Larry Horacle went wheels-up...
Larry Horacle went wheels-up in his EFI-Renegade entry. The Vortech-blown ride relies on M/T 275 drag radials. Ed Thomas tuned the car to a best of 8.53 at 161 mph, and he qualified at the top of the field. He lost in the quarterfinals to Chris Van Gilder.
Former Mod Motor and Open Comp competitor Don Bowles was the winner in the naturally aspirated eliminator Edelbrock Hot Street. Bowles had Roush Performance and Roush Racing Engines build a Hot Street entry from a clean '72 Maverick. A Roush 400ci engine powers the unique ride, and Bowles took out defending class champion Robbie Blankenship in the final. Bowles ran 8.66 at 153, while Blankenship rolled to a mid-10-second run when his transmission broke at mid-track.
EFI Renegade was the tightest class of the weekend, with several running in the 8.50s during qualifying. The cooler weather on Sunday helped these supercharged and nitrous-powered Mustangs go even quicker. The supercharger contingent isn't allowed intercoolers in this class. Brian Mitchell drove his Vortech-powered '03 Mustang Cobra to victory over Bart Toebner, 8.55 to 8.89. Mitchell entered the 8.30-zone for the first time in Renegade with an 8.38 at 162 mph during Round 2 of eliminations.
Drag Radial racing is the hot trend right now, and NMRA has its own DR class. There are engine and power-adder restrictions to control costs, but the racers still manage to run in the 8s, all while running on BFGoodrich tires. Jason Lee scored the first 7-second run in the class history at the NMRA Bradenton season opener and found his way into the winner's circle at Atco. Lee eliminated newcomer Ken Evers, 8.10 to 8.42. Evers was packing a turbocharged engine, while Lee relies on a ProCharger F1R supercharger.
The final two heads-up classes are NMRA's quickest-ProCharger Super Street Outlaw and Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5. The Super Street Outlaw ranks were vicious. Chris Tuten knocked out defending champ John Urist in the first round. Both cars ran 7.51, but it was Tuten who got to the stripe first thanks to a lighting-quick reaction time of 0.027 to Urist's 0.105.
The finals, however, came down to the nitrous-powered '81 Mustang of Don Burton and the turbocharged entry of Yanni Papakasmos. Burton was quicker with a 7.59, but Papakasmos got to the finish line first despite running 7.61. The battle was won on the Tree as Papakasmos did his job with a 0.062 to Burton's 0.090 light.
We scoped out this rare SAAC...
We scoped out this rare SAAC Mustang on the show grounds. These cars were built in small quantity and are one of the more prominent Fox-body collector cars.
In Pro Outlaw 10.5, Mike Murillo made it to the NMRA Winner's Circle after a six-year hiatus from racing and spending last year dialing-in the Star Car 2. Murillo did it in a fine fashion with a 6.77 at 216 as he sped past the wild ride of Tim Esseck, who ran 7.31 at 197 mph.
NMRA hosts several index classes that cover all types of Fords. Steeda Open Comp is a catchall category; competitors qualify on a ladder and then compete using a pro Tree and a 0.1 breakout based on their qualifying time. Roush Modular Muscle uses similar rules to Open Comp but is restricted to only Modular-powered Ford vehicles, as the name implies.
Another category that relies on Open Comp rules is Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning. In the 20-truck field, Bob Cochran and his '48 Ford took out Johnny Lightning and his wildly supercharged Lightning.
Mod Muscle's 16-car field was whittled down to Reggie Burnett Jr. and Zak Harty. Burnett's colorful '00 Mustang GT was tough with a 10.80 performance, and went on to win over Harty's '97 Mustang GT. David Woodside survived five rounds of competition to enter the winner's circle with his '84 Thunderbird, beating Tom DeMalto with a 10.06 on a 10.00 dial-in.
It has been six years since...
It has been six years since Mike Murillo won an NMRA event. He did it in grand style at Atco by knocking off a stellar 6.77 at 216 mph in the final round despite struggling for most of the weekend. Murillo is a six-time champion in Ford drag racing and is chasing a seventh championship this year.
The final NMRA class was JDM Engineering Super Stang and it's strictly for S197 Mustangs. The new class is unique in that racers don't qualify like the index and heads-Up categories. The 18 competitors spent three rounds of qualifying developing a dial-in. On Sunday, the racers were randomly paired and ran off the dial-in times they chose from the previous day's qualifying runs. Chris Parisi drove his V-6 Mustang to victory with a 15.27 on a 15.27 dial-in over Don Justus (who was pulling double-duty in two different classes) and his breakout run of 11.74 on an 11.80 dial-in.
Super Street Outlaw saw the...
Super Street Outlaw saw the rise of Yanni Papakasmos and Joe Tomas of Connecticut in their '01 Mustang. The team worked hard to get to the finals and took out points leader Don Burton, thanks to a holeshot by Papakasmos. The final run was the team's best with a 7.61 at 190 mph.
This is the first '10 Mustang...
This is the first '10 Mustang GT we've seen in competition, and it belongs to Brenspeed, which probably means it got a new ECU tune on the way home from the dealer. The car ran low 13s and looked different than any other car on the property. We hope to see more of these cars as the season wears on. This model saw action in Super Stang and True Street.
Chris Van Gilder saw a lot...
Chris Van Gilder saw a lot of bumper time but still ran in the mid-8s and finished in the semifinals.
This is a rare sight-defending...
This is a rare sight-defending SSO champion John Urist lagging behind a competitor. Chris Tuten took down the champ as both cars ran identical 7.51 times.
Here is a former MM&FF feature...
Here is a former MM&FF feature car, which belongs to Adam Sampson. He competes in open-road hill climbs in the NY/NJ/PA tri-state area.
We saw 62 entries for the...
We saw 62 entries for the True Street Challenge on Saturday.