NMRA Ford Drag Racing Series - Gear Jammin' In Georgia

Dorinda Blaney put the pedal to the metal in her three qualifying passes in the True Street Showdown. Some careful coaching from Open Comp hotdog Rick Doern had her slowing a full second in her final pass to collect the 14-second prize.

Proud Winners of the MM&FF/Hedman Headers True Street classes; (left to right) Justin Burcham, Kevin Coy, Matt Leech, Jeff Wells, Matthew Cowan. Al that testosterone must have scared away Dorinda Blaney as she was unavailable for the photo.

The Gamaco Company-sponsored crew vowed to portray the hard work it takes to become a champion in the NMRA Ford Drag Racing Series fastest and quickest class-DiabloSport Pro 5.0 reigning class champ Michael Hauf came with all 814 candles lit, qualifying number-one and running a career-best 6.58 in the first round of competition.

Edelbrock Tech expert Steve Johnson was on top of the world as the Edelbrock racing sponsored-Pro 5.0 team, piloted by Joe Morgan, enjoyed their quickest weekend ever with consistent e.t.'s in the low 6.60s. Here, new Outlaw 10.5W racer Jim Brown (right) receives some basics from Steve Johnson.

Keith Neal says he has some of the strongest Powerglide transmissions available, and his new 454-cube Proline Engines-powered, Brad Brand-tuned, twin-turbo test mule is finished and ready to torture the products he offers to solidify his claims.

Sammy Vincent's Nitrous Express-powered bandit dove repeatedly into the 7.40s thanks to some recent chassis tweaks complements of Matukas Motorsports. He reset the MSD Super Street Outlaw record in qualifying, then lowered it to a 7.450 in Round 1, with a pair of 7.46s on the books to back it up.

Crew Chief Big Mike Wilson had Zack Posey's ProCharger-powered Cobra hitting on all eight as they earned a number-two spot on the qualifying grid with a 7.54. Strong runs carried them all the way to the finals in the Nitto Tire SSO Bonus Cash Shootout. Unfortunately, mechanical failure in the shootout semis left them limping to the finale, where they met Don Burton. Darrel Loveless and the rest of the crew thrashed into the evening, repairing the race car. Their efforts were rewarded with a 7.53 win in the first but a loss to Burton in the second.

Nitto Tires invited the top eight '06 points finishers in Super Street Outlaw to participate in a mini shootout with $4,500 up for grabs. Don Burton claimed the $2,500 top prize in his Fulton 500-inch big-block- powered '80 Mustang. He had his eye on the prize, so he brought his best game, which turned out to be a 7.57 on the boards to Sam Vincent's narrowly quicker 7.56. The race was won at the Tree by Burton scoring a quicker 0.037 to 0.084 to offset the quicker e.t.

John Kolivas headed down to the season opener, along with tuner Job Spetter Jr., a week early for testing. Kolivas put his 302-based Bennett 359 in the top spot with an 8.11 at just over 176 mph.

Chris Tuten flew by the competition at the Bradenton race and seems to be on track in Georgia to reclaim his Drag Radial championship from Kolivas. An 8.12 run for the ladder followed by an 8.11 and 8.10, respectively, in eliminations earned him a repeat date with Kolivas in the final that will be held at the Milan, Michigan, event.

Brian Mitchell is the rabbit that all the ProCharger EFI Renegade racers have been chasing, and he has collected championships in 2004 and 2006. Mitchell qualified Second with an 8.67 then laid down an event-best 8.61 in Round 1 against Rich Groh, continuing his dominance enroute to the final.

It didn't look good for Bart Tobener when we caught him in the pits with the cherry picker. He assured us everything was OK and that it was strictly routine maintenance.