Chris Escobar's Jake LaMotta-tuned...
Chris Escobar's Jake LaMotta-tuned twin-turbo SVO looked awful hard to beat. His string of low 9-second passes left him a 9.29 average with the entire field in tail. Escobar chose to drop in a '98 Cobra motor with twin 35mm turbos.
Aside from the three days of shopping and tech searching in the endless manufacturers' midway, a weekend pass for an NMRA race offers spectators a full qualifying session on Friday and two on Saturday, leaving the elimination rounds for Sunday. All those in attendance enjoyed a sunny start to the race weekend but conditions worsened with the rain settling in by midafternoon Sunday. The good news was that the NMRA and Silver Dollar crew worked feverishly to get the racetrack ready early on Sunday. A continuous flow of anxious racers in the staging lanes whittled down most of the classes to the final pair of race cars. We also saw the completion of the MM&FF/Hedman Hedders True Street competition.
Due to the inclement weather, the finals from this event will be contested at the Toyo Tires NMRA Ford Nationals at Milan Dragway in June. At Reynolds, some of the class finalists chose to flip a coin to award the top trophy because they couldn't make it to the next race for a continuance. It's also common in a case like this for the racers to agree to bucket the purse for the top two spots and split it, as it offers a fair closure to an event.
Here's A real Georgia pea...
Here's A real Georgia peach.
The NMRA True Street class...
The NMRA True Street class has a new sponsor-Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine, joining forces with cosponsor Hedman Headers. We crowned now-four-time champ Chris Escobar at the Reynolds stop after he conquered all comers. He won the first two events of the season for the past two years, which just happens to be the only two events he visits, making him 4-0.
When Kevin Coy isn't on the...
When Kevin Coy isn't on the road hauling goods, he's racing his '93 Mustang. D&D Motorsports built the Airflow Research 185-headed 342 powerplant. The carbureted combo gets a little boost from an NOS nitrous plate system. Kevin claimed the 10-oh award by knocking a half second off his personal best, settling in at a 10.17 average.
It's Guys like Larry Waters...
It's Guys like Larry Waters Sr. and his son Larry Jr. that help keep the True Street Class alive. Nearly every weekend is filled with fast fun as they both have 10-second Mustangs. Unfortunately, Larry Jr.'s nitrous-oxide-injected sister coupe didn't survive the first run, prompting Pop to run his 408-powered coupe just on the motor. They still had fun and finished a respectable 11th with an 11.71 average.
Justin Burcham retired his...
Justin Burcham retired his Factory Stock and Real Street racing shoes to boost his JPC race shop support of numerous racers, from the top-running Super Street Outlaw class down the Factory Stock street-car warriors. He does, however, take time during race weekends to play in True Street. His RGR Race Engines-prepped Three-Valve powerplant utilizes an F1-C ProCharger and a tricked-out Hanlon Motorsports TKO-600 manual transmission to row to e.t.'s in the 9.70s. it was good for the runner-up in the class.
Matt Leetch's little black...
Matt Leetch's little black coupe has a deceivingly stock appearance. It doesn't have skinnies or big, wide aftermarket lightweights on the rear, but his mechanic, Sammy Pangle, assembled a stroked 347 that is topped with a set of AFR heads and a pair of Garrett turbochargers. Matt rowed his TKO slapstick through the Ram 900 long-style clutch to claim the 11-oh award via his 11.008 3-run average.
Jeff Wells and his crew of...
Jeff Wells and his crew of midnight bandits built his '86 Stang in just 14 days. They chose old-school horsepower, utilizing the stock block and heads, although they did stroke it out to 347 cubes. The simplicity of the combination resulted in a 12.09 average and conquering all of the 12-second contestants-all motor style.
What Does it take to shave...
What Does it take to shave close to a second off your e.t.? Ask Matthew Cowan. He used set of 3.90 gears, a $400 Nitrous Express kit, and a set of BFGs to help him claim the 13-flat award money in the MM&FF/ Hedman Headers True Street class.