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16th Annual Honeywell Garrett NMCA All-American Nationals Saturday Coverage

Posted By: Mike Galimi
As expected, the 16th Annual Honeywell Garrett NMCA All-American Nationals this weekend at Summit Motorsports Park has been a feast for the eyes with drivers piloting their powerful and unpredictable cars down track. Among those setting the pace in the first round of qualifying on Friday were Steve Summers, who sailed to a 3.81 in VP Racing Fuels Xtreme Pro Mod, Josh Krugger, who clocked a 4.02 in Mickey Thompson Radial Wars and Jarod Wenrick, who wheeled to a 4.37 in VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw. Chuck Watson collected an 8.18 in Holley EFI Factory Super Cars, Alex Hays, hauled to a 4.73 in Edelbrock Xtreme Street, Tommy DeLago drove to a 7.93 in Boninante Racing NA 10.5 and Anthony Manna motored to a 4.39 in Wiseco BoostLine Connecting Rods Drag Radial. NMCA and Summit Motorsports Park track crew members took to the track surface before sunrise today to prepare it for the pounding it's going to take. Gates open at 8 a.m., and ATI Nostalgia Super Stock drivers will get us going at 8:30 a.m. Michigan-based brothers Chris and Jeff Harrington, who share the driver's seat of their Fox body Mustang, recently made some serious changes to their combination. They freshened their 430ci small-block Ford, topped it with a new set of billet MBE heads and a billet intake they fabricated, and fronted it with their 88mm Garrett GTX 5018R turbos. They made new headers, and backed the combination with the Rossler TurboGlide they had been running in the car which rolls on Mickey Thompson 10.5 slicks. Chris, who handles tuning with occasional input from Patrick Barnhill and Jason Lee of PTP Racing, moved from the team's previous engine management system to Haltech, and while they alternate driving duties depending on which event they're at, Chris is behind the wheel this weekend, and is currently qualified in the second spot with a whopping 4.04 in Mickey Thompson Radial Wars. Brad Medlock has joined NMCA ranks this weekend as the hired gun to drive Russell Stone's SN95 Mustang. The car's regular driver, Dwayne Barbaree, had some family commitments, so Stone promised Medlock unlimited Summit Motorsports Park ice cream and a free NMCA T-shirt as payment. He jumped at it and is currently fifth with a 4.53 at 163 mph. Wade Hopkins of Southern Speed Racing has been making adjustments to the chassis in search of 4.30 performances in this great weather. A Kuntz and Company 432ci small-block Ford with a single Precision 98mm turbocharger and Edelbrock SC1 cylinder heads help create the big power. It's an Outlaw life for Justin Cyrnek as he showed up this weekend to test his turbocharged S197. Normally, Cyrnek competes in MX235, where he currently holds the record with a 4.56 at 160 mph using a 4-Valve Modular powerplant. This weekend, he popped off the 88mm turbocharger and bolted on a Forced Inductions 94mm turbocharger in anticipation of some big dollar shootouts coming up, including a $20,000-to-win competition at the end of the season. He isn't entered in a class and is making runs down the track with the VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw group. The Larry Jeffers Race Cars-built ride carried the wheels for over 200 feet before Cyrnek aborted the run. UPDATE: Cyrnek ran 4.54 at 163 mph on a test hit, lowering the all-time quickest run on 235 Radials. In the 1967 Nova he's had since high school, Tommy DeLago laid down a 7.93 to lead yesterday's first round of qualifying in Boninfante Racing NA 10.5, and in the process, he kicked to the curb his previous personal best of 8.02. When asked what he attributed that number to, DeLago a crew chief for Top Fuel Funny Car driver Alexa DeJoria pointed to the builder of his 405ci small-block Chevy, Ian Landies of Mid-South Racing Engines, who was standing next to him and who had recently worked on the engine. When we asked for specifics, Landies smiled and quipped "Just tell 'em we put more lift in it." BoostedGT, from the popular Discovery Channel television show "Street Outlaws," and his familiar Mustang are favorites among NMCA fans, and he's on-site to sign autographs through 6 p.m. today. "Street Outlaws" driver Derek and his Silver Unit Camaro are also are on the manufacturers' midway through 6 p.m. today. Kayla Morton is joining her fellow "Street Outlaws" participants, BoostedGT and Derek, in hanging out with fans and watching some fast and fierce racing through 6 p.m. today. VP Racing Fuels Xtreme Pro Mod driver Jim Widener and engine builder and crew chief Tony Bischoff recently debuted their beautiful 2017 C7 Corvette-bodied and Chris Duncan