JR DRAGSTER EVENT AND ELIMINATE
2024 RACER PROFILES
Meet Mac Guerra
This photo is from the grand opening event!
By the age of 4 I could name every car on the road and it was all uphill from there!
Instagram: TheDriverLee
Meet Kris A
The car is a 1996 impala SS and it was my first car. I purchased it in 2003 when I was in high school and I got bit by the hot rodding bug almost right away. When I was 16, my dad took me to a local speed shop where he was having his car repaired and I knew as soon as I walked in that I wanted to learn how to build the cool stuff they were building. The owner gave me a job and I began working there part time, dumping all the money I made into the Impala. About a year later, I had my Impala with a few bolt ons and my boss surprised me one day telling me we were going to the track. I called my dad and invited him along, we were both shocked because we had no idea there was actually a drag track on Long Island. My boss took us to West Hampton and I ran my first pass ever, something like a 15.5@92 in the blazing heat, but I was hooked. The years that followed brought a mix of fun, stupidity and some hardships. I raced the car a lot, mainly on the street as a dumb kid in my late teens and early 20’s after West Hampton closed . My boss and I put an lt1 based 396 stroker/th400 in the car but I overevved it and bent a bunch of pushrods not long after. My dumb self decided to tear the car apart down to the frame in my parent’s front yard and attempted to fully restore the car while adding a D1SC procharger , not realizing that a project like that was way out of my budget and probably out of my skill range at the time. Over a decade went by with the car sitting on blocks, stripped down to a bare cab while I earned two college degrees and worked as a mechanic at various shops, including another local speed shop for 4 years where I learned welding and fabrication work. The impala became a joke amongst all my friends, we all used to say that the world would end if I ever got it running again. In around 2019, deep into a stable career path and using the skills I learned prior working at the different speed shops, I made it my life’s mission to put the car back together again and worked on it non stop for 3 years. I did most of the work in a tent on the side of my house, reinforcing the chassis, notching the rear rails, installing an LS based engine topped with an LSA supercharger and putting every last piece of the car back together. The only parts of the car that haven’t been either rebuilt, replaced or modified (yet) are the steering column and the window motors. My first boss who got me hooked on this stuff sadly passed away from cancer years back, but I know he would have loved seeing this car run and race on Long Island again.
Working in Law Enforcement now, I am very grateful to have a safe and legal place to race again on the Island. As I try to tell a lot of younger guys getting into this stuff, cars are just too fast now and the roads are too crowded to be playing on the street. it’s too dangerous and you have too much to lose. Looking forward to what the future holds for RTNS. thoughts of a more permanent venue with improved prep, resurfacing and maybe even 1/4 mile come to mind. Whenever I hear it can’t be done, I remember back to the early 2000’s when I attended one of the first LINADS open meetings at SCCC Selden campus and I thought drag racing on Long Island would probably never happen either.
Meet Mike Scano
Fall 1979 hooked ever since!
Fall 1979 I was a Senior at Plainview Old Bethpage High School. Attended my first drag race at the now closed Westhampton Dragstrip.
Working towards making a pass at Calverton this year with my 1998 Camaro or at least displaying the car at an event.
Proud to be part of the RTNS Team as a Tech Inspector too! (And we are thrilled to have Mike as part of our Tech Team!)
Be well and safe!
My dad and his 3 brothers have been dragracing on the island since the mid 60s.street racing also being a big thing back then.my dad got caught.not respecting the judge.he got locked up.my mom made him sell his 68 Shelby gt 500 drag pack car. Man do they regret that now lol.he bought this 73 cutlass special order car in Mineola.it came with factory duals and 3 73 limited slip rear ordered as a tow package.mid night metallic blue on blue.telling my mom he wouldn’t race no more. He put a set of mickey t steel slots on. Had it striped.by the end of 1974 he won a national event and was class record holder. So much for not racing no more. I bought the car in the early 90s.battling multiple health issues we are both still racing to this day.hopefully I get it re done before we are gone?
2023 RACER PROFILES
Jim Sanderson
This is my son James Sanderson with his 62 BelAir and myself JIm Sanderson with the 64 Impala. Back in 1983 I was lucky enough to buy my first car, the 64 Impala in the photos and still have it today. After an engine change I wanted to make a pass at West Hampton just to see what the car could do. What was to be just one day ended up being 10 years of bracket racing. I was hooked. But kids came along and the track sadly closed. Never did I think I would race on Long Island again.
My Son James seems to be that “apple” and it didn’t fall far. He is naturally mechanical inclined can fix just about anything and just loves the Classic cars. So much so he picked up the 62 BelAir. How many 25 year olds do that today?
Then RTNS comes along. Not only did that provided the opportunity to race again on Long Island but side by side with my Son!
On September 25, 2022 We did just that! I raced my son. I personally cannot thank RTNS and all the people who worked so hard to make this a reality.
Mike Politio
I bought my 2015 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack from the showroom floor of a Dodge dealership here on Long Island. The test drive was green light drag race on Jericho Turnpike, me against the salesman.
