Tuners and teams started salivating when they checked their weather stations Friday at Duck X Productions’ Lights Out 16 at South Georgia Motorsports Park. The air was there for records, and the SGMP track surface was prepped and ready too. Numerous drivers threw down career-bests and combination records in Friday qualifying, but it was Paolo Giust’s 3.479-second blast at 214.42 mph that highlighted the evening.
Driving his screw-blown “Black Betty” ’69 Camaro tuned by 2023 DI 30 Under 30 honoree Evan Salemi and his father, Jon Salemi, Giust set a new Radial vs. the World E.T. record with his 3.479. Even better, he did it next to Ken Quartuccio and his 3.497 at 211.33, making it the first side-by-side 3.40-second pass in class history.
In an interview with Kyle Christ of Straight Line Media, Giust reflected on the record-setting pass that gave him the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot in RvW going into Saturday.
“It seems the faster you go, the easier the car feels to drive,” Giust said. “It was so smooth – the tune-up, everything, just the way the car launched. Went down the track very smooth. I don’t know what else to tell you. The dream of everybody is to have the world record, and it’s because of Evan Salemi standing beside me.”
At just 22 years old, Salemi is quickly becoming one of the most respected young tuners in the world of blown alcohol doorslammers. He’s shadowed his father, Jon, and uncle, Jim Salemi, as they’ve tuned the Pro Mod and Radial vs. the World entries driven by Melanie Salemi, Jon’s wife, as well as Resolution Racing Services and G-Force Race Cars customers like Giust. In recent months, he’s taken to calling the shots himself.
“I’ve been following in my dad’s footsteps my whole life, basically, and just been getting more and more involved,” Evan Salemi said. “When Paolo came back radial racing, he said, ‘We’re going to do this,’ and we got the car sorted out at No Mercy in October. After that, he kind of gave me the reins. I’ll make the decisions and he’ll oversee and we go from there.”
The 3.479 wasn’t exactly shocking for Salemi or Giust, as they fired off a 3.49 in the first qualifying session.
“We had a rough week testing, but we still had a couple good runs,” Salemi said, “then we came up for Q1 and just did something that we thought would just get us in the show and I guess the weather showed us what it had and went .49. We just improved to go .47.”
It was a major proud father moment for Jon, who shared credit for Evan’s evolution as a tuner with people like Melanie and Jim, as well as Mike Stawicki, who builds the team’s engines at Mike Stawicki Racing.
“When you’re around people that are passionate and are successful and have basically become masters of their crafts, it’s infectious, and I just wanted to pass that down to Evan,” Jon said. “He’s taken it in full stride and it’s a feeling of 100% fulfillment, and at the end of the day, I’m as proud as anyone could be.”
Giust echoed that credit for his team’s success both at Lights Out and over the last several years. “I just want to thank Mike Stawicki for giving me the power, and Evan and Jon for all the years of support,” Giust said. “I remember when Evan used to ride around on a bicycle. I used to take him with me on the golf cart and we’d go drive around at the racetrack. Jim Salemi for building me these badass hot rods and Melanie for everything she’s done for me over the years. This whole MSR/G-Force/Resolution Racing Services group, Mark Menscer and Quick Drive – I don’t know what else to say. I’ve surrounded myself by the best people in the world and that’s why we’re successful.”
This story was originally published on February 21, 2025.
The post Paolo Giust, Salemi Father-Son Duo Discuss New Radial vs. The World Record first appeared on Drag Illustrated.