Real Street (Continued)
Tim Matherly didn't have time to convert his car to EFI Renegade formover the off-season, and we're sure Tim wishes he could've made theswitch because 2006 hasn't been too much fun for the '04 Real Streetchampion. Low car counts in Real Street and the performance paritybetween combinations are at the heart off the matter, and burning up hisjunk at the first two races surely doesn't help. Tim qualified second atReynolds with a 10.05 at 131 mph, but said, "I was in a hurry," whenasked about his redlight against teammate Jim Breese in the semis.
Bruce Hemminger has been busy tuning on Justin Burcham's Real Street andputting his own signature on the car. What's held back the team ishaving the chance to tune on the car while not at an event, but with thecar at Justin's place in Maryland and Bruce in Illinois, that's beenhard to overcome. With the break between Reynolds and Maple Grove, Brucewill get the car and you can bet the team will be that much strongercome Maple Grove. Bruce's own car should be at Maple Grove with MarkMagnuson at the wheel, and we know how good that car runs.
At Bradenton, UPR's Jeremy Martorella drove Paul Alfeo's GT hatch. AtReynolds, Paul was at the helm of the nitrous-motivated Real Streeter.He qualified with an animated 10.43 at 130 mph, but had problems allweekend. First, the boys had to use borrowed heads and a swap-meetintake, and they couldn't get away from running a 10.43 every time(three runs). Jeremy and Paul had no luck changing anything. Nothingmade a difference until DiabloSport's Willie Figueroa tuned on the carafter Tim Matherly eliminated Paul in round one, and it picked up 50 hpand 90 lb-ft of torque. Look for 10.teens at Maple Grove with theimproved power and reduced rolling resistance thanks to lightweightStrange Engineering brakes.
Robin Lawrence thought he'd gotten through all his bad luck atBradenton, but he couldn't have been more wrong. It seemed every time weturned around, Robin was having problems, and we were right. He broke alifter, his transmission popped out of gear due to a misadjustedshifter, then he found another bad lifter. For his first-round match-upagainst Jim Breese, Robin pulled the car into the burnout box only tohear a clacking sound from under the hood. That noise turned out to be adropped valve seat, which ended his weekend for good. In all, Robin hadthe intake manifold off three times, the transmission out of the cartwice, he changed out the clutch, and don't forget about the shifterissues. Robin says he's making good power, but he's having difficultykeeping all the parts aligned.
Pure Street
Brad Meadows says he had a pretty smooth race at Reynolds, and heactually left the track early a couple of nights. "No torn-uptransmissions or anything like that," he says. Kuntz and Company came onduring the off-season to help with the power-production department,which paid off at Reynolds. Brad says he's off to the best start he'sever had. He says he usually starts off slow, then comes on at the end,but the opposite has proved true so far in 2006. In the final againstRyan Hecox, he showed his veteran racing skills by getting a goodreaction time and outrunning Ryan with a 10.35 to a 10.50.
When we were shocked to see a pushrod powerplant under the hood of RyanHecox's Cobra, his crewmember Wayne Thomas piped up, "Just add water--outpops a 5.0 liter." Specifically, a Rich Groh Racing-built 310ci made itsdebut under the hood of Ryan's Cobra at Bradenton in place of lastyear's Four-Valve Factory Stock combination, but at Reynolds the combostarted to come around. With a 129-mph trap speed, we knew the power wasthere, but with an RGR-built engine, it was a no-brainer since Richbuilds 'em big--sometimes a little too big. Ryan cashed in on themisfortunes of his fellow Pure Street racers until he met up with BradMeadows in the final where he spun big-time off the line, costing himprecious e.t. and his first NMRA victory.
Factory Stock
Although Shawn Johnson says he's still learning what he can and can't dowith the '06 rules package, what separates him from the rest of theFactory Stock crowd is the power of his Cobra and his suspension setup.The short time between the Bradenton and Reynolds races meant testingwas at a minimum because of time constraints and the desire to saveparts. Shawn's clutch sponsor, RPS, is working diligently to keep thepower going rearward, but at Reynolds he was still concerned aboutleaning on the car unless he had to, which wasn't until the final roundagainst Jeff Schmell. Just two races in, and Shawn still has the car tobeat in Factory Stock. But with rule changes opening up furthermodifications for the pushrod crowd, can he continue his reign? We'llknow after Maple Grove.
The lone Factory Stock racer within reach of Shawn Johnson is fellowFour-Valve racer Jeff Schmell and his '03 Mach 1. But he's played therole of bridesmaid at both events so far in 2006. For Jeff, Reynolds wasuneventful, which was a relief compared with swapping out severalclutches at Bradenton. Jeff still utilizes the engine-building talentsof Boss 330 Racing's Al Papitto to make the power, which he hopes to gethim in the winner's circle sooner than later. At Reynolds, Jeff didn'thave the chassis to keep up with Shawn in the final.
Modular Muscle
Perennial mod-motor favorite Robert Hindman pulled his old '87 GT out ofthe barn to do battle in Modular Muscle. With the new Indexed classqualifying arrangement going by reaction times instead of quarter-miletimes, qualifying gave racers more than just a chance to practice, andcutting a good light took on even greater importance. But it wasbusiness as usual for Gene, and the family drag-racing business is good,even if his brother Gene is taking 2006 off. Robert's 0.515 reactiontime put him in the 12th qualifying spot. He rose to the top duringeliminations thanks to unequalled reaction times and consistent passesright on his 11.02 dial-in. In the final, Robert was matched up againstCharlie McCulloch, but Robert got the better of Charlie this timearound.
Open Comp
OK, so it may not be a Mustang, but Milton Grow's '78 Fairmont is stilla Fox body, which is what that Fox Mustang in your garage is based on.Milton's Mustang brotha from anotha motha settled into the 12th spotjust like Modular Muscle winner Robert Hindman, and the result was thesame for Milton with an Open Comp victory. Even though some find humorat having a Ford Fairmont as a race car, Milton's Fox Ford is no joke--itruns mid-10s, and he has the driving skill to match. His worst reactionduring eliminations was a 0.552, and that was in the final against RandyConway. But Randy had a 0.600 light, and he was off his dial-in morethan Milton, which gave him the win.
Truck and Lightning
We figured there would be more Truck and Lightning competitors at SilverDollar Raceway, but with eight, Mike Motycka was the last truckerstanding. His 0.513 reaction time qualified him in the second spotbehind Johnny Lightning's 0.505 light, but Mike was the only racer toconsistently keep reaction times low while running on his dial. In theTruck and Lighting final with Mike going up against '05 champion"Captain" Keith Kohlmann, the defending champ redlighted, handing Mikethe win.