Race Cars-built machine, and are quickly dialing it in like the pros they are. Widener wheeled to a 4.01 in yesterday's first round of qualifying, and after he and Bischoff went through the tune-up for their 856ci Hemi amped up on an Induction Solutions nitrous set-up, Widener popped off a 3.91 in today's second round of qualifying. In yesterday's first round of qualifying, VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw driver Nick Bacalis made a mad move in his 1996 Mustang built by Gary Rowe and DSC when the car went onto the wheelie bars at the hit and subsequently got sideways. Fortunately, Bacalis gathered the car, and his composure, and got back on the straight and narrow. "The car would have gone low 4.60s if it had gone straight," said Bacalis, who returned to his pit area where he and his crew chief, Preston Mosher, made some chassis adjustments under the car powered by a naturally aspirated 700ci bullet built at BES Racing Engines, where Bacalis works as an engine builder. They'll be pulling to the lanes soon for today's second round of qualifying. In charging to a 4.685 in his IRS-suspended 2001 Corvette in Holley EFI Real Street, reigning class champion Camren Massengale led qualifying, achieved a personal best and is poised to set an elapsed-time record in the category if he can back it up. That's one of the reasons all eyes will be on the Indiana-based driver who relies on a 440ci LSX engine on nitrous and RPM Transmissions-built Turbo 400 in today's first round of eliminations. For several years, Phil Frantz has driven from his home in Indiana to various states to take part in the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series' LME Street King category, and one of the remarkable things about that is he's doing it in a 2008 Corvette C06 which runs mid-9s. The not-so-mellow yellow car has under the hood a 427ci LS7 engine assembled and tuned by RPM Transmissions, and it's paired with an RPM Transmissions-built 4L60E conversion transmission. Part of the Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center display on the manufacturers midway includes these two specially equipped rides from Chevrolet. The 2017 Camaro SS has been equipped with a number of upgrades from including a cold air intake system, performance exhaust, lowering suspension and handling kit, and a six-piston front brake setup. Inside you'll find Recaro bucket seats, a suede arm rest and knee bolsters and a short-throw shifter, while the exterior has been adorned with a new front grill with red accents, a complete ground effects package and wicker bill spoiler, an offset stripe graphics and stealthy black Bowtie emblems. The 2017 Silverado behind it is a Redline edition that has been equipped with a cold air intake system, a performance exhaust system and six-piston front brakes. On the outside you'll find a blackout grill with illuminated emblem, a bed-mounted sport bar with LED lights, soft rolling tonneau cover and the trick DECKED cargo management system in the bed. All of these upgrades are available through your local dealer as well as Chevrolet.com/accessories. After posting a 10.12-second run last night that was subsequently thrown out after tech inspection, Jesse Wilson came back today and clocked a 10.14 elapsed time that stuck with the tech officials. It's the quickest run in Chevrolet Performance Stock history, and his 131.8mph speed is the fastest. The first stop on the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series calendar this year saw challenging weather conditions all weekend long. It was decided that the semi and final rounds of Wiseco Boostline Drag Radial competition there would be completed here in Norwalk. In the final, Andy Essary defeated Anthony Manna in a tight race, 4.53 to 4.56. Mickey Thompson Radial Wars driver David Adkins suffered a setback at the NMCA race in Illinois last month when the heavily-used compacted graphite iron block from his Baker Engineering-built 400 cubic inch LS engine broke during qualifying, but Baker Engineering completed and dyno-tuned his replacement engine just in time for him to get here in time to make today's second round of qualifying. Built on a Noonan LS Edge block, it's topped with the Baker-built billet inline LS heads from his previous engine, and a new Thomsen Motorsports-built billet aluminum intake, and it's fronted by twin 88mm Garrett Gen II turbos. With a conservative tune, Adkins ripped off a 4.45 at 133 mph and is currently qualified in the fourth spot going into tonight's final round of qualifying. For a recent story on Adkins' new combination, please click HERE Cobra Jet Shootout results are HERE Qualifying results are HERE

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