local to his home track of Mason Dixon but, the family atmosphere of the .90 races keeps him coming back. Clark made it all pay off on Sunday when his worst light of the day was a .027 on his perfect 9.900 bye run. In the final Clark matched up against good friend George Smith and his Live Wire Camaro. Clark strapped a .000 light and a pacing 9.931 to conclude the weekend with a hole shot victory over Smith who was .039 and 9.914. This padded Clarks points lead going into the mid-season stretch.

Rounding out the weekend was none other then the Gray and Black Porsche finding it’s way to the winner circle again. Mayer’s found himself up against one of his closest rivals and Dom Burgese. Mayer’s and Burgese had matched up against each other during  Saturday’s eliminations in R1 with Mayer’s taking the victory and Dom was looking for revenge. Dom got the jump at the tree (.013 to .026) but, the high charging Porsche pushed Burgese over the edge and out to a breakout 10.879 to Keith’s 10.947 for back-to-back victories and taking over the points lead by 40+ points going into Race # 5.

The next event for the series is the weekend before the Lucas Oil Series event at Atco Dragway on July 30th& 31stfor Race # 5 & 6. The Lucas Race follows the Mid Atlantic .90 series on August 5thto 7th. Racers will be allowed to leave their rigs at the track in designated spots for the event as this is a regional series event and host the TAFC & TAD series.

For more information, please reach out to Rob Keister at 856-332-2851.