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NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Event - The Long RunRacers and records prevail over bad weather at the All-Star Nats From the September, 2011 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By KJ Jones Photography by Paul Rosner
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Covering the dragstrip's quarter-mile distance as quickly as possible--and beating an opponent to the finish line--is a heads-up drag racer's objective every time a 'Stang enters the staging beams. Competitors in the NMRA affirm this notion time-and-time again, posting performances that sometimes seem beyond imaginable at nearly every event on the circuit. Sometimes we include a photo... Sometimes we include a photo of the overall Tremec True Street winner posing by his car with a huge trophy, and “the cape and crown,” as Big Steve calls the winner’s wardrobe. Well, due to the combining of NMRA’s and NMCA’s 30-mile-cruise classes for the All-Star Nationals, a Brand-X pickup truck (albeit a fast one) bested all others. Of course, we’d never go as far as publishing a Brand-X truck in 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, so here’s a look at the huge combined field of street/’strip ’Stangs and other hot rods that took on the challenge in Georgia. Case in point: In Super Street Outlaw, the sanction's premier class, it was only five years ago that racers and Mustangs were getting to the other side with average e.t's of 7.70 seconds (at 180 mph). At the time, 7.70s--and Jim Blair's then-mind-bending 7.50/185 shot in the second event of the 2006 season--were considered insurmountable given the engine/power-adder combinations of the time, and, of course, the true 10x10.5-inch rear tire that gives the category its strong appeal with racers and fans alike. Through the course of those five years, many rule changes have altered power-adder types and sizes and the minimum chassis weights that are permitted in SSO. As one would expect, racers' adaptation to the changes has brought forth performance that none of us ever thought possible on that 10-and-a-half-inch tire. Although a wicked spring storm and lengthy track stoppages due to oil downs and crashes played havoc on the event's schedule all weekend (all elimination rounds were run on Sunday and weren't completed until 10 p.m.), race fans were treated to remarkable performances nonetheless at Commerce, Georgia's Atlanta Dragway. That's where Super Street Outlaw pilots and their NMRA/NMCA colleagues met for the third-annual Nitto Tire All-Star Nationals. Highlighted by Chris Tuten's 7.08 and John Kolivas' 7.11 e.t.'s (with eye-popping 208-mph speed) in qualifying, The Freak Show stole the show, as three other players in the class, including multi-time champion John Urist, joined Chris and John in the race to become SSO's first driver to reach the 6-second zone. In situations where car counts are low at ProMedia's dual-sanction events, cars in similar classes are combined and run in one eliminator. At the All-Star Nationals, short numbers warranted uniting NMRA Pro Outlaw 10.5/NMCA Super Street 10.5W, NMRA Hot Street/NMCA Pro Stock and NMRA Xtreme Drag Radial/NMCA 275 Drag Radial competitors, where (with the exception of Edgar Rice's NMCA SS 10.5W 'Stang) NMRA runners prevailed each time. Despite the aforementioned setbacks, seeing near-6s on small tires and record performances in other categories, a robust car-show field (look for our feature story on Jim Pennington's beautiful '95 GT in an upcoming issue), and an awesome Georgia crowd throughout the weekend made the marathon '11 Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals a huge success. Your tech editor's and ace-lensman Paul Rosner's photos of event highlights and NMRA class winners are straight ahead.  The only intelligence we have...  The only intelligence we have on the guy with the racer's tape is that his name is Steve and he hails from the Chicago area. Well, Pro Outlaw 10.5 driver Mike Murillo and Xtreme Drag Radial jockey Jason Lee are glad Steve was on the property at the All-Star Nationals, as he performed in-the-pits emergency body repairs on both racers' Mustangs after brushes with the walls at Atlanta Dragway.  You just can't go to an NMRA...  You just can't go to an NMRA event without cruising through the car show. This interesting combo, an '08 Mustang GT and its matching S197 trailer, are owned by Paul Nemoga of Jefferson, Georgia. The unique carryall made this ride really stand out among the few-hundred Fords on display at Atlanta Dragway, as did the ProCharger P-1SC supercharger attached to the Pony's engine. Extreme show-and-go, fo' sho!  Severe oil-downs, wall smacks,...  Severe oil-downs, wall smacks, and parts flying off of cars contributed to the record downtime at the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals. ProMedia Race Director Trey Capps (center) was quick to lend a hand with cleanup efforts, which were stellar after every incident.  No, we're not playing tricks...  No, we're not playing tricks with Photoshop here. What you're looking at is the engine bay of Real Street veteran Bruce Hemminger's '86 coupe in empty and full configurations within a 12-hour period....  ...Bruce removed the bullet...  ...Bruce removed the bullet and tore it down to the short-block Saturday evening after experiencing a problem during his 9.36/143 top-qualifying run. Hard work "until about midnight," Bruce said, had the coupe back together, running and ready for competition on Sunday morning.  Pro Outlaw 10.5 With only...  Pro Outlaw 10.5 With only three NMRA Pro Outlaw 10.5 Mustangs in attendance at the All-Star Nationals, the call was made for them to be joined with the hodgepodge of Brand-X and Ford racers from the NMCA's Super Street 10.5W class. While the all-Ford sanction's Mike Murillo was the low-qualified favorite in this mix with a 6.73/215, Edgar Rice manually rowed gears in his NMCA-entered 'Stang and took home the win in the combo eliminator, posting a 6.72/209 where-did-that-come-from rip (he qualified with a 6.98) in the final against Mike.  