A last-chance hero run in the final pair of the final Outlaw Pro Mod qualifying session at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission kept Mark Micke on the top of the qualifying order Friday night at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Micke laid down a 3.579-second pass at 221.02 MPH in his twin-turbocharged ’69 Camaro, an improvement of five hundredths of a second on his Thursday night effort. Behind Micke, 27 other drivers in PJS Racing Outlaw Pro Mod presented by FuelTech made passes in the 3.60-second range.
The drag radial classes of the FuelTech Radial Outlaws Racing Series, as well as Summit Racing Outlaw 632 presented by Rife Sensors, received two Friday qualifying sessions to build on their one session from Thursday. Those classes will get a final fourth session on Saturday morning. The provisional low qualifiers are Mark Woodruff in PST Driveshafts Pro 275 presented by Pro Line Racing, Eric LaFerriere in Mickey Thompson Tires X275 presented by Precision Turbo & Engine, Greg Blevins Jr. in Energy Manufacturing Limited Drag Radial presented by Callies Performance, Shawn Pevlor in TRZ Motorsports Ultra Street presented by Motion Raceworks, Bill Kubiac in SP Tools Limited 235 presented by ICE Ignition, and Jacob Naumann in Summit Racing Outlaw 632 presented by Rife Sensors
PRO MOD
Over the course of three qualifying sessions on Friday, Mark Micke traded back and forth for the No. 1 qualifying position in Outlaw Pro Mod. He went into the final qualifying session in the top spot, then watched Derek Ward go around him by two thousandths of a second. As the last car down the track for the evening, Micke reclaimed his No. 1 spot with an unexpectedly quick 3.579 at 221.02.
“It was an unbelievable run,” said Micke, the owner of M&M Transmission. “It was more than we thought. We’re stoked. It’s been fun fighting back and forth for that No. 1 spot. We were watching the cars ahead of us and I figured it would be Ken Q [Quartuccio], Derek Ward, or maybe ‘Turbo Todd’ [Moyer]. We thought those guys had the potential to bump us. We were trying to go .59 flat because I figured Derek would go .59 something just knowing they’re pretty badass. So I was like, ‘All right, guys, let’s do it.’”
Earlier in the day, Micke lined up against Lyle Barnett in Q2 for the semifinals of the rain-delayed Snowbird Outlaw Nationals. Micke went quicker than his Thursday night pass with a 3.622 at 217.91, but Barnett used a holeshot advantage and a 3.637 at 206.29 to get the win before going on to win in the final round over Scott Lang.
“We just stunk it up in the semis from the Snowbirds race,” Micke said. “It went out and rattled the tires and I was a little late and just screwed it up. We came back, called Chris Bell from Kinetic, made a few little tweaks, and boom, we came back out and went No. 1 again.”
With the No. 1 spot secured, Micke and his Jefferson City, Missouri-based M&M Transmission team can focus on their major objective for the weekend: collecting a trophy and the $32,000 check.
“Tonight’s fun, the Home Run Derby stuff,” said Micke, who will face No. 32 qualifier Louis Ouimette in the first round of eliminations. “That’s cool, but man, like I said, I’m a little sore that I let the team down on that loss today. We’ve got something to prove tomorrow and we’ve got a really badass hot rod for the heat. I’m stoked for tomorrow.”
Ward in his screw-blown ’68 Firebird qualified No. 2 with his 3.604 at 209.20, just holding off Ken Quartuccio, who qualified third with a 3.606 at 205.19 in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro. Driving the screw-blown Smokies Garage ’20 Camaro, Scott Wildgust fired off a 3.608 at 208.84 to end up No. 4. Travis “The Carolina Kid” Harvey, who brought out a new screw-blown ’17 Camaro with racing partners Vaughn Myles and Eric Holland, posted a 3.612 at 208.88 to qualify No. 5.
PRO 275
Small-tire veteran Mark Woodruff, who was the Pro 275 runner-up at the Snowbirds, grabbed the provisional No. 1 spot from Jason Collins by just one thousandth of a second when he fired off a 3.737 at 195.19 in his screw-blown ’10 Corvette. Collins, the reigning Radial Outlaws Pro 275 champion, slid to No. 2 with his 3.738 at 201.37 in the screw-blown Scott Tidwell Racing ’69 Camaro. Second-generation racer Brylon Holder is third in his ProCharged ’15 Camaro with his 3.745 at 198.12 from Thursday.
X275
Thursday’s provisional low qualifier in X275, Eric LaFerriere, didn’t improve on his 4.144 at 181.11, but he held on to the top spot in the turbocharged “White Rice” ’97 Nissan 240SX. Frank Mewshaw also maintained his No. 2 position but it took an improved 4.182 at 173.94 in his turbo ’89 Mustang to do so. Ron Rhodes laid down a 4.20 at 173.74 in his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro to move up to the No. 3 spot.
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL
Limited Drag Radial saw some movement in Friday’s two sessions. Greg Blevins Jr. moved up a spot to the provisional No. 1 position with his 3.867 at 194.63 in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro. He traded places with Mitch Mika, who dropped to No. 2 in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro with a 3.87 at 189.47 from Thursday. Kenny Hubbard moved up to third in his ProCharged ’72 Nova with a 3.902 at 186.56.
ULTRA STREET
Shawn Pevlor stayed on top of the Ultra Street qualifying sheet with his 4.455 at 154.67 from Thursday. Brian Keep and Shawn Pevlor, who were qualified No. 2 and 3 after Thursday’s lone session, reversed roles when they both ran 4.480. Spina’s speed of 157.59 in his ’90 Mustang put him ahead of Keep, who went 156.34 in his ’98 Camaro.
LIMITED 235
The top three drivers in Limited 235 are stacked closely together. Bill Kubiac stepped up to a 4.925 at 137.08 in his ’90 Mustang to get around Louis Filippides and Dean Fluhart, taking over the provisional No. 1 position in the process. Filippides also improved to a 4.929 at 142.82 in his turbocharged ’86 Cutlass to sit No. 2. Fluhart’s 4.945 at 139.73 from Thursday kept him in the top three at No. 3.
OUTLAW 632
Jacob Naumann held on to the No. 1 spot in Outlaw 632 by improving his numbers to a 4.182 at 170.04 in his nitrous-fed ’70 Nova. Cape Coral, Florida’s Mark Hoagland jumped to the No. 2 position in his ’15 Camaro with a 4.225 at 168.49. Another Florida resident, Port Charlotte’s Kyle Salminen, filed into third with a 4.254 at 165.88 in his ’03 Cavalier.
Saturday’s racing action will begin at 9 a.m. starting with the index classes, which are scheduled to get two qualifying sessions. The drag radial and Outlaw 632 classes will get a final qualifying session before starting first round of eliminations in all heads-up classes.
Single-day admissions tickets are available online or at the gate for $30 each day. Active military and children 11 and under get in free. Fans can also watch the race through the official event livestream on www.FloRacing.com.
This story was originally published on January 27, 2024. 
