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Dark Horse Corda Upsets Top Stock With Small Block Fuel-Injected
Firebird
August 30, 2000
Photos by Roger Richards/CompetitionPlus.com
(Top
Stock Photo Gallery)
Norwalk, OH - The first ever running of Top Stock Eliminator,
the creation of Stock competitor Mike Keener and tech man Terry Bell, is
in the books. The turnout was not quite as high as expected due to
breakage, points races, and other obstacles, but the quality of the
twenty-one cars that did make it out for this historic event were some of
the best in the country.
Top Stock takes the very fastest cars in Stock Eliminator, primarily A,
B, and C class cars, and pits them in a heads-up, no breakout race on a
.500 Pro Tree. Mopar, Chevrolet, Ford, and Pontiac were all represented,
with wildly different body styles, engine combinations, with both
stick-shift and automatic transmission cars. The performance of these cars
were brought in line by making each car weight 8.25 lbs. per factored
horsepower.
 Co-founder
Mike Keener was pleased with how the rules brought all the different cars
in line. "There were 10 sticks and 11 automatics. The average
qualifying time for the sticks off the final sheet was 10.562. The average
qualifying time for the automatics was 10.571," said Keener.
"It couldn’t have come off any better. It was like a dream come
true!"
 In
pre-race bench racing, many pointed to Joe Aluise, Jr.’s ’63 Belvedere
426 Max Wedge as the car to beat. While the Laurel, MD native shrugged off
any comments about the possibility of him running away with the race, he
was confident in his ride. "I don't have my good motor in
there", explained Joe Aluise, Sr., quite matter-of-factly. After the
first qualifying session, the tiger-striped Mopar held the top slot with a
10.414. Race day would tell the tale, when drivers pulled out all the
stops to be the first to the finish line... with no breakouts involved!
 Most
Top Stock participants, when asked for predictions on qualifying numbers
and who was going to be the fastest, only smiled and shook their heads.
Former NHRA Champion Chuck Rayburn pointed to RJ Sledge and his 427
Fairlane as a good possibility, but like many, Sledge had run into
mechanical problems prior to the race, and had installed a new, untested
engine. When asked about his own stout Castro Valley, CA based B/SA 440
Challenger, Rayburn only relayed the fact that he had broken a crankshaft
recently, and the replacement in the car was an unknown quantity.
"We'll see", said Rayburn with that wry smile of his.
 Jim
Waldo, another former NHRA Champion and 1988 Car Craft All-Star from
Richland, WA surprised the field in the first qualifying session of the
regular Stock eliminator, ripping off a powerful 126.99 mph pass with his
’69 Mustang 468. "We had the car set up soft. There's more in
it." That fact was evidenced with a strong qualifying shot, placing
him right near the top of the stack after the first Top Stock session, and
hanging right with the Camaros of Mike Keener and Bobby Brannon in Stock
qualifying. "I'm about this high off the ground!" exclaimed
Waldo. "That was great. That was my first time on a Pro Tree."
After the dust settled from the third and final round of qualifying, Waldo
had improved to a 10.381 at 128.47 that stood up for the No. 1 position.
Only eleven of the hot competitors survived the brutal first round of
eliminations in Top Stock. No. 1 qualifier Jim Waldo was quietly pleased
to be in the show, but knew that his first round bye run was his saving
grace, as the car blew the tires off, forcing him to peddle the car,
killing precious E.T. His son Eric Waldo spoke for the team. "We're
not here to run the regular Stock Eliminator race. We're just here trying
to get him to win Top Stock. We're going to set it up to hopefully bog
just a bit and take off so it doesn't spin the tires. If we can make it to
dark, we can put all the power to it."
 Another
Mustang driver and a pre-race favorite, Matt Morgan thrashed constantly on
his Faulkner, MD ’69 Mustang 428. He certainly put forth every effort to
keep up with and surpass his competitors if possible. "We're putting
a new ignition box on it now. We've probably worked more than any other
team here this week. We swapped tires, changed the rear-end gear from a
4.56 to a 4.71, put another converter in the car, and borrowed a
transmission from Super Stock racer Gene McBean." explained Morgan.
"For the first round, we just advanced the cam 2 degrees." That
one change seemed lost in the shuffle after the tremendous work the team
had done up to that point. To make matters worse for the competition,
Morgan's .561 holeshot win over Chuck Rayburn was his worst reaction time
of the week.
 The
forerunner for the Mopar fans, Joe Aluise, Jr., ran Low E.T. in the first
frame, but even with that, he said "The car went up, and spun the
tires with the front end in the air. It came down hard, unloaded the
tires, and spun again. Waldo's the guy to beat, and Hall stepped up a lot.
That's the great thing. It's good close racing." Despite dealing with
tire spin in the first round, Aluise said they would step the car up for
round two, and hoped the track would hold it.
