All Ford Mustang - Garden State Gathering

In the Detroit Locker Truck and Lightning category, John Riccio's Ranger gunned down Jim D'Amore's Saleen truck. D'Amore, who was doing double duty in Mod Muscle with his JDM-powered Saleen Mustang, scored the holeshot but couldn't run close enough to his 13.09 index, giving the win to Riccio, who recorded a 10.46 (10.37 index). It was neat to see the full-court press of Saleen vehicles, including an S281 NA Mustang, a blown version, D'Amore's truck, and a PJ model as they did battle with the slew of Roush vehicles and even a Shelby GT500 or two built by Evolution Motorsports.

The MM&FF True Street contingent showcased arguably the quickest and baddest True Street field seen in NMRA competition to date. To make it into the top five, competitors needed to record better than a 10.04-second average and better than a 12.46-second average to settle in the top 25. After cruising around scenic southern New Jersey for 30 miles, 38 drivers made the required three passes down the Atco quarter-mile. When the runs were tallied and averaged out, John Kokinda showed them all how it was done, recording a 9.02-second average. The low-9-second average was aided by an opening 8.61-second hit. Brian Zaid's notchback, a former MM&FF feature car, ended up in the runner-up position with a 9.83-second average, and rounding out the top three was Art Heninger, who averaged a 9.85.

As the season winds down, the point chases get closer and the pressure rises. Stay tuned as the series travels to Columbus next.