NDRL drivers deliver in Norwalk Nostalgia racing once again made its way to Summit Motorsports Park for the 18th Annual Lingenfelter Performance Blue Suede Cruise. Coming from all over the nation, racers were greeted by the Bader family with open arms for the three-day extravaganza of all things nostalgia. With this being the third stop in the Race Star Wheels-NDRL Championship points series, you knew that the racers were getting their “A game” ready as this race is crucial to stretching out any points advantage. Qualifying got on track Friday for two of the weekends four scheduled rounds and it didn’t take long to see that drivers were prepared for battle as the top half of the fields filled in quickly. Performanceautomotive Racingengines PRO Gas rolled around the corner first and it took Canadian Bob Perkins two rounds to sit on top with a dead two lap on his D/G index to take the top spot into race day and the Dishon Transmission Service low qualifier bonus. Bob was in good company as the top 25 cars all qualified within a tenth of their index. Semifinal pairings found Bob Mitchell advancing over George Zimnicky to meet up with Mike Cutler who advanced with a bye. The final round was all Mitchell as he left three thousandths from red and drug Cutler to the stripe taking the win. Renegade Race Fuels & Lubricants PRO Comp rolled thru the lanes next and it took Shane Rasler all four rounds to find his tune but he did running dead three on his B/C index taking the provisional bye and the Dishon Transmission Service low qualifier bonus. Semifinal pairings show Nick Melone advancing over Dan Dishon to meet up with Todd Kapp who advanced on a bye. The finals were a classic “that’s my stripe” pass as the drivers left right but at the stripe it was a double breakout with Melone being on the right side and taking his first NDRL win. Phenix Industries PRO 7.5, rolled into the burnout box with Ohio native Kerry Millet besting Pat Malloy to take the number one spot going into race day and the Dishon Transmission Service low qualifier bonus. Semifinal pairings found Malloy advancing over a red light start from Justin Shaffer to meet up with Bo Boles who advanced over Derek McCuistion. The final round was tight racing as Boles left first pushing Malloy across the stripe first in a double breakout adventure leaving Boles holding the hardware in victory lane. Ross Racing Engines PRO 7.0, the fastest cars on the property, kicked it up a notch with speeds over 200 mph and some very tight laps. Qualifying laps were close as the top ten were separated by less than three hundredths of a second with Jeffrey Sanborn taking two laps to park his Fiat on top running dead on to take the number one spot, the extra qualifying points, and the Dishon Transmission Service low qualifier bonus. Semifinal pairings found Dana Glick advancing over a red light start from Jim Blake to meet up with Michael Sexton who advanced on a bye. The final was over early as Sexton lit it red handing Glick the win. Our next outing comes on Aug 2-3rd at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Il for the Performance Automotive Racing Engines Hot August Nights. As always, we would like to thank our partners-- Ross Racing Engines, Phenix Industries, Renegade Racing fuels, Performance automotive Racing engines, Freedom Racing Engines, Gateway Kartplex, Lug Nutz, Competition Products, Howards Cams, ET Genie, DJ Safety, Sexton Wilbert Corporation, Deist Safety, Xs Power, Saldana Racing Products, Moser Engineering, Hagerty, Dishon Transmission Service, Powermaster, Biemer's BBQ, AACO Golf Carts and Parts, Callies Performance Products, Terry's Truck and Trailer Equipment, Chuck-A-Burger Drive-In Restaurant, Hot Heads Research, M&E Pump, Hoosier Gear, and DRE Engine Diapers. Leslie Abel Bradshaw Photos