2009 NMRA World Finals Exclusive Photos

Factory Stock
It looked like Superman's armor had a chink in it, but Tommy Godfrey was able to rally after having a few computer and mechanical issues throughout the year to win another Factory Stock championship. Even with those issues, Tommy was able to go rounds, and gather enough points to have the championship wrapped by before Bowling Green. His season-ending win was just a cherry on top of another great year. However, we learned Tommy's dad passed away just after Thanksgiving so we're sure a Factory Stock championship is the last thing on his mind right now. Our condolences go out to Tommy and his family.

Matt Amrine didn't have a great weekend at Columbus so he went in search of why. What he found was bent lower control arm bolts, which would explain his GT's lazy 60-foot times. With that issue remedied, Matt took his BES Racing-powered GT to the front of the pack at Bowling Green. The first 60 feet is the most important part of a pass, especially for the Factory Stock guys. With his improved short times, Matt's e.t.'s took the corresponding plunge to 11.30s in qualifying; good for the fourth spot. Tuning the leave Matt was able to get the car down into the 11.teens for eliminations, allowing him to make it past Carlos Sobrino and Louis Sylvester. In the final against Tommy Godfrey, Matt couldn't quite put together a winning pass, coming up about 8 feet 4 inches short of a victory.

Truck and Lightning
In a mix of tough trucks at Bowling Green, Gerry VanVeen and his 14-second Ranger took home the event win. Gerry outlasted the rest of the field thanks to a mixture of good luck, and racing skill. He had a few close calls, but relied on other people's mistakes, capitalizing on opportunity to take the win. Gerry finished the year fourth in points for the Truck and Lightning class.

Open Comp
Wes Dalrymple also did the double dip by winning both Bowling Green, and the Open Comp championship. Wes' method at Bowling Green was to make his opponents beat him. Every round brought with it an excellent reaction time, and once he was out on his opponent, Wes knew what he had to do. He had his big-block Fox dialed in, and no one was able to put him on the trailer.

Super 'Stang
Paul Gamino gets to race some of the coolest Mustangs and Ford Trucks we've ever seen. He has raced a Saleen F150, a Saleen 25th Anniversary Mustang, and now this '10 Saleen 435S. The car runs out of the JDM Engineering stable, and makes over 500hp at the wheels through the stock five-speed automatic. Though the car is 10-second capable, Paul had the Saleen dialed back to an 11.01, and he pretty much ran the number every pass. Like Open Comp's Wes Dalrymple, Paul concentrated on cutting a good light, and went from there. Proving Paul knows what he's doing, he took that talent all the way to the final for the win.