Since then, the car has been transformed into a track-only bracket racer by me and True Street Performance in Bay Shore, Long Island. The 392 cubic inch hemi-powered motor has a worked top end, a GM Turbo 400 transmission with a manual valve body and transbrake was swapped in, two-step box, chromoly steel roll bar, over 400 lbs. removed, and numerous other upgrades. All meeting NHRA specifications. Engine tuning and dyno testing by AJ Berge of Hemituner Performance. Program support from Mighty Discount Automotive of Centereach, Long Island.
Scott Friedman
My name is Scott Friedman, and this is my 2009 Subaru Forester. The announcers at RTNS dubbed it the family hauler. I have always been interested in racing but without a local track I had nowhere to go, once the temporary track opened I started off just watching. But one day I decided to run my suv and see what it could do, now I keep racing trying to better my times. I feel it is a great avenue to get the younger generation into a great sport in a safe and well maintained environment.
Archer Trent III and Sister Nina
Pictured here are my brother Archer Trent lii & myself (Nina Trent) his supportive big sis. This is his 2010 Mustang GT that he loves wholeheartedly. This car was a total loss back in fall of 2021(NOT DUE TO ILLEGAL RACING) but due to poor judgement of another driver. Within 4 or 5 months he had resurrected the car & was up and flying down the runway in spring of 2022. He is so excited & ready for this years controlled events coming in August 2023! And yes. I am his #1 fan and will be right there cheering him on 🏎️
Meet Tommy Krieger
Here is a profile story.my dad bought this cutlass new at the end of 73.to stop street racing bc he got in some trouble with the
law.this was a special order car with dual exhaust 3.73 limited slip rear and to hitch.1st wk new mickey Thompson steel slots and pin striping.back to racing he went lol.1974 national speedway my dad having polio since he was a kid.won his class and set a
record for his class at a national event at national speedway.racing and winning many more events over the years.i bought the car in 93.still raced even against my dad and brother in finals many times over the years.few dif paint jobs and drivetrains its being
redone again. Hope to have it at Calverton to race my dad and his current car once again?
Joanna Parides
Steve Krieger
Steve Krieger brother to Thomas Krieger (yellow El Camino) and Uncle to Tommy Krieger Jr., Steve has been a mechanic since he was a young teen going to work at his family gas station in East Northport sparking his life long passion for cars.
Building his first race car a Henry J that he loved but, had to sell once his first born arrived to pay for the hospital bill. Steve has built all his cars and currently has three. The latest project he is working on is the Henry J pictured last. Steve lives
and breathes for two things his family and racing. A dad of 5 and grandpa of 5 he has a whole pit crew ready to head out to race this summer.
Gotta love all the generations of families that race together!
Joe Greeff
Hello my name is Joe Greeff. I picked up this hobby during covid. I always had the need for speed growing up. But during Covid I met other car enthusiast who turned covid into a positive. We started doing car parades for kids. Mike LaRocca created a Facebook group called SICP4K. That’s where I met so many cool people with crazy fast cars. We brought smiles to so many faces during a dark time in our country. Some of the guys I met belonged to another great car group called Empire Muscle Cars. That’s where I met loads of great people who were into cars as well. While I was at Bellmore Car Show, I met the president of Empire Muscle Cars Victor Doto. We hit it off right away. I started participating in a bunch of car events with them and they became like family. They would do a private track rental twice a year at ATCO. My first time going I had a 2020 BMW X5M that had only a few mods. But I got bored of that real quick. I wanted to go faster. At this time I became close friends with Brian Stephens who has a super fast Jeep Trackhawk. He got me hooked on drag racing. We started going to all the events at Race Track Not Street. It’s a great way to test your skills and race legally and safely. I got lots of seat time doing every event they had. I improved on my reaction time at the tree. The best part it was only an hour from my house. This really increased my interest in Drag Racing. I traded in my X5M for a 2020 X3M and began my car racing journey. I started building the fastest suv I ever had. And today, I hold the world record for the fastest X3M in the world. Below is a list of all my mods as well as my mechanic and tuner who built my motor and tuned my car to run like a rocket ship.
Mods
Turbos: Pures Plus
Transmission: Pure Drivetrain Solutions Stage 2 with High Stall Converter
Exhaust: Active Autowerke full exhaust
Fueling: Evoultion of Speed Port injections 1050cc injectors with reflex plus controller
Precision Raceworks lpfp
CSF Manifold
RKTune front mount intakes and catless down pipes
xHP tuner
Vossen MX6 Wheels 20” with Nitto 555r2 Drag Radial
Front 275/40/20 9.5”
Rear 305/35/20 10.5”
Gregory Hamlid
2022 King 0f the Track and 2022 Track Champion
Aimee LaGuardia
2022 Queen if the Track (2 Consecutive years)
Summer Series 2022
4/9 – Opening Spring Series 2022 – ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATTYWASS.COM.
Pictures
