Us against them--it's a simple notion exemplified by the racing management at ProMedia, promoters of both the NMRA-Keystone Ford Drag Racing Series and NMCA-Flowmaster Street Legal Drag Racing Series. Once a year the ProMedia group, led by Charlie Harmon, brings both racing leagues together to battle it out on the 1,320 with Team NMRA facing Team NMCA for bragging rights and the stunning Nitto Tire diamond Tree championship ring.
It's the same concept as many professional sports--the league winners square off for bragging rights and cash bonuses. For the Nitto Tire Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, it goes down every summer at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. The '12 racing season marks the seventh running Super Bowl, and Team NMRA held an overall record of four wins and two losses heading into the showdown. The past several years have been dramatic, with the big dogs (NMRA's Pro Outlaw 10.5 and NMCA's Pro Street) as the deciding factor for the team win. To get to the finals, which decides the Super Bowl players, you must first win your respective class in the Open Comp/Index and heads-up classes. Essentially, each organization runs independently through qualifying and class eliminations, then teams are formed once winners are decided in all of the classes. The NMRA winners make up Team NMRA; the same for Team NMCA.
True Street winner Cal Hayward...
True Street winner Cal Hayward of Battle Creek, Michigan, heats the hides on his ’91 GT during True Street competition. The twin-turbo Fox averaged 8.79 over three runs.
Two of the most prolific Mustangs...
Two of the most prolific Mustangs racers of all-time, Don Walsh Jr. (near lane) and Mike Murillo (far lane), line up for the first time ever thanks to Murillo representing Team NMRA in Pro Outlaw 10.5 with Walsh as the Team NMCA rep in Pro Street. Walsh broke something in the drivetrain and Murillo streaked to the win, giving Team NMRA its fifth team title over NMCA.
In the last race, John Urist...
In the last race, John Urist roughed up his record-setting '93 Mustang LX coupe, so he dusted off his '03 SVT Cobra race car for another tour of duty in Super Street Outlaw. He ended the weekend with the all-time world record on 275/60-15 drag radials (7.08 at 202 mph) but lost in the finals to Phil Hines.
For the Super Bowl, ProMedia racing officials pair off each category with a comparable one on the other side--ultimately, the two quickest and fastest classes close out the competition. Furthermore, any racer who wins his or her pairing is rewarded with a cash bonus! The team that collects the most wins is declared the Super Bowl champion, and each team member gets a Nitto Tire ring, regardless if they won or lost their pairing. To keep the playing field fair, pairings are run using an index format that is determined by the racer's quickest pass of the weekend. Heads-up racers can break out without the risk of losing, unlike traditional index racing. ProMedia tries to find comparable pairings, but the disparity between the two organizations doesn't always allow that to happen.
Case in point, take a Renegade car that runs on stock suspension and goes low 8s. That entry is matched against the mid-7-second fat-tire–equipped winner of Nostalgia Pro Street. There are times, however, when the competition is a perfect match. For example, the two naturally aspirated eliminators of NMRA Hot Street and NMCA Pro Stock ran near identical 8.51s. Charlie Booze Jr. got the win for NMRA over Andy Schmidt based on reaction time and the index difference of 0.002 seconds, but the cars were very evenly matched. Following 11 class runoffs, 4 Index/Open Comp, and 7 heads-up, the results were 6 shootout wins for Team NMRA and 5 for Team NMCA. Chalk up another team win for the Ford boys and girls. Team NMRA walked away with most of the cash rewards, the Nitto rings, and the bragging rights--that is, until next year's event when this madness starts all over again.
What do you do when you haul...
What do you do when you haul your Mustang to an NMRA race and snap the differential? You hit the massive manufacturers' midway, buy the replacement parts, and do what it takes to rebuild the rearend in the pits. That's what Andy Mclain did and he got back on track with his '11 Mustang GT.
We love Coyote Stock--wheels-up...
We love Coyote Stock--wheels-up racing that is competitive and doesn't require selling an organ to buy the latest trick of the week. Coyote Stock is based on a sealed Ford Racing 5.0L crate engine, and cars typically run high-10s/low-11s. Here Joe Guertin leaves wheels-up with his CRE Performance-built '86 Mustang LX coupe.
Some friendly side wagers...
Some friendly side wagers have been going on in the Coyote Stock ranks, as HiPo Joe Charles showed us at Joliet. After his loss to Justin Burcham a month earlier, he was forced to change his license plate from ITLRUN to ITWONT. The stylish mohawk, however, was done on his own accord.
NMRA-Keystone Ford Drag Racing Class Winners
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| ProCharger Super Street Outlaw | Phil Hines |
| AFCO 275 Drag Radial | Jason Lee |
| Blow-By Racing Renegade | Brian Mitchell |
| Edelbrock Hot Street | Charlie Booze Jr. |
| Strange Engineering Coyote Stock | HiPo Joe Charles |
| Nitto Tire Factory Stock | Matt Amrine |
| Exedy Modular Muscle | Donnie Bowles Jr.
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| Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning | Johnny "Lightning" Wiker |
| Roush Super Stang | Terry "Beefcake" Reeves |
| Trick Flow Open Comp | Rodney Ward |
**Mike Murillo represented Team NMRA in the Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing because he was the last man standing for NMRA in the NMCA Super Street 10.5 class. Both NMRA and NMCA categories are combined for this event.
Pete Espeut purchased a '12...
Pete Espeut purchased a '12 Boss 302 Mustang for one purpose--having fun on the dragstrip. It was so new that he hadn't even removed the window sticker yet.
It runs low 12s with a set...
