A FIRST TIMER'S GUIDE TO TRUE STREET RACING
Written By: Angelo Pappas
Life is not a spectator sport, which is why your friends at NMRA and NMCA have worked hard to make the True Street classes friendly for first-time or novice racers.
For those who might not know, the True Street class, backed by TorquStorm Superchargers in NMCA and Circle D Specialties in NMRA, feature street vehicles from stock to some of the quickest and fastest street-legal machines in the world.
The unique event format includes a 30-mile highway drive followed (usually immediately) by three consecutive quarter-mile runs down the dragstrip. The rules allow for a minimal amount of between-run maintenance as all hoods must remain closed during the event. Racers can adjust tire pressures and pack parachutes, but not much else is legal. The spirit of the class is that it shows what cars can do on the track in the same trim as they are run on the street.
There are many winners, too! Winners are determined by the average elapsed time for all three runs with awards going to not only the quickest drivers, but those closest to 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, and 15.00 seconds. Winners receive trophies and cash prizes, including the possibility of a $1,000 payout for winners who use the NT555RII drag radial tire from Nitto Tires.
At first glance, the True Street class might seem a bit intimidating, especially for someone new to the sport or someone with limited experience, but nothing could be further than the truth. You don’t need an 8-second car to have a lot of fun in True Street, but don’t take our word for it. Listen to the thoughts of Brittany Eyres, who recently competed in True Street at the 15th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by MAHLE Motorsport in Rockingham and had a blast—even if her 15-second KIA was far from the quickest car at the event.
Eyres is no stranger to drag racing. The 27-year-old medical assistant from Myrtle Beach, S.C., got her introduction to the sport of racing in the Jr. Drag Racing Series, but her driving experience mostly ended when she aged out of the Jr. program a decade ago. Eyres has long desired to return to racing in some form and the TorquStorm/Circle D Specialties True Street class at the 15th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by MAHLE Motorsport presented a prime opportunity.
Eyres recently acquired a KIA K5-GT and the car is surprisingly peppy, offering the potential for solid 15-seecond quarter-mile performances at close to 100 mph. While certainly not the quickest car in the field, it provided a solid baseline for her return.
“I grew up racing junior dragsters, so when I turned 17, that was my last time drag racing,” Eyres said. “Ten years later the opportunity arose to race in True Street. When I first heard this, I couldn’t have been more excited. I’ve been wanting to get back into racing for quite some time. I read the rules on the NMCAdigitial.com website and was curious. When I hear the words “true street” I think of a true, fresh off the factory line, street-legal vehicle. Daily drivers. It wasn’t quite what I expected.”
True Street racers who competed in Rockingham got an added bonus as the 30-mile cruise was largely conducted at the adjacent Rockingham Speedway, a 1.017-mile oval that was once a cornerstone of NASCAR Stock Car racing and is currently undergoing an extensive renovation.
To a veteran, racing a 15-second car isn’t a big deal, but for someone who hasn’t bumped into the staging beams for nearly a decade, it has the potential to be challenging. The entire process of making a run, from preparation to burnout to staging and then actually making the run, needs to be committed to memory. Fortunately, Eyres is a quick learner and she managed to stage properly and clicked off three consistent runs of 15.53, 15.46, and 15.58 for a 15.51-second average.
“Staging in a streetcar is a little bit harder than a racecar,” Eyres said. You have to be able to ‘power brake’ in the staging beams in order to get the rpm up in your car. Reaction time doesn’t matter for this class, but as a previous racer, of course I wanted to cut a good light. Once those stage beams were lit, nothing else mattered. It was me, my car and the track.”
“After my first pass, my smile was bigger than my face,” Eyres said. “I will say what this experience did for me, is make me want to get back into drag racing, except with an actual race car. You’d better believe I was scrolling through drag racing classifieds on my downtime that day, looking for something that would give me that same adrenaline rush that brought me to drag racing all those years ago.”
True Street is contested at all NMRA and NMCA events so fire up your streeter and we hope to see you at the races!
