Top Shelf—An impressive display of American muscle and potent pony cars was on display at Rockingham Dragway
Written by Steve Turner
Photography by the author
As the sun rose over Rockingham, North Carolina, on Saturday morning April 13, 2024, cars rolled up the Top of the Rock adding even more for fans to enjoy alongside the World’s Largest BIGFOOT monster truck and BMX Xtreme Stunt Shows. To accommodate all the cars, those in attendance to get a jump on celebrating the Ford Mustang’s birthday as part of the NMRA Mustang Day surrounded the base of The Rock with a glorious display of pony car prominence.
For fans, the show provided a cornucopia of American muscle to appreciate during downtime between racing and the Thrill Festival action. With so many beautiful cars on the property, the members from host club NC ’Stangs were busy throughout the weekend organizing the show and selecting the most deserving machines for awards, which was also no small challenge given the quality of the rides on hand.
Just capturing them all kept yours truly busy as well, but as an unabashed Mustang fan, it was a true joy seeing all the cars there in celebration of the Mustang’s milestone birthday. Naturally, there were too many to show them all on these pages, so we are sharing some highlights — from those that won awards and those that simply captured this author’s eye — for your enjoyment.
If you missed out on this year’s impressive display of rides, plan on heading to Rockingham, North Carolina, next year when we do it all again.
It’s not often that you see a Mercury Zephyr in the wild, much less one as nicely detailed as Tim Faggart’s 1978 example. A legit drag ‘n drive machine that packs a 1,400-horsepower punch courtesy of a 547-cube Blue Oval big-block boosted by a ProCharger F-1A94. His ride really cleaned up in Rockingham. Not only did we bestow it with the FSC Editor’s Choice Best Classic award, but it also took home Best Pro Street Race Car and Director’s Choice Modified honors from the show.
From the outside Jeff Morgan’s 1978 Buick GS is a stunner, so it’s no surprise that it took home the Best Paint honors at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance & Innovation Performance Technologies Top of the Rock Thrill Festival. Its beauty is more than skin deep, however, as it also earned the Best Interior award.
Looking the part of a classic American muscle car, Dell Britt’s 1970 Chevy Nova sports a big-block underhood and rumbled away with the Best Traditional Hot Rod honors at Rockingham Dragway.
Another classic ’70s muscle machine, Raymond Bleau’s 1971 Camaro looks like it just rumbled through a burger stand parking lot looking for some stoplight action. It surely has the chops as it scored the Best Engine award as well as the Director’s Choice Conservative honors.
Rolling on period-correct, American Racing Torque Thrust D wheels, Sean Morrison’s mean and clean 1967 Nova drove away with the Best GM Muscle award at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance & Innovation Performance Technologies Top of the Rock Thrill Festival.
On the Blue Oval side of things, Kyle Barr’s 1966 Fairlane 500 was a breath of fresh air decked out in Springtime Yellow. It scored the Best Ford Muscle award at Rockingham Dragway.
One of your author’s favorites in the Mustang Day show was Wendell Boatwright’s stunning 1965 Ford Mustang restomod. He made the trip up from Dillon, South Carolina, with this incredible classic. Powered by a RoushCharged Coyote swap, his green machine features loads of custom touches.
Another stunning Coyote-swapped machine in the Mustang Day show was Shawn Hasan’s 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra. Sporting period-correct Cobra R wheels, it looked the part of a classic Fox dream machine on the outside, but the naturally aspirated modern 5.0-liter underhood takes it to a new level.
Ford pony cars of all generations were on hand at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance & Innovation Performance Technologies Top of the Rock Thrill Festival. Repping the latest seventh-generation stallions was Mike Scalcione’s Grabber Blue 2024 Mustang GT.
Supporting the case for Fox 4-platform machines, Timothy Brown’s SVT Cobra looked sharp augmented by Saleen bodywork and SVE wheels from LMR. Its Four-Valve 4.6-liter V8 breathes deeply through a JLT cold-air intake.
For fans of the earliest Fox Mustangs, Keith Chafellier brought out his lightly modified 1979 Mustang Indy Pace Car, which gave this writer all the nostalgic vibes.
When it comes to modern Mustangs, the 2020-2022 Shelby GT500 is still the most potent factory Mustang created to date. Tom Jarrell’s Orange example looked great in the huge row of Mustang Day show entries, and it took home our FSC Editor’s Choice Best Modern award.
