Wow! That’s really the first thing to say about the season-opening Nitto Tire NMRA Ford Nationals Spring Break Shootout, because the race action was hot and heavy all weekend long. Wheelstands, crashes, record-setting performances, and the most incredible True Street field that the NMRA has ever seen highlighted the action.
In the headline class, Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5, six cars showed up to do battle on the sticky Bradenton 1320’. Once qualifying was complete, 2008 class Champion Conrad Scarry took the top spot with a stout 6.78 at nearly 215 MPH, right off the trailer. Jim Blair, who had qualified with a 6.94 on Friday, loaded up and went home, as he had broken some parts during that passes, which took him out of competition. Mike Murillo’s 7.11 put him third, but he too left and went home early after damaging a cylinder head beyond repair. Dwayne James, Billy Driscoll, and Jim Brown rounded out the field heading into eliminations. With two racers out of the mix before the hit, there were two single passes, taken by Driscoll and James, sending them to round two. Scarry had to face off against Jim Brown, and Brown got out of shape, handing Scarry the win with a 6.81. Driscoll and James faced off in round two, with James hitting the tires hard on the hit and getting wildly out of shape, sending Driscoll on to his first NMRA final against Scarry, who wisely took it easy on his bye run. The big-block power of Scarry was simply too much for Driscoll to overcome, as Scarry scored a 6.80 and a half-track wheelie for the win.