Nighttime qualifying brought...
Nighttime qualifying brought excellent weather conditions and the newly paved track surface provided serious grip. Record runs were made in many classes, but the performance everyone will remember for years to come is the insane Super Street Outlaw qualifying. Three racers jumped into the 7.40 zone-No. 1, John Urist (7.46/192); No. 2, Don Burton (7.47/190); and No. 3, Mike Trimandilis (7.49/190). Phil Hines narrowly missed the club with an oh-so-close 7.50/190 mph qualifying run.
A day at the dragstrip means something different to every racer. For beginners, it could be finding success in his/her first powershift. Meanwhile, others are there to hang with friends and put some laps on their Mustang or Ford. Finally, there are those who race for the pure thrill of competition and speed.
At the NMRA Nitto World Finals, held at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, a day at the races meant a season of chasing points was coming to a close-and championships were on the line. For the NMRA regulars, doing well at the finals would cap off a season quite nicely. It wasn't all about the championship points races, though, as locals and regulars mixed it up for three days of fun on and off the dragstrip.
The NMRA ran its usual program of nine heads-up categories, which has classes for everything from mid-6-second Pro 5.0 machines to 12-second Factory Stockers. Heads-up racing is first to the finish line-no breakout racing-but there's also index-style and bracket racing. The NMRA offers three open comp-style categories and three bracket racing eliminators.
Off the strip at the NMRA World Finals was the crowded Laurel Mountain Mustang All-Ford Car Show and a manufacturer's midway that was packed with plenty of parts for your show machine or your project back home in the garage. The central location of Beech Bend Raceway makes it an ideal facility to host the final NMRA get-together of the year. Now all we can do is kick back and get ready for all the hot action in 2007. We'll see you there.
Pure Street racer Amy Sherwin...
Pure Street racer Amy Sherwin crashed her '90 Mustang at the NMRA-Columbus event one month earlier. The car was severely damaged when it got loose in its own fluids and took a header into the wall on the top end.
Thanks to help from many companies...
Thanks to help from many companies and friends, the car was repaired in time for the Bowling Green finals.
Even death looks good on Amy...
Even death looks good on Amy Lynn Urist.
Michael Hauf dethroned the...
Michael Hauf dethroned the mighty Don Walsh Jr. for the '06 Pro 5.0 championship. Hauf entered the race one round ahead of Walsh and sealed his first NMRA title when Walsh encountered a serious problem in qualifying. Hauf has been deadly consistent all year long and his 812ci, naturally aspirated combination runs consistent 6.60s at 210 mph. Hauf was runner-up at Bowling Green to Tony Bischoff.
Winner First in the 7.40s!...
Winner
First in the 7.40s! John Urist continues to nail the major milestones in the Super Street Outlaw category. The Nitto-sponsored racer also took home the win from the World Finals. His ProCharger-blown entry ran flawlessly all day long with consistent 7.50-second runs in eliminations. Urist also became the first two-time Super Street Outlaw champion in the class history. He earned the title in 2003 with a turbocharged combination.
Jason Lee built his 25.5-certified...
Jason Lee built his 25.5-certified Drag Radial racer in 2005 and spent the better part of 2006 as a front-runner in the category. Power comes from a ProCharger F1R blower, and the car runs consistently in the mid-to-low eight-second range with speeds over 170 mph.
Chad Doyle wowed the Drag...
Chad Doyle wowed the Drag Radial field with an insane 8.10 performance but lost to Bob Kurgan in the semifinals on a holeshot.
Raising the level of S197...
Raising the level of S197 performance is David Beyer with his Legend Lime GT. The car is fitted with a turbocharger, a BMR suspension, and sports a C4 transmission. At Bowling Green, Beyer ran in the 9.90 range in the Modular Muscle class, but he has since dropped his best performance to a 9.73 at 142 mph.
Another hard-running S197...
Another hard-running S197 in the Modular Muscle category was that of JPC Racing's Justin Burcham. JPC has continually pushed the performance envelope of the S197 platform, and Burcham lit up the boards with an impressive 9.56 at 148 mph. The ProCharger/ZEX nitrous concoction was refined a bit more after Bowling Green, and Burcham now owns the Quickest and Fastest S197 title with a 9.23 at 154 mph.
Winner A category win in...
Winner
A category win in Bowling Green secured Captain Keith Kohlmann's second consecutive Truck and Lightning championship title.
Hot Street was a hotly contested...
Hot Street was a hotly contested eliminator as the 16-car field was the quickest and fastest in the history of the NMRA. Here Randy Henry (near lane) lined up against Mike DeMayo in Round 1 of eliminations. DeMayo bested Henry, 8.98 to a 9.08.
Blower cars make up a majority...
Blower cars make up a majority of the EFI Renegade class. Rich Groh still carries the nitrous brand into competition. He has been successful with mid-eight-second performances but ran into some wheelie trouble in Bowling Green. Groh hoisted the wheels for our cameras almost every time he came to the starting line, and he managed to make it to the final five cars (19 cars total) before getting eliminated by eventual class winner Brian Mitchell.