NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing - 'Bowled Over

Mike Murillo set the e.t. and mph standards during qualifying, and carried the momentum all the way to a showdown with Conrad Scarry in a Pro Outlaw 10.5 final that has become somewhat common (going into Joliet, the pair had met in two finals). The outcome was a bit different this time, as Mike scored his first NMRA win of 2010, and first-ever Super Bowl title, after defeating the NMCA's Joe Dunn.

Conrad Scarry definitely found out that "anything can happen in a drag race" in the Pro Outlaw 10.5 final. After leaving light years ahead of a slumbering Mike Murillo's 0.209 starting-line reaction, a freak transmission failure slowed Conrad's usually flawless New Edge to a way-off-pace of 7.17 at 175 mph, ruining a chance for Conrad to keep his winning streak alive.

We're going to start referring to Sam Vincent as Sam "Thirties" after witnessing his '88 coupe's string of 7.30s runs in the semifinals (7.37) and final-round (7.35) of Super Street Outlaw, and in the Race-for-the-Ring duel with Mike Yedgarian (7.30). "We made a gear change (to a ratio he tested before Joliet) after qualifying and realized after the first round that it wasn't the right move (he went 7.55 versus David Pachar)," says Sam. "Going back to the original gear had a lot to do with us winning this one."

Defending Super Street Outlaw champion John Urist says he did all that he could to beat Sam Vincent in the final, but ultimately, John's supercharged coupe simply didn't have the steam to stay with Sam's nitrous-powered notch. "At the weight we have to run with our combination, there's no way we could've gone 0.30-anything in these weather conditions (hot, humid)," says John. "It's not really the nitrous' effectiveness in the heat-it's just physics. We've got too much mass to move to run numbers like that."

A freshly rebuilt transmission ("we completely destroyed it in qualifying") helped Sean Lyon post Swiss-watch-like 8.0s from start to finish of the NMRA Drag Radial eliminator. In the final, the phenomenal top-end surge of Sean's turbocharged coupe sent him roaring past Jason Lee at the stripe, putting an end to Jason's early-season dominance in Drag Radial.

"I was kicking his ass the whole way down the track, and then he went right by me at a thousand feet," says Jason Lee of Sean Lyon's textbook "drive-around" in the Drag Radial final. "It was like he had one of those 'Grebeck buttons' or something," Jason joked, referring to tall tales about the late Steve Grebeck's use of nitrous to pull off similar, seemingly impossible victories with his turbocharged 'Stang.

With only a disappointing six Mustangs entered in the Renegade class, Bob Cook qualified at the top of the field. As such, he needed only a first-round win (beat Brian Mitchell) to advance into the final. "I'm happy. The car ran fine and we really didn't have to do much to it this weekend," says Bob.

The Almandinger brothers' multi-colored Capri ended up on the losing side of the Renegade final at the Super Bowl. However, there is a bright spot to celebrate, as the achievement is the team's first-ever appearance in an NMRA final round, and a testament to their dedication to come back strong after missing the first three races of 2010.

Robbie Blankenship rebounded from a scary top-end incident in qualifying (brake failure), and grabbed top honors in Hot Street. Robbie's '04 GT now sports a fresh Roush 420ci bullet. He says the engine was perfect in its maiden contest, and definitely a change in the right direction given the recent rules (weight) changes for the class.

Rick Riccardi had to climb the taller side of the Hot Street ladder, beating Kevin Courtney and Max Gross to earn a trip to the final. Ignition issues slowed Rick's Capri in the last round, giving Robbie Blankenship the win in a classic meeting of two former Open Comp racers.

Bruce "Mirror Image" Hemminger (Bruce gave us a sneak peek at a second Real Street car that is identical to his long-time '86 coupe) once again found himself in the Super Bowl's Real Street final. The result wound up being the same as in 2009-he won! Bruce says his victory didn't come without some struggling, as his normally stellar reaction times were unusually slow in each round.

Tim Matherly came out like gangbusters at the 2010 Super Bowl, recording a class-leading 9.52/144 in qualifying. Unfortunately, the same good fortune was nowhere to be found in the final, where a late reaction, spinning tires, and a broken supercharger belt all contributed to crushing Tim's chances of cashing in on a win in Real Street.