12th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA World Finals

Pro Outlaw 10.5
In a weekend that saw Conrad Scarry set new—and final—national records for the category (6.57/220), Conrad, his Kooks-sponsored ’Stang, and the Scarry crew literally could do no wrong in their march to a World Finals victory over Mike Murillo. The win was the team’s fourth of the season, and it secured Conrad’s second-straight points title in Pro Outlaw 10.5.

Super Street Outlaw
It seemed like John Urist’s SSO reign was all but over coming into Bowling Green. John faced stiffer competition from Sam Vincent and John McDonald, and more mechanical issues than in years past. Still, you can’t win five SSO championships without a little luck. He’d need all of it at Bowling Green, but the chips fell his way. John qualified in the third slot with a 7.387 at 188.91. In eliminations, the ladder fell his way and John’s competitors eliminated each other, clearing a path for a Bowling Green win and a scant 10-point victory in the championship points.

Drag Radial
Sean Lyon capped off a tremendous late-season run with a second final-round appearance—and win—over 2010 Drag Radial champ Jason Lee. Sean’s ’93 coupe ran with picture-perfect consistency throughout the 12th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA World Finals, laying down a pole-earning, record-setting 7.82/179.61 qualifying shot, and then running through three rounds of eliminations within a tenth of that super-quick e.t.

EFI Renegade
Brian Mitchell was mathematically out of the championship hunt by the Bowling Green race, but he and Bob Cook were in the mix for second place. Brian needed a strong race to take the spot, and finish strong he did. Brian put his Vortech supercharged New Edge in the number-two qualifying spot with an 8.45, just behind Bob Cook’s 8.42. Chad Allmendinger did Brian a favor by taking out Bob Cook in Round 1, and Brian took care of his side of the ladder, including class champ Chris Van Gilder, en route to the win.

Hot Street
“That ring will have my name on it,” said World Finals winner and 2010 Hot Street champion Charlie Booze Jr., who earned his fourth Nitto Tire Diamond Tree champion’s ring by defeating Keith Courtney, Rick Riccardi, and Don Bowles in the high-rev, naturally aspirated eliminator. Charlie’s Kuntz-powered ’92 GT set the bar in qualifying (8.44/158.93) and improved on that mark in eliminations, posting a best-ever (NMRA-legal) run of 8.38/160 in the final against Don.

Real Street
Tim Matherly must have called in a favor with Mother Nature to order up some cool, dry air. In other words, the weather was born for boost. To hear Tim tell the tale, he’d need every advantage to run with number-one qualifier Bruce Hemminger, who laid down a staggering 9.230 at 144.72. By the time the titans clashed in Round 3, Tim found a little power and took out Bruce, 9.24 to 9.30. The final was anticlimactic as Tim put 0.2 on Craig Baldwin to take the win and reclaim the Real Street championship.

Pure Street
Shawn Johnson took over the driving duties of Jim St. Charles’ Pure Street ride midway through the season and didn’t look back. Shawn finished the season by winning the last three races of the year over Brandon Alsept each time. Doing so allowed Shawn to take the 2010 Pure Street championship. We hear Jim’s car is for sale as of this writing. Who wants a championship-winning car?

Factory Stock
We should change Tommy Godfrey’s name to Mr. Factory Stock. Tommy’s dominated the class ever since he entered it. This year wasn’t as easy as previous years for Tommy, but a Bowling Green win catapulted him out of reach of fellow competitors. Tommy let Matt Amrine and John Leslie Jr. battle it out in the semis. John triumphed, but Tommy turned the tables on him in the final.

Modular Muscle
After qualifying 16th with a 0.033 reaction time, Susan Roush McClenaghan marched her ’10 Roush Mustang through eliminations. Locked in with a 9.87 dial-in, Susan started out in the 9.90s, but as the money rounds approached, she synced up with the number on the window. She ran 9.87s in the third and fourth rounds before taking out Gary Parker in the finals with a 9.89.

Open Comp
Matthew Paul’s road to the Open Comp final included a semifinals showdown with 2010 points champ Brent Blacker, which Matt won when Brent’s GT got majorly crossed up at midtrack. The final proved to be a battle of the quickest as both Matthew and Saul Walker II ran below their indexes, with Matt breaking out by the lesser amount and taking the win.

Trucks
Gary Windsor and his clean black first-gen Lightning ran dead-on an 11.71 index in the Truck and Lightning final, sending Steady Paul Gamino back to Texas as a World Finals runner-up. Gary is another “double-down” racer, as he not only won the eliminator in Bowling Green, he also earned the number one overall ranking for 2010.

Super Stang
Terry “Beefcake” Reeves is a Mustang racer after our own heart. Not only did Terry win the Super ’Stang eliminator at the 2010 World Finals, he did it in a 5.0-powered, Vortech-supercharged, 10-second 2011 Mustang GT that he drove to Bowling Green from his home in Amelia, Ohio. That’s hardcore! 5.0