SUMMIT MOTORSPORTS PARK SUNDAY OCTOBER 9th 2007
"STICK SHIFT SUNDAY"

Lady Luck shined upon us at the rescheduled “Stick Shift Sunday” at Norwalk . Frustrated racers five weeks previously sat through an all-day rainout, and as the fall weather became more unpredictable, it was a miracle that such a beautiful day appeared in mid-October to finish out the 2007 UMTR North season.
            As you recall, this had been our last-ditch attempt to sneak in one last gear jam race. If it was again rained out, current points leader, Pat Himes would be crowned PowerShift champion. A new record turnout of 95 stick-shift cars rolled through the storied Norwalk gates. It was a fitting finale to what had been a hotly contested PowerSshift battle for the championship. An incredible 9 PowerShift racers were mathematically still in the running for the championship on the last day of the season ! The championship crown in StreetStick had gone to Jerry Dick at the previous race. Under a beautiful, sunny sky and temperatures in the mid-sixties, over 500 fence-lining spectators would have to wait until the FINAL run of the FINAL round to learn who the PowerShift champ would be!! A finish like this couldn’t have been more exciting if it were scripted. To add icing to the cake, no pun intended, the race was run on the eventual PowerShift champ’s birthday !!
            Let’s start the action in the third round of PowerShift: Two Michigan racers, Gary Roy in his five-speed G-force 66 Fairlane and Myron Hill in his five-speed Liberty 65 Mustang, lined up first. With a dump of the clutch, Gary was slightly late off the line. However, Myron drew a red light to allow Roy ’s Fairlane to advance to the next round. Canton , Ohio ’s Dave Thompson, in his DQ Mustang, would defeat Alliance , Ohio ’s Dave Wasson in his D&W Machine Jericho-equipped ’63 Impala. Al Covey’s 68 Mustang ran dead on his 8.98 dial to down the wildly wheel-standing ’92 Mustang of Greg Curtis. Jim Edwards tripped the lights prematurely to hand Bob Pavlov and his Lenco-equipped ’57 Chevy Convertible a trip to the next round. Navarre , Ohio ’s Ernie Price advanced in his G-Force-equipped Beretta when Roger Blile’s Acme Chevelle Kit ride broke a ring and pinion on the starting line.
            Round number four: Dave Thompson, in his Doug Nash DQ ‘Stang, ran dead on his 11.16 dial to down Michigan’s Gary Roy, who cut a great .008 light, but then couldn’t run the number. Bob Pavlov would advance his beautiful ’57 when Al Covey got trigger-happy and moved too soon in his effort to chase down Pavlov. Ernie Price took an easy bye in “The Animal” Beretta.
            Semifinals: As of this round, Dave Thompson is just 5 points ahead of Bob Pavlov in the race for the championship. With a bye-run in the semis, Dave Thompson is assured a final round appearance. Bob Pavlov will have to win this round against Ernie Price to tie Dave Thompson in points and keep his chances for the 2007 power shift championship alive. Ernie dials in “The Animal” at 9.35, and Bob dials his beautiful copper Chevy at 9.14. Ernie leaves first and cuts a fantastic .002 green. Bob will have his hands full trying to catch “The Animal” as he leaves uncharacteristically late. Pavlov proves he deserves a shot at the championship by running Ernie under his dial at the top end !!
            PowerShift Finals: Ford vs. Chevy Final!! This is for all the marbles. The entire season has boiled down to the final round of the final race!! Dave Thompson and Bob Pavlov are exactly tied in points!! The winner will take all. Dave dials in his Mustang at 11.16. Bob Pavlov will do the chasing, having dialed in at 9.19. At the green, the ‘Stang cuts a decent .053 light. Two seconds later, Thompson is the official winner of not only “Stick Shift Sunday,” but also the 2007 PowerShift championship. Bob leaves a split second early in his quest to catch the Mustang, and draws big red.
            This was Dave Thompson’s rookie season with UMTR. Dave didn’t race in 2006 because he was recuperating from a total joint replacement of his left knee. That’s correct… his “clutch” leg!!! Imagine overcoming the painful rehabilitation involved with such a surgery and then rising to the top of the best stick shift racers in the country. As if the day couldn’t get any sweeter, it also happened to be Dave Thompson’s birthday !
             
            StreetStick Quarterfinals: Steve Brady, in his ’03 Mustang, would run a 14.44 on his 14.40 dial to dispense with Norman Lever in his ’92 Mustang. Norwalk , Ohio ’s Jeremy Murray would advance as his Neon beat Lorain , Ohio ’s Jim Edwards in his Jerico equipped ’56 Chevy. Helena , Ohio ’s Kyle Bishop would take his Neon past the finish line first to down Matthew Payne’s Mustang.
            StreetStick Semifinals: Kyle Bishop would advance to the finals by beating Steve Brady’s Mustang to set up an all-Dodge Neon street-stick final. Jeremy Murray would tune up for the final by running a 14.70 on a 14.68 dial.
            StreetStick Final: Dodge vs. Dodge !! Neon vs. Neon !! Kyle Bishop would become a first time UMTR winner as Jeremy Murray red lit away his chances to be in the winner’s circle.
            It really was Dave Thompson’s day as he picked up an additional 100 bucks by defeating Kyle Bishop in the Fast Forward Auto Body’s “Winner runoff”.

The Weber racing equipment “Bounty” was collected in power shift by Bob Pavlov and Jeremy Murray in street stick.

The Davis race cars “Clutch Artist” award went to Jason Wyman in power shift with a .002 reaction time. In street stick, it was Jeremy Murray with a .012 RT.
           

