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NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing - 'Bowled OverTeam NMRA Put The Smack Down On The NMCA Outside Chitown From the December, 2010 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By KJ Jones Photography by KJ Jones, Paul Rosner
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In the Drag Radial final,... In the Drag Radial final, it appeared Jason Lee had his fourth-straight win in the bag, as his orange '86 hatchback was literally dragging Sean Lyons' '93 coupe down Route 66 Raceway, as the cars passed the eighth-mile mark. My, how the tables turned at the stripe! It's sort of funny how in the world of motorsports, certain races are considered bigger than others. It's also an interesting coincidence that a racing sanction's major events typically comprise a trifecta that is referred to as a "Triple Crown." The NHRA's Big Three consists of its Winternationals in Pomona, California; U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis; and the World Finals, also at the Pomona Fairplex. In NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway/Charlotte, and Brickyard 400 (at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway) are the trio of major races that every driver in the series wants to win at some point in their career. For the last 11 years, the NMRA's season opener at Bradenton and World Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky, have stood as the events to compete in and win at some point, as capturing glory at either race ranks high on a Ford drag racer's list of career accomplishments. In the last five years, ProMedia's Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing-an us-against-them meeting of the NMRA and the all-brands sanction known as NMCA-has emerged as the second jewel in the unofficial Triple Crown for Mustang and Ford racers. Each year, the 'Bowl brings hard-core 'Stangbangers (including several NMRA veterans, some of them legends that have been away for a while) to the Windy City, for four days of off-the-meter competition within their own ranks (for plaques, purses, and points). They also square off against the NMCA's finest in a team-versus-team showdown for some classy rings that rival those of champions in other sports courtesy of Nitto Tire. Enjoy the following photos and captions of the 5th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing; a race that definitely has earned its place as one of the premiere events for both ProMedia racing series.  It has been a couple of years...  It has been a couple of years now since Bob Kurgan has competed on the NMRA side of the ProMedia house, so it was cool to see Bob and his legendary T-top '86 GT at the Super Bowl. The former EFI Renegade and BFGoodrich Drag Radial standout now competes in the NMCA's Xtreme Street class, where he's always in the hunt for event wins and points championships.  While comeback awards aren't...  While comeback awards aren't presented at the Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, we have to acknowledge Billy Glidden, who made it to Joliet with a repaired Mustang (the '10 GT suffered major front-end and roof damage after crashing at an ADRL event two weeks before the 'Bowl) and reached the semifinals in NMCA's Pro Street class.  What does an NMRA racer do...  What does an NMRA racer do while waiting for track personnel to finish a cleanup? We caught NMRA Hot Street racer Charlie Booze Jr. sending a text message to his wife during some brief downtime in Friday's qualifying session.  Many of you are fans of Tech...  Many of you are fans of Tech Editor KJ Jones' '86 T-top coupe LX; a car that, as Foxes go, should be saved or preserved for posterity, as there were only a few made between 1979 and 1986. Julie and Terry Allen are proud members of the small T-top-coupe-owners fraternity. The couple debuted their remarkably restored Wild Strawberry '84 T-top notch at the Super Bowl. The car features a twin-turbocharged 331 stroker, mini-tubs, and an OEM-looking rear seat, which is hard to pull off with mini-tubs. The coupe was transformed from junk to jewel by Terry in the couple's home garage, and according to Julie, the super-special LX is a blast to drive on the street.  From high above Route 66 Raceway,...  From high above Route 66 Raceway, we see that Sam Vincent (right lane) quickly recovered from being a little later at the 'Tree (John Urist's 0.050 reaction time was slightly better than Sam's 0.069), and motored away from the defending Super Street Outlaw champion in the final round.  From high above Route 66 Raceway,...  From high above Route 66 Raceway, we see that Sam Vincent (right lane) quickly recovered from being a little later at the 'Tree (John Urist's 0.050 reaction time was slightly better than Sam's 0.069), and motored away from the defending Super Street Outlaw champion in the final round.  Longtime Mustang racer Travis...  Longtime Mustang racer Travis Franklin made the haul from Texas to join the action in SSO. After a brief hiatus from the sport, Travis is back in action with a proven small-tire coupe that he plans to campaign in the weekly eighth-mile madness in the Lone Star State.  Mike Murillo set the e.t....  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...  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...  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...  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...  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...  "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...  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'...  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...  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...  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 "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...  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.
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