16th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout

Tim Matherly's passion for the Real Street class is undeniable. Not only did he voluntarily surrender his deadly consistent Bullitt for a brand-new '10 Mustang, he also made the move to the newly legal Three-Valve engine-temporarily. After fighting his way through a broken transmission and struggling to run with the hitters with a sixth-place qualifier (11.970/121.68), Tim switched back to his proven Two-Valve combo for eliminations. It was too little, too late as he fell to longtime teammate Jim Breese in the second round, 9.60 to 9.49. Getting a new car in the groove is always a challenge, but it wouldn't be wise to write off the multi-time champion just yet.

Chad Doyle took some time off to regroup and rebuild his car for faster times. Chad still utilizes ProCharger power, and the car now features a Roush Competition Engines bullet under the hood. Chad settled in with 8.0s during qualifying, but his weekend was short-lived at the hands of Sean Lyon in Round 1.

Max Gross is flying the Team Powerhead colors and he was flying them high at Bradenton. Bumper shots were the norm for Max at the NMRA opener. Max runs the smaller 360ci combination to carry less weight in Hot Street trim. He was routinely in the 8.50s at Bradenton, but 2009 champ Robbie Blankenship beat him to the stripe in Round 2.

Pro outlaw 10.5
Though reminded of last year's scary wreck every time he pulled into the burnout box, Conrad Scarry exorcised Bradenton's demons this time around. The Deerfield Beach, Florida, resident put his big-block, twin-turbocharged Mustang at the top of Pro Outlaw, and kept it there all weekend....

....Conrad and the Scarry crew had an easy time of it for eliminations, even giving our boy Billy Driscoll slight hope in the final with an abysmal 0.823 light. Conrad seemingly gave Billy the leave and then some before reeling him in at half track for the win.

Billy Driscoll damaged his SSO-legal 94mm turbo, so he bolted on a 106mm single turbo and stepped up to the Pro Outlaw class. He was able to finally run some laps instead of running into issues. With Jim Blair and Mike Murillo leaving early due to catastrophic damage, and Dwayne James still figuring out his blower/stick combo, Billy was able to go rounds on Sunday. In the final against Conrad Scarry, Billy scored a massive holeshot and was out by a car and a half just past the 60-foot mark. However, that lead evaporated quickly as Conrad flew by for the win.

Laying in wait at the season opener was John MacDonald. While Urist and Vincent were trading body blows in qualifying, Johnny Mac quietly qualified in the fourth spot with a 7.450 at 194.17 mph. As we've often seen, it's not only the quickest car that wins the race, but the most consistent that triumphs. John did just that. In the first round he got an easy win when Daniel Pachar's modular Triangle Speed Shop machine faltered.....

....Then he squared off with top qualifier Sam Vincent for the quickest side-by-side pass in SSO history. John got the jump and held Sam off at the stripe for a dramatic win. After that it was smooth sailing as John took out the off-pace Chip Havemman and Chris Tuten en route to the big win.

A longtime NMRA soldier, Chris Tuten started in Real Street, jumped up to Drag Radial, and these days is slugging it out in the brutal ranks of SSO. He's the kind of racer that's always in the mix no matter how the odds are stacked against him. We stopped by and he reported that he'd tested at Bradenton just before the race with great results, but when he showed up the surface was completely different. Thus his struggle was finding traction after qualifying third with a solid 7.407/194.30 pass. As it turned out, Chris didn't really see a real challenge till he met up with Johnny Mac in the finals. We know how that ended, but it was all over at the tree.

We were also able to catch Drag Radial defending champion Jason Lee in testing a week prior, but he had to get the car back into NMRA trim for Bradenton. Once he had the tune-up right, he was once again flying to the tune of high 7s. Also a blower-carrying member of the ProCharger camp, Jason ran a 7.94 to land at the top spot.....

....Jason had a relatively easy time of it in eliminations-at least, till the final round, where he ran into problems against Enzo Pecchini. However, Enzo had bigger problems as you'll read, and Jason was able to skate by his buddy for the win.

Enzo Pecchini ran his first 7-second pass at the end of 2009, and 7s should be the norm in 2010 with Tim Lyons turning the wrenches and spinning the tune. Enzo had a single in round, and then ran a 7.98 in Round 2 to get past Sean Lyon. In the final against Jason Lee, Enzo appeared headed for victory, but his car kept drifting toward the wall before he actually hit the wall, which allowed Jason to come around him for the win. Enzo actually wrecked his former Fox GT at Bradenton a couple years ago, so it appears Bradenton may have Enzo's number.

