The variety of cars, combinations and competitors made for an outstanding weekend of racing at the NMCA All-American Nationals presented by Sick the Magazine, Aug. 25-28 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
 
Racers took advantage of a well-prepared racing surface to post some impressive numbers during the fifth of six events on the NMCA tour. 
 
At stake was a trip to the winner's circle and the coveted Victor Award.
 
“Summit Motorsports Park was proud to welcome the NMCA racers to our home for this exciting event,” said Bill Bader Jr., president of Summit Motorsports Park. “We were happy to celebrate their accomplishments with them, whether they had a personal best or picked up a win, and we hope the fans enjoyed the action as much as we did.”
 
In VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod, reigning champion Chip King set the pace with a 3.65 in his Mustang Mach 1. When the final round of eliminations rolled around, however, Randy Merrick and Jason Hamstra pulled to the starting line. Merrick muscled to the win with a 3.68 in his Corvette over Hamstra, who was literally right there with a 3.71 in his Camaro.
 
Chuck Watson II was leading the way at the start of the weekend in Holley EFI Factory Super Cars, where he led qualifying with a 7.77 in Jim Betz’s Mustang Cobra Jet. Several rounds later, however, AJ Berge and Tripp Carter faced each other in the final round of eliminations, with Berge earning his first win in the competitive category with a 7.85 in his Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak. Carter was there all the way, posting an elapsed time of 7.87 in his Mustang Cobra Jet to claim the runner-up spot.
 
David Fallon Jr. drove to a strong 4.29 in his Camaro to lead his fellow ARP Nitrous Pro Street racers in qualifying. He rode his top qualifying effort all the way to the final round of eliminations, where he won with a 4.33 over Vince Khoury, who recorded a 4.63 in his Firebird.
 
Edelbrock Xtreme Street saw Joel Greathouse run a 4.56 to lead qualifying in his Mustang. In the final round of eliminations Greathouse drove into the winner's circle by virtue of a 4.59 effort in his race against Bill Trovato, who was 4.71 at the finish line.
 
High-revving engines were doing the talking in Dart NA 10.5, where Robbie Blankenship’s long haul from Florida was made worthwhile when he turned in a pass of 7.77 behind the wheel of his Mustang to set the pace in qualifying. But the final round belonged to Joe Clemente and Dan Ostgen. Clemente captured the win with a 7.81 cruise in his familiar Mustang, and Ostgen clocked an 8.15 in his Camaro.

 
In Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center, Haley Burkhammer led the way in qualifying when she took her Camaro to a 9.92 clocking. She took it all the way to the bank when she capped her weekend with a 9.96 victory over Glenn Pushis and his Camaro. It was Burkhammer’s second win of the weekend, as she also won the make-up race for the rain-delayed  Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival.
 
In Fastest Street Car Super Stock Eliminator action it was Jeff Myers leading the way during qualifying with an 8.91 on an 10.35 index in his Camaro. On Sunday, however, Mark Nowicki used a .007 reaction time and a 9.67 on a 9.65 to upset Jeff Ross, who posted a 10.61 on a 10.59 in a losing effort.
 
In Fastest Street Car Stock Eliminator, Pete Ricart raced to a 7.87 on a 9.70 in his Mustang Cobra Jet to top the qualifying sheet. In the final round, however, Michael Butter came out on top when his 11.38 on an 11.16 in his Camaro took out a Kyle Pawuk, also driving a Camaro, who went -.011 red. 
 
Veteran NMCA competitor Jim Netherland placed his Buick GS on top during qualifying in Quick Fuel Technology Nostalgia Super Stock, running on his 10.25 index, with a 0. Meeting in the final round of eliminations at the end of the day were Scott Conley and Doug Poskevich. Conley collected the win with a 10.02 on a 10.00 in his Belvedere after Poskevich dipped under with a 10.98 on an 11.00 in his Fairlane.
 
Geary Bates turned in a 11.501 on an 11.50 index in his Cougar to lead qualifying in Detroit Truetrac Nostalgia Muscle, and Danny Towe took the win with a 12.08 on a 12.00 in his Mustang, with Ralph Trimmer finishing as runner-up with a mark of 11.81 on an 11.75 in his Cutlass.
 
