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>> ELIMINATION RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE <<
As racers go, no one wants to lose, but for Mark Howes, he was in no hurry to lose since he has a long drive back home to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada ahead of him. With that long of a drive, none of us would be in a rush to get on the road. Howes runs this 1970 Duster in Micro Strategies Stock Eliminator with an E/SA designation and an 11.70 index. With an Armstrong Racing Engines (Nova Scotia) 340-based engine, a Sepanek Racing Transmissions (Moosic, PA) 904 and a Dana 60 out back, the car runs in the 10.50s. Howes made it to the semi-final round of Stock Eliminator before he had to head north, but when speaking about his first NMCA experience, he says, “I had an awesome weekend, I really enjoyed it.”
There’s a big new name in the pits, as KSR Racing has brought together five of the NMCA and NHRA’s finest drivers in a new initiative to focus and refine their collective racing efforts. KSR – that’s KIMCO Shared Resources, LLC – supports Jim Betz, Dave Swanson, Jason Dietsch, Jonathan Allegrucci, and Jeremy Ray. The intention is to have a private, dedicated, organized, and structured race shop where the men can share resources (hence the name) while allowing the talented crewmen to grow their careers. This weekend, KSR Racing’s Dietsch, Allegrucci, and Betz qualified first, second, and third, respectively, in NMCA Holley EFI Factory Super Cars and Dave Swanson topped the qualifying list in NMCA Micro Strategies Stock Eliminator.
Celebrating his 78th birthday in two weeks, Dan Helmsing is having a blast running in the Dodge Direct Connection Shootout and Bracket Open categories with his 2014 Dodge Charger SRT after a 46-year hiatus from racing. Helmsing had a successful career managing his family’s Ford and Stellantis dealerships in Missouri, then was inspired by NMRA Vengeance Clutch Coyote Stock racer Aaron Worstell’s grandfather, Jack Worstell, to get back into racing. The entire Worstell family, including Aaron’s father and NMRA CJ Pony Parts Ford Muscle driver Bill Worstell, have taken Helmsing under their wings. This weekend, he accumulated a 3-run average of 12.044 seconds to barely miss out on taking the 12-second category win in the Dodge Direct Connection Shootout, but the young-at-heart racer is absolutely “lovin’ life” with his Mopar machine regardless of the outcome.
Yesterday’s Top of the Rock Thrill Festival Presented by Innovation Performance Technologies was chock full of excitement and the BMX stunt show definitely provided some high-flyin’ entertainment, including several stunts done off the back of Bigfoot, the World’s Largest Monster Truck. If you missed it, you’ll want to keep your April open for 2025 as the NMCA will be back with a bigger and better display next year. Be sure to follow the Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals this season for more information!
More than 3 dozen modern Mopars turned up to show off in the Dodge Direct Connection Hemi Shootout on Saturday. The top 8 entries were invited back to race in the special HHP Racing Quick 8 Presented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center on Sunday, and the Gen III Hemis stole the show with some impressive sub-10-second passes.
In addition to the incredible Dawn Perdue vs. Larry Aldrich Jet Car side-by-side flame-throwing blasts down the drag strip, these incredible machines have been delighting fans of all ages on the midway all weekend long. This lucky future racer scored a priceless spot behind the wheel for a moment, but the memory that sparked his smile will certainly last a lifetime.
Following in the footsteps of his NMRA Limited Street record-setting father Stacey Roby, 15-year-old Hayden Roby has been busy racking up the miles and gaining as much driving experience as possible. This weekend, he’s fielding his turbocharged 2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid XLT and running low 10-second elapsed times in the NMCA Innovation Performance Technologies Junior Street class. Eliminations didn’t swing in the younger Roby’s favor as he ran too quick, but he’s already set his sights on stepping into his father’s quicker car for next season.
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When you build engines and headers, along with doing chassis work, it’s only natural that one probably has a race car. For Scott Williams, SKW Motorsports is a side gig, but the work that went into his 1965 Malibu SS shows the attention to detail he puts into his work. Williams bought the car in 1997, and it was originally a 283, four-speed SS in what our research would be Crocus yellow (Think Butternut yellow) with a red interior. It had been sitting since 1977, and it took 3 trailers to get all the parts home. His wife thought he had lost his mind, but as you can see, the car has come a long way since those days. The engine is a new build featuring a 588ci big block Chevy using a Dart aluminum block, APD cylinder heads, GRP rods, Ross pistons, a Brodix intake and a Holley Dominator EFI system. Behind the stout big block is a 501 Converter Powerglide and converter and a Moser 9-inch housing with Mark Williams internals. TBM brakes live inside RC Comp wheels, with 30x9 Hoosiers out back. Overall, the Malibu SS has over 5,800 laps on it…YES, 5,800. “I used to race a lot,” Williams says. These days, Williams runs in NMCA ARP Open Comp to the tune of 8.80s.
The Chevy Nova is equally at home on the strip and the car show. Here at the NMRA NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance, you’ll see great examples of both. When it comes to Dell Britt, he owns both a Nova for the drag strip and one for the show. He is racing a 1970 Nova this weekend in Stock Eliminator, but he also has this street-driven, and show-worthy 1970 Nova, which he finished in May 2023. Under the hood of the show car is a crate 502ci big block with a four-speed in the tunnel and a 12-bolt out with 3.73 gears.
NMCA officials performed a general tech inspection of the Holley EFI Factory Super Cars entries which included pulling data to confirm the hardware and software on the ECUs, verifying the RPM limits, and also checking pulleys and blower sizes this weekend.
Friday marked the first full pass on multi-time champion Joel Greathouse’s Fox body Mustang in about a year. During that time, the KBX Performance team (including tuner Justin McChesney (center) and Ben Thomas (right)) updated everything from the rear end to the axles, shocks, and more, and the work paid off as Greathouse (left) took the provisional #1 spot after the first NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street/NMRA VP Racing Lubricants Renegade qualifying session on Friday with his 4.620 at 152.54 mph blast. Greathouse improved to run 4.556 at 158.45 mph later, but ended up third once the order had been finalized; he was successful in the first round of eliminations on Saturday night, and round two is scheduled to begin shortly. His car is motivated by a Harts turbocharged Bennett Racing Engines 8.2 deck powerplant with high port Trick Flow heads, utilizes a gearbox from RPM Transmissions, and rolls on RC Components wheels.
Our friends from Dodge Direct Connection are here at Rockingham Dragway this weekend supporting the NMCA and showing off the incredible power potential of the Gen III Hemi and other amazing Mopar muscle. Stop by the manufacturer’s midway today to see Matt Hagan’s NHRA Funny Car, check out the engines on display, and score a free Mopar t-shirt.
