Drag Racing Action Online  Billy Kleinspehn

Images Mashie Mihalko and courtesy 361 Media

When it comes to events that fans look forward to the most at Maple Grove the events that come to mind are the NHRA National event in September, Super Chevy and the Night of Chaos over Memorial Day weekend. However, one event that also is in the group is the Geezers at the Grove.

This special event which began back in 2002 as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the track is an annual throwback to the glory years of the famed quarter mile sport. 

Dispute on and off again rain showers during the day a huge crowd of racers and fans turned out for a great day and night of racing. 

In Nostalgia Super saw a father son battle with Nick Reginella getting the win over his youngest son Michael in the final. 

Nostalgia Pro saw Roger Neimzcyk getting the win over Frank Smigiel. 

Nostalgia Sportsman saw a battle of two of the greatest at the grove with former D1 champion Denny Renninger getting the win over former 2 time bike champion Kyle Gockley. 

The Nostalgia Pro Dial final saw another Neimzyck this time Robert making the final round but would come up short against Mike Moore. 

Also joining in on the fun was the popular 8.50 index class which saw Jonathan Delarosa picking up his second win in a week after winning the 8.50 class at Pan American Nationals over Ralph Rubino.

The highlight of the event was the Nostalgia Funny Cars that were competing in a Chicago Style format with the two quickest cars in the first round meeting in the final to determine the winner which went to young Joe Pirrone in his “Screaming Eagle” over Chris Massarella in his “Total Insanity” Monza.

Rocky Pirrone owner of the Screaming Eagle Funny car and dad of driver Joey Pirrone said after the race. “Another awesome Geezer at the Grove event! Six funny cars were on hand to pound the pavement! When the smoke cleared Joey Pirrone driving the Pirrone Racing, Cameron Collision sponsored Screaming Eagle was declared the winner..!”

“Joey laid down two nice runs running a low ET for the event 6.28 seconds and a 6.31 second blast in the final against Chris Masserela’s 6.55. Once again Chris had his high powered funny car running consistently. carding two 6.50’s in a row. George Reidenauer had a nice 6.41 second blast at 226 mph which stood for top MPH of the event. Once again, all the funny car teams did great and put on an awesome show for the Maple Grove fans. Shout out to Shane and the Maple Grove staff for giving us a great surface to run on”

Runner up Chris Massarella adds,” Have to thank Shane Sweigart and his team for having our group at the House of Chaos. They did an amazing job drying and prepping the track over and over, as pop up showers plagued the morning and early afternoon.

“Geezers at the Grove is one of the original Nostalgia Events on the east coast and it’s an honor to be part of it. We gave it our all in round one, to qualify for the finals with a 6.55, but we didn’t quite have enough for Joey Pirrone up against his 6.31, to our 6.56.”

Also, part of the bill was several nostalgia clubs which included East Coast Gassers Mandra Neto and Back Seat Drivers.

The Back Seat Drivers class which is a class for front motor slingshot dragsters saw John Schroeder getting the win over Stephen Bowley. 

The Mandra class saw maple groves own Steve Dickey getting the win over Tim Milliron. 

The always popular East Coast Gassers this class made up of the wild gassers from the 60s saw Ed Linusgetting the win over Jimmy Wheeler.

Round out the Nostalgia Groups were the always popular Neto Comp and Neto Nostalgia Class with Gary Coleman getting the win in Nostalgia and Jeff Donnelly in Comp. 

After the smoke cleared and the racers and fans headed home, Shane Sweigart, Maple Grove General Manager said, “Geezers at the Grove was much like the rest of 2025. It was a challenge with weather. The day started with rain. We saw it would be done by 10am. Some say we are crazy for not canceling. If I see a window to race, we are going to try.”

“I have an incredible staff and incredible equipment the Koretsky family has purchased for us. After it rained 3 more times, we completed the event! I am thankful for this team that keeps trying until we absolutely can’t. It allows us to crown winners and put on a great exhibition like the Geezers event had.”