Labor Intense NMRA Weekend

Experienced bracket racer-turned-Modular Muscle racer Tommy Motycka (pronounced Mo-teeka) had a run of 12.60 performances from his naturally aspirated, Two-Valve modular engine. But it wasn't enough to hold off the hard-charged 11-second ride of Chris Colitas in the final round. He settled for runner-up.

Number-three qualifier Rick Doern pushed his Stang into the 10.30s that weekend in Columbus. A Two-Valve, 281ci engine with a Vortech SQ-Trim blower provides the grunt under the hood.

Against all odds, Jack Fifer made it to the finals in Pure Street competition. The naturally aspirated class requires many street-oriented parts, but these guys and gals have been pushing this equipment into the mid 10s as of late. Fifer used consistent high-10-second runs to garner the runner-up trophy. The Gene Hindman Show beat him in the finals.

Cale Aronson is usually found in the FFW Street Outlaw ranks, but he showed up to Columbus to run in the Pro 5.0 category. This '05 Mustang was built by Skinny Kid Race Cars and is powered by a naturally aspirated engine by Jon Kaase. Aronson ran 7.40s on a set of 33x10.5W tires and fully expects to run 7-teens when it's sorted out. His dad, Chuck, was behind the car activating the data logger before Cale fully staged it on the starting line.

Defending Real Street champion Tim Matherly hiked up the front end and showed us his Bassani Xhaust system. He dialed in 9.80 runs with his ProCharger blown, modular engine. That netted him a runner-up finish.

This year, Josh Williams made the move from EFI-Renegade to Drag Radial, adding an aftercooler, a roller camshaft, and a set of wheelie bars. But Williams had trouble with his front struts. With a new set bolted in, the '95 GTS ran in the 8.70s.

Rick Riccardi of Downs Ford Motorsport decided to try his hand at Open Comp racing at the Columbus event. After a few tips from one of the O/C pros, he has a new game plan and expects to run a full schedule next season.

Trilogy Motorsports had a few different vehicles on the property. This is its F-150, which features an Eaton supercharger under the hood. Carol Barnes ran low 14s with this truck. Another unique ride the Trilogy gang ran was a Mercury Marauder that cracked the 11-second zone with Walsh's Pro 5.0 crew chief Chris Tumpkin at the wheel.

Chris "Noodles" Hemmeter annihilated the BFGoodrich tires on this launch. He normally runs in the 8.40s, but he upped the power under the hood and the result was a smoke show at launch.