The First "MEV / Penland Nationals" Drag Race held at
Great Traditions
in North East Philadelphia on February 16th, 2002.
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Here is the diagnosis of the winning chassis
Photo's Copyright � 2002 Dee Wilson, All rights reserved
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Race day got off to it's usual start, except that I got to Great Traditions a little early. It surprised me a bit to see most of the usual racers also showing up early too. Racing starts at noon and there was a pretty good crowd there at 11 AM. We started getting signup sheets printed for all of the classes that we usually have and I started collecting entry forms 11:30. Jim, the proprietor of Great Traditions didn't get there until 12:30 and the racing began around 1. My sister Dee had been telling our parents about how much fun we've been having and they decided to pop in to watch. Jim began the day with his "Case Race". Model Motoring cars purchased that day can be oiled, and silicone tires can be added but that's all the modifications that can be made. I decided to buy a car for both my Mom and Dad so they would have something to race. I asked Sam to prep the cars for them (since my track record isn't that good with zero t-jet wins ever) and he did a great job. Both Mom and Dad made it through their first round, and they came up against each other in the quarterfinals. Mom's car easily beat Dad's (something I'm sure he'll hear about for months to come) as she moved on to win the entire class.
After a few other classes of t-jets and one of magnet cars, during which several people who hadn't been to these races before purchased an MEV car to make last minute entries, I took over the track for the MEV / Penland Nationals. According to the rules, the first round was for people who entered 2 cars. These were very close races and since people were racing against themselves, there were no losers. During the qualifying rounds, it became clear that there were 2 cars that were going to be tough to beat and they were on the opposite side of the brackets. All of the people who were knocked out of the race received a set of Thunderslicks. Finally, we got down to the 4 cars for the Semifinals. The heats were 2 out of 3 and each car was permitted 2 false starts per heat. The first semifinal was between Dee Wilson's Pink Edsel and Jim Sgrignioli's Yellow 59 Chevy El Camino. Jim won and advanced to the finals. The second semifinal was between Hank Galloway's Green 59 Chevy El Camino and Sam Johnson's Green Lola T70. It took all 3 runs, but Hank edged out Sam to advance. I was aware of the silence, but not of the tension until Jim and Hank came up to pick up their cars from the impound lot. Both of their hands were shaking so much I didn't think that they'd be able to place their cars on the track for the start. The first pass, Jim's car didn't properly start so he used one of his "Mulligans" and the cars were placed for a second attempt. The second attempt Hank narrowly edged Jim for the first win. The second pass, Hank's car had the same problem Jim did on the first pass so we went on to a second attempt at the second pass. On the second attempt, Jim's car refused the start, so we went on to a third attempt at the second pass and Jim was out of retries. Finally, on the third attempt, both cars started and Jim pulled off the victory to take us to the third and final pass. A coin was tossed for lane choice and Jim won the toss and chose the left lane. The cars were set, the power was turned on and Hank's car, with so much torque and skinny stock tires slid off the track so Hank used his last retry. Now, with both cars out of retries, the stage was set for a do or die final. The cars were set and the power applied and Jim's car had the better start and with Hank's car closing the gap, held on for the win. So here are the results. Semi Finalists Dee Wilson - Pink Edsel - won an MEV red Lola T70, a package of Thunderbrushes and a package of Thunderslicks Sam Johnson - Green Lola T70 - won an MEV green Lola T70, a package of Thunderbrushes and a package of Thunderslicks Finalist Hank Galloway - Green 59 Chevy El Camino - won a dark blue MEV 58 Chevy Bel Air body, a package of Thunderbrushes and a package of Thunderslicks And the CHAMPION of the first MEV / Penland Nationals is Jim Sgrignioli - Yellow 59 Chevy El Camino - won a MEV 64 Fairlane NASCAR #21 Marvin Panco complete car, a package of Thunderbrushes and a package of Thunderslicks as well as a NOS chassis to replace the chassis from his winning car. The winning chassis will be sent out for a diagnosis, and hopefully, the results will be published in HO World. Everyone involved want to thank Mike Vitale of MEV Originals, John Balson of JB's ThunderBrushes, Tom Nagler of Thunderslicks and Bob Marketos of HO World and Jim from Great Traditions for their support of this event. Everyone who attended had a great time and are looking forward to the next special event. Racing is held on the 3rd Saturday of every month at Great Traditions in Philadelphia and the 1st Sunday of every month at Great Traditions in Newtown, PA. |
 Jim watching the finish  Pat and Ray Penland displaying their entries  The Racing get's good  "I beat my Uncle Sam!!!"  "Second place isn't that bad!  "I can't believe I won my very first race!"  Champion Pat Penland with her Crew Chief Sam Johnson  More Racing Action  Getting ready to begin! |
MEV / Penland Nationals Winners receiving their awards
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 Semi Finalist - Dee Wilson Her prize was a red MEV Lola T70 Racer body, a Package of JB's Thunderbrushes, and a package of Thunderslicks |
 Semi Finalist - Sam Johnson His prize was a green MEV Lola T70 Racer body, a Package of JB's Thunderbrushes, and a package of Thunderslicks |
 Finalist - Hank Galloway His prize was a blue MEV 58 Chevy Bel Air body, a Package of JB's Thunderbrushes, and a package of Thunderslicks |
And the CHAMPION of the First "MEV / Penland Nationals" Drag Race is Champion - Jim Sgrignioli His prize was a MEV NASCAR "Marvin Panch" 64 Fairlane, a Package of JB's Thunderbrushes, and a package of Thunderslicks |