Congratulations to “Stick Shift Sunday” winners Dave Thompson and Kyle Bishop !!
It has been a wonderfully exciting 2007 season, and the championship crowns earned by Dave Thompson in PowerShift and Jerry Dick in StreetStick are well-deserved. These two gear-bangers will have their hands full defending their titles in 2008. Well done, guys.

The UMTR North awards banquet will be held on Saturday, November 18th at the Hudson Holiday Inn. Last year, almost 200 racers, families, and friends attended to see the top 10 points-earners in PowerShift and StreetStick honored for their accomplishments as well as receive thousands of dollars in racing products from our contingency sponsors, Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels, Mr. Gasket Co., ACCEL, Mallory, Hurst Shifters and Jeg’s. The food was great and the crowd entertaining. See you all there as we reveal a glimpse of our exciting 2008 season !!

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THOMPSON RACEWAY PARK SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22nd 2007
                         3rd ANNUAL GEAR JAMMERS BASH


       After the disappointing rain out of "Stick Shift Sunday" at Norwalk two weeks prior, the UMTR drivers stormed into Thompson Ohio for the 3rd Annual Gear Jammers Bash. The weather was cooperative for late fall and 53 cars turned in their tech cards, ready to rumble for the 1000-to-win PowerShift purse. Several of the racers, including some from our southern division, traveled from at least 4 states for this yearly event. Once again, several hundred stick shift starved spectators were treated the best gear bangin' action on Earth !  UMTR announcer Mark Koon, never at a loss for words, provided color commentary all day long.

      When the dust had settled, a UMTR young gun would emerge victorious in PowerShift and there would be a repeat winner of this annual event in StreetStick.
Who ? Read on....  
    
Lets jump into the 3rd round of PowerShift.  Canton OH's Dave Thompson would waste a great 11.19 on a 11.18 dial by tripping the beams a touch too early, giving the win to Pat Himes in the Doug Nash 5 speed "Meticulous" Camaro.
Next, Jim Mellott of Seven Hills OH would cut a good .525 light in his small block 62 Nova "RPM Addiction" and slammed the Liberty pro-shifted ST-10 with precision only to get pushed to the back door by Ken Dvorak in the "Buckwheat" Fairlane. Jim broke out, running a 10.95 on a 10.97 dial. Ken was dead on his dial 9.502 on a 9.50. Lorain OH's Jim Edwards cut a .517 light in that gorgeous maroon 56 Chevy his, perhaps forcing Dave Wasson to try and cut down the tree as well. This time around, Dave's Jerico-equipped 63 Impala left too soon, drawing the red bulb.  Joe Martens' immaculate B/S 69 Camaro got ready for the semi-finals with a 10.70 on a 1064 dial bye run.
 
PowerShift  semifinals:   Buckwheat tuned up for the final by driving Joe Martens under his dial, with the Jerico powered 67 Fairlane hitting a 9.53 on a 9.49 dial, while Joe recorded a 10.59 on a 10.62 dial, desperately trying to stay ahead of the hard charging Ford. Jim Edwards would appear in his second final in as many weeks (Jim won the UMTR South Stick Shift Open just 6 days before). Edwards rowed his Jerico loaded 56 Chev to a 11.67 on a 11.65 dial to trailer the current UMTR PowerShift points leader, East Sparta OH's Pat Himes.

PowerShift Finals: Ford vs Chevy final !!  Dvorak, who had to miss the previous UMTR race waiting for parts to repair his broken Jerico would have his hands full with Edwards, who had been cutting great lights and running his number all day. Ken, in contrast, had struggled to find that "sweet spot" on the tree. The final was no exception to this trend. Young gun Jim cut a .522 light and ran a 11.66 on a 11.63 dial to take home 1000 dollars as Ken helplessly tried to run him down in the big Ford.


StreetStick semis: Cleveland OH's Mark Archambeau banged his beautiful 05 Stang past the 87 Mustang of Clayton Boggs to advance to his first ever UMTR final. The 72 Nova of Ray Kus from Maple Hts. OH would put away the 97 Mustang of Bay Village OH's Zak Harty.

StreetStick final: Ford vs Chevy again !!!!!!!!!  If you read the beginning of the story closely, you know the end of the story. Mark narrowly missed a chance to share the winners circle with his cousin, Jim Edwards, who had just won the PowerShift class. Ray Kus captured his second Gear Jammers Bash StreetStick champ crown in three years! 
 
The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" was collected in PowerShift as Jim Edwards treed, then beat the "Bounty" car of Ken Dvorak in the PS final !!!

The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" award went to Mike Loboda in PowerShift with a .001 RT. In StreetStick it was Mark Archambeau with a .007 RT.

The Yoe's Nurseries/Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash went to  Bob Getsy in his Lenco-equipped 57 Chevy. Bob's ET was 8.88 !!!!

So the Chevys come out victorious in both classes !
"Stick Shift sunday" at Norwalk has been rescheduled for October 9th. If the weather holds, it will be the season finale with the champs to yet be decided.
A rain-out there will necessitate that the current points leaders in both PS and SS be crowned champions.
Let's hope for warm, sunny fall weather and get that car count over 100 !!!!!

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QUAKER CITY RACEWAY SATURDAY AUGUST 25th 2007    
 
The weatherman was wrong once again ! With a 50% chance of rain prediction, 47 stick shift racers gambled and won, enjoying what turned out to be a very pleasant day of gear slamming in front of an enthusiastic crowd, many of whom thought this race would never take place.  Yes, this race was not originally on the UMTR North schedule.
    