It runs low 12s with a set of sticky tires and he has only clocked a few thousand miles on the odometer, most likely a quarter-mile at a time.
It's a severe contrast in...
It's a severe contrast in style--the near 50-year-old '63 Dodge Polara belonging to Joe Ewing lines up against the modern missile of Don Bowles Jr. The Polara runs NMCA Nostalgia Super Stock, while the Mustang is entered in Modular Muscle. It was a battle between an old-school Mopar 426 and the high-tech propane-burning 374ci modular engine. Bowles ran into transmission issues and Ewing streaked to the win with a 10.508 on a 10.50 index.
Fun. That sums up Johnny Lightning's...
Fun. That sums up Johnny Lightning's love affair with racing big and heavy Lightning trucks. He and his wife put their SCT-Flash–sponsored truck into the winner's circle twice at Joliet, with a Truck & Lightning class win as well as a Super Bowl Shootout victory over their Team NMCA rival Nostalgia Muscle Car racer Jerry Stamps.
Terry "Beefcake" Reeves (far...
Terry "Beefcake" Reeves (far lane) had an awesome weekend. He dominated the Super Stang class, and then went on to beat Team NMCA's John McPartlin in a rare double–red-light start. Reeves left later so he was handed the automatic win. However, his 9.692 on a 9.69 dial-in would have been a tough package to beat at the stripe had both racers left on green.
Steve Matusek of Aeromotive...
Steve Matusek of Aeromotive entered the company's NHRA Pro Modified race car in Pro Street and scored some 6-teens at 249 mph.
JD and Elisa Coon hauled their...
JD and Elisa Coon hauled their '07 Shelby GT500 up to Joliet from Louisiana. They went a few rounds in Super Stang, and then took the 10-second win in True Street on Sunday afternoon for even more dragstrip fun. The car sports a built 5.4L engine with a Whipple 3.4L supercharger and a 4R100 automatic transmission. The Shelby scoots to a 10.13 at 137 mph in street trim.
Brian Mitchell is the man...
Brian Mitchell is the man to beat in the Renegade ranks. His 310ci engine has Brodix heads, a custom 0.550-inch-lift camshaft, a Vortech YSi-trim supercharger, and no intercooler. He knocked down 8.40s at nearly 165 mph in the heat and won the class runoffs, again. Mitchell pocketed over $6,000 between the Renegade paycheck, contingency sticker payout, and the Super Bowl bonus money.
We can never get enough of...
We can never get enough of Matt Amrine's Factory Stock ride. He flat-out knows how to make that car work on the BFG drag radial tires. Amrine is also quite the driver, taking the class win thanks to a hole-shot victory over defending champion Carlos Sobrino, 11.06 to Sobrino's 10.96.
Mario Pineda's super-clean...
Mario Pineda's super-clean 347-powered coupe was in the car show on Sunday. Look for a full feature in our special Winter issue on Fox-bodies.
Dan Kroll's coupe might look...
Dan Kroll's coupe might look like one of "us," but his Mustang is just one of many that utilize a Chevy-based powerplant in NMCA competition. Here he squares off against Team NMRA's Jason Lee; both racers compete in the 275 Drag Radial ranks.
Matt and Andy Schmidt race...
Matt and Andy Schmidt race a Mustang with a small-block Ford engine, but they are diehard NMCA racers. It shows that not all Mustangs are designated to Team NMRA. The Schmidt's represented Team NMCA in the Pro Stock versus Hot Street shootout, running against Charlie Booze Jr. Both racers ran 8.51 but the staggered start gave the advantage and win to Booze.
Nick Blankenship of Stockbridge,...
Nick Blankenship of Stockbridge, Georgia, piloted his Emmett Head Performance '86 Mustang to the 9-second win in True Street with an average of 9.32.
Ronnie Diaz unloaded a 7.68...
Ronnie Diaz unloaded a 7.68 at 185 mph thanks to a new 5.4L modular engine from MV Performance. Diaz uses a ProCharger F1X to add boost to his '99 Mustang GT. He competes in the 275 Drag Radial ranks and scored the runner-up finish.
Strange Engineering's JC Cascio...
Strange Engineering's JC Cascio made his return to competitive drag racing after almost 20 years by competing in Tremec True Street on Sunday. His '08 GT is all-purpose-built and averaged 12.25 in competition.
Strange Engineering's JC Cascio...
Strange Engineering's JC Cascio made his return to competitive drag racing after almost 20 years by competing in Tremec True Street on Sunday. His '08 GT is all-purpose-built and averaged 12.25 in competition.
The True Street cruise included...
The True Street cruise included a few laps around the neighboring Chicagoland Speedway. Lucas Clark and his '03 Cobra averaged 12.00 in True Street competition, good enough for the 12-second plaque.
With an average of 15.17,...
With an average of 15.17, the '11 V-6 of Tony Vece took the 15-second win in True Street.
The car show at Joliet never...
The car show at Joliet never disappoints. We found these two drastically different but equally nice hatchbacks. The red one is set up to drag race, and features a smoothed engine bay and a carbed Windsor. The black beauty is a '93 Cobra with a Procharger and some other tasteful mods.
Though it has one of the largest...
Though it has one of the largest pit areas of the series, the Super Bowl always fills Route 66 Raceway's facilities with racers, the car show, and the manufacturers' midway.
The car show at Joliet never...
The car show at Joliet never disappoints. We found these two drastically different but equally nice hatchbacks. The red one is set up to drag race, and features a smoothed engine bay and a carbed Windsor. The black beauty is a '93 Cobra with a Procharger and some other tasteful mods.