Rocking a Four-Valve 5.0 modular boosted by a Vortech, Alton Clements' Fox also wears a giant bullseye, otherwise known as the big number "1" on the window. Yep, being last year's champ carries no advantage this year-it only means you're expecting a tough race in every round. From the moment qualifying began, the young champ was looking at a murderer's row.....

.....The top four qualifiers were in the 8.30 range, and Alton ended up four ticks behind number-one qualifier Bart Tobener's 8.30. After narrowly escaping an off-pace run against Brian Mitchell in the first round, Alton actually had a pretty smooth run to the finals, where Dan Rawls had issues to the tune of 11.35 and Alton stayed on his game with an 8.38.

Running in Brian Mitchell's old Wizard 1 ride, engine-builder Dan Rawls strutted his stuff with a push-rod/nitrous combo. With 364 cubes built by his own hand, Dan is proud to pilot the quickest and fastest nitrous Renegade around. He gives lots of props to his nitrous sponsor, Induction Solutions, especially for that company's lightweight ADRL-style solenoids. While getting his ride to 60-foot was an issue, Dan still qualified in the top three, right behind Alton, with an 8.39/164 hit. After easing past Mike Catapano in Round 1 and having a close call with Bart Tobener in Round 2, the track got the best of Dan in the finals and Alton took the easy win (8.389 to 11.356).

The naturally aspirated rpm maniacs that make up the Hot Street class were in their element at Bradenton. Five-count 'em, five-revving maniacs dropped 0.40s on the board, and there were only six cars racing in the class. Clocking in right behind Charlie Booze in the number-two spot was Robbie Blankenship with his 8.448/158.31 pass. Of course, in Hot Street, no matter where you qualify you're facing a brutal lineup of competitors.....

....This time around it was Robbie's competitors that were in for it. Robbie was choppin' down the tree and never left the 8.40s in eliminations. Come finals time, Robbie stepped up his work at the tree, getting a big jump on perennial favorite Charlie Booze Jr. (0.013 to 0.075) and never looking back (8.44 to 8.63).

Despite the quick pace of the NA action at Bradenton, Charlie Booze looked poised to win another one. After dropping the top qualifying number on board and resetting both ends of the record with an 8.40 and a 160.850 mph, Charlie was the man to beat (again). The Booze Brothers Racing machine bested Tim Eichorn in Round 1, and thanks to the big qualifying number rode a bye into the finals. There Charlie decided to take the long way down the track, riding a 300-foot wheelstand toward the wall, then bringing the car back down the middle of the track. That wild ride scrubbed off some e.t. and handed Robbie the easy win.

Stepping out of the shadow of his teammate, Jim Breese finally cast aside his always-a-bridesmaid look to lay claim to a Real Street victory. After a successful run in open-comp-style racing, Jim showed immense dedication to soldier for years in the RS ranks. Always a model of consistency, Jim clocked in just ticks behind Dan Bauman in the number-two qualified spot with a 9.65/140.....

....From there on out, Jim was one with the track, doing just enough to comfortably best his opponents. Each round seemed like it would provide a challenge, and each time Jim took the easy win. In the finals, Jim bested the nascent Dan Baumann for the big win, instantly boosting the value of his for-sale ride.

No, your eyes don't deceive you. Uncle Robin has not returned from the dark side-well, not exactly. You see, Dan Baumann purchased Unc's Fox when he made the move to the historic '05 car, and ran the car in various local races back in Illinois. This year he decided to make a run at our beloved Real Street class, and brought Robin along in a crew chief role. Obviously, our old pal hasn't forgotten about making a Vortech and Ford small-block sing, and Dan proved he can wheel a 'Stang with the best of them. He topped the qualifying sheet with a 9.548/141.59. After a close call in Round 1 against Dave Ginter, Dan rode a bye in the finals, where he fell to Jim Breese. Dan got the jump but Jim had the muscle on the top end.

Pure Street
Ryan Hecox wasn't too excited about running at Bradenton due to his car boasting a stock block powerplant. He really didn't have high expectations, but the car kept getting quicker each pass. Steve Gifford appeared to be the only roadblock for Ryan....

....after blasting a 10.04 at 134 mph, but Steve ran into problems in eliminations. This opened the door for Ryan, who was able to cruise to victory with a 10.17 at 131 mph in the final against David Hill.

David Hill is Florida racer from Casselberry, which is near Orlando. He's been a regular Bradenton attendee for several years now, and has continually improved his Pure Street coupe with help from Real Street Performance's Jay Meagher. This time around, David made it to the finals with consistent 10.20s, but an off-pace 10.60 wasn't enough in the final against Ryan Hecox.