In the winter of 2006, it was announced by Quaker City management that the track would not reopen for 2007. Many UMTR members had considered Quaker City their "home track" of sorts and the news came as a large disappointment to everyone who had attended the successful stick shift race there in 2006. As luck would have it, three things occurred to once again allow the stick cars to beat up the Salem Ohio starting line: first, the 2007 UMTR North schedule had included a race date of August 25th for the Mansfield Motorsports Park dragstrip. When it became apparent Mansfield would not be built, we had that "open date" available to book another show. Next, new owners surfaced and made Quaker City operational in early July. Shortly thereafter, an agreement was reached to host a UMTR show at Quaker on 8/25 and promotion of the race began. By August, however, the new owners had disappeared and rumors flew that the track would once again be closed. Finally, Clint Daley, new manager and Dan Swindell, owner/operator of Quaker City for the last 5 years, re assumed control of the track and offered to host the UMTR event as planned.
     Let's recap the race starting with the quarterfinal round of PowerShift;
Brooklyn OH's Don Scullin cut a .556 light in his Liberty shifted 4 speed Pinto wagon but gave the race to Pat Himes at the stripe by running under- 9.31 on a 9.32 dial. Larry Kortkamp's day ended early when the Battlestar Galactic" red lit against Gary Moore's incredible 65 'stang. The 67 camaro of PJ Ballog fell to the hard charging Liberty equipped Mustang of Brunswick OHs Troy Hrdlicka.
In a heads up race, with both cars dialed at 9.92, Roger Blile's "Acme Chevelle Kit" ran under with a 9.91 trying to chase down the Jerico shifted 70 Mustang of Karl Mendenhall, who had a better RT and ran a 9.95.
     In Semifinal round action, East Sparta's Pat Himes would advance "Meticulous", his Nash 5 speed equipped 72 Camaro to the finals when Sandusky's Gary Moore would break out with a oh-so-close 9.33 on a 9.35 dial. The other pairing would be decided at the start line as Troy Hrdlicka redlight. Karl tuned up for the final round by laying down a fine 9.96 on a 9.93 dial.
    The spectators were treated to a classic Chevy vs Ford final. Both cars performed their burnouts on Quaker's infamous "hill" and crawled into the stage beams. Pat would have to cut a good light as Karl was on his game with RT's that never exceeded .551and had run very close to his dial all day. The Mustang dialed 9.96, the Camaro 10.23. With motors on the limit, each driver side stepped the clutch. RT advantage-Karl by .015. With each shift, the Mustang inched closer to the Camaro. At the stripe, it would be Karl taking home the cash as Pat  ran under by .06 trying to avoid defeat.

StreetStick:
    
Semifinal action:
West Chesterfield NH native Greg Lorsbach would bang his 66 Plymouth convertible to victory over the Neon of Sandusky OHs Jeremy Murray.
Mandi Downing's 'stang would reach the finals for the first time this season as Bob Cassetty grew impatient and redlit his Camaro.
    
Final round: Plymouth vs Ford. Would Lorsbach prevent a Ford sweep of the event ? At the green, Mandi cut a respectable light at .587 while Greg was uncharacteristically late. His only chance to prevent defeat was to chase the 'stang and hope for a big breakout. The win light flashed in Mandi's lane as the big Plymouth was forced to breakout trying to catch up !
 
Congrats to Ernie Price, winner of the Yoe's Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash with a 9.55 ET in his G Force 5 speed Baretta.
 
The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" cash went to UMTR racer, Mike Wolfe in PowerShift with a .510 light and to Jeremy Murray in StreetStick, with a .506 RT. 
 
The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" race was won in Adam Edgington  in StreetStick. No bounty was collected in PowerShift.

****Congratulations to Jerry Dick the 2007 UMTR North StreetStick Champion !!!

The next race is September 9th at Norwalk "Stick Shift Sunday"
ONLY stick cars ALL DAY LONG !!!!!!!  
It's our LAST points race of the season and no less than nine racers have a legitimate shot at being champion in PowerShift!!!
DON'T MISS THIS ONE !!!!

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NATIONAL TRAIL RACEWAY SATURDAY AUGUST 18th 2007
      UMTR NORTH vs SOUTH STICK SHIFT WAR !!!!

 
The race in a word ? WOW !!!!  A record breaking 94 stick shift racers from the UMTR chapters, North and South, met in Columbus to do battle under beautiful sunny skies. When was the last time 94 stick shift cars assembled at one track ? Jim Layton, track manager, and his crew had the starting line prepped to kill and boy, the stick cars LOVED it !!!  Incredible wheel stands were the order of the day, thrilling spectators and giving them something to talk about for months. Would the South rise again ? Would the North take home the victory flag ?
Read on...

