The third and final day of Outlaw 10.5 and Drag Radial action at Gateway Motorsports Park will be another hot one.  With temperatures forecasted in the high 90s, everyone will be battling the track on their passes.

 Outlaw 10.5

In Outlaw 10.5, Mike Kimmis leads qualifying with a 4.41 @ 172 mph.  Steve George is in 2nd, followed by Todd Kitchen, Jason Carter and Scott Lowery.  Only a tenth separates those four which should make for some exciting racing.

In first round action, Mike Kimmis, Steve George, Todd Kitchen, Jason Carter and Scott Lowery all received bye runs.  Mark Woodruff out ran Tim Barth with a wild run.  #10 qualifier Josh Long scored the first upset of the day, knocking off Kurt Riffel who struggled with traction.  Richard Stafford ran his best ET of the weekend to  best Tim Slavens.  Second round matches will be Kimmis vs. Stafford, Lowery vs. Carter, Kitchen vs. Woodruff and Long vs. George.

Josh Long continued to surprise, this time knocking off #2 qualifier Steve George.  George spun on the line and couldn’t reel in the blown Mustang on the top end.  Mark Woodruff had another wild pass and took out a spinning Todd Kitchen.  Scott Lowery hurt the valvetrain in the Cadillac and couldn’t make the call against Jason Carter.  Semifinal matchups are Kimmis vs. Carter and Woodruff vs. Long.

The semifinals saw no relief from the heat.  With temperatures nearing the three-digit mark and track temps almost 150 degrees, traction was going to be a luxury.  The first semifinal saw Mike Kimmis lose to Jason Carter.  Kimmis’ black Trans Am hurt a cylinder head Saturday night and appeared to be running on just seven cylinders.  Carter was able to log the fastest ET of the round, dipping into the 4.60s.  His opponent in the finals will be Mark Woodruff.  Woodruff put an end to Long’s upset streak by overcoming a huge holeshot advantage and charged past Long at the stripe for a .09 margin of victory.

In a thrilling finale, Jason Carter took the win over Mark Woodruff.  Carter jumped out to a .10 advantage off the start and the two Chevys ran nearly identical 330′ times.  However, when Woody’s Vette tried to pour the coals to it past half track, the Vette lost traction, giving Carter the easy win.  Carter’s 4.61 in the final was yet another smooth and straight pass from the blue twin-turbo Malibu.

Outlaw Drag Radial

In Outlaw Radial, Dan Saitz has the #1 spot for most of the weekend.  His turbocharged Mustang has consistently run in the teens and currently leads with a 5.12 @ 145 that was made in the heat of the day on Saturday.  Behind him is an extremely tight field.  Kevin Giblin holds the second spot and thrashed through the night to replace the transmission.  Less than a tenth separate the next five cars with Phil Reichardt’s 5.43 leading the pack.

Intermittent cloud cover helped cool the track off to under 120 degrees for the first round of radial elminations.  Dan Saitz, Kevin Giblin, Phil Reichardt and Corey Stephens were all given bye runs.  Broken cars also gave Eric Luig and Travis Gore free passes into the second round.  Jim Williams got out quickly on Rich Terry and never looked back in their matchup.  Same with Junior Surface, who dipped into the 5.3s for the first time this weekend.  Second round matchups will be Saitz vs. Williams, Gore vs. Stephens, Reichardt vs. Luig and Giblin vs. Surface.

By the time the 2nd round of drag radial was run, the cloud cover that helped keep the track reasonable was long gone.  140 degree track temps made it quite a challenge for everyone.  Phil Reichardt eliminated Eric Luig after Luig’s Monte Carlo spun hard at the starting line.  Dan Saitz ran a soft 5.68, but it was enough to cover Jim Williams.  Travis Gore had one of the few solid passes of the session, running in the 5.40s.  Junior Surface continued his run in eliminations, outrunning Kevin Giblin who seemed to have power issues.  Semifinal matchups are Saitz vs. Gore and Reichardt vs. Surface.

Dan Saitz continued to look unstoppable with an impressive 5.20 in his semifinal win over Travis Gore.  His opponent in the finals will be Junior Surface who has had a solid day with consistent passes in the 5.30 range. The Tydo Race Cars sponsored Camaro will look to keep Saitz’s turbocharged Mustang out of the winner’s circle at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Despite the 150 degree track temps, Dan Saitz continued to mow down the competition.  Dan cut a 1.30 short time en route to a 5.15 @ 144 mph pass and the win in Outlaw Radial.  The turbocharged SBF-powered Mustang was deadly consistent with several passes in the 5.10-5.20 range.  Junior Surface tried to give him a run for his money, but spun just past the 60′ mark.