Written By: Angelo Pappas
Life is not a spectator sport, which is why your friends at NMRA and NMCA have worked hard to make the True Street classes friendly for first-time or novice racers.
For those who might not know, the True Street class, backed by TorquStorm Superchargers in NMCA and Circle D Specialties in NMRA, feature street vehicles from stock to some of the quickest and fastest street-legal machines in the world.
The unique event format includes a 30-mile highway drive followed (usually immediately) by three consecutive quarter-mile runs down the dragstrip. The rules allow for a minimal amount of between-run maintenance as all hoods must remain closed during the event. Racers can adjust tire pressures and pack parachutes, but not much else is legal. The spirit of the class is that it shows what cars can do on the track in the same trim as they are run on the street.
There are many winners, too! Winners are determined by the average elapsed time for all three runs with awards going to not only the quickest drivers, but those closest to 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, and 15.00 seconds. Winners receive trophies and cash prizes, including the possibility of a $1,000 payout for winners who use the NT555RII drag radial tire from Nitto Tires.
At first glance, the True Street class might seem a bit intimidating, especially for someone new to the sport or someone with limited experience, but nothing could be further than the truth. You don’t need an 8-second car to have a lot of fun in True Street, but don’t take our word for it. Listen to the thoughts of Brittany Eyres, who recently competed in True Street at the 15th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by MAHLE Motorsport in Rockingham and had a blast—even if her 15-second KIA was far from the quickest car at the event.
Eyres is no stranger to drag racing. The 27-year-old medical assistant from Myrtle Beach, S.C., got her introduction to the sport of racing in the Jr. Drag Racing Series, but her driving experience mostly ended when she aged out of the Jr. program a decade ago. Eyres has long desired to return to racing in some form and the TorquStorm/Circle D Specialties True Street class at the 15th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by MAHLE Motorsport presented a prime opportunity.
Eyres recently acquired a KIA K5-GT and the car is surprisingly peppy, offering the potential for solid 15-seecond quarter-mile performances at close to 100 mph. While certainly not the quickest car in the field, it provided a solid baseline for her return.
“I grew up racing junior dragsters, so when I turned 17, that was my last time drag racing,” Eyres said. “Ten years later the opportunity arose to race in True Street. When I first heard this, I couldn’t have been more excited. I’ve been wanting to get back into racing for quite some time. I read the rules on the NMCAdigitial.com website and was curious. When I hear the words “true street” I think of a true, fresh off the factory line, street-legal vehicle. Daily drivers. It wasn’t quite what I expected.”
True Street racers who competed in Rockingham got an added bonus as the 30-mile cruise was largely conducted at the adjacent Rockingham Speedway, a 1.017-mile oval that was once a cornerstone of NASCAR Stock Car racing and is currently undergoing an extensive renovation.
To a veteran, racing a 15-second car isn’t a big deal, but for someone who hasn’t bumped into the staging beams for nearly a decade, it has the potential to be challenging. The entire process of making a run, from preparation to burnout to staging and then actually making the run, needs to be committed to memory. Fortunately, Eyres is a quick learner and she managed to stage properly and clicked off three consistent runs of 15.53, 15.46, and 15.58 for a 15.51-second average.
“Staging in a streetcar is a little bit harder than a racecar,” Eyres said. You have to be able to ‘power brake’ in the staging beams in order to get the rpm up in your car. Reaction time doesn’t matter for this class, but as a previous racer, of course I wanted to cut a good light. Once those stage beams were lit, nothing else mattered. It was me, my car and the track.”
“After my first pass, my smile was bigger than my face,” Eyres said. “I will say what this experience did for me, is make me want to get back into drag racing, except with an actual race car. You’d better believe I was scrolling through drag racing classifieds on my downtime that day, looking for something that would give me that same adrenaline rush that brought me to drag racing all those years ago.”
True Street is contested at all NMRA and NMCA events so fire up your streeter and we hope to see you at the races!