Let's jump to the 4th round in PowerShift: Great North vs South match-ups ! 
Dave Stehlin of Harrison OH in his red, Jerico equipped 79 Camaro pulled a hole-shot and then ran right on his 9.78 dial to defeat Mike Wolfe of Canton OH in his Nash equipped 88 T-bird, who ran a respectable10.66 on his 10.63 dial.
Next, Dave Thompson of Canton OH rammed his Jerico powered 87 Mustang to victory over Harrison OH's Jack Detzel in 4 speed 68 Camaro. RT was the difference as both cars ran just .04 off their respective dials.
Jack's brother Jay Detzel, driving his Nash equipped modified production 68 Camaro, would fall to Brunswick OH's Troy Hrdlicka, who rowed his Liberty powered 90 'Stang to a 10 flat on a 9.94 dial. Jay was closer to his 10.76 dial, running a 10.78, but was late on the tree.
Randy Dingler from Dellroy OH took an easy bye in his " Heartbreaker" 67 Chevelle.
Looked like the North had the upper hand in that round. Would the streak continue ?
Semifinal round PowerShift:
Dave Stehlin would advance to the finals as his opponent, Dave Thompson drew big red.
This assured a PowerShift North vs South final- just as it should be !
In a very close drag race, Randy Dingler cut a .015 light and ran a 11.92 on a 11.91 dial to nip Troy Hrdlicka, who broke out, 9.93 on a 9.94 dial, trying to run down Dingler.
PowerShift final:
      This would be a good one !  Two heavy hitters. Dave Stehlin would represent the South well- he had just won the Stick Shift Nationals in Cinci. Randy Dingler won the last UMTR North race at Magnolia. Dave would be the chaser, dialing in at 9.77. Randy, with a 11.91 shoe polished on his window. The cars completed their smokey burnouts and staged.
Randy brought the revs up and dumped the clutch on the last yellow- RT .064. Dave readied  himself, 2.2 seconds later, his lights came down.  RT .002 !!!  Dave had saved the best for last !!  Randy was gonna have a tough go of it as both cars had varied little from their dial all day. He had to hope for a missed gear or breakout by Stehlin to bring home the PowerShift victory for the North.
Dave charged on, closing the gap. Suddenly, Randy's Chevelle slowed at the 1000ft mark- he missed 5th gear! Dave blew past for the hard earned South victory !!!
Why are stick shift cars so much fun to watch ? Because the race ain't over till it's over !!!!
 
StreetStick: Would the North manage a split ? or would the South win by a landslide ?
4th round action:
Stoneboro PA's Jerry Dick, current SS North points leader killed the tree in his 72 Maverick Toploader with a .002 RT in his win over the 88 Mustang of Batavia OH's John Fay.
A heads-up race between Rick Davis of Morrow OH in his 92 'stang and Don Hayward of West Chester OH and his 302ci pony. Both dialed in at 12.82. Both ran a 12.87. Davis took the stripe based on his .013 RT.
Milford OH's Kathy Powell took an easy bye in her 86 Mustang to advance to the semi's.
Semifinals:
In a double breakout race, Jerry Dick would triumph over Kathy Powell's 5 speed Tremec to assure a North car in the StreetStick final.  Rick Davis tuned up for the final with a .009RT and 12.79 on a 12.80 dial.
Final round: All ford final. Jerry Dick would not be denied as he rowed his Maverick past the slowing Mustang of Rick Davis.
 
The first UMTR North vs South race ended in a draw ! that's the perfect setup for next year !
 
 
 
Congrats to Don Scullin, winner of the Yoe's Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash with a 9.17 ET in his Liberty 4 speed 79 Pinto wagon.
 
The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" cash went to UMTR South racer, Kris Rachford in PowerShift with a PERFECT .000 light and to UMTR North member Jerry Dick in StreetStick, who cut a .001green. 
 
The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" race was won in PowerShift when Dave Thompson treed and beat Kris Rachford. In StreetStick, Jerry Dick picked up the bounty money against Kathy Powell.

A special thanks to www.xraceparts.com, who put up 100.00 for any stick shift racer that could cut a perfect light AND defeat their opponent.
Kris Rachford did just that to collect the prize.

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MAGNOLIA DRAGSTRIP  SATURDAY JULY 28th 2007
 
The weather curse reared it's ugly head for the UMTR  North stick shift event at Magnolia dragstrip. 47 brave UMTR racers traveled several hours through rain storms only to discover that it had not rained at the track ! Under threatening skies, those racers thrilled the largest crowd at Magnolia in atleast 5 years (according to track personnel). Yes, the gear banger circus was in town and inspite of a mid-day shower, die-hard stick shift fans were treated to quite a show ! The best time trial run in recent memory has to go to Mike and Ernie Price, father and son, whose small blocks had a combined 20,000+ rpms screaming on the line !
Everyone was grinning and holding their ears !
   
A special thanks goes out the Magnolia regulars, who helped get the race back on track after the rain storm. Without their efforts, the race would have been a certain rainout. OK, let's get to the action !
 
 
PowerShift quarterfinals: Ken Dvorak's "Buckwheat" 67 Fairlane advanced when Pat Himes' "Meticulous" 72 Camaro drew a redlight. Dellroy OH's Randy Dingler in his "Heartbreaker" 67 Chevelle got the win after newcomer Tom Davis broke the clutch linkage of his 69 Camaro in the water box. Larry Kortkamp's "Battlestar Galactic" 64 galaxie wagon bested Dave Baker's "Mini Mopar" 68 Dart by .012 ET. Roger Blile, in his 69 "ACME Chevelle Kit" pounded down the 1/8 mile to tune up for the semi's to the delight of the crowd.
 
PowerShift semi-finals: This round would see two "clutch artists" at their best, but only one would emerge victorious. Larry Kortkamp would cut a PERFECT .500 light only to be chased down and caught by Ken Dvorak, who punched out a .502 light. Damn, that's good racin'.  Randy Dingler would then cut a .508 light for a win as his opponent, Roger Blile grew impatient and redlit.
 
PowerShift final:
      Randy and Ken were both knocking down the tree all day. Randy dialed in at 7.69, Ken a much quicker 6.12. The cars completed their burnouts and staged.
This was no time to be sleeping at the line. The tree began it's count down. Randy dumped the clutch- RT .563- not bad. Ken patiently waited his turn.
Green ! The Fairlane launched off with a .514 RT.  The chase began. Who dialed correctly ?  The finish was gonna be close. Ken blew past the Chevelle at the stripe - winner?
NO !! Break out !!  Dingler takes the win light !!!
 
StreetStick semifinals: Stoneboro PA's Jerry Dick banged his top-loader equipped red 72 Maverick to a 7.86 on a 7.85 dial to advance to the finals with a victory over Jack Hailstone's 68 Camaro.  Justin Eggerton in his 95 S10 pickup treed Roseann Powell with a .005 RT to earn his first trip to the finals.
 