 While
Team Checkmate leader Mike Keener fell in the first round, they were
guaranteed a presence in the late rounds, as the ladder fell with
teammates Mark Yamarino and Paul Mercure facing one another in round two.
That pairing provided the closest run of eliminations. Yamarino’s
.526-aided holeshot 10.642 allowed him to hold off the quicker 10.618 by
Mercure.
 Also
notable in the second round, in the Mustang matchup between Morgan and
Waldo, Morgan prevailed when Waldo followed through with his plan to bog
the car off the starting line, which worked only too well. Morgan drove
away with a 10.527 to 10.613 win, despite the strong 128.62 mph charge
from Waldo. Aluise rounded out the second round of eliminations with the
bye run and a crowd-pleasing, massive wheelstand that produced Low E.T. of
the meet, a 10.379.
In the very first pair of the third frame, the fans and drivers were
forced to acknowledge the force of former NHRA Stock Champion Al Corda’s
’99 Firebird, powered by an LS1 350 fuel-injected small-block. Even with
a slight reaction time deficit to make up, the Elk Mound, WI driver was
able to put a nose on the Belvedere of Aluise after it spun on the
starting line. Corda’s 10.425 led Aluise’s 10.465 by just .029 seconds
at the stripe.
 Mark
Yamarino received a break in the fourth round when Steven Hall’s ’68
Mustang sheared the aluminum spool in the rear-end. Although "Big
Y" improved a tenth of a second to a 10.535, it would likely have not
held up against Hall’s low 10.40’s. The ladder gods smiled upon the
Berkely, MI driver with a bye run scheduled for the semi-finals. In the
last third round matchup, Matt Morgan powered around Rusty Hall’s ’68
Mustang, 10.508 to 10.554.
 The
semi-finals of Top Stock were run deep into the Night of Fire program, in
front of a full crowd at the motorsports stadium. Al Corda and Matt Morgan
squared off for the right to meet Yamarino’s Chevrolet in the finals;
one Pontiac and one Ford. The fans thrilled to the Pro Stock type
spectacle as both cars lit the pre-stage bulbs and refused to budge
another inch. The drivers endured the burndown for fifteen seconds, then
one quickly followed the other into the stage beams. Corda rolled in
noticeably further, trying to pick up every advantage he could on the
starting line. Corda did strike first, .526 to Morgan’s .535, and held
on for the win with a stunning 10.418 at only 120.48 mph, and with the
Mustang trailing with a 10.490. Yamarino recorded the only red-light of
the event on his bye run into the finals, an impressive and close .498,
and found another tenth in his ride, improving to a 10.438 at 127.10 mph.
 With
the stage set for the last round in the heat of the Night of Fire, Bill
Bader introduced Al Corda and Mark Yamarino to the crowd, along with Top
Stock co-founders Mike Keener and Terry Bell. The combatants returned to
their cars, and after completing their burnouts, veteran announcer and
Super Stock racer Brian Olson brought the fans to their feet, cheering for
their favorite. The number four and five qualifiers outlasted the field,
big-block, stick-shift ’68 Camaro of Yamarino versus the small-block
fuel-injected automatic ’99 Firebird of Corda. Yamarino rolled in
quickly, lit the stage bulb and hit the rev-limiter. The car rocked,
flickering the light, forcing "Big Y" to get off the throttle
and bump the car into the stage beam again. Corda waited patiently, then
rolled carefully into the stage position, again rolling forward a little
extra for a better reaction time. In a flash of amber light, the pair were
off, with Corda nailing a .549 light to the tire-spinning .592 of Yamarino.
Al Corda pulled away for a 10.420 to 10.593 victory, making him the first
ever Top Stock Champion.
 Mark
Yamarino was still happy with his runner-up. "It was my first final!
I was flustered! There were TV cameras and people and dogs jumping up and
down and fireworks!" he laughed. "The bottom line was that it
was FUN."
 Corda
was very cool and calm about his win. "I enjoyed myself. Top Stock is
a great concept, and I hope that it continues on." Corda thanked
Pontiac, Holley, Next Generation, Brian Ebert, Les Leinerth, and Wheeler
Engines. Corda picked up over $3,400 in purse money in the winning effort,
and the lion’s share of contingency as well, including the $2,000 posted
by Holley Performance Products for running a Holley Fuel Injection System,
$1,000 for his Holley Annihilator Ignition, and $500 for his Lunati
camshaft, among other postings.
Keener, Bell, the participants and many fans expressed their sincerest
thanks to Bill Bader and IHRA for the tremendous opportunity to showcase
Top Stock at Norwalk Raceway Park during the Mopar Parts World Nationals.
"It was truly a historic event," said Keener. "My
experience as a racer and a promoter was great but the thing I enjoyed
most was the attitude and feedback I got from the contestants. I'm proud
of this event and its fabulous field. We were all stars, and we all won
out this past weekend. There is no doubt about it!"
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