NMRA BRADENTON FINAL RESULTS
Mon, 2009-03-09 12:28
A stellar weekend kicks off the NMRA’s 11th season!
At the conclusion of the NMRA’s Eighth Annual Nitto Tire
Spring Ford Nationals, one thing is for certain – all-Ford heads-up
drag racing is alive and well! The racers of the NMRA rolled into
fabled Bradenton Motorsports Park for Friday’s qualifying sessions with
new combinations, new racecars, and grudges to settle.
A stellar weekend kicks off the NMRA’s 11th season!
At the conclusion of the NMRA’s Eighth Annual Nitto Tire Spring Ford Nationals, one thing is for certain – all-Ford heads-up drag racing is alive and well! The racers of the NMRA rolled into fabled Bradenton Motorsports Park for Friday’s qualifying sessions with new combinations, new racecars, and grudges to settle.
By the time the three qualifying sessions were complete, Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 racer Mike Murillo sat atop the heap in the NMRA’s big-dog class with a 6.85 at a whopping 224.04 MPH over six other racers. As eliminations progressed, Snellville, GA’s Keith Neal cut through a field populated with racers like Murillo and Dan Millen before he met up with newcomer Ruben Tetsoshvili in the final round. Neal,
who struggled mightily last season and broke more parts than anyone thought possible, left the tree first and never looked back, taking home his first NMRA Pro Outlaw 10.5 win with a 7.28 at 199.37 MPH.
Over the offseason, the NMRA’s rules committee changed up a few things in the ‘Ten-Inch-Tire Freak Show” class, ProCharger Super Street Outlaw in an attempt to level the playing field somewhat. As has been the case often over his career, New Mexico’s John Urist topped off the qualifying ladder, a 7.42 at 189.75 his reward for an offseason of hard work. In round one, Urist gave away nearly a tenth on the tree, but powered downtrack and took out Chris Tuten by a mere .027 thousandths, then took his second-round bye before heading to the final On the other side of the ladder, Don Burton, one of the NMRA’s few nitrous-card-carrying warriors, won over Perry Santini and John MacDonald on his way to the final round. Urist and Burton pre-staged, but nobody moved for over three minutes before Burton finally lit the second bulb. When the tree dropped, Burton was away like a rocket to take the win, 7.59 at 192.06 MPH!
Former DiabloSport EFI Renegade champion Brian Mitchell returned to his favorite class, outclassed in qualifying by only his engine builder, Dan Rawls, who carded a wicked 8.40 at 163.22 MPH. Unfortunately for Rawls, a small problem developed and he ended up sitting out the
elimination rounds. Mitchell, however, won over Chris Beary in round one and Bart Tobener in round two on his way to the final. Pennsylvania’s Chris Van Gilder got a freebie in the first round when Rawls didn’t show, then stepped it up for round two to win over Alton Clements before meeting up with Mitchell for all the cheese. Mitchell, true to his three-time champion heritage, clicked off a sharp .032 reaction time, followed up by an 8.61 elapsed time to take the win in the final round.
In the Edelbrock Hot Street class, champion Robbie Blankenship didn’t miss a beat over the winter, qualifying first in a field of five with an 8.63. His qualifying position gave him a competition bye into the second round, where he took out Tim Eichhorn on his way to the final. Petersburg, Michigan’s Ben Mens, on the other side of the ladder, won over Max Gross and took the second round bye. The pair staged, but Mens rolled the beams and handed away the win to the champion.
The BFGoodrich Tires Drag Radial class featured a few new cars and the ever-present race to be the first racer into the seven-second zone, which had never been done in competition. Ohio’s Jason Lee took the top qualifier spot with an oh-so-close 8.001, then ran through his side of the ladder, cracking off that elusive seven second pass on his way to the finals. Florida’s Sean Lyon stepped up big-time over the winter and beat out Pete Johnson and Orson Johnson before meeting up with Lee. In the final round, Lyon got away from the tree first, but Lee had turned up the wick, running a 7.97 to Lyon’s 8.05 to take the win in the hotly-contested class.
In 5.0 Mustang Magazine’s Real Street class, Pennsylvania’s Jim Breese took the top qualifier spot with a 9.62 elapsed time. Breese had a first round bye, then teammate Tim Matherly took him out in the second round on his way to the final. Wisconsin’s Dave Ginter, who stepped his program up big-time over the winter, won over a pair of Pauls, Wiley and Alfeo, to meet up with Matherly in a battle of wheel-standing manual-shifted cars in the final round. .003 separated the pair on the tree, and when the win light came on, it was former champion Matherly getting the win light, 9.63 at 140.73 MPH to
Ginter’s 9.70 at 144.09 MPH.
