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TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER

After a disappointed loss in the 2025 Top Alcohol Dragster Shootout at Cecil, Jackie Fricke from Flemington New Jersey had the car to beat at Cecil. After a Chicago Style qualifying session, Fricke had the Finke Equipment Elite A/FD on the pole with a 5.179 run. Right behind the Jersey driver was Canadian Jeff Chatterson. Chatterson from Brantford Ontario had his Chatterson Racing /Vodka Friday car in the #2 spot with a 5.195.

Event Promoter Gary Pritchett just missed the quick cutoff for the finals of Top Alcohol Dragster

Just missing the cut was Maryland racer Gary Pritchett in the Randy Meyer/Kalitta Racing dragster with a close 5.255. Joining Pritchet on the good but not good enough list was teammate Rachel Meyer Curl in the Hedingers Equipment dragster with a 5.289. Newark DE racer Brett Winward in the blown Winward Racing dragster had a great 5.423 for one of his best runs with his supercharged car.

Chatterson and Fricke, both NHRA regulars, were ready for the finals under the stars in Maryland.

In the closest race of the day, Fricke used a 0.054 second hole shot to Chatterson’s 0.095 RT to edge the Canadian on the Top End winning with a 5.219 to the better 5.212 of Chatterson.

“This race win holds quite a bit of meaning for me for so many reasons. We competed against some of the best cars in the country, where every pass meant something,” Fricke said after her Cecil win.

“After a rough couple of months, this team has continued to have my back, so when they told me we won on a holeshot, I had a smile inside that could have lit up the state of Maryland.

“Then to have my family member Vincent Nobile win and share the winner’s circle with him and their brand-new baby, Maddi, made the day even more special.”

“A huge thank you to Jimmy, Chad, and the entire staff at Cecil County Dragway for putting on an amazing event and truly caring about the racers, especially with the decision to shorten the event with the adverse weather coming. I hope this becomes an annual event and a can’t-miss weekend for all of the Alcohol racers.”

MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK

If the Alcohol cars were the stars of the event, the Mountain Motor Pro Stocks were the icing on the cake. A class that has had the number of events they race shortened, the Cecil Chesapeake race was a great place to showcase their style of racing.

Unlike the NHRA Pro Stockers who cap out at 500 cubes, the Mountain Motor cars use powerplants typically ranging from 820 to 840+ cubic inches along with carburetors and hood scoops.

The magical eighth mile 3 second zone was cracked by Randi Lyn Butner at the PDRA World Finals in October 2024. Butner ran a unbelievable 3.997 ET in great weather and although racers have been knocking on the door, nobody has matched that run in competition.

Jerry Don Tucker and John DeFlorian ran sub 4 second runs in testing but neither driver posted a “Real Three” in competition

Things changed at Cecil as Jerry Don Tucker was clicking off three second runs throughout testing and qualifying in the JT Motorsports Camaro and looked like the one to beat.

Tucker teamed up with long time racer and engine builder Frank Gugliotta to make his Chevy a hitter.

Gugliotta the “Flying Meatball” from Mt Airy MD put Tucker on top with a 3.974 after two qualifying session. Unlike the Alcohol Dragsters, a qualified eight car field was established with former World Champ Johnny Pluchino #2 in his Ross Environmental Mustang right behind Tucker.

Dave Hughes in his HRE Camaro was on the bump with a 4.162. Sitting outside were Al Davidouski in his Sonny’s powered Pontiac and the Cobalt of Doug Kittrell from Virginia.

In the first round Tucker beat Hughes with a four flat, and Pluchino took out the black Camaro of Jesse Alexandra from Wisconsin. Vincent Nobile beat former PDRA champ Chris Powers and long time NHRA racer Lenny Lottig’s Mustang won over John Montecalvo’s Ford setting up four of the quickest door slammers in the country in the semifinals.

First pair out were the Mustangs of Lottig and Pluchino. Lottig had a 0.053 light to the better 0.019 of Pluchino. On the top end it was Pluchino winning with a 4.004 tto the losing 4.090 of Lottig.

On the other side of the ladder Vincent Nobile in the purple Nobile Racing Camaro was up against the killer car of Tucker. Most trackside observers said Nobile would need a hole shot to get the win as Tucker’s car had the quicker times all weekend.

Nobile knew what he had to do, cut the tree down. And he did. Nobile had a 0.029 reaction time to the 0.082 of Tucker. At the stripe it was Nobile making Tucker the first ever three second loser with a 4.022 over the quicker but losing 3.970 of Tucker.

After the upset win, Nobile said, “We consider that car owned by Jerry Don Tucker a team car so winning that round was bittersweet however every time we go up there, we are trying to win no matter who is in the other lane.”

“I was 0.029 on the tree and went 4.022 and Jerry Don was .089 and went 3.970 for the fastest run in MMPS.”

In the final It was anyone’s race and an all Long Island NY final as Nobile and Pluchino had been running nearly identical ETs all day.

In a strange final Nobile was 0.020 at the green as Pluchino’s Mustang sat on the starting line as Nobile sprinted to the win to a 4.034.

After the loss, Pluchino’s team said the two step rev limiter, which works with the clutchless transmission, malfunctioned leaving Pluchino with a reaction time that started with a one second.

Nobile, who comes from a drag-racing family as his father, John Nobile, is a longtime Pro Stock and Mountain Motor Pro Stock racer, said after the Cecil win, “Thanks to Jim Halsey, Ross Environmental, and ARP for putting on this race and allowing the Mountain Motor cars to join.”

