On Point
The NMRA starts the 2016 season strong at Bradenton Motorsports Park
By Steve Turner
For those looking to get in shape for the beach, they say summer bodies are built in the winter. When it comes to racers, it’s true that winning cars are put together during those cold off-season months. Well, apparently, that’s also true for event series, as the National Mustang Racers Association definitely put together the right combo for a strong start to the season.
When we rolled into the track on Friday, we had never seen it that busy on the first day of racing, and the crowds of spectators only grew on Saturday during the thick of the qualifying leading up to the event’s first-ever Grudge Night, highlighted by an appearance by Chris “Boosted GT” Hamilton of Street Outlaws television fame.
As you might expect, throwing in an appearance from a popular TV personality would definitely stoke the interest, but like any good race car, an event is all about the combination. Chris might have added a boost, but the tweaking of the traditional class rules and the expansion of specialty classes like the Livernois Motorsports EcoBoost Battle (click here to see our coverage), all combined to take this event to a level that we had never witnessed.
Seeing the event grow in popularity is great, but we were there to see the racing, and the competitors held up their end of the bargain, putting on a great show for the throngs of Ford fans at Bradenton Motorsports Park on the first weekend in March. From the 7-second Coyotes to the 10-second EcoBoost machines, the cars were running strong all weekend.
The series continues with the 8th Annual NMRA/NMCA All Star Nationals at Atlanta Dragway on April 7-10, 2016, but for now let’s reflect on a great start to the new season.
Want to draw a crowd of drag-racing enthusiasts? Invite Street Outlaws’ Ford-powered racing star to an NMRA race. In addition to signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, Chris “Boosted GT” Hamilton stuck around for some after-hours Grudge Night action, where he edged NMRA regular Jon Pickering at the stripe.
Coyote Modified is one of the most competitive classes in the NMRA portfolio, and Joe Guertin is a class stalwart. His dedication paid off at Bradenton, as he became the first racer to push a CM-legal machine into the 7-second zone. After repairing a ripped torque box on Friday, Joe drove his ProCharged 1985 Mustang GT to the top of a qualifying sheet with a 7.92/171 rip. He navigated his way through eliminations where he lit the red bulb and handed Johnny Lightning the final-round win.
We are used to seeing these two Hellion machines racing with the NMRA, but never in the same class. Even Haley James didn’t know her car would be stepping up to Renegade until the second round of qualifying. However, after telling her dad and crew chief Dwayne James she wanted to go faster, they decided there was no time like the present. She qualified sixth with an 8.21/164, but fell to teammate Frank Varela in the first round. The team plans a modest turbo upgrade for the Atlanta race and a more aggressive upgrade after that.
These days Street Outlaw is configured for eighth-mile racing due to the number of cars that run this style of racing. However, longtime NMRA racer Dwayne Barbaree has transitioned seamlessly to the shorter track. At the season opener he topped the qualifying sheet with 4.39/167 sprint. After dispatching Phil Hines in the second round, Dwayne squared off against an overmatched Vince Palazzolo. Though he left late and had to modulate the throttle for traction, Dwayne had more than enough steam to drive around him for the win, 5.14 versus 6.02.
Alton Clements was in the mix in Renegade from the get-go, but his 7.84/171 qualifying hit was still only good enough for the fourth spot on the qualifying sheet. It looked like he would have to do work in eliminations, but the cards fell his way when both A.J. Wyce and Adam Arndt were unable to make the call in the first two rounds of eliminations. His work got tougher in the finals as Frank Varela chopped down the tree with an .002 reaction time, but Alton was able to beat him to the stripe with a 7.64 to Frank’s 7.78.
Joe Guertin might have been the first Coyote Modified Racer to run in the sevens, but Johnny Lightning prove his 2013 Cobra Jet was up to the task in the second round, when he bested Jeff Polivka’s Boss with a searing 7.96/175 pass. Johnny had only qualified in the third spot with an 8.21, but his Kenne Bell-boosted CJ put Joe Guertin on notice. Joe tried to get the jump and redlit, handing Johnny the final-round win, but Johnny still ran it out the back door with an 8.01 hit.
With 15 cars qualified at the season opener, Coyote Stock has become one of the most robust classes on the NMRA roster. As a result, competition is fierce in a class limited to a sealed crate engine with a factory calibration. Suspension tuning and the driver mod are what you need to win and Jacob Lamb was able to put it all together in Bradenton. He qualified third with a 10.29 at 129 mph and the breaks fell his way to clear a path to a final round against Drew Lyons, who got the jump. Jacob was able to drive around him at the stripe by a tenth, 10.27 versus 10.37.
