The NMRA And NMCA Join For A Drag Race Event - Summer Super Bowl

Albuquerque, New Mexico's John Urist flew into Joliet on Saturday and laid down an off-the-trailer 7.68 to grab the number-three qualifying slot in MSD Super Street Outlaw. He took the fire out of Don Shobe's Mustang in the first round and sailed past Ed Imhoff in the second for a trip to the final against Billy Laskowsky. Laskowsky had dropped several passes in the 7.70 range, but a cam bearing failure proved destructive in the final round, giving Urist the win.

Outlaw competitor Jarrett Halfacre was down on his luck before the race, but thanks to his grandmother, he was able to make it to Joliet. Flying the Betty Boop character on his '93 Mustang, he qualified number two with a 7.64 e.t., but went down in the first round with an 8.17 against Zack Posey.

Another new ride in Outlaw belonged to Strictly Performance's Richard Lelsz. Lelsz has stepped up quite a bit from his low-9-second Terminator Cobra, first with a naturally aspirated combo in this new car and then converting it to Outlaw specs along with a turbocharged 385ci engine. Lelsz qualified Sixth with a 7.88 (yes, the competition was that tough), but the team found bearing material in the oil after the last qualifying run and called it a weekend.

Debuting a brand-new Outlaw ride in NMRA competition was Jefferson, Louisiana's Carlo Catalanatto. The turbocharged, 347-cube machine fried a transmission on Friday night, and although the crew got it back up and running in the morning, the Pony came up short in Round 1 competition against Phil Hines.

Ashland Mississippi's John Kolivas entered Joliet having never run in the 8.20 range, and he left having knocked down eight straight runs in that zone, along with the win in the BFGoodrich Drag Radial class. Kolivas faced stiff competition from the 16-car field, including a tight race in the semifinal against Chris Tuten. His win over Mauro Vitale in the final was equally dramatic in the 8.23 to 8.27 final round. Kolivas also helped the NMRA achieve a team victory by taking out Xtreme Street winner Cameron Coble in the Super Bowl showdown.

Chad Doyle of Holland, Ohio, posted the fastest qualifying time in BFGoodrich Drag Radial with an 8.22 at 171 mph, but he broke in the first round.

A racer's career begins when he learns how to drive, and Nitto Tire had the hot setup at its lavish booth on the manufacturer's midway. Here, Nino Catalanatto sharpens his skills on Nitto's drag-racing video game.

A hotly contested 16-car EFI Renegade field saw Bob Cook secure the victory by taking a couple of easy wins in the first two rounds before moving past Scott Lovell on a holeshot in the semis. The final paired him with number-one qualifier Aaron Stapleton who fell off the pace, giving Cook the win.

This freestyle motocross rider had one of the best views of the strip. We should have strapped a camera to him, but then if he bit it, so would our camera.