NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals - Grabbin' Air At The Grove

Mike Curcio is another Hot Street racer who feels the 360ci engine is the way to go. He showed off a best of 9.09.

Chris Saddler and Mike Johnson (of No Limit Race Cars) brought out a new Pro 5.0 entry. The chassis was run in the Pro Mod ranks, but the team bought it as a roller and stuffed an Edelbrock nitrous-injected, 598ci engine under the hoodscoop. It was the Stang's first time out, and the team plans on running deep into the sixes once they get the new-car jitters worked out.

Yanni Papakosnas brought out a brand-new Super Street Outlaw ride built by Miller Race Cars. The 25.2-certified chassis rolls on real 10.5-inch slicks and has a 91mm turbo on top of a Yates-headed 375ci powerplant. Papakosnas ran a best of 8.23 at 171 mph and the team is shooting for mid 7-second runs at over 180 mph.

One month before the NMRA event, Zoop Zellonis had a terrible fire in his garage. Upon initial inspection it was believed the car was a complete write-off. But thanks to generous friends and fellow racers, Zellonis thrashed and rebuilt the Mustang in record time. He made it to the race on Saturday and was still buttoning up the minor stuff as he rolled into the track. With repairs complete, he qualified number one with an 8.72 at 156 mph in EFI Renegade.

WinnerRyan Hecox stuffed Rich Groh's controversial Pure Street engine into his radical (by Pure Street standards) '03 Cobra and hit the ground running. With backing from JPC Racing, the team scored a runner-up at the NMRA-Reynolds race and grabbed the win at Maple Grove despite the tough 16-car field he had to race against. Hecox nailed the Tree in the finals and ran 10.68 to beat Brad Meadows, who had run a quicker 10.62.

We love the simplicity of John Kolivas' pristine '95 Cobra. A Bennett Racing 359ci engine with a Precision 88mm turbocharger on board powers this Drag Radial entry.

Don Burton was hot off a win at the World Ford Challenge and qualified number three with a 7.61 in Super Street Outlaw. He made it to the semifinals where John Urist got revenge for the loss he suffered at WFC. Burton smoked the tires when he brought in the nitrous too soon on his Gene Fulton 500ci engine.

Joel Howard had the quickest nitrous entry in the 18-car EFI Renegade field. It packed 353 cubes and had two hits of nitrous on top of it. The flawless '86 Mustang GT ran 8.83 at 152.16, and Howard advanced to the quarter-finals.

Gene Giroud of Wild Rides Race Cars showed up with his twin-turbocharged coupe and qualified number one in Outlaw 10.5 with a 7.24 at 201.52 mph. Unfortu-nately, something let loose in the 449ci engine during qualifying, and Giroud was forced to park the car for the rest of the weekend.

Michael Hauf was in the Pro 5.0 field with his Gomaco-backed entry. An 814ci engine motivates the Mustang. Hauf struggled a bit, but the team got it together and ran 6.72 at 209 mph in qualifying. They shook the tires in Round 1, however, and lost.

Brian Mitchell goes wheels up in EFI Renegade on another eight-second run.

Chris Little was back in action in the Drag Radial category with a completely revamped coupe. The two-time NMRA champion had the Wohlford Brothers install a 25.5-certified cage and convert the car to a turbocharged setup. Little set high mph for the weekend with a demented 174.9-mph performance. He'll be tough to beat once he gets the car to leave hard and not blow away the BFGoodrich tires.