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.

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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