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We’ve crowned one champion here in Indianapolis, and now we’re set to add a few more as we kick off the remainder of eliminations on this, the final day of the 2014 NMCA racing season. One round of Pro Mod and Nitrous Pro Street are in the books, and we’ll be picking up where we left off this morning, with sunshine and warmer temperatures in the forecast.
A big thanks to the folks at Comp Cams and the Comp Performance Group, the presenting sponsor of our same day event coverage!
For the first time all weekend, the sun is shining here in Indianapolis. The second round of Pro Modified is set to kick off heads-up eliminations at 10:30 this morning, with Nitrous Pro Street, Radial Wars, and Street Outlaw to follow.
All Steve Summers had to do was take the green in the second round of Pro Mod to clinch the championship, and he did just that on his competition bye run. And in a display of sportsmanship, good friend Dan Green, whose son Josh lost the championship to Summers last night, was out on the starting line to assist the team and offer a round of applause.
Kith Berry (left) only needed to take the tree in the first round of Radial Wars to clinch the inaugural championship, doing so with authority with his best run of the weekend at 4.15. (Center and right) DeWayne Mills and Roney Massengale