Each year, Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, plays host to the NMRA World Finals. This season marked the 12th running of the event, and the weekend could not have been more exciting. Record e.t.'s coupled with huge turnouts for the car show, manufacturer's midway, and the largest True Street field in history, made the 12th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA World Finals the event to be at in 2010.
With championships up for grabs, the energy throughout the pits was intense. Would John Urist seal up his sixth Super Street Outlaw championship or would John MacDonald walk away with his first-ever title after a dominant season? Could Conrad Scarry hold off Mike Murillo's late-season charge to hold on to his championship? Outside of the two quickest classes, BFGoodrich Tires Drag Radial was the only class with the championship wrapped up. Jason Lee locked his second consecutive championship in Columbus, but came into Bowling Green hungry for another win.
Saturday saw more records broken on and off track. A massive 110 participants came to run in the Tremec/Mustangs Mustangs & Fast Fords True Street competition, making it the largest True Street field in NMRA history. And despite some heavy-hitters making the cruise and three back-to-back runs, it was Allen Hurley of Bristol, Tennessee, who took the win with an 8.85-second average in his nitrous-fed Fox coupe.
"It was awesome to win Bowling Green with it being the largest field ever," said Hurley. "I'm proud to be the winner of the largest class ever. BG is our favorite track-the folks there are fantastic.
"We wanted to go faster but after all those cars, it was getting pretty slick-that was the case for everybody. I believe that made the race even better!"
Hurley bested 109 competitors, including notables Pete Ricart, Dylan McNeil, and Lidio Iacobelli, who were all capable of taking the crown.
Of the 110 cars entered in True Street, 88 completed the cruise and made all three passes with no issues. With just under 150 passes made, the NMRA staff and Beech Bend Raceway starting line crew did an amazing job of handling such a large class.
The True Street class at the NMRA Finals was also an amazing sight to see for the fans. Aside form the multitude of 8-second passes, attendees got to see some pretty rare rides face off against awesome late-model muscle. Steven Dale of Evansville, Indiana, brought out his '00 Cobra R and raced alongside Ray Whoeler of Upton, Kentucky, with his '67 Shelby GT500. Nowhere can you see what real street-legal Fords can do than in True Street, and nowhere will you find such an easy class to participate in.
We stepped away from the track to take a quick walk to the midway for even more action. With over 50 vendors representing just about anything Ford and Mustang related, finding the parts or ideas to take your project to the next level was easy. If you were looking for those hard-to-find parts, the huge swap meet was where you needed to be.
Beyond the swap meet was the largest two-day car show of the 2010 NMRA season. With over 400 cars on hand over the course of Saturday and Sunday, there was truly something for every Mustang and Ford enthusiast.
With the '10 NMRA points season coming to a close, we look forward to another amazing year in 2011. As we dive into the off-season, look for updates on new cars and new combinations for next season. With True Street averages dropping lower and lower into the 8-second zone, we wonder who will be the first to break into the 7s. Rumors have already started about new True Street land missiles under construction for the Spring Break Shootout, and we are very excited to see who steps up for 2011.
For more exciting photos, check out musclemustangfastfords.com.
Edelbrock Hot Street is one...
Edelbrock Hot Street is one of the most exciting classes in NMRA competition, and not many people do it better than Charlie Booze Jr., who came into the Finals with the Hot Street points lead. After mowing through the field, he met '09 Hot Street champion Don Bowles in the final. After Bowles got out of shape, Booze drove away to take the race win and the championship.
Conrad Scarry came into Bowling...
Conrad Scarry came into Bowling Green holding on to the points lead. He had to hold off the late-season charge of Mike Murillo in order to keep his championship hopes alive. Sunday proved to be a great day for the Scarry Crew as they set the Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 record with a blistering 6.57-second pass, and backed it up on the way to winning the race and clinching the '10 championship.
John Urist's sixth championship...
John Urist's sixth championship was well within reach. The five-time ProCharger Super Street Outlaw championship needed to go further than John MacDonald to seal the deal. After parts failure sidelined MacDonald, Urist went on to win the the event and seal up his sixth SSO championship.
It was a great year for the...
It was a great year for the JPC-sponsored car. Tommy Godfrey showed how dominant he is in ACT Factory Stock, taking the event win and another championship.
The Steeda Real Street class...
The Steeda Real Street class is known for big wheelstands. Dave Ginter showed everyone just how big in his yellow SN-95. We don't have a shot of the car dragging the bumper, but you can clearly see the aftermath.