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2009 NMRA Bradenton- Packin' The TrackKicking Off The Season In Style, The NMRA Shows Mustang Performance Is Alive And Well From the August, 2009 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By Michael Johnson, Steve Turner Photography by Michael Johnson, Paul Rosner, Steve Turner
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Though the NMRA season closed on a high note last October, the country's turmoil was at full-throttle. Gas prices were high; the economy threw a rod; an election was imminent. After a tumultuous off-season, would the racers and fans be ready to race again in the spring? We had a feeling that cheaper gas and the need to forget all the bad news and the winter weather would make for a healthy event. That's just the way it turned out. Though the heads-up car counts weren't at full strength, that's typical of the first race of the season as racers scramble to wrap up their programs. What impressed, however, was the massive turnout in the car show and the stands. NMRA officials say that Saturday's spectator turnout may be the biggest ever. In short, people still love their Mustang performance, and we couldn't be happier. Better yet, that huge crowd was able to soak up some awesome record-setting race action. Kicking off the season with 7-second drag radial racing and huge crowds sets the stage for big things this season, so check out the captions to see who has the early jump on those coveted Nitto Diamond Tree rings.  We were stoked to see a seven-car...  We were stoked to see a seven-car field in Real Street at the opener, but it wasn't the front-runners that were drawing a crowd in the pits. Jonathan Musil brought a "new" car into the Real Street fray. It was new to racing, but certainly not new. Just weeks before the event, the car had a tree growing up through the engine compartment. Jonathan's team rushed the car into race shape and got a one-race waiver on the paint, but the team's race ended in the first round when the ancient crank busted on the starting line.  Putting the fear into the...  Putting the fear into the entire crowd, Conrad Scarry's '04 Mustang Pro Outlaw racer took a hard right at the top end and disappeared into a cloud of smoke as it careened out of control and crashed during the second round of qualifying. Witnesses at the top end told Conrad's opponent, Mike Murillo, that the Scarry machine nearly missed the back of Mike's Star Car II. Fortunately that didn't happen, and Conrad walked away from the crash. His car, however, was pretty used up.  Another scare in Pro Outlaw...  Another scare in Pro Outlaw came in the first round of eliminations, as flames erupted underneath Dwayne "Fireball" James' '03 Cobra. The flames filled the cockpit, and while Dwayne acted quickly, flipping down his visor and pulling the release cable for the fire suppression system, it took a second Herculean tug to get the system activated. Finally the fire disappeared in a flash. It wasn't soon enough, however, as Dwayne still suffered second-degree burns on his face. A quick trip to a burn specialist, and Dwayne was in fine spirits with his medicine in hand.  Tech Editor Jones and Associate...  Tech Editor Jones and Associate Editor Johnson are big Maverick fans, and Editor Turner grew up in a two-Maverick household for a few years in the '70s. As such, we were all excited to see Don Bowles shaking up the Hot Street class with his new Mav! Powered by a high-revving, Roush-built, 398ci Windsor, Don's Maverick lived up to its wild name on the starting line. Don was chasing just the right suspension settings to grab the track without reaching for the sky. He qualified in the fifth spot with an 8.88/150.22 pass, but fell to Tim Eichorn in the first round.  With four Diamond Tree rings...  With four Diamond Tree rings in his collection, including those from the last three seasons, John "Do Work, Son" Urist is back in the Super Street Outlaw hunt looking for one more to complete the fistful of rings. From the outset it looked like things were going John's way. He qualified at the top of the ladder with a 7.427/189.75 blast, and ran as quick as 193 in qualifying rounds. In Round 1, John drove around Chris Tuten but hurt his motor in the process. He took the beams for his third-round bye, but the Hellion Power Systems crew didn't have time to fix the wounded powerplant in time to take on Don Burton.  Pro outlaw 10.5 Keith Neal...  Pro outlaw 10.5
