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2010 NMRA Inaugural Tire Peach State Nationals EventThe NMRA Takes Its Show To Atlanta Dragway In Commerce, Georgia From the September, 2010 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By Michael Johnson Photography by Michael Johnson
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With Fun Ford Weekend's demise, several markets were left out in the cold. Since the NMRA and Fun Ford didn't share venues, traditional Fun Ford tracks suddenly found themselves without Ford races. UPR Products swooped in to save the Epping, New Hampshire, race with its own Ford Fest, and Atlanta Dragway also proved a viable location to help continue the Ford racing tradition. The NMRA believed that this track deserved an event, so the sanction played host to the Inaugural Nitto Tire Peach State Nationals in March 2010. The Atlanta area has always been a hotbed for Mustang drag racing, and that was hard for the NMRA to ignore. Though the inaugural version was a non-points, get-our-feet-wet-type event, we hope for full events for 2011 and beyond. There are tons of Mustangs in the area. Plus, Atlanta's somewhat centralized location means the usual suspects would be happy to attend. The track is minutes from Interstate 85, and there are plenty of restaurants and hotels in the area, so it's a perfect fit for the NMRA. Since the Inaugural Nitto Tire Peach State Nationals was a non-points event, it featured limited classes to show the NMRA's newest fans what it had to offer. The event featured an old-school match race between John Urist and Chris Tuten; combined classes for Hot Street and EFI Renegade, Real Street and Pure Street; a Factory Stock class, True Street, and a combined Modular Muscle/Open Comp class. Peep the captions for the results.  Sadly, the John Urist/Chris...  Sadly, the John Urist/Chris Tuten match race was pretty much over before it started. We remember John having issues here back in the day with his original Street Outlaw coupe, but these days he's a little better equipped to handle breakage. However, mechanical issues kept John from running at full strength. The Hellion Power Systems crew didn't find the issue until they got the car back home, which was obviously too late to take out Chris Tuten. Chris had zero issues as he cruised to mid-7s just about every pass. In a classic supercharger versus turbocharger match-up,Tuten's turbo came out on top.  Dwayne James and crew are...  Dwayne James and crew are really starting to get a handle on the car's ProCharger/g-Force five-speed combination. The car was at Atlanta to put on a show, and that's one thing Dwayne knows how to do. His team has come a long way as far as getting the car out of the hole, but the guys are working on the number down-track. Dwayne runs the car in Pro Outlaw 10.5 and needs the car to be firmly in the 6s to compete.  FYI
Fresh off MV Performance's...  FYI
Fresh off MV Performance's Mustang Dyno, where it made over 380 hp to the wheels, the Mach 1 owned by Gene Evans Ford parts-expert Joe Charles and his wife, Kelly, hit the track at Atlanta. The car features a Ford Racing Aluminator long-block with Boss 330 Racing-ported heads, FRPP FR500 camshafts, and an FRPP FR500 intake. A TR3650 resides in the tunnel, but it's been fortified with a ProMotion Powertrain 26-spline input shaft, a Steeda Autosports Tri-Ax shifter, and a SPEC Stage 1 clutch, and SPEC aluminum flywheel. Joe ran 12.0s at Atlanta to win the True Street 12-second award. The car has been back on MV's dyno for more tuning, but you'll have to wait for the feature for those details.  Fore Precision Works came...  Fore Precision Works came to Atlanta to show off its latest fuel system products, including a new boost-reference fuel-pressure regulator. The new regulator is available in a two- or four-port design and is compatible with all fuels. It sports a stainless steel valve seat for precision operation, and we all know when it comes to our Mustang's fuel system, everything needs to be spot-on. The U-Haul truck next to Fore's booth was rented by Blow-By Racing when the company dualie suffered catastrophic mechanical damage on the way to the event. Blow-By's Chris Jones had to scramble to make rental arrangements to attend Commerce.  Woodstock, Ontario, Canada's...  Woodstock, Ontario, Canada's Randy Mounce is a big NMRA supporter, usually running in Modular Muscle. At Atlanta, Modular Muscle, Open Comp, and Truck and Lightning competitors were grouped in the Mod Comp class. Randy and his Kenne Bell-equipped '05 Mustang GT made it to the semifinal before being taken out by eventual runner-up Charlie McCulloch. Randy's GT is usually good for 10.90s-11.0s.  Street Bandit
The Street...  Street Bandit
