After securing a second place finish in NMCA Boninfante Racing NA 10.5 points in 2016, Dwight Ausmus steered toward the Street Car Super Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in November to put the exclamation mark on the year.

But in the first round of Junior Pro Stock qualifying, fun turned to misfortune when Bryan Cobbett went into the wall in his 2004 Mustang, and Ausmus, who swerved to avoid hitting him, also struck the wall in his 1972 Firebird.

As soon as Ausmus discovered that he and Cobbett had escaped serious injury, he turned his focus to rebuilding the car which he and his fathe had worked on together through the years.

The Tennesseean delivered his car to Tom Andriopoulos, who also lives in Tennessee, to have fabricated a chrome moly radiator support and bracketry for a new VFN fiberglass front end.

“Tom is very meticulous, so when he was looking at the front end for a long time without saying anything, I knew he had something up his sleeve,” said Ausmus, with a laugh. “Sure enough, he finally said he wanted to split the lower portion of the front fender to make removing it easier, and that he had made up a jig to do it with cutoff wheels. I asked him what in the world he was thinking, but you know what? He was right, and he did a great job.”

When the work was done, Ausmus added a new VFN fiberglass hood and hood scoop, which were prepped and painted by Robert Murray, and headed to the 15th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida in March. There, he joined his fellow NMCA Boninfante Racing NA 10.5 drivers.

“I had butterflies my first pass back in the car, but at the same time, it felt good,” said Ausmus, who qualified fifth with a 7.94 via his stout combination consisting of a BES-built 568-inch Pontiac engine on an All-Pontiac Indian Adventures block, All Pontiac Tiger heads, CFM carburetor, ProTrans ProFlite and PTC converter.

While he exited competition in the first round, he was one of only five drivers to get into the sevens that weekend, and that further fueled his fire as he headed to the 9th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Steeda Autosports at Atlanta Dragway in April.

There, he cranked out a 7.96 to qualify in the third spot and was poised to go quicker and faster, but in the second round of eliminations, his wheelie bar mounting bracket broke at the hit, and he went into a wild wheelstand that lasted about 330 feet. As fans watched with jaws dropped, Ausmus rode it out like a rebel to an 8.79 to Leonard Long’s winning 7.90.

“I really wanted to win, and I felt like I could if I could set my car down, but when I tried, it just climbed up again,” said Ausmus, whose crew, in addition to Andriopoulos, includes his wife, Becky Ausmus and Curt Jamison. “It was frustrating because it cost us the round, but we’re going to shake it off and keep moving. We definitely haven’t given up on the championship.”

Catch the championship-chasing Ausmus and his fast and high-flying 1972 Firebird at the 16th Annual NMCA QuickFuel Technology Bluegrass Nationals, featuring the Dave Duell Nostalgia Super Stock Classic, May 18-21, 2017 at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky. The event can also be viewed via Speedvideo live feed sponsored by E3 Spark Plugs, TCI, Comp Cams, RHS, PRW Industries, Lunati, Moser Engineering, Late Model Engines, GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association and Flex-a-lite, and offered right here.