After a delayed start to the season due to a chain of horrendous weather forecasts, Mother Nature finally allowed the first Outlaw 660 event of the year to be completed. In the opening round of qualifying in Rossler Transmissions Pro Modified, the heat was on as drivers battled to make it into the inaugural field at the new Dragway 42. When Pennsylvania native Jerry Martino released the button in Q1 he was met with a hellacious nitrous backfire that singed the paint off of his 1963 Corvette.
After making the necessary repairs between rounds, Martino and the Ultralight Brakes team were met with yet another starting line inferno. Not giving up hope, the crew amazingly put all the pieces together again and prepared to make a test hit during the second round of Outlaw 660 eliminations. Unfortunately for Martino, the car only moved about 30 feet before the fuel and nitrous oxide in the manifold erupted, igniting the West Salem sky in front of a full house.
Photograph by Cole Rokosky
Dragway 42
West Salem, Ohio
Saturday, August 26th, 2017