StreetStick final:  Chevy vs Ford !  Justin Eggerton broke out by .05 handing the win to Jerry Dick, who laid down a nice .015 RT for the class winning run.
 
 
Congrats to Don Scullin, winner of the Yoe's Nursuries/Yoe's Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash with a 6.09 ET in his G Force 4 speed 79 Pinto wagon.
 
The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" award went to Larry Kortkamp in PowerShift with a PERFECT .000 light and to Jerry Dick in StreetStick, who cut a .014 green. 
 
The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" race was won in PowerShift only when Randy Dingler treed and beat Dave thompson to take home the cash.
 
Next race is the "UMTR North vs South STICK SHIFT WAR" at National Trail Raceway, Columbus OH  Saturday August 18th. Gates open at 800am, TT at 900, show at 3pm. 
This will be a great event with 100+ stick cars expected as well as 2000+ spectators. See you There !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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DRAGWAY 42 SATURDAY JULY 14th  2007

The stick shift cars of UMTR North returned to the storied track of Dragway 42.
Continuing it's lucky streak of picture perfect summer days, the West Salem OH drag strip provided hosted a record breaking 70 UMTR North entries.
47 PowerShift and 23 StreetStick racers pounded the 1/8 mile all day long to the delight of over 600 spectators. Those manual transmission fanatics stayed glued to their seats inspite of two lengthy oil-downs during the day. This was in large part due to UMTR announcer Mark Koon and Dragway 42 regular announcer Wayne Darlington, who collectively reached back into drag race history to entertain the large crowd with stories from the past.
     Drag racers are sometimes thought of as "every man for themselves" loner-type people. After all, it is not a team sport- just you against the other guy. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth as witnessed by the 2 hour thrash on Mike Price's 69 Camaro in the pits. Mike sheered all the rivets on his clutch disc during a time trial. No less than 6 other UMTR racers and crewmembers pitched in to help Mike pull the trans/clutch and bellhousing ( as one unit because the clutch disc hub had pressed itself onto the trans input shaft preventing a piece-at-a-time disassembly ) and put it back in. They all helped Mike make the call for first round. It would have been impossible without their unselfish help. Nice job. You make us all proud.
     Think stick shift racing is just a guy thing ? We had our first female UMTR North winner. It was done in StreeStick. Who was it ?  Read  on ...
 
PowerShift  semifinals:   Brookpark OH's Don Scullin was a no-show as his radiator fell victim to the HUGE wheelstand the 79 Pinto wagon had done in round 3 action.  Pinks All-out participant Troy Hrdlicka ran a 6.33 on a 6.31 dial in his Liberty-shifted 90 Mustang as Massillon OH's Bill Baumgartner treed him and took the stripe in his Jerico-equipped 82 'Stang, running a 6.56 on a 6.50 dial.
Dave Thompson's Canton DQ sponsored 87 Mustang trailed Alliance OH's Bob Cassetty in his 67 Camaro.
PowerShift Finals: All-ford, all fox-bodied final !  Dave Thompson, who had to do some thrashing of his own since tearing out a torque box in his Mustang at the Thompson race, showed he had the right stuff as he treed Bill for the win. Who says automatics are more consistant ? Dave ran a 7.20 on a 7.18 dial and Bill ran a 6.55 on a 6.54 dial. The difference was RT.

StreetStick quarterfinals: Roseann Powell from Louisville OH nailed the tree with a nice .026 RT in her sharp 70 Mustang convertible to down Avon Lake OH's Ron Brown in his 95 Z28 Camaro. Marion OH's Terry Witzel advanced in his wheelstanding 84 Camaro as Jeremy Murray draw the red bulb. Witzel's Camaro did something i'm not sure i've seen before- it yanked the wheels as the car exited the water box after a smokey burnout !  Newcomer Jim Davidson from Columbus OH powershifted his 06 GTO to a 8.47 on a 8.40 dial for a bye.

StreetStick semis: Jim Davidson's Goat cut a nice .0208 light to trailer Tery Witzel's Camaro. Roseann's Mustang took a bye into the final round, 9.72 on a 9.66 dial.

StreetStick final: If you read the beginning of the story, you know the end of the story. Yes, Roseann bested the male competition all day to grab the winners circle as Jim found some extra horsepower in the GTO and broke out.
There can be only one "first ever" winner in anything. Roseann Congrats !
 
The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" was collected in StreetStick as Derrick Reese treed, then beat the "Bounty" car of Mark Arch

The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" award went to Art Birchenough in PowerShift with a .009 RT. In StreetStick it was Terry Witzel with a .020 RT.

The Yoe's Nurseries/Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash went to  Dave Baker in his G-force 5 speed 68 Dart. Dave's ET was 5.86

Stop number 5 in the UMTR North schedule will take us to Magnolia Dragstrip in Magnolia OH on Saturday July 28th. Gates open at 1pm.
Let's get that car count over 70 !!!!!

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THOMPSON RACEWAY PARK "INDEPENDENCE EXPLOSION"
TUESDAY JULY 3rd 2007


The "Independence Explosion" at Thompson Raceway Park is their biggest race of the year. The history of the race goes back 35+ years when it was called the "Independence Eve Pro Stock Showdown." Held every July 3rd, Pro Stock greats of yesteryear - Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Ronnie Sox, "Dyno" Don Nicholson, "Fast" Eddie Shartman, Wally Booth, Gapp and Roush, Ron Hutter to name a few - would gather and provide the thousands of fans who packed those stands a night of gear banging match race action they would remember forever, followed by a gigantic fireworks show.
       Pro Stock isn't what it used to be, but on that beautiful Tuesday night they were hardly missed as the 58 UMTR stick shift cars gave the 2000+ spectators a fantastic wheelstanding, powershifting show they will talk about until next year !
UMTR announcer Doug Stiffler provided the color commentary.