When the number one and two qualifiers in Pure Street raced in round one, the race was really decided right there. Both William Gimble and Teddy Weaver qualified with 9.6-second passes, with the former taking the top spot with a 9.62 and the latter taking number two with a 9.64. In round one, William went red and Teddy had a clear advantage over his competitors from there on out. In the finals he beat Jimmy Wilson, 9.62 versus 9.97.
The Factory Stock cars picked up power this season courtesy of a tweak in the rules that allowed larger 1 ¾-inch header primary tubes, up from 1 5/8-inch and James Meredith made the most of it. Sporting a fresh Zinc Yellow paint scheme, James’ 2003 Mach 1 qualified in the top spot with a 10.61/121 hit. In eliminations he rode a first-round single into a race with John Leslie Jr. who left first. James drove around him into a final-round appearance against Matt Amrine. James left late, but his 10.60 was more than enough to top Matt’s 10.85.
Randy Conway qualified his 1984 Ranger in the number two spot with a .019 reaction time. He used that quick launch to haul his way to the finals where he left on A.J. Smith and ran right on his 10.76 dial-in for the win.
Ford might have built the Boss 302 to conquer the road course, but Marco Ponce Jr. had definitely taken his on a different path. Marco prefers to blast off in a straight line in 1,320-foot increments, and he has been putting these kinds of laps on his 2012 Boss 302 since he drove it off the dealer lot. In Super Stang, which qualifies by reaction time, he topped the sheet with a .008 light and used his cat-like reflexes—including a perfect light in round one—to sail through eliminations and take the win over Marvin Knack, who lit the red bulb in the finals.
After qualifying fifth, Charlie McCulloch set the cruise on 10.60s and went rounds. In the fourth and final round, the number five qualifier bested the number six qualifier, Rick Doern, with a .34 reaction time and a 10.63 on a 10.69 dial-in.
One of the quickest stock turbo/stock engine EcoBoost Mustangs around, Bill Putnam’s 2015 qualified second in the Livernois Motorsports EcoBoost Battle with an 11.14 at 122 and he took out Erik Vogel and Josh Beasley en route to a final-round clash with Brad Gusler. That was a repeat of the final at the inaugural race in Bowling Green last year. Bill got the jump and Brad had issues, so Bill took his second EcoBoost Battle win in a row with a his best pass yet—a 10.87 at 125.
It was awesome to see such a strong showing of factory built drag cars for the Cobra Jet Showdown, which ran its eliminations on Saturday in front of the biggest crowds. Even cooler was seeing several 2016 Cobra Jets fresh off the dealer lot. Eventual winner Rod Heltzel ordered number 31 as a white Cobra Jet, but he had Watson Racing paint it Competition Orange before he took delivery. Rod tested at Bradenton in advance of the race and it paid off. He qualified fifth and survived three rounds to face fellow 2016 CJ driver John Calvert in the finals. Rod defeated John with an 8.66 at 152 versus an 8.67 at 156.
Brian Devilbiss and his Evolution Performance-backed Devil’s Reject Racing 2013 Shelby GT500 had a busy weekend. Not only did he defeat the quickest Turbo Coyote Shootout car to win some cash on Grudge Night, but he rolled into Sunday’s VMP Performance GT500 vs. Terminator Quick 8 eliminators as the quickest car by a wide margin. His 7.54 at 184 put him four tenths ahead of the number-two qualifier and he played that advantage to a final round win over Rick Kaknes’ Terminator convertible, 8.11 versus 10.38.
We have seen Justin Jordan racing his Hellion-turbocharged 2014 Mustang GT all over the state, and he rolled into Bradenton with a new anti-roll bar setup from Matt LaRue at ProFab Performance. Once he got some test passes under his belt, Justin got the combination working. He qualified fourth with an 8.07 at 178 mph, but found his 7-second stride in eliminations. In the finals, Justin faced number-one qualifier Ronnie Reynolds, who scraped the wall on Grudge Night. Justin left first and held his advantage to the stripe for the win, 7.74 versus 7.78. Even more impressive, he drove it to work the next day.
The highlight of True Street for us was the Tremec Stick Shift Shootout, which pits the two quickest manual-trans drivers against one another with the winner scoring a new transmission. The two competitors were familiar, friendly foes—Jeff Smith and Rick Kaknes. Both are VMP Performance-sponsored Terminator pilots. Jeff bangs gears in an orange coupe and Rick does so in a black convertible. Rick’s convertible is quicker, so Jeff had to get the jump and he did—.339 versus .581! That holeshot advantage allowed him to take home the transmission despite running a slower e.t. (10.48 versus 10.28).
