Dan Millen has been tearing things up this past year in the NMCA, theNMRA's sister sanctioning body. But if there's a 10.5W race, you'll morethan likely see the Livernois Motorsports trailer pull in the gates. AtReynolds, Millen had a problem getting traction off the line on aconsistent basis. Whenever the car launched and got up on the wheeliebars, the suspension unloaded, instantly causing the tires to go up insmoke. The single-turbocharged car did get in a solid qualifying pass--a7.17--but in round one against Jim Monson, traction once again became aproblem, ending Dan's weekend prematurely.
Jamie Holten made all the changes to his car according to the '06 rules,but nothing to the engine. Jamie tested a few times before Reynolds, butnot nearly the amount of laps he's accustomed to running. But once atReynolds, his was the quickest pushrod car in Factory Stock even thoughhis 60-foot times were way off. During qualifying, Jamie blew everytooth off his 8.8's ring-and-pinion so he had to buy one from BrianMeyer, along with a differential. Jamie and his boys got it backtogether Sunday morning and won the first round with a 12.15, then hetook out Jonathan Paulk in round two on just seven cylinders because arocker came loose in the burnout box. In the semis against Schmell, hehad the worst 60-foot with a 1.89 short time, and he was unable to makeup the ground.
It was quite warm at Reynolds, so when our boys here offered up a coldMountain Dew, who were we to pass it up? They had boiled peanuts, chips,cold beverages, and shade. We'll see ya'll next year. Have the MountainDew on ice.
Pro 5.0
Aside from Carl Smart's and Joe Morgan's qualifying troubles, Pro 5.0had the potential to be a real crowd-pleaser. Michael Hauf qualifiednumber one with a 6.63 at 209 mph, while the number-eight qualifierAlbertus Kelkboom came in with a 6.78 at 208 mph. For those scoring athome, these numbers set up exactly what we want to see--tight,side-by-side racing. Hauf had no one to race against in round one thanksto a bye, but David Schorr's Escort came to play in round two. Knowingthe Hauf machine was running strong, however, David reacted a little tooearly with a 0.390 light, which was about 0.010 too quick. Up next cameMr. 0.400, Donnie Walsh, who lived up to the nickname by cutting aspectacular 0.416 light, but Michael wasn't far off with his own 0.427reaction time. Michael needed every bit of it to squeak past Don with a6.71 to Don's hair-slower 6.76. In the final against Tom Jacobs, Michaellet his guard down out of the gate, and he almost paid for it by handingTom the win, but he had just enough to pull out the victory.
While Michael Hauf was working his side of the Pro-5.0 ladder, TomJacobs had his nitrous-assisted '67 Mustang fastback going rounds aftera stellar 6.73/202-mph blast to land in the fourth qualifying spot.Compared with his sleeker Pro 5.0 brethren, Tom had a much harder timepushing his car through the wind, but that's where the nitrous comes in,and a big-block under the scoop certainly doesn't hurt. Tom had to getthrough two other nitrous cars of Carl Smart and Joe Morgan to earn aspot in the final, and even though Michael opened the door a tad with a0.521 reaction time, Tom was unable to capitalize with his own 0.461light, and Michael won the round and the race with a 6.72 to Tom's 6.78.If only Tom's '67 Mustang's front end weren't longer, right?
Outlaw 10.5W
The Reynolds race presented the first opportunity for the 10.5W-tireMustangs to come out and play in NMRA competition. If there's ever aquestion who the man is in 10.5W Mustang racing we'll go ahead and tellyou it's Tim Lynch. The Lynch Mob, with Steve Petty doing the tuning andengine work, has been nearly unbeatable in 10.5W racing up and down theEast Coast. These guys have been racing for years, and since Reynolds isbasically in their backyard, everyone knew they'd be tough to beat. Thetwin-turbocharged, 449ci small-block combo qualified in the top spotwith a 7.flat at 205 mph. Tim had a relatively easy first couple roundsthanks to a redlight start by Dwayne James, and then a second round bye.His toughest test would be in the semis against Chocolate Chip Havemann,but he moved on to face Lance Styck in the finals where he took thefirst 10.5W victory of the year.
Lance Styck has had some wild rides in his day, but Reynolds is one ofhis home tracks and he took advantage of the home-cooking afterqualifying ninth in the tightly contested Outlaw 10.5 class. Theturbocharged Styck, like Tim Lynch, is no stranger to 10.5W races sincethey're hugely popular in the South, and he showed that experienceduring eliminations by getting past David Hance and Jim Monson on hisway to the final, where Tim Lynch awaited. Unfortunately for Lance, Timremained in top form and Lance was unable to keep up.