“It was a great race, and Jim did a great job with the track prep. I am so happy that we were able to make great progress this weekend with our setup. We still have room for improvement as we were not making perfect runs. This gives us motivation for the next race in Orlando and for next season.

I am very happy for my team (My Dad, Jim Kane, and my father in law Tony) it’s always a team effort when the car gets put in the winner circle. It was also great to get my newborn daughter Maddi in her first winner circle and to share it with family alongside with Jackie who won T/AD.

“Thank you to everyone who helps out with my program (NGK Spark plugs, Hoosier Racing Tire, VP lubricants, VP race fuels, Ram Clutches.) And last but certainly not least FrankieBoy (Frank Gugliotta) the BEST Mountain Motor Pro Stock engine builder ever.

ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR

There was plenty of other racing during Friday’s show with legal NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Cars along with Nostalgia Funny Cars on hand to thrill the crowd.

Winning Top Alcohol Funny Car was local racer and former NHRA Regional champ Dj Cox in his Camaro against returning racer Brian Gawlik in his Auto Craft Camaro

It was a wild final with both drivers getting nearly identical reaction times. Cox was straight and true with a winning 5.482 as Gawlik hiked the front end up on his blue Camaro and clicked it early for the loss.

“We got the win Friday Night at the Chesapeake Fall Classic at Cecil County Dragway. That is back to back at Cecil County’s TA shootout, one in TAD and one in TAFC,” Cox said. “First thank you to Jim Halsey and Chad Porter, and everyone at Cecil County Dragway.

“The effort you all put into this race is amazing. Giving the Alcohol classes a showcase race is something we really need and I hope it gets bigger and better every year. Cecil County Dragway is one of drag racing’s best kept secrets and the effort that goes into making this track so good is amazing.”

“Thanks to the team for working so hard to get this new car together. We have a long way to go to get back to where we were, but we will get there because of this great team. To all the Top Alcohol Racers, keep an eye out for next year’s schedule and try your best to make it to this race. It’s rare a race track goes out of their way to support our classes, so let’s support them back with big turnouts. Also big thanks to all the sponsors that supported this race. The payouts were great and it just doesn’t happen without the support.”

After his Cecil loss, Gallik said, “While Cecil was cut short due to weather, it was a great success after being out of the seat for 2 and a half years. Race was run as a modified Chicago style.”

“First run was a check out pass , get her down and safe. 1000 foot pull. 5.70 226mph, man I missed this.”

First qualifying run at 7:30 I had a 5.558 245 mph, lifted early, rev limiter hit at 5.0 seconds so I lifted … she was haulin ass! Track was killer at that too.”

“Came back, with an extremely short turn around, everything was happy, found the issue with rev limit. get her ready to race Dj Cox in the final. Looked at the data and made some changes and corrections and I was ready to go”

“It’s 9:30 pm… line up next to Dj, rev her up, dump the clutch…. Oh man she was hauling the mail …. .926 60 foot , but staring at the sky! Then I can’t see anything. I have to lift and watch Dj head on down for the win.”

“Super proud of what this car is doing and how it has come along! I have to thank the guys that came out to help me here, Bob Rosetty, Matt Stambaugh , Travis Shoemaker, Bob Toth and Charlie Grey. I couldn’t have made today a success without them.”

“I also have to give a shout out to the support of my other team at the Bartone brothers racing! Putting up with my countless questions while we’re out there putting in the work, trying to learn everything I can every time we’re out there.”

NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR

Finally, it was time for the Nostalgia Funny Cars. The group has been busy all summer racing up and down the East Coast and a half dozen cars showed up at Cecil.

Joey Pirrone from Philly had one thing on his mind coming into Cecil. He and his dad Rocky wanted to put the Screamin Eagle Pontiac Funny Car in the 5’s. The team has been close with low six second times but with the Cecil weather forecast as mine shaft, the time was right.

After the Chicago Style qualifying, Joey was in the final against the China Syndrome Vegas of George Reidnauer. Still not 5’s but the team was adjusting to the conditions.

At the green Pirrone was off first and held on for an engine hurting 6.363 to the 3.423 of Reidnauer.

Pirrone said after the race, “The weekend didn’t go exactly as planned, but it gave us plenty to learn from. On the first pass, we got into a hairy situation, riding the wheelie bar toward the wall. Thankfully, we were able to stay with the car, save it, and keep it off the wall. It was a close call, but we were able to bring it back around and regroup.”

“On the second pass, we unfortunately torched a head gasket. The air conditions were better than we anticipated, which gave the combination more power than we were expecting and ultimately put some additional strain on things.”

“While it’s never what you want to see, we were fortunate to catch the issue and get a good look at everything afterward. After going through the car today and assessing what happened, we have a much better understanding of what we’re dealing with. There’s work to do, but we’re already looking ahead and getting prepared for the next race.”

“We’ll be at MIR, ready to get back down the track. The goal is to take what we learned from this weekend, make the necessary adjustments, and come back ready to put together some strong, clean passes.

“Racing will always have its ups and downs, and this weekend tested us, but we’re looking forward to the next round and getting back after it.

“Lastly, I want to thank Jim Halsey and Chad Porter for such an awesome event and always having the best prep on the East Coast! Also, want to thank Gary Pritchett for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this event!”