There were a number of impressive reaction times in MagnaFuel Open Comp qualifying, but Jon H. Pickering topped all of them with a perfect .000 in his Maverick to lead the way into the elimination rounds. John Hixon drove his GSX straight to the winners circle with a 9.84 on a 9.83 after Mike Winters went red in his Mustang.
 
Joshua Bryant had his Mustang dialed in, as he chose a 9.50 index and then proceeded to put a 9.50 on the board to lead qualifying in LME Street King presented by Chevrolet Performance. He remained strong all weekend, as the racer from Wisconsin had a good reaction time and lifted to a 9.55 to avoid breaking out on his 9.50 on his way to the win over Steve Griswold, who turned in an 8.82 on an 8.75 in his Corvette.
 
Alan Kasper led Proform LSX Rumble presented by Chevrolet Performance qualifying with a 12.50 on a 12.50 index in his Camaro, but it was Regina Puckett’s weekend, as she wheeled to an 11.68 on an 11.75 and took the win as multi-time champion Al Corda went -.003 red. 
 
Another popular category in competition was TorqStorm Superchargers True Street. Drivers headed out for a 30-mile cruise around Summit Motorsports Park before returning to make three back-to-back passes down track. When it was all said and done, Dan Sharp secured the win with an impressive 8.33 average in his Chevy II, and Allen Hurley took a runner-up finish with an 8.53 average in his Fairlane. Scott Oshinski was the 9-second winner in his Cutlass, Norm Jensen was the 10-second winner in his Camaro and Jason Bean belted in for the 11-second win in his Camaro. Other successful drivers were Steve Hansen, the 12-second winner, Mark Storts, the 13-second winner, Adam Retford, the 14-second winner and Tony Nguyen, the 15-second winner.
 
Challengers, Chargers, Demons, Durangos and other Gen III HEMI-powered cars pulled in for the Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout. Joshua Schwartz drove to the win with an 8.92 average in his Challenger Hellcat, while Tony Demaio was the runner-up with a 9.10 in his Challenger Hellcat. Jess Richards raced to the 9-second win in a Redeye, Mike England took to the 10-second win in a Charger Hellcat, Trevor Hilbert hooked up for the 11-second win in his Charger Super Bee and Robert Skalecki claimed the 12-second win in his Challenger Scat Pak. Rounding out the category were Kim Schwarz, the 13-second winner in a Challenger, Casey Fitzgerald, the 14-second winner in a Charger Daytona R/T and Jake Corbin, the 15-second winner in a Dodge Ram.
 
The eight quickest drivers in the Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout made it into the HHP Racing HEMI Quick 8 on the final day of the event, and when the dust settled, Josh Schwartz secured the win with a 9.11 over Mike England and his 10.10.

The COPO Camaro Shootout presented by COPO Parts Direct was well-received by fans at this event. In the Chevrolet Performance COPO Battle, John Simbeck secured the victory with a dead-on 8.67 over Ed Hawkins, who dipped under his 9.63 with a 9.61. And, in the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center COPO NA, Rich Rinkie raced to a 9.09 and the win over John Evans and his 9.25.
 
Another popular class at Norwalk was the Cobra Jet Showdown presented by Watson Racing. Taking top honors this year was Taylor Dietsch, who drove to a 9.02 on an 8.98 over Tim Potvin, who piloted to an  8.90 on an 8.77.
 
NMCA Vs. Buckeye Stock/Super Stock All-Stars, new for this year, was a 32-car class made up of the top points leaders in the NMCA Stock Eliminator and Super Stock, and Buckeye Stock/Super Stock Drag Racing classes. It was contested Friday, and Aaron Allison and Ryan Rudrick made it through four rounds to meet in the final round of eliminations. Each left the line just a tick too soon, but Allison won with an 8.85 on an 8.73 and Rudrick broke out with an 11.22 on an 11.24.
 
The next event on the NMCA schedule is the 21st Annual NMCA World Street Finals presented by Chevrolet Performance, Sept. 22-25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indiana.
 
For more on the NMCA, check out the series’ websites at NMCAdigital.com and Racepagesdigital.com.