Keith Neal thanked Sheppard Race Cars and his new crew chief, Rick Irwin (we thought he looked familiar), for helping get him to victory at Bradenton. "After all the problems last year, we were determined to avoid parts failures this time out, so we backed the new John Urist-built bullet down to only 28 pounds of boost, then set up everything to leave nice and soft, which paid off in spades for us later Sunday during eliminations," Keith says. With Conrad Scarry and Jerry Morgano suffering mishaps prior to Sunday, the door was wide open. Keith took advantage of others' misfortunes during eliminations. In the final, Rueben Tetsoshvili lost traction and went 9.20 at 147 mph while Keith ran a 7.281 at 199.37. For the race, Keith was able to try Mickey Thompson's new 16-inch tire and he likes it. "They've really got something going on with that new tire design," Keith says.  Super Street Outlaw We didn't...  Super Street Outlaw
We didn't actually see it, but we'd have to guess that even the melancholy Don "Burndown" Burton cracked a smile resulting from his opening-weekend success. After squeezing out a piston ring during testing and rebuilding his engine on Friday, he qualified in the third spot thanks to a 7.591/191.24 pass. Don easily dispatched Perry Santini and Jon McDonald before riding a bye run into the finals against John Urist. In the round that counts, Don must have known John's car was hurt, as the two had an epic starting-line duel before Don eventually took the tree and blasted the victory with a 7.591 at 192.06.  Ruben Tetsoshvili from Wesley...  Ruben Tetsoshvili from Wesley Chapel, Florida, thought he carried a butter knife to a shootout, but that's why the lights drop on the tree. It doesn't matter how things appear-it's a matter of who makes it to the finish line first. Ruben qualified his turbocharged Fox GT in the sixth spot with an 8.01 at 180 mph. Ruben had a single in Round 1, and got past a struggling Dan Millen in a borrowed car in Round 2. Ruben does a lot of racing in the Tampa Bay area, but the home cooking wasn't enough to get him past Keith Neal in the final.  EFI Renegade Brian Mitchell...  EFI Renegade
Brian Mitchell doesn't usually have the best luck at Bradenton. This year, things were a little different. "I couldn't have asked for a better weekend," he says. "Nice, warm weather; clear skies; and a car that worked perfect. It's rare to have the Florida race go so smooth." Brian didn't change up his program for 2009. He still relies on Cleveland Performance and Vortech superchargers for the power, and a ProFormance Transmissions C4 with a Frank Lupo Dynamic converter to transfer the power. Though his old car with Dan Rawls at the wheel trumped him for the top spot for qualifying, Dan hurt the old car and never made it to Sunday. That left the door open for Brian, and he made the most of the opportunity by taking the win over Chris VanGilder in the final.  5.0&SF feature-car alum Sean...  5.0&SF feature-car alum Sean Lyon was on a roll at the season opener. His Panhandle Performance-prepped '93 LX tucked in to the second qualified spot thanks to an 8.014/181.26. Though he seemed poised to make his own run at the Drag Radial record book, Sean never dipped into the 7s. He simply clicked off a string of consistent low-8-second blasts, while taking out Pete Johnson and Orson Johnson enroute to riding a bye run into the finals against Jason Lee. There Mr. Consistency met Mr. 7-seconds. It was a great race, but Sean's head start on the tree wasn't enough to hold off Jason.  We're huge fans of Deep Jewel...  We're huge fans of Deep Jewel Green, which means we love Chris VanGilder's '90 LX. Plus Chris is a diehard NMRA racer, so we enjoyed seeing him do well at Bradenton. Chris qualified fifth and took advantage of Dan Rawls absence in Round 1. Then Chris pulled out a stellar 8.64 against Alton Clements to get to the final. He pulled out yet another 8.64 in the final against Brian Mitchell, but Brian's own 8.61 was just a tad too much to overcome. There are plenty of strong runners in the EFI Renegade class, but watch out for Chris as the season rolls on.  Drag Radial Kicking off the...  Drag Radial
Kicking off the '09 season in record-setting fashion, Jason Lee put up the number and backed it up, too, to become the first Drag Radial racer in the 7-second zone. He qualified in the top spot with a just-on-the-cusp 8.001/175.13. After a first-round single, Jason lowered the boom on Matt Bell with a 7.987/174.55 ripper. After only beating Sonny Biggs with an 8.10, Jason set the stage for a titanic battle with Sean Lyon's consistent low-8-second player. If Jason felt the pressure, it didn't show. He was just a tick slow on the tree, but laid down a punishing 7.974/174.85 pass to take out Sean and cement his name in the Drag Radial history books.  Real Street From torched...  Real Street