2024 NMCA Car Show Award Winners
SATURDAY CAR SHOW AWARDS
Special Recognition Awards:
1. Dell Britt Pembroke, NC
2. Daniel Gantes 1995 F150
3. Kyle Barr Georgetown, SC 1966 Fairlane
4. Tony Ruggiero Chesterfield, SC 2002 F150
5. Raymond Bleau Fort Mill, SC 1971 Camaro
6. Chris & Sue Stortz Burford, Ontario, Canada 1986 Silverado
7. Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
8. Greg Moore Apex, NC 1968 F-100
9. Jamie Coble Asheboro, NC 2004 Pontiac GTO
10. Sean Morrison Apex, NC 1967 Nova
11. Sean Morrison Apex, NC 1967 Camaro
12. Jeff Morgan Lumberton, NC 1978 Buick GS
13. Jeff Morgan Jr. Lumberton, NC 1977 Monte Carlo
Directors Choice Awards:
· Best GM Muscle
· Winner: Sean Morrison Apex, NC 1967 Nova
· Best Ford Muscle
· Winner: Kyle Barr Georgetown, SC 1966 Fairlane
· Best Late Model
· Winner: Daniel Gantes 1995 F150
· Best Traditional Hot Rod
· Winner: Dell Britt Pembroke, NC
· Best Pro Street/Race Car
· Winner: Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
· Best Truck
· Winner: Greg Moore Apex, NC 1968 F-100
· FSC Editors Choice Best Classic
· Winner: Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
· FSC Editors Choice Best Modern
· Winner: Tom Jarrell Mustang Shelby GT 500
· Best Engine
· Winner: Raymond Bleau Fort Mill, SC 1971 Camaro
· Best Interior
· Winner: Jeff Morgan Lumberton, NC 1978 Buick GS
· Best Paint
· Winner: Jeff Morgan Lumberton, NC 1978 Buick GS
· Directors Choice Conservative
· Winner: Raymond Bleau Fort Mill, SC 1971 Camaro
· Directors Choice Modified
· Winner: Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
Written by Steve Turner
Photography by the author
As the sun rose over Rockingham, North Carolina, on Saturday morning April 13, 2024, cars rolled up the Top of the Rock adding even more for fans to enjoy alongside the World’s Largest BIGFOOT monster truck and BMX Xtreme Stunt Shows. To accommodate all the cars, those in attendance to get a jump on celebrating the Ford Mustang’s birthday as part of the NMRA Mustang Day surrounded the base of The Rock with a glorious display of pony car prominence.
For fans, the show provided a cornucopia of American muscle to appreciate during downtime between racing and the Thrill Festival action. With so many beautiful cars on the property, the members from host club NC ’Stangs were busy throughout the weekend organizing the show and selecting the most deserving machines for awards, which was also no small challenge given the quality of the rides on hand.
Just capturing them all kept yours truly busy as well, but as an unabashed Mustang fan, it was a true joy seeing all the cars there in celebration of the Mustang’s milestone birthday. Naturally, there were too many to show them all on these pages, so we are sharing some highlights — from those that won awards and those that simply captured this author’s eye — for your enjoyment.
If you missed out on this year’s impressive display of rides, plan on heading to Rockingham, North Carolina, next year when we do it all again.
It’s not often that you see a Mercury Zephyr in the wild, much less one as nicely detailed as Tim Faggart’s 1978 example. A legit drag ‘n drive machine that packs a 1,400-horsepower punch courtesy of a 547-cube Blue Oval big-block boosted by a ProCharger F-1A94. His ride really cleaned up in Rockingham. Not only did we bestow it with the FSC Editor’s Choice Best Classic award, but it also took home Best Pro Street Race Car and Director’s Choice Modified honors from the show.
From the outside Jeff Morgan’s 1978 Buick GS is a stunner, so it’s no surprise that it took home the Best Paint honors at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance & Innovation Performance Technologies Top of the Rock Thrill Festival. Its beauty is more than skin deep, however, as it also earned the Best Interior award.
Looking the part of a classic American muscle car, Dell Britt’s 1970 Chevy Nova sports a big-block underhood and rumbled away with the Best Traditional Hot Rod honors at Rockingham Dragway.
