This might just be the year for Don Walsh Jr. Hot on the heels of grabbing the $35,000 at World Ford Challenge, Don continued his tear in Texas. After struggling with traction at first, he eventually laid down an impressive 6.93/204 quali-fying pass in the heat. With that he set low e.t. and top mph for the class, and he grabbed the Denso top-qualifier award. Don took an easy bye in the first round but found himself running in the slippery lane against Travis Franklin in round two. After listening to Don Walsh Sr., the crew lined up Don Jr. in his own tire marks. He found traction, and showed Travis the path back to Outlaw. With a bye into the finals, everyone was anticipating a Texas Chainsaw Blower Showdown, but it wasn't to be, and Don won with a single.
Doug Mangrum has had his struggles this year, but we had a feeling the NMRA's first trip to Texas might be kind to him. So much for our instincts. Doug began sorting things out in qualifying with his 7.13/202 pass, good for the number two spot. Despite getting Tree'd, he edged another ProCharged racer, Bill Rimmer, in round one. In round two, it all went horribly wrong for the Mangrum team. All Doug had to do was trip the lights for his bye run and a visit to the finals. Unfortunately, his car wouldn't start. He did take the Tree under power of the starter, but the rules say a racer must take the lights under engine power, so Doug was out and Don was the winner. The good news was Doug's car wasn't hurt. The bad news was it ran out of gas!
While the nitrous cars seemed to have the advantage in most classes, Kentucky Sam Vincent was actually waging an uphill battle against turbo and blown power in Outlaw. Running a 439-inch Windsor and loads of spray, Sam's combo was a contrast to John Urist's small-displacement turbo setup, but both men ended up in the finals. Sam qualified fourth with an 8.19/175 hit. On his way to the finals, he trailered Brad Dinkel and number-one qualifier Joe Morgan. Then, in a race that was settled at the Tree, Sam left Mark Van Meter rolling up his sleeping bag. In the finals Sam left a little late, but it didn't really matter as John turbo'd him downtrack.
It was a short ride to Ennis for John Urist, which was a welcome change for the perennial long hauler from New Mexico. The extra rest must have done him good because the weekend went exceptionally smooth. Loosening up the suspension to adapt to the greasy track, John qualified just a hair behind Joe Morgan in the number two spot with an 8.04 at 174. He continued the string of ohs into the first two rounds with wins over Dan Strezo and David Marroquin. After breaking the beams for a bye run, John squared off with Kentucky Sam Vincent in the final. It was close, but John drove around Sam at the big end.
In case you're unfamiliar with the Wild Street format, it's new to the NMRA repertoire this season. It's basically an endurance race for the quickest street-worthy Mustangs around. In addition to proving their streetability with valid license tags, insurance cards, and the like, WS vehicles must then survive a 30-mile cruise on the streets near the track. After a brief cooldown period, they're required to make three back-to-back passes. These passes are averaged to create a final score. The driver of the vehicle with the lowest e.t. is the winner, but those with the lowest average in each e.t. level-9s, 10s, 11s, 12s, and so on-also receive a trophy.
In Ennis, it was Eric Stubbs who was crowned the King of Texas thanks to his 9.35 average.