2009 Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing - Family Feud - NMRA/NMCA Joliet, Illinois '09

Hot Street
Some things never change. Charlie Booze Jr. found himself sitting in the Route 66 Raceway Winner's Circle after a decisive win in the Edelbrock Hot Street final over Don Bowles Sr. "We did it again here," says Charlie, who has bested the rest in Joliet an amazing six times (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009).

Jim Pickel's runner-up finish in the Real Street final was bittersweet. While the achievement would have been Jim's first appearance in an NMRA final round, an electrical problem with Jim's Olive Drab '93 coupe prevented him from actually making that appearance, giving Bruce Hemminger an unopposed trip down the strip for the win.

Don Bowles's little yellow Maverick's impressive performance continues in its debut season in Hot Street. Don beat defending class champ Robbie Blankenship, as well as the always-tough Max Gross, on his road to the final at the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, but he fell just short of a class win in an exciting final round versus Charlie Booze Jr.

Real Street stalwarts and teammates Jim Breese (far lane) and Tim Matherly squared off against each other in Round One of eliminations, with Tim cashing in on "racer's luck" and overcoming Jim's massive holeshot (0.023 to 0.233), after Jim's '01 GT experienced engine problems.

Pure Street
Mark Anderson and Sea Biscuit followed up their Milan victory by qualifying on the Pole; then claiming the Eibach Springs Pure Street title over Ryan Hecox at the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, taking over the class' points lead in the process. "It was a tough race. Teddy Weaver is really starting to fly and so are a lot of other guys in the class. It was a good time, a good weekend. Now that we're leading in points, we'll have to try and go to all of them (the remaining races)," says Mark. Grandpa Ron Anderson says he's strongly considering renaming the Kuntz-sponsored '89 LX "Sunday Money" now, as the coupe continues to rake in the loot on race day.

Three times was almost the proverbial charm for Ryan "Magic Man" Hecox, as it took a trifecta of clutch assemblies for Ryan to reach the final round in Pure Street in his Cobra-cloned '04 GT. Despite the driveline issues, Ryan credits something he calls "the Gene Hindman factor" for helping him get through a tough Pure Street field for his all-or-nothing confrontation with Mark Anderson. "We made a cylinder-head change before we got here (removed the Trick Flow heads for a 50-pound weight reduction), and that made a pretty significant difference. I'm thankful to finish where I finished," says Ryan.

We dig the paint layout on Mad Matt Johnson's clean '93 LX notchback!