Eibach Springs Pure Street, another class featuring mostly manual-shifted Mustangs with limited engine combinations, saw Mark Anderson take the top qualifying spot with a 10.23. Anderson took out David Hill, had a competition bye, and outran Eric Burkhart to end up in the final round. On the other side of the ladder, former champion Jimmy Wilson won over Shawn Johnson and Steve Gifford before taking a competition bye into the final round. Wilson and Anderson staged, but Anderson jumped the gun by a mere .016, turning on the Crimson Bulb of Despair and handing Jimmy Wilson the win.
Factory Stock, sponsored by ACT Clutches, saw Carlos Sobrino run an 11.48 to earn his first number-one qualifier after nine years of competing. Unfortunately for Sobrino, defending champion Tommy Godfrey found his mojo after struggling in qualifying. Godfrey then ran through the field before meeting up with last year’s #2, John Leslie Jr. Leslie, true to form, gained a .064 advantage on the tree, but simply didn’t have enough to take the win on the big end, giving the champ his third straight season-opening win.
After winning the championship twice and finishing in the top five in
every season of competition in his class, you’d think a guy might want
to more up. Not the case with Tim Matherly – the wheel-standing,
manual-shifted, tiny tire’d class is right up his alley. He took the
Real Street win over teammate Dave Ginter.
The NMRA also features four index-style classes. In the ROUSH Performance Modular Muscle class, a pair of Michigan residents took the tree, with Paul Svinicki taking the win over Susan Roush-McClenaghan. Steeda’s Open Comp class had 25 racers doing battle, with former champion Bruce Parker returning after a long layoff to take the win over Florida resident Dach Anderson. Detroit Locker sponsors the Truck and Lightning class, which saw 22 racers vying for the win. When all was said and done, 2008 champion Mike Motycka took his ‘Uncle Jesse’ ’79 F-150 into the winner’s circle over Virginia’s Marco Ponce. And JDM Engineering Super Stang, which features 2005-up Mustangs racing in a unique format, attracted seventeen players. It came down to Derek Hoffert and Chris Parisi in the final round, with Hoffert taking the win in his 2008 Shelby GT.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the Spring Break Shootout, sponsored by muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine, made its debut in the NMRA. The Spring Break Shootout has been contested for many years, and this year magazine editor Evan Smith brought this brand of true street-legal ‘Stang racing to another level. Based on the NMRA’s True Street class, the SBSO features the quick sixteen from Saturday’s True Street event running heads-up on Sunday. These cars are tagged, insured, and insanely fast. By the time the quick sixteen was whittled down to one, Chris Escobar remained undefeated in SBSO competition, taking home his seventh win in the once-a-year class.
Keith Neal had the season from hell in 2008, experiencing every problem
under the sun, and causing him to contemplate even returning for 2009
to the Pro Outlaw 10.5 class. After he took home the win during Sunday
afternoon’s eliminations, the smile on his face showed that it was all
worthwhile!
A stellar weekend kicks off the NMRA’s 11th season!
Keith Neal had the season from hell in 2008, experiencing every problem
under the sun, and causing him to contemplate even returning for 2009
to the Pro Outlaw 10.5 class. After he took home the win during Sunday
afternoon’s eliminations, the smile on his face showed that it was all
worthwhile!
By the time the three qualifying sessions were complete, Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 racer Mike Murillo sat atop the heap in the NMRA’s big-dog class with a 6.85 at a whopping 224.04 MPH over six other racers. As eliminations progressed, Snellville, GA’s Keith Neal cut through a field populated with racers like Murillo and Dan Millen before he met up with newcomer Ruben Tetsoshvili in the final round. Neal,
The 2008 Edelbrock Hot Street champion, Robbie Blankenship, continued his winning ways this weekend, taking home the win over Ben Mens.
Over the offseason, the NMRA’s rules committee changed up a few things in the ‘Ten-Inch-Tire Freak Show” class, ProCharger Super Street Outlaw in an attempt to level the playing field somewhat. As has been the case often over his career, New Mexico’s John Urist topped off the qualifying ladder, a 7.42 at 189.75 his reward for an offseason of hard work. In round one, Urist gave away nearly a tenth on the tree, but powered downtrack and took out Chris Tuten by a mere .027 thousandths, then took his second-round bye before heading to the final On the other side of the ladder, Don Burton, one of the NMRA’s few nitrous-card-carrying warriors, won over Perry Santini and John MacDonald on his way to the final round. Urist and Burton pre-staged, but nobody moved for over three minutes before Burton finally lit the second bulb. When the tree dropped, Burton was away like a rocket to take the win, 7.59 at 192.06 MPH!