Another classic ’70s muscle machine, Raymond Bleau’s 1971 Camaro looks like it just rumbled through a burger stand parking lot looking for some stoplight action. It surely has the chops as it scored the Best Engine award as well as the Director’s Choice Conservative honors.
Rolling on period-correct, American Racing Torque Thrust D wheels, Sean Morrison’s mean and clean 1967 Nova drove away with the Best GM Muscle award at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance & Innovation Performance Technologies Top of the Rock Thrill Festival.
On the Blue Oval side of things, Kyle Barr’s 1966 Fairlane 500 was a breath of fresh air decked out in Springtime Yellow. It scored the Best Ford Muscle award at Rockingham Dragway.
One of your author’s favorites in the Mustang Day show was Wendell Boatwright’s stunning 1965 Ford Mustang restomod. He made the trip up from Dillon, South Carolina, with this incredible classic. Powered by a RoushCharged Coyote swap, his green machine features loads of custom touches.
Another stunning Coyote-swapped machine in the Mustang Day show was Shawn Hasan’s 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra. Sporting period-correct Cobra R wheels, it looked the part of a classic Fox dream machine on the outside, but the naturally aspirated modern 5.0-liter underhood takes it to a new level.
Ford pony cars of all generations were on hand at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance & Innovation Performance Technologies Top of the Rock Thrill Festival. Repping the latest seventh-generation stallions was Mike Scalcione’s Grabber Blue 2024 Mustang GT.
Supporting the case for Fox 4-platform machines, Timothy Brown’s SVT Cobra looked sharp augmented by Saleen bodywork and SVE wheels from LMR. Its Four-Valve 4.6-liter V8 breathes deeply through a JLT cold-air intake.
For fans of the earliest Fox Mustangs, Keith Chafellier brought out his lightly modified 1979 Mustang Indy Pace Car, which gave this writer all the nostalgic vibes.
When it comes to modern Mustangs, the 2020-2022 Shelby GT500 is still the most potent factory Mustang created to date. Tom Jarrell’s Orange example looked great in the huge row of Mustang Day show entries, and it took home our FSC Editor’s Choice Best Modern award.
2024 NMCA Car Show Award Winners
SATURDAY CAR SHOW AWARDS
Special Recognition Awards:
1. Dell Britt Pembroke, NC
2. Daniel Gantes 1995 F150
3. Kyle Barr Georgetown, SC 1966 Fairlane
4. Tony Ruggiero Chesterfield, SC 2002 F150
5. Raymond Bleau Fort Mill, SC 1971 Camaro
6. Chris & Sue Stortz Burford, Ontario, Canada 1986 Silverado
7. Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
8. Greg Moore Apex, NC 1968 F-100
9. Jamie Coble Asheboro, NC 2004 Pontiac GTO
10. Sean Morrison Apex, NC 1967 Nova
11. Sean Morrison Apex, NC 1967 Camaro
12. Jeff Morgan Lumberton, NC 1978 Buick GS
13. Jeff Morgan Jr. Lumberton, NC 1977 Monte Carlo
Directors Choice Awards:
· Best GM Muscle
· Winner: Sean Morrison Apex, NC 1967 Nova
· Best Ford Muscle
· Winner: Kyle Barr Georgetown, SC 1966 Fairlane
· Best Late Model
· Winner: Daniel Gantes 1995 F150
· Best Traditional Hot Rod
· Winner: Dell Britt Pembroke, NC
· Best Pro Street/Race Car
· Winner: Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
· Best Truck
· Winner: Greg Moore Apex, NC 1968 F-100
· FSC Editors Choice Best Classic
· Winner: Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
· FSC Editors Choice Best Modern
· Winner: Tom Jarrell Mustang Shelby GT 500
· Best Engine
· Winner: Raymond Bleau Fort Mill, SC 1971 Camaro
· Best Interior
· Winner: Jeff Morgan Lumberton, NC 1978 Buick GS
· Best Paint
· Winner: Jeff Morgan Lumberton, NC 1978 Buick GS
· Directors Choice Conservative
· Winner: Raymond Bleau Fort Mill, SC 1971 Camaro
· Directors Choice Modified
· Winner: Tim Faggart Concord, NC 1978 Mercury Zephyr