The Street Bandit class combined EFI Renegade and Hot Street into one class. During eliminations, if an EFI Renegade raced a Hot Street car, the quickest e.t. from the Bradenton event served as an index. If cars from the same class raced, it would be heads-up. For Street Bandit, three racers showed up: EFI Renegade racers Alton Clements and Bart Tobener, and Hot Street racer Don Bowles. When the dust and confusion settled, Alton Clements was the winner. He had a first-round bye, and then ran closest to the EFI Renegade index e.t. of 8.38, albeit an 8.54 at 163 mph.  In the Street Bandit class,...  In the Street Bandit class, it was an open-comp clash of Renegade and Hot Street. It could've been run in a heads-up format since the EFI Renegade record is an 8.38 and Hot Street record clocks in at an 8.40. However, it didn't matter in the final between Don Bowles and Alton Clements. Hot Street racer Don Bowles doesn't have the luxury of boost, but what he does have is Roush Competition Engines powering the wickedest Maverick on the planet. Both Alton and Don were off the Bradenton pace, but Don was off by the larger margin and Alton emerged victorious  Street Race
A combination...  Street Race
A combination of Real Street and Pure Street, Street Race used the same open-comp format as the Street Bandit category. However, the only three racers to show up were all Real Street cars, so every race was heads-up. Tim Matherly had a few issues at the Bradenton opener, but that was to be expected with the fresh steed. At Atlanta, the car started to come around even though the suspension wasn't fully sorted. The car's still bouncing off the launch, but Tim's not lifting. Tim utilized his usual ProCharger-powered Two-Valve, and even though Paul Wiley is still nipping at his heels, Tim returned to winning form.  Atlanta was the perfect venue...  Atlanta was the perfect venue for Monty Golden to get his feet wet in his '96 GT convertible fresh out of MV Performance. In the chilled-out, non-points atmosphere, Monty was able to make a few passes to get accustomed to the car. He ran a 10.39 during qualifying, but at a leisurely 111 mph. Monty's car follows the MV Performance Real Street recipe with a ProCharger-equipped Two-Valve with Trick Flow components. Monty fell to Paul Wiley in Round 1, but we're sure this is not the last time he'll mix it up.  We have an idea once Paul...  We have an idea once Paul Wiley gets his first win it surely won't be his last. Paul qualified just behind Tim with a 9.66 at 139 mph, and he was able to get past Real Street newcomer Monty Golden in Round 1. With Roush power under the hood and a Vortech supercharger to boot, Paul has the capabilities to go rounds but breakage keeps him from putting together a winning race weekend. He's come close several times, but Tim Matherly once again ended Paul's run.  Factory Stock
Factory Stock...  Factory Stock
Factory Stock racer Jay Dold is another NMRA participant turning over his program to MV Performance for decreased e.t.'s. Jay runs a Four-Valve in Factory Stock, and aside from wearing the Atlanta-legal slicks instead of the usual drag radials, the car was in Factory Stock-trim. We could tell, as an antiroll bar is illegal in Factory Stock. With the slicks on the car, Jay looked like Chubby Checker doing the twist on the launch. With antiroll-bar technology reaching most racers these days, it's weird to see a Mustang twist up. But Jay had the twist down and took the Olson Performance Factory Stock class at Atlanta race.  We don't think 2010 is going...  We don't think 2010 is going the way John Leslie Jr. had hoped. He began at Bradenton down on power, and it looked like more of the same at Commerce. He couldn't find the power in Bradenton, and judging by the mid-11s John ran, suffice it to say, he still hasn't found it. Fortunately, the event served as a glorified test session, and it didn't hinder his points earnings. However, his best pass of 11.49 at 115 mph shows he needs to find the lost power to keep up with the fleet Factory Stock competition.  Mod Comp
Mark Young didn't...  Mod Comp
Mark Young didn't have to drive far to race at Atlanta Dragway. Mark hails from Kennesaw, Georgia, and he usually runs in Open Comp, but at Atlanta, Open Comp, Modular Muscle, and Truck and Lightning were combined into one class Mod Comp. Mark's Mustang is modular-powered and he knows how to race it, for sure. Mark combined deft reaction times with running right on his 10.78 index to win the event.  Super Stang
Brenspeed's...  Super Stang
Brenspeed's Brent White brought this '10 Saleen to do battle in Super 'Stang. Brenspeed has turned into one of the go-to vendors for S197 Mustangs, and Brent's win-on-Sunday/sell-on-Monday seems to work. OK, he actually won the Atlanta event on Saturday, but you get what we're saying. One of four Super 'Stang racers, Brent was able to do something that didn't happen a whole lot in 2009-he beat Chris Parisi! Brent's Saleen had a 10.69 index, and he was able to beat Kent Nine in Round 1 and Chris Parisi in the final.
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