Brett LaSala’s 6.33 at 224 mph Blast Leads List of Winners from FL2K at Bradenton Motorsports Park
After four days of sun, drizzle, breakage and bad-ass runs, competition was wrapped up just short of midnight on Sunday night for the eleventh running of FL2K at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Combining roll racing with drag racing all in one event, FL2K has traditionally been one to watch record times be set, side-by-side competition, and a plethora of drag-and-drive competitors try to make their mark.
Leading the list of impressive performances is Brett LaSala and his 2012 Ford Mustang known as Snot Rocket. This year’s Sick Week Modified class winner upgraded to a new pair of Precision Turbo Next Gen 80-millimeter turbochargers for FL2K, and Snot Rocket scorched BMP’s track for a 6.451 at 215.65 mph, his new personal best and good enough for the top qualifying spot in Extreme 28s versus Tres Caurto.
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But the 6.45 blast came with a price, as low oil pressure led to bearing material being discovered in the filter. The crew borrowed Cleetus McFarland’s shop, tore into the motor to find a bad bearing where the factory Ford crankshaft was flexing / bending.
“We brought it to Fast Forward Race Engines shop where my new short block was waiting to be changed after this event,” said LaSala. “We stripped the old engine, and got everything cleaned and swapped to the new short block.”
LaSala cruised through eliminations to stage again McFarland in the El Camino known as ‘Mullet,’ but by the eighth-mile, and although McFarland came into the final on a pair of 6.5-second performances, LaSala lowered the boom in the final round with a 6.33 at 224 mph run, claiming the ten thousand dollar check and unofficially setting the Coyote door car record.
In the quartet of Street Car Shootout classes, the Elite brings the quickest sixteen together for a ten-thousand-dollar winner payday. Danny Coots was the low qualifier, the lone 6-second in the field at 6.93.
But the final, it was the number four qualifier Travis Magnum against number two qualifier Jim Braun. Magnum had torched a cylinder head in a round one victory, but managed to get things buttoned back up with merely ticks on the clock to advance through the semifinals, and stage up with Braun’s Mustang.
At the green, Magnum was out first, and the LS-powered S2000 Honda stayed in front until the boards showed a 7.17 at 7.21 victory on the quarter-mile distance.
The True Street Car Shootout class brought the next quickest sixteen rides to the line for a five-thousand-dollar winner purse, and by the final round, it was an all-Mustang affair with Russell Guide staging against Michael Chambley.
Guise was looking to back up his 2022 FL2K victory, but when Guise ran under the class breakout time of 7.86 with a 7.80 pass, Chambley claimed the win with a 7.91 lap.
The Pro Street Car Shootout class held the third-quickest sixteen qualifiers, and after four rounds of work, Shane Garcia made the trip from Texas work out when his Fox Mustang held off the Camaro of Michael Wilson in a good battle, 8.27 to 8.31.
The final class of sixteen Street Car Shootout competitors is the Super class, and a pair of Georgia natives, Dean Moslow Jr. and Brandon MacKlunis would settle who got the final round bragging rights. Moslow’s Nissan 300 ZX left the starting line second, but he got to the finish line first via an 8.78 to 8.88 count to earn the win.
A lot of H-pattern stick shift rides show up to FL2K, and BMP made room for them with three classes. The Outlaw Stick Shift class would feature last year’s finalists, Jonathan Atkins and Joel Grannas, in a rematch for the title.
Both cars set records at the 2022 event, Atkins claiming the e.t. record at 6.61 and Grannas the MPH record at 221.38. Both cars had changed their combinations for this year, with Atkins going from his gen-1 small block back to a gen 2 LT engine, while Grannas was debuting a brand-new compound turbo combination.
At the green Grannas was out to a big lead when Atkins was late off the line. But the ‘Grubbworm’ Camaro chewed away at the lead, until the finish line where Atkins crossed first by a mere .018 of-a-second, 6.832 at 214 mph to Grannas’ 6.985 at 192 mph.
The second-quickest stick shift class was Sport Stick Shift, and the final would be another all-Mustang battle with Florida racers Alex Martinez and Bryant Rodgers lining up for the title.
The final would be a one-sided affair, with Martinez getting the better reaction time and crossing the finish line first, 8.98 to Bryant’s 9.12. But because the class featured a 9.04 breakout limit, Martinez was deemed too fast, handing the win to Rodgers.
The third class with clutch pedal cars was the Street Stick Shift, and the title bout put Karl Goin’s ’92 Mustang up against the Nissan 350Z of Steven Berube. Berube had problems on his semifinal round win, and in the final he coasted to a 14.58 pass to give Goin plenty of room to notch a victory with a 9.86 lap.
The X-Street class featured some very quick front-wheel-drive entries, battling for a fifteen-thousand-dollar winner check. A pair of Civics would determine the final round winner, and Nichole Elff would pick up the victory via an 8.13 at 190 mph to the 8.74 at 1563 mph from Yerral Vargas-Lopez.
No-Time Shootout is a unique class with minimal rules (but does mandate a small slick-type tires or a 275/60/15 radial). After four rounds of competition, it came down to a turbo versus nitrous battle, with Floridians Troy Pirez Jr. versus Rick Prospero, with the former Sick Week Modified champion getting the win in his Mazda RX-7.
The All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) versus Dual-Clutch-Transmission (DCT) classes were won by a pair of Nissan GTRs, as Asier Torres picked up the Pro title with a 7.34 at 202 mph pass, while a holeshot-aided 8.41 at 174 mph got the job done for Cesar Savinon in the Street portion.
A90/B58 Shootout was won by Michael Botti’s 2020 Toyota Supra thanks to an 8.13 at 173 mph, 10.50 index was captured by Faith Frost, and 9.50 index went to JR. Mackenzie.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Motion Raceworks, KC Photography and Precision Turbo.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com