A threatening weather forecast forced Cecil County Dragway officials to condense the Chesapeake Fall Classic into a one-day show on Friday, Sept. 25, but the abbreviated schedule didn’t take away from the caliber of racing. Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car shared the spotlight with Mountain Motor Pro Stock and Nostalgia Funny Car, bringing together four distinctly different forms of high-horsepower drag racing for a packed evening at the Maryland facility.
Jackie Fricke claimed the Top Alcohol Dragster victory on a holeshot, Vincent Nobile earned the Mountain Motor Pro Stock win, local standout DJ Cox prevailed in Top Alcohol Funny Car, and Joey Pirrone closed out the night with the Nostalgia Funny Car victory.
After a disappointing loss in the 2025 Top Alcohol Dragster Shootout at Cecil, Jackie Fricke from Flemington, New Jersey, had the car to beat. 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 No. 2 spot with a 5.195.
Just missing the cut was Maryland racer Gary Pritchett in the Kalitta Air dragster out of the Randy Meyer Racing camp with a close 5.255. Joining Pritchett on the good-but-not-good-enough list was teammate Rachel Meyer Curl in the Hedingers Equipment dragster with a 5.289. Newark, Delaware, 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, who are both NHRA regulars, were ready for the finals under the stars in Maryland.
In the closest race of the day, Fricke used a .054-second holeshot to Chatterson’s .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 [Halsey], Chad [Porter], 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.”
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-plus 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 an 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 Tucker was clicking off 3-second runs throughout testing and qualifying in the JT Motorsports Camaro and looked like the one to beat. Tucker teamed up with longtime racer and engine builder Frank Gugliotta to make his Chevy a hitter.
Gugliotta, the “Flying Meatball” from Mt Airy, Maryland, put Tucker on top with a 3.974 after two qualifying sessions. Unlike the alcohol dragsters, a qualified eight-car field was established with past world champ Johnny Pluchino No. 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 Davidowski in his Sonny’s-powered Pontiac and the Cobalt of Doug Kittrell from Indiana.
In the first round, Tucker beat Hughes with a four flat, and Pluchino took out the black Camaro of Jesse Alexandra from Wisconsin. Nobile beat past PDRA champ Chris Powers and longtime NHRA racer Lenny Lottig’s Mustang won over John Montecalvo’s Ford, setting up four of the quickest naturally aspirated doorslammers in the country in the semifinals.
First pair out was the Mustangs of Lottig and Pluchino. Lottig had a .053 light to the better .019 of Pluchino. On the top end it was Pluchino winning with a 4.004 to the losing 4.090 of Lottig.
On the other side of the ladder, Nobile in the purple Nobile Racing Camaro was up against the killer car of Tucker. Most trackside observers said Nobile would need a holeshot 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 .029 reaction time to the .082 of Tucker. At the stripe it was Nobile making Tucker the first-ever 3-second loser with a 4.022 over the 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 .029 on the tree and went 4.022 and Jerry Don was .089 and went 3.970 for the quickest run in MMPS,” Nobile added.
In the final It was anyone’s race and an all-Long Island, New York, final as Nobile and Pluchino had been running nearly identical ETs all day.
In a strange final, Nobile was .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,” Nobile continued. “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),” Nobile added. “It’s always a team effort when the car gets put in the winner’s circle. It was also great to get my newborn daughter, Maddi, in her first winner’s circle and to share it with family alongside Jackie, who won Top Alcohol Dragster.
“Thank you to everyone who helps out with my program – NGK Spark Plugs, Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Lubricants, VP Racing Fuels, and Ram Clutches. And last but certainly not least, FrankieBoy (Frank Gugliotta), the best Mountain Motor Pro Stock engine builder ever.”
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 past 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 Top Alcohol 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,” Cox said. “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 racetrack 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, Gawlik said, “While Cecil was cut short due to weather, it was a great success after being out of the seat for two and a half years. The race was run as a modified Chicago-style shootout. First run was a checkout pass – get her down and safe. Thousand-foot pull – 5.70 at 226 mph. Man, I missed this.”
“First qualifying run at 7:30, I had a 5.558 at 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. Got 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. I line up next to DJ, rev her up, dump the clutch. Oh man, she was hauling the mail. It went .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,” Gawlik said as he explained his first race day back in the seat.
“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 shoutout to the support of my other team at the Bartone Brothers Racing,” Gawlik said. “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.”
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 5s. The team has been close with low 6-second times, but with the Cecil weather forecast as mineshaft, the time was right.
After the Chicago-style qualifying, Joey was in the final against the “China Syndrome” Vega of George Reidnauer. Still not 5s, 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 6.423 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,” Pirrone said. “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,” Pirrone continued. “After going through the car 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,” Pirrone added. “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, I want to thank Gary Pritchett for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this event.”
This story was originally published on October 6, 2026. 