       Jimmy DeLorenzo of www.SpeedSceneRacing.com flew out from California and was on hand to videotape the action and get interviews with some of the UMTR racers. The video will be shown on Tuesday  July 10th at 9pm est on the above website. It will also be archived for 10 months on that website for those of you who can't listen to the show live at that time.
Let's get to the action !

PowerShift quarterfinal round: Class racer Joe Martens from North Olmsted OH squeezed his Jerico-equipped 396 B/S Camaro past the hard charging G/A 68 Dart of North Bloomfield OH's Dave Baker. Dave's G-force equipped Dart drew a .499 red light.  Roger Blile's big block "ACME Chevelle Kit" fell to Poland OH's Bob Pavlov. Bob's super-sano Lenco-equipped 57 Chevy convertible laid down a 9.15 on a 9.14 dial for the win.  Long distance racer Greg Lorsbach from West Chesterfield NH tuned up for the next round, rowing his Tremec 5 speed 66 Belvedere convertible to a 12.03 on a 11.95 dial bye run.

PowerShift semi-final round: In a double breakout race, Martens' immaculate 69 Camaro chased down Lorsbach's Belvedere, forcing Greg .17 under to Joe's .04 under, giving Martens the win.  Pavlov took an easy bye to save the big block 57 for his second final round appearance in as many races.

It would be after 2am when the call came for the PowerShift finals. An all-chevy final was in store for the die-hard fans who stayed on to find out who would be the best of the best in PowerShift.  As the motors screamed in the waterbox, you knew both drivers had their cars set on kill. This round, Joe Martens Camaro would be chased by the copper-colored 57 convertible of Pavlov's. At the green, Martens cut a respectable .040 light, soon followed by an even better .014 RT as the big 57 launched. Joe was going to have to make up that RT deficit at the top end- not an easy task as Bob was running razor close to his dial all day long.
At the stripe, Joe's win light glowed as he ran a 10.53 on a 10.51 dial. Bob would be R/U this time, running a 9.21 on a 9.14 dial.


In StreetStick semi-final round action, the 5 speed equipped 69 Z/28 Camaro of Fort Jennings OHs Mark Maag would trailer newcomer Bill Inghram from Concord OH in his super clean 65 Chevelle.  Norwalk OH's always tough, Jeremy Murray rowed his 98 Neon to a 14.77 after cutting down the tree with a .003 RT !

StreetStick final round: Mark Maag was crowned champ with a 11.17 on a 11.13 dial. Jeremy left abit early and drew big red.

In the Fast Forward Automotive sponsored PowerShift/StreetStick runoff, Mark Maag downed Joe Martens for the 100.00 prize.

The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" was collected in StreetStick only as Jeremy Murray treed, then beat the "Bounty" car of Jerry Dick.

The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" award went to Bob Pavlov in PowerShift with a .006 RT. In StreetStick it was Jeremy Murray with a .003 RT.

The Yoe's Nurseries/Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash went to Sandusky OH's Gary Moore in his Liberty shifted 65 Mustang. Gary's ET was 9.058

Stop number 4 in the UMTR North schedule will take us back to Dragway 42 in West Salem OH on Saturday July 14th. Gates open at 130pm.
Let's get that car count over 70 !!!!!

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PACEMAKERS DRAGWAY  SATURDAY JUNE 23rd 2007
 
The UMTR  North stick shift show traveled to Mt Vernon OH for the second race of the season. Warm, sunny skies greeted the 57 racers, many of whom had never been to the all concrete 1/8 mile track before.  They were treated to unsurpassed hospitality by the Pacemaker staff and thrilled spectators, who in turn were treated to a wild. high winding stick shift race that exceeded all expectations. An interesting note about the spectators at Pacemakers - admission is ordinarily free !  In spite of the fact that the UMTR race carried an admission fee of 5.00, the attendance was 10 times the normal spectator count according to the track manager, Chris Stilwell !  Every race has an unexpected twist. this week it would involve a father's day gift.  Read on...
 
PowerShift round 3 : 16 year old Miles Reese of Canal Fulton OH would advance his 85 Mustang to the next round by trailering Brecksville OH's Mike Loboda. Keep an eye on that young gun. The immaculate 57 Chevy convertible of Poland OH's Bob Pavlov shutdown Jackson MI's Jason Wyman in his 5 speed Mustang. The beautiful 56 Chevy of Lorain OH's Jim Edwards fell to Larry Kortkamp's 64 Galaxie wagon "Battlestar Galactic" inspite of the fact that Jim slammed his Jerico to a 8.05 on a 8.04 dial in. Reaction time was the deciding factor. The "Bionic Bird" of Frank Jessick jr's would advance when N. Ridgeville OH's Anthony Canitano encounterd engine trouble in his 78 Cutlass. The "Acme Chevelle Kit" of Roger Blile would get the bye but that didn't stop him from pounding gears all the way through the traps.
 
PowerShift quarterfinals: Bob Pavlov continued his march, getting by the redlighting Roger Blile, as would Frank Jessick jr, who would benefit from Miles Reese' big red, as the young gun was abit to fast on the trigger. Larry Kortkamp tuned up for the next round by rowing his 5 speed Nash wagon wide open to the delight of the crowd.
 
PowerShift semi-finals: This round it would be Larry's turn to draw the red bulb as Frank's 68 Firebird would advance.The Lenco-equipped  57 Chevy of Bob Pavlov would take an easy bye.
 
