After a strong start yesterday, the 21st Annual Scoggin Dickey NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines revs up today at Orlando Speed World. Yesterday offered test ’n tune runs to help racers troubleshoot issues and dial in their combos. Today testing moves into qualifying in some classes as the first meaningful passes of the young 2023 Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals season begin.

With heads-up championship classes ranging from VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod and Holley EFI Factory Super Cars to index racing in Micro Strategies Super Stock and Proform Rumble, the weekend offers a full slate of racing action. Plus fans of street-car racing will witness throngs of TorqStorm Superchargers True Street and Dodge // Mopar Hemi Shootout competitors blasting down-track.

Special to the action at Orlando Speed World this weekend, the Sick the Magazine Drag & Drive Invitational will see elite drag-and-drive competitors battling on track, while the All-Star Nostalgia Muscle Car Shootout pits racers from the Erson Cams Nostalgia Muscle presented by World Products and Quick Fuel Technology Nostalgia Super Stock against each other. 

Attendees will even see Elaine Larsen’s jet-powered dragsters, the original Big Foot, a massive manufacturer’s midway, and a colossal car show on the property.

For highlights of the action throughout the weekend, visit this site and our social channels. 


We are used to seeing reigning, and six-time, Dart NA 10.5 champion Leonard Long, under, over or in his Mustang preparing for competition, so we did a double take when we saw him and his friend, Sarah Strunk, riding their bikes in the pit area today at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines at Orlando Speed World Dragway. Long is taking a few races off, but he is definitely still in the game, as he is here helping fellow Dart NA 10.5 racer Richie Nye, who is currently qualified toward the front of the pack, and he has a few other NMCA races circled on his calendar for later this year.


While JC Garcia usually competes in other series, he is buckled in for ARP Nitrous Pro Street for the first time ever at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines, this weekend at Orlando Speed World Dragway.  Fans are flocking to Garcia’s impeccable and impressive GTO build by Jerry Haas Race Cars and putting power down with a naturally aspirated 622 cubic-inch engine by Mike Ford Racing Engines. Garcia, who lives just 11 miles from the track, is a mechanical engineer for NASA, where he is working on the current SLS space program. “I ran a 4.58 and 160 in testing, and am going to squeeze a little more out of it,” said Garcia, whose well-built car has had a steady stream of fans around it all weekend. “One of the good things about my job at NASA is I can learn some things that I can apply to my racing program.”
 

Felix Garcia, who has raced in various NMCA categories through the years, is preparing his 1968 Camaro-bodied and Jerry Bickel Race Cars-built Pro Mod for VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod competition at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines this weekend at Orlando Speed World Dragway. The car is powered by a 822 cubic-inch 5.2 bore space engine by Reher Morrison and four stages of nitrous, and Garcia relies on his son and crew chief, Angel Garcia, to prepare it for each pass. Garcia, who shared with us that the car is still relatively new to him, is making great strides in getting it dialed in, and he hopes to run high 3.90s this weekend. Watching Garcia race for the very first time ever is his mother, Mirna Rios, who is joined by many other friends and family members, some of whom flew in from Puerto Rico, and his wife, Delia Delgado. “My mom is emotional about watching me race, but excited at the same time,” said Garcia, whose racing is supported by his business, Place for Wellness in Seminole, Florida. “Having my mom, and the rest of my family and friends here to hang out with makes this even more special to me.”

After struggling to find the hook, Pete Ricart (right) and his crew chief Jake Vance (left) found the proper suspension settings to dial in his Cobra Jet. His Micro Strategies Stock Eliminator entry clicked off a 7.79 at 175 mph yesterday in testing and trimmed its 60-foot spring from 1.22 to 1.16 seconds. He says the car likes the air at Orlando Speed World, and Ricart feels good about his prospects at the season opener.

After carefully collecting data last year, VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod racer Mike DiDomenico and his son and crew chief, Sal DiDomenico, decided to make some changes. They sent their Camaro-bodied Pro Mod and Noonan Hemi to Wyo Motorsports, where Todd Tutterow freshened the engine, and Chris Cline adjusted the chassis. Additionally, they sent their Noonan heads to Noonan for valve work, and replaced their previous converter from Neal Chance Racing Converters with another converter from Neal Chance Racing Converters. Gearing changes were in order for their Liberty five-speed transmission, and they marked that off their to-do list as well. “We made some passes yesterday, and while they were a little show, we left the line better than we were leaving the line last year, and we collected good data,” said DiDomenico, who owns and operates CNC Performance Products in Bedford Heights, Ohio with his son, Sal, “We’ll get a tune in the car, and we’re optimistic.”
 

A rookie in NMCA action, Ron Medeiros brought out his Whipple-supercharged 2021 Dodge Charger Scat Pack. Having picked up the car last year with just 700 miles on the clock, he started modding it to generate near-Hellcat power. He says the other competitors in the Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout have been friendly and helpful, offering pointers on racing his car. Medeiros also owns a Tesla Model 3 Performance Edition, which he likens to a soulless vampire, whereas the more-fun-to-drive Charger is a werewolf on the prowl. 

Held up waiting for valves to complete his engine, Rich Nye was in a tough spot. However, Leonard Long of G-Force Racing Transmissions came to the rescue by letting Nye borrow one of his spare engines and even having his shop build custom headers to suit Nye’s SN-95 Mustang racer. Having a more potent engine onboard meant adjusting both the clutch and suspension to find the hook, but that’s why those test runs are so crucial.

A fan of street-car racing, Felix Garcia likes to build pump-gas power with his partner Paul Buchanan Performance Fabrication. The shop constructed this 1,200-horse ’69 Camaro with a 468-cube engine and a custom twin-turbo system. Garcia says he loves to race with NMCA and the car narrowly missed taking the 9-second win in Torqstorm Superchargers True Street last year. He hopes to change those fortunes in Orlando this year. 

Not one to make changes to his combo, Edelbrock Xtreme Street racer Jimmy Dahl (right) decided to step up his ’90 Mustang LX in the off-season. He turned to John Kolivas at KBX Performance for a more aggressive camshaft and a freer-flowing intake. Combined with heads freshened with valves from Holbrook Racing Engines, his new combo is ready to make more power, but he needs to dial in the boost, chassis, and tuning to get the Fox Mustang performing to its full potential.

If seeing this one made you do a double-take, it’s because Dennis Chaisson shed the familiar factory paint scheme on his Dodge Challenger Dragpak in favor of a new wrap that makes it stand out from the crowd. The combination underneath remains much the same as it did last season, but it benefitted from a lot of off-season testing, which paid off so far as the car was hooking in testing at the Scoggin Dickey NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines

Yesterday’s action wound down at the Scoggin Dickey NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines with a gathering of racers, crew, family, and friends at the Weldon Racer Appreciation Happy Hour. Attendees enjoyed snacks and beverages while catching up after the long off-season.