In this inaugural season of the NMRA‘s Coyote Modified class, nobody really knew what to expect — not out of the cars or the racers, or whether any racers would even show up, as starting a new class from scratch can often be a challenge. The NMRA’s stars answered the call with ten racers taking the track to date in the power-adder class. The top two points positions have been the focus of a battle all season long, with Finish Line Performance/Team Beefcake Racing-sponsored Terry “Beefcake” Reeves currently sitting in the second spot with five of six races completed for the year. Reeves runs a Vortech Superchargers V7-JT trim supercharger atop the Coyote engine.

“Friendly” Frank Varela took home the win at the first two races of the year when Reeves struggled; Reeves subsequently rebounded just in time to take home a win at the Maryland International Raceway third stop on the tour. The hunt tipped back in Varela’s favor after the stop in Norwalk where Reeves qualified fourth and Varela topped the ladder and won the race. The last race had Reeves taking home a resounding win over Joe Cram in the final round on a holeshot, edging closer to Varela in the points standings and keeping his hopes alive of taking home the very first Coyote Modified championship jacket.

With a nice long break in between races — Route 66 was held on the second weekend of July, and the Bowling Green World Finals are October 2-5 — Reeves has plenty of time to work on his program. Reports say Varela is doing the same out in New Mexico, and what happens in Bowling Green will be drama for the ages. These two have been battling it out on the starting line, with gamesmanship and perceived slights all year long. We look forward to seeing who comes out on top in the final event.

“Basically we’ve been fighting a completely new combo all year. New trans, new blower, new converter. It’s taken some time to get dialed in, but the combination of a little luck, and the parts finally coming together at the last race, we are still in it,” says Reeves.

Bowling Green carries a 1.5 points multiplier, and the series drops the worst race, which basically nullifies the advantage either way as both Reeves and Varela have had first-round outs this season. Currently Varela sits on top with a 435 point lead over Reeves — a tall mountain to scale, but not impossible. We’ll be watching in October!

For more information on the complete lineup of Vortech’s centrifugal superchargers, check out their website.