Former DiabloSport EFI Renegade champion Brian Mitchell returned to his favorite class, outclassed in qualifying by only his engine builder, Dan Rawls, who carded a wicked 8.40 at 163.22 MPH. Unfortunately for Rawls, a small problem developed and he ended up sitting out the
The ProCharger Super Street Outlaw class was won by Don Burton this weekend. Burton spent all day on Friday rebuilding his engine in the pits after a freak piston issue nearly lunched the engine.
In the Edelbrock Hot Street class, champion Robbie Blankenship didn’t miss a beat over the winter, qualifying first in a field of five with an 8.63. His qualifying position gave him a competition bye into the second round, where he took out Tim Eichhorn on his way to the final. Petersburg, Michigan’s Ben Mens, on the other side of the ladder, won over Max Gross and took the second round bye. The pair staged, but Mens rolled the beams and handed away the win to the champion.
Tommy Godfrey took home his third straight season-opening win. The team is ooking to three-peat in the ACT Clutch Factory Stock class.
In 5.0 Mustang Magazine’s Real Street class, Pennsylvania’s Jim Breese took the top qualifier spot with a 9.62 elapsed time. Breese had a first round bye, then teammate Tim Matherly took him out in the second round on his way to the final. Wisconsin’s Dave Ginter, who stepped his program up big-time over the winter, won over a pair of Pauls, Wiley and Alfeo, to meet up with Matherly in a battle of wheel-standing manual-shifted cars in the final round. .003 separated the pair on the tree, and when the win light came on, it was former champion Matherly getting the win light, 9.63 at 140.73 MPH to
Last season’s high fuel prices killed Florida resident Jimmy Wilson’s season after only two events. The former champion is looking for a return to glory this year, and this win certainly helps out in that department.
Eibach Springs Pure Street, another class featuring mostly manual-shifted Mustangs with limited engine combinations, saw Mark Anderson take the top qualifying spot with a 10.23. Anderson took out David Hill, had a competition bye, and outran Eric Burkhart to end up in the final round. On the other side of the ladder, former champion Jimmy Wilson won over Shawn Johnson and Steve Gifford before taking a competition bye into the final round. Wilson and Anderson staged, but Anderson jumped the gun by a mere .016, turning on the Crimson Bulb of Despair and handing Jimmy Wilson the win.
Factory Stock, sponsored by ACT Clutches, saw Carlos Sobrino run an 11.48 to earn his first number-one qualifier after nine years of competing. Unfortunately for Sobrino, defending champion Tommy Godfrey found his mojo after struggling in qualifying. Godfrey then ran through the field before meeting up with last year’s #2, John Leslie Jr. Leslie, true to form, gained a .064 advantage on the tree, but simply didn’t have enough to take the win on the big end, giving the champ his third straight season-opening win.
After winning the championship twice and finishing in the top five in
every season of competition in his class, you’d think a guy might want
to more up. Not the case with Tim Matherly – the wheel-standing,
manual-shifted, tiny tire’d class is right up his alley. He took the
Real Street win over teammate Dave Ginter.
The NMRA also features four index-style classes. In the ROUSH Performance Modular Muscle class, a pair of Michigan residents took the tree, with Paul Svinicki taking the win over Susan Roush-McClenaghan. Steeda’s Open Comp class had 25 racers doing battle, with former champion Bruce Parker returning after a long layoff to take the win over Florida resident Dach Anderson. Detroit Locker sponsors the Truck and Lightning class, which saw 22 racers vying for the win. When all was said and done, 2008 champion Mike Motycka took his ‘Uncle Jesse’ ’79 F-150 into the winner’s circle over Virginia’s Marco Ponce. And JDM Engineering Super Stang, which features 2005-up Mustangs racing in a unique format, attracted seventeen players. It came down to Derek Hoffert and Chris Parisi in the final round, with Hoffert taking the win in his 2008 Shelby GT.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the Spring Break Shootout, sponsored by muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine, made its debut in the NMRA. The Spring Break Shootout has been contested for many years, and this year magazine editor Evan Smith brought this brand of true street-legal ‘Stang racing to another level. Based on the NMRA’s True Street class, the SBSO features the quick sixteen from Saturday’s True Street event running heads-up on Sunday. These cars are tagged, insured, and insanely fast. By the time the quick sixteen was whittled down to one, Chris Escobar remained undefeated in SBSO competition, taking home his seventh win in the once-a-year class.
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