The newly assembled Fab4 Promotions (Chad Anselmi, Brian “Chucky” Davis, Jay Payso, and Curtis “Big Chug” Martin) put on the most anticipated N/T Shootout and Grudge Event in the North at the spectacular US131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. The Reese Brothers (El Diablo) vs Phil Bohley (Savage) was the most talked about grudge race and the excitement grew as each of them made test hit after test hit. Aside from mother nature canceling the event in the afternoon of day 2, this race was possibly the biggest let down of weekend. El Diablo made an effortless A to B pass while Savage had electrical malfunctions and was left at the line. We believe El Diablo is THE baddest on a 28″ tire out right now. Props to Phil Bohley for stepping down from being the most feared car on a 29″ and making his presence known in the 28″ game. I believe that with another week or two of testing, this could be the best race of the year should they meet up again. We can only hope!
The Door Mod Shootout also happened on Friday Night. The two best side by side passes of the shootout were Jr. Southwell (in Will’s car) vs David Adkins, and Tommy Rainer vs David Adkins (video below). Some of the other heavy hitters (Skinny Kid’s Olds, Six Mile Randy’s new Corvette, Timmy Meissner’s new Mustang and Bob Ross) broke and left the Door Mod Shootout early.
When it was all said and done, David Adkins in his Baker Engineering, LSX powered Camaro took home the $5000.00 check and celebrated in the winners circle with his crew and his family! You could hear the echo of “Choo Choooo” as the sound of the LS Train and the crew raced their golf cart to the turn off to pick up Dave and his winning car.
I wish there was more to cover for the Saturday shootouts as only 1 round was finished before a crash, and multiple oil downs were following by the misting rain that settled in for the night and canceled the event. We were excited to see the shootout that Curtis Martin put together combining 26″ and 28″ tires and also including class cars in the shootout. 28″ tire cars were restricted by their combos. The Extreme 28″ Shootout was loaded with bears! After the first round the standout cars were El Diablo, Savage, Ice Man and Foodstamps. The Real Steel Street Car Shootout might have the most potential for growth, but we would like to see them include cars that have lit the boards along with the No Time cars.
This was a great event, run by great people at a great track! The car count was high. The spectators showed up strong. How could anything go wrong? Cue the oil downs, coolant trail the length of the track, big end crashes, starting line breakages, transmission fluid the length of the track, driveshaft parts and rear end oil all over the track, and the cherry on top was rain.. Fab4 Promotions and the racers could not catch a break! Considering the circumstances, I believe they did everything they could within these conditions to put together THE race in the north!
Photo Rights to Baker Engineering LLC. Video Rights to Race660.com.