PowerShift final: A father-son PowerShift final that was not supposed to happen at all !  Yes, some of you may not realize that Frank is Bob's step-father. Now here's the twist- Two weeks ago Bob told me that due to the high cost of fuel, that he and Frank would not be making the haul to Pacemakers. A week later, Bob called me to retract that statement.
He told me he had bought Frank the gas to tow down to Pacemakers as a father's day gift and the two would indeed be there. What a gift that turned out to be ! 
     
Both Lenco-equipped cars did there signature funny car burnouts and rolled into the lights. The revs came up as the tree came down. Frank would have to cut a close ligtht as Bob was nailing the tree all day was the faster car. Frank dumped the clutch- no redlight- this one was gonna have to be decided at the finishline. Bob followed suit with a excellent RT of .526. That would be an advantage that the Firebird could not overcome, as Bob would cross the stripe first and bring home the bacon !
 
StreetStick semifinals: The 68 Nova of Heath OH's Ken Lemmon took out the 95 Camaro of Avon Lake OH's Ron Brown. Stoneboro PA's Jerry Dick took a bye and tuned up for the final by rowing his top-loader 4 speed to a 7.77 on a 7.73 dial.
 
StreetStick final:  Heads up final ! Chevy vs Ford !  Ken dialed at 7.75, Jerry at 7.73.
Both cars at the line, tached up for the launch. Yellow, Yellow, Red, Green !
Ken dumped the clutch too soon, drawing the red eye. Unfazed, Jerry laid down a full pass- another 7.77 on the 7.73 dial !
 
Congrats to Al Covey, who grabbed the Yoe's Nursuries/Yoe's Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" cash with a 5.78 ET in his 5 speed 68 Mustang. The Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" awards went to Larry Kortkamp in PowerShift with a .048 light and to Mark Maag in StreetStick, who cut a .130 green.  The Weber Racing Equipment "Bounty" race was won in StreetStick only when Brad Urban treed Bob Cassetty to take home the cash.
 
Next race is the "INDEPENDENCE EXPLOSION" at Thompson Raceway Park Tuesday July 3rd. Gates open at NOON, TT at 130, show at 7pm.  This is thompson's biggest event of the year and often draws 1000+ spectators. Includes fireworks show, the "Supercharger Warriors", 2 Alcohol funny Cars and a "Wheelie" contest.
See you There !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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DRAGWAY 42   SUNDAY  JUNE 10th 2007


Finally, the UMTR North 2007 season is underway !  After a disappointing rainout at Thompson Raceway two weeks earlier, 68 stick racers were greeted by 600+ stick shift crazy spectators on a beautiful sunny summer day. This was UMTR North's very first Sunday race and it was a screaming success! Several new stick shift racers participated in the event. A tip of the hat to Pierce Jones and his crew who traveled from Ontario Canada to race his 1984 Firebird and to Joe and Becky Hinton with their outrageous 65 Vette from Battle Creek MI. Looks like New Hampshire's Greg Lorsbach will have competition for the "long distance" championship this year.  Mark Koon, one of UMTR's popular announcers, returned to the tower to give great color commentary to every round of manual transmission action. Special thanks to one of our sponsors, Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels, who brought their trailer down to D42. Their presence would change the course of StreetStick. How ? Read on. Let's get to the action !

Round 3 of Powershift Newcomer Dave Thompson of Canton OH, piloting his 87 Mustang, plucked the Bionic Bird's wings in a super close race with the RT separated by just .008 and the ET by just .013 !  The Jerico-equipped 67 Fairlane of Ken "Buckwheat" Dvorak fell to East Sparta's Pat Himes in his Nash 72 Camaro. The lone AMC entrant, Art Birchenough ran right on his dial of 6.92 to trailer the "Canned Heat" 68 Camaro owned by John Svoboda and driven by Jeff Gardner, who ran 6.11 on a 6.08 dial. Mike Wolfe rowed his Nash-equipped 88 T-bird to victory over Don Scullin's G-force 79 Pinto Wagon.  Jim Edwards, in his super-sano Jerico 56 Chevy went red against Massillon's own Bill Baumgartner, who cut a .0002 light in his Jerico 82 Mustang.

Quarter finals: Dave Thompson was cut down by Canton OH native, in his 88 T-bird. Mike ran right on his dial of 6.72. Art continued the AMC march by downing Pat Himes "Meticulous" Camaro as Pat broke out. Baumgartner did UMTR proud by taking a all-out bonzi run for his bye.

Powershift Semi finals:
Mike Wolfe, treed Bill Baumgartner and rowed his 5 speed bird to a 6.73 on a 6.71 dial.  Art advanced to the final with an easy bye.

Powershift finals:
A UMTR first, an AMC in the finals ! Art Birchenough, deadly on the dial would have his hands full with Mike Wolfe, who had been slamming his T-bird very close to his dial all day as well. This was going to be a real drivers showdown, both cars equipped with 5 speed Nashes!
Art dialed in at 6.91, Mike at 6.71. Close to heads up !
Burnouts completed, cars staged, revs up. Art launches first and runs right on his dial !  AMC Victory ? Not this time. Art's RT was a bit late, a fatal mistake as Mike cut the tree down and ran close enough to his dial to put the T-bird in the winners circle and bring home the gold.

  
In StreetStick semifinal action, Bob Cassetty of Alliance OH rowed his 67 Camaro 8.18 on a 8.17 dial to put the 98 Neon of Norwalk OH's Jeremy Murray  on the trailer. Jeremy's RT was understandably abit slow as he had traveled through the night up from Cinci, having won UMTR South Streetstick class there !
Grafton's Brad Urban advanced his Neon to the final by downing  Norwalk OH's Chad Pocock.

