NMRA NMCA CONCORD RESULTS
GUY BATTLES THE ELEMENTS AND COMPETITION TO BRING HOME DRAG RADIAL CROWN
At
this weekend’s Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA All Star Nationals, one of the
biggest stories of the weekend was Dave Guy and his NMRA BFGoodrich
Tires Drag Radial car. With weather in the high 90’s and high
humidity, the track was difficult to figure out even for the most
seasoned of competitors. This was made even more difficult for Guy by
the fact that his class is forced to run on a true DOT-legal radial
tire. However, he seemed to figure out the track rather quickly,
qualifying second behind Sean Lyon with an 8.12 at over 181mph. Guy
then proceeded to mow down the competition during eliminations,
culminating in a final-round victory over Enzo Pecchini. This win
marks Guy’s first ever with the NMRA after three seasons of competition
spanning two classes. It’s made even more impressive when one
considers that Guy has only run the car in this class for four races,
with a limited number of passes.
Another impressive tale comes from John Macdonald and his Michigan-based
ProCharger Super Street Outlaw program. Macdonald entered his
Motorcity Motorsports-backed car into the NMRA two seasons ago and had
a steep learning curve. The team fought a multitude of problems before
finally settling on a tuneup and combination that seems to be becoming
more consistent and fast with each passing race. Macdonald fought the
track in the beginning, but finally figured it out and made the fastest
passes of the weekend in the class. Macdonald had to take out
ferocious competitor Chris Tuten on his way to the final round against
Don Burton. Luck was on his side in the final, where both racers
overpowered the track and Macdonald recovered more quickly.
A
big story on the NMCA side of the was ARP Nostalgia Pro Street racer
Danny Shemwell, who won his first event in only his third outing in his
’69 Camaro. Shemwell, who has competed in six different NMCA classes
over the course of the past several seasons, beat Kevin Parent in a
7.57 to 7.68 final round.
Joining Shemwell as a first time class winner was Jason Hoots who
defeated number one qualifier and defending BFGoodrich Tires Street
Radial champion John Macaluso by running 9.09 to Macaluso’s 9.280.
Troy Coughlin followed up his win in Chicago with another win in
Scorpion Performance Pro Street with a very close win over Vinny Budano
in the closest final of the day when he ran 6.433 at 220 mph to
Budano’s 6.438 at 222 mph. So far in 2009, Coughlin has advanced to
every final round.
By far, one of the wildest races of the final round was in Mickey
Thompson Super Street 10.5W between Tony Nesbit and Jim Blair. When the
tree fell, Nesbitt took off, leaving a still Blair sitting still in
beams but Nesbitt’s car shut off only a couple seconds into the run.
Blair, who had been idle at the tree for almost three seconds, finally
managed to get the car moving and drove by the coasting Nesbitt to take
the win.
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