Super Street Outlaw While...  Super Street Outlaw While Filthy Phil Hines' ProCharger-blown New Edge Mustang seems several tenths away from being a car to watch in Super Street Outlaw's race to the 6s, that hasn't stopped Phil from appearing in the first two final rounds of the '11 season. Being the first driver to reach the e.t. milestone would be great, but we're betting Phil is plenty good with the points he receives for defeating Chris Tuten in Commerce, as it appears consistency is making Phil an early (and strong) contender for the '11 SSO championship.  Xtreme Drag Radial Sean Lyon's...  Xtreme Drag Radial Sean Lyon's clean yellow coupe continues to display incredible performances on 275/60-15 drag-radial tires. Sean shot to the top of the qualifying ladder in the All-Star Nationals' mixed-bag radial class with a 7.73. An NMCA Brand-X car set the low-speed mark in qualifying, and then showed Mike Fratena a Mustang's taillights by defeating Mike in Round 1 of eliminations. Low numbers in the category put luck on Sean's side, giving him a free pass to the final round, where Sean's 7.66/180 package was enough to put Jason Lee in the runner-up spot.  EFI Renegade Alton "Lights...  EFI Renegade Alton "Lights Out" Clements used Renegade's three rounds of eliminations to hold a clinic on quick reaction times. Leaving the tree in nothing slower than 0.022 seconds (in a first-round win over AJ Wyce), Alton earned a spot in the final when Bart Tobener redlit in Round 2. In the final, which was run long after the Georgia sun had set, Alton put the lights out on class champion Brian Mitchell by going 0.006 green (to Brian's 0.087) and never looking back.  Street Over the years, we've...  Street Over the years, we've come to expect an exciting race any time Charlie Booze Jr. and either of the Team Roush Mustangs of Don Bowles or Robbie Blankenship are paired. However, due to car shortages in the NMRA and NMCA's "all-motor" categories, it appeared those matchups might not happen at the Nitto Tire All-Star Nationals when ProMedia officials put the two classes together. Ultimately, Charlie and Robbie Blankenship did reach the finals, but the pairing that usually is a dogfight for the length of the quarter-mile ended up being over before it started as Charlie was the automatic winner when Robbie left one thousandth of a second too soon (-0.009).  Real Street A Real Street...  Real Street A Real Street veteran, Craig Baldwin has been at it for a long, long time. Along with Tim Matherly, Bruce Hemminger, and Jim Breese, Craig definitely is considered one of the class' elder statesmen. Well, Craig showed Real Street's youngsters and veterans how it's done at the Nitto NMRA/NMCA Tire All-Star Nationals. With a top-qualifying speed (146.83 mph) in his pocket, Craig scored easy wins in the first two rounds of eliminations (versus Paul Alfeo and Jason "Hootie" Hoots driving Tim Matherly's original R/S car), and despite a perfect (0.000) reaction time, cruised to the event win over Bruce Hemminger.  Pure Street While all eyes...  Pure Street While all eyes were trained on the SSO boys' e.t.'s at Commerce, Brandon Alsept continued to chip away at the tenths and hundredths of seconds that stand between his carbureted Two-Valve 'Stang and reaching the all-hallowed 9s in Pure Street. While Brandon's 10.13 qualifying hit was an eye-opener, he definitely saved the best for last, laying down a class-record 10.10 in the finals against Teddy Weaver and win number two in 2011.  Factory Stock Carlos Sobrino...  Factory Stock Carlos Sobrino has been enjoying the spoils of victory in the early part of 2011. An early favorite for winning it all this season, Carlos and his 10-second Factory Stock Mustang coupe enjoyed a bye, and then took down a couple of Juniors (teammates John Leslie and Louis Sylvester) on an easy path to Carlos' second final-round victory of the year.  Modular Muscle We were digging...  Modular Muscle We were digging Jacob Lamb's clean coupe the moment we saw it in the staging lanes at Atlanta Dragway. The '86 LX is a cool variant from the SN-95s, New Edges, and even Ford trucks that are more common in the Modular Muscle class, and it proved superior over a couple of NMRA Series regulars—Randy Mounce (Round 1) and Charlie McCullough, who broke out in the final-round matchup with Jacob's four-eyed Fox.  Open Comp How many events...  Open Comp How many events have passed since a final-round win light has glowed in Larry "Mr. Open Comp" Geddes' lane? Well, even Larry didn't know the exact amount when we asked him after the O/C final in Commerce, but the veteran racer (and two-time class champion) certainly was happy to see his NMRA winless drought come to an end at the All-Star Nationals.  Trucks Patrick Hooper definitely...  Trucks Patrick Hooper definitely is a giant slayer. The '01 Lightning driver from Forest, Virginia, didn't let a next-to-last qualifying position deter him from racing to win it all. He did just that-convincingly-by sending three of the Truck and Lightning class heavy hitters (Mike Motycka, class-champ Gary Windsor, and Paul Gamino) to their respective trailers in the first three rounds of eliminations.  Super 'Stang While Dyno Joe...  Super 'Stang While Dyno Joe Cram arrived at Atlanta Dragway with a Pony that had several upgrades since the first race of the season, the improvements weren't enough to get the ever-popular Joe an overall class win. BMR Fabrication's Allan Miller left Commerce with that honor, thanks to reaction-time and e.t. consistency through five rounds, including a 12.11 on an 11.99 index in Super 'Stang's (and the NMRA's for that matter) first all-'11 5.0 final round (against Bryan Hearn).
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