StreetStick finals: Earlier it was mentioned that the M/T trailer would play a deciding role in the StreetStick finals. And now for the rest of the story...
Bob Cassetty had just purchased 2 M/T slicks at the trailer during time trials. Because of a shock adjustment mishap, soon one of the new slicks had a sidewall tear. Usually that ends the day for a racer. Thankfully, Ben Anderson, of the M/T race track support team, had a extra slick of the same size. Cassetty took a gamble and bought a third tire which the M/T trailer mounted and balanced right then and there.
That gamble paid off for Cassetty, who scored a triple play by winning not only the Weber Racing Equipment sponsored "Bounty Race" and the Davis Race Cars sponsored "Clutch Artist" award, but also defeated Brad for the StreetStick
win !!!

Congrats also goes to Bob Pavlov, who picked up the Yoe's Nurseries/ Yoe's Cylinder Head Specialties "Low Qualifier" award as he drove his beautiful 57 Chevy Convertible to a 5.78 ET and to Bill Baumgartner, who picked up the Davis Race Cars "Clutch Artist" cash in PowerShift by cutting a .0002 light !

Next race is a new track on the UMTR North schedule; Pacemakers Dragway
Saturday June 23rd.
It's all concrete 1/8 and has a reputation for a real "hookin" track
Be There !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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2nd Annual Gear Jammers Bash October 7, 2006

55 persistant UMTR racers from both north and south chapters were rewarded with a beautiful, brisk sunny fall day in NE Ohio. Thoughts of the two previous rainouts for the Bash were quickly forgotten.  This non-points race was for bragging rights only- all champions had already been crowned. Jim Curtis, Thompson track manager was also having his annual charity race for Rainbow Babies and Children's hospital that day and the many spectators in attendance were treated to some great stick shift racing !
  
 
Low qualifier in Powershift was once again Bob Pavlov in his gorgeous 57 Chevy convertible, who laid down a blistering 9.14 at 148. In Streetstick, low qualifier honors went that dedicated UMTR racer from West Chesterfield NH, Greg Lorsbach, tripping the lights in his 66 Satellite convertible with a 11.58 at 117mph.
  
 
Quarter finalist action in Powershift saw only 6 of 8 cars make the call to staging as both Larry Altmeyer and Gary Russell were no-shows. The first pairing was Mike Price
 
and his crowd-pleasing mouse-motored 69 Camaro from Navarre OH and low qualifier Bob Pavlov from Poland OH. Price, who had just survived the wildest run of the night would not be denied as he cut a super .513 light and Pavlov just couldn't hold the big block back, resulting in a redlight. Next, Mike Wolfe, in his deceptively stock appearing 5 speed Nash T-bird took on Atwater OH's Ken Dvorak in his "Buckwheat" Fairlane. Mike treed Ken but couldn't run the number as the hard charging Jerico equipped Ford ran a 9.41 on a 9.35 dial to put Wolfe on the trailer. Last race of the round featured Sandusky OH's Gary Moore in his awesome Liberty 5 speed 65 Mustang against newly crowned UMTR South Powershift champ Larry Dickey, who towed in from Hartford City IN. Larry left first in his G-force 5-speed Camaro and Gary tried to cut the light abit too close and drew big red in the process.
  
 
Semi-finals paired up Dvorak's 67 Fairlane against Price's 69 Camaro. Ken got a freebie as Price, who had been knocking down the tree all night, left too early and ended his march for the money. Ken tuned up for the final with a .531 light and 9.36 on a 9.37 dial. Dickey let it all hang out with a 11.85 on a 11.87 during bye run.
  
 
The final would be a good one. Dvorak, appearing in his first UMTR final had been running close to his dial all night. Dickey, who is no stranger to the final round, having been winner twice and r/u once during the regular season alsohad his Camaro dialed in. At stake was not just the $ 1000 first prize as well as a free HURST shifter gift certificate from Mr. Gasket.  Once again a UMTR South car was in the final. Would Larry claim another Bash title for the south or would Ken reclaim the title for the north ?
 
The cool night air had chased many of the spectators home and also made the track tricky. Who had dialed there car correctly ?  Both cars jumped in the bleach box and heated the tires. Every spectator remaining at the track were at the fences as the Ford and Chevy staged.  Larry left first, cutting a respectable .557.  Ken followed shortly after but with a uncharacteristically late .626. His only hope was to chase that Camaro down and hope for a breakout or finishline mistake by his opponent. Well, that's just what he got as he rowed his way to a fantastic 9.355 on a 9.35 dial.
 
Larry had to back pedal to avoid a breakout and could just watch helplessly as the big ford blew past for the win !
  
 
In Streetstick, semifinal action featured Brookpark OH's Art Birchenough in his 4speed 55 Chevy, defeated by newcomer Jim Harty in his 5speed 97 'Stang.  Jerry Dick, #2 man in UMTR North Streetstick points took on long haul king Greg Lorsbach. Jerry ran a 12.11 on a 12.10 dial to advance to the final.
 
The final would be all Ford and almost headsup. Dick dialed at 12.10, Harty at 12.20. Jerry would collect that guaranteed $ 300 and HURST shifter gift certificate by rowing his top-loader equipped 72 Maverick to the winners circle.
  
 
Congratulations Ken Dvorak and Jerry Dick !
 
Many UMTR North racers are planning on getting one last stick shift race in by attending the 4th Annual Stick shift Nationals at Edgewater Raceway in Cinci on October 21st. Let's all go down and have a great time before the snow flies !
  
 
Thanks again to all the UMTR racers and UMTR fans for making this first North season such a incredible success !  Next year will be even better !
 
See you at the banquet November 18th.

 

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U.M.T.R. North
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