Follow along with the ELIMINATIONS results HERE.
TorqStorm Superchargers True Street drivers spent time on the street before returning to the track to make three consecutive passes, and when the dust settled, Chris Morris motored to the overall win with an 8.80 average and Paul Buchanan pushed to the
runner-up with a 9.17 average. Others having success this weekend included Joshua Levin, 9-second winner, Trevor Glasgow, 10-second winner, Mark Colombini, 11-second winner, Tom Calabrese, 12-second winner, Chrystal Hunt, 13-second winner, Rick Doern, 14-second winner and John Sutton, 15-second winner.
The Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout is a very popular part of NMCA events, and the special category always attracts a lot of cars. At Bradenton Motorsports Park this weekend, Tony Demaio was the overall winner with a 9.55 average, and Joshua Schwartz was the runner-up with a 9.58 average. Other racers to be congratulated include Lee Segars, 9-second winner, Michelle Day, 10-second winner, Bryce Rohrs, 11-second winner, Jeff Keen, 12-second winner, Clay Allison, 13-second winner, Joe Giordano, 14-second winner and Brentyn Burnett, 15-second winner.
A familiar racer in the Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals ranks, Steve Cagle is running his 1970 Chevy Nova in a different class this weekend — ARP Nitrous Pro Street. Running a freshly installed Bischoff engine, his combo is about 200 pounds heavy for this class. He qualified in the seventh spot with a 4.64 at 152, but he thinks he can run with the players once he gets the car dialed in.
After racing in NMRA competition two weeks ago, Paul Svinicki (left) and his team spent some quality time seeing the sights in the Sunshine State before returning to Bradenton Motorsports Park to put more laps on this Godzilla 7.3-swapped Mustang Cobra Jet. Looking to prove out a robust timing chain upgrade for the modern pushrod Ford engine, he put a fresh set of slicks to good use this weekend. Car owner Blane Ramey kept the FuelTech system dialed, but things didn’t go their way last night in round one of MagnaFuel Open Comp.
After dropping in fresh pistons earlier in the weekend, Randy Adler experienced more mechanical difficulties, which necessitated loading a new bullet into his 1957 Bel Air. The team cleverly used the trailer lift gate to raise and lower the engines. With the swap complete, they were able to make a run and secure some solid data before eliminations. Unfortunately, all that work was for naught, as he fell to Andrew Handras in round one of VP Racing Madditives Xtreme Pro Mod on a holeshot.
You can’t miss Mark Ruset’s ’68 Camaro. Painted in the Factory Rally Green hue, the 327-powered ride is competing in Fastest Street Car Stock Eliminator this weekend at the 2022 NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines. He purchased the well-optioned classic as a basket case over 20 years ago and has raced it with NMCA since 2019. The retired GM service manager enjoys racing this series because of its friendly atmosphere, and he qualified in the 19th spot on the merits of an 11.86 on a 12.30 index.
Having attended this race since he was a teen, it was appropriate that Wyatt Morse is spending his 30th birthday weekend racing at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Piloting his unique 1973 Pontiac Venture Sprint in Detroit Truetrac Nostalgia Muscle, he made a few modifications including gear swap and subframe connectors to get the car launching the way he wants it to. It picked up the front tires for the first time, which was a birthday bonus. He even drove the car from his home in Englewood, Florida.
Fellow racer Angel Gaudin, who runs Proform Rumble, is a bad influence on Frank Hegedus in the best of ways. She inspired him to pick up this Coyote-swapped ’89 Mustang LX hatchback, which he is campaigning in MagnaFuel Open Comp this weekend at the 2022 NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines. Though the car already had the modern engine underhood, he added Viking shocks in back and QA1 struts up front as well as an upgraded rearend. Rowing gears with a TREMEC TKX five-speed manual trans he runs low 11s and hopes to break into the 10-second zone once he replaces the stock Control Pack programming with a custom HP Tuners calibration.
In advance of racing, Danny Towe put his 1970 Mustang on a chassis dyno for the first time at MV Performance. He wasn’t necessarily looking for more power, but he wanted to clean up its tuning. Towe did make some jet changes in the carb and take out some timing, which delivered another 35 horsepower. However, the real benefit is more consistent performance at the track. It paid off in the first round of Detroit Truetrac Nostalgia Muscle on Saturday night as he chopped down the tree to move past George Ulmer’s Firebird.
Though Becki Cram qualified in the third spot in Edelbrock Xtreme Street with a 4.63 at 153 mph, the early going at the 2022 NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines. Her car needed a fresh battery and new ignition, then a brake caliper bolt fell out during a qualifying pass, so she had to lift then make the necessary repairs in advance of today’s eliminations.
While Donnie Bowles took a break from racing his Mustang for a couple of years, he’s back in competition at this event. It’s good to see the Kentuckian and his car, which is powered by a GT 500-based Four-Valve 5.4L bored and stroked to 377 cubic-inches and backed by a Coan Powerglide. Bowles, who is always quick on the tree, qualified in the third spot with a great .001 reaction time in MagnaFuel Open Comp, and exited in the first round of eliminations after a very close race in his high 9-second car.
At the end of Saturday’s class runs, Alex Taylor was given a test hit to see if she could drive her 1955 Chevy into the 6s. The pass looked clean and fast, and while she didn’t quite break into the 6s, her 7.06 run was joined by a 200 mph trap speed, which was a first for her and her team as well.
If you have ever wondered what it was like to run more than 300 miles per hour in a Funny Car, the Mopar display on the Manufacturer’s Midway at the 2022 NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem Presented by Holbrook Racing Engines offers a virtual opportunity to experience what Matt Hagan sees behind the wheel of his Charger Widebody NHRA Funny Car.
There are some beautiful rides in the car show at Bradenton Motorsports Park and they are all competing to win a wide range of awards. The judges have their work cut out for them. Picking the best muscle machines on the property is always a challenge at Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals events.
David Monday is moving forward to the next round of Xtreme Pro Mod after defeating Robert Cox, but he and his team have been busy ever since, as they needed to change out the engine and transmission.
The HHP Racing HEMI Quick 8 final round came down to Michelle Day in her Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat against Joshua Schwartz and his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat widebody, who tripped the win light in his favor.