From torched clutches in qualifying to a destroyed tent in the pits, the Tim Matherly team was fighting an uncharacteristic rash of bad luck. In fact, Editor Turner stopped by to check on team Matherly and was nearly carried away by a freak gust of wind while trying in vain to anchor the tent. Naturally, the perennial Real Street favorite fought through his problems. After qualifying a bit off pace in the third spot, Tim was on a mission in qualifying, taking out Michael "Wheelstand" Washington in Round 1 and teammate Jim Breese in Round 2 before defeating upstart Dave Ginter in the finals.  Hot Street With a Roush Performance...  Hot Street
With a Roush Performance 400ci engine on board, Robbie Blankenship started off 2009 the right way. With a year under his belt with this car, Robbie had it figured out pretty well at Bradenton. He qualified with an 8.63 at 151 mph to pace the field. After winning the championship last year, Robbie again showed why he's the defending Hot Street champion by being consistent, yet a little rusty, on the tree the first race out. Good thing for Robbie, as it appeared his competition was just as rusty. Robbie had a first-round single; then put a tenth on Tim Eichorn driving the SAM car, and then Ben Mens rolled through the beams in the final to hand Robbie the opening win.  Ben Mens, an engine builder...  Ben Mens, an engine builder at Roush, had a busy off-season. Not only was he busy getting his own Hot Street ride ready for the '09 season, he was also helping build Don Bowles' new Maverick Hot Street car. Though the weekend didn't prove overly successful for Don, Ben made it to the finals against Robbie Blankenship, but rolled through the beams, handing the win to Robbie.  Straight outta Wisconsin,...  Straight outta Wisconsin, Dave Ginter was brimming with confidence at Bradenton, saying he was ready to make a serious run in Real Street this season. Rather than making big changes to his combo, Dave spent the off-season working on the driver mod, and it showed. Just hundredths out of the top qualified spot, Dave trailered a pair of Pauls (Wiley and Alfeo) on his way to clashing with Tim Matherly. Dave was just two ticks behind Tim at the jump, but didn't have the power to hold him off.  Sitting on top of the Real...  Sitting on top of the Real Street world after qualifying, Jim Breese started off eliminations with ease thanks to a first-round bye. Unfortunately, the way the ladder fell, Jim was forced to square off with teammate Tim Matherly in the second round. Jim chopped down the tree, and it looked like he had a chance to stave of his opponent. Alas, Tim had the oats to make a move on the big end, and Jim's weekend was over.  Pure Street Returning to...  Pure Street
Returning to Pure Street after a yearlong sabbatical, '07 Pure Street champ Jimmy Wilson showed he hasn't lost a step. He qualified right on the heels of Mark Anderson and was just toying with his opponents in eliminations. In the second round, he laid two tenths on Steve Gifford with a searing 10.20/130.64, which served as a warning to Mark Anderson, who had clicked off a couple 10.24s of his own. Ultimately, that warning caused Mark to light the red bulb.  Mark Anderson is the man....  Mark Anderson is the man. Not only did he step up to fill the big gear-banging shoes of his dad, Ron Anderson, behind the wheel of the familiar silver Mustang, but Mark actually convinced his wife, Sarah, that going racing while she cared for their three children was a good idea. That's quite a feat. It was also a feat to put the car atop the qualifying ladder with a 10.237/129.88 ripper. Despite his car's wheelstanding tendencies, Mark managed to keep things consistent all the way till the end. He thought he needed a jump to take out Jimmy Wilson; instead he lit the red bulb.  Despite finding a bunch of...  Despite finding a bunch of nagging issues with his combo, Paul Alfeo put up a brave fight, qualifying in the fourth spot with a 10.08/132.84. After leaving Jonathan Musil at the line with a broken crank in Round 1, Paul squared off against Dave Ginter and laid down a 9.96, but it wasn't enough to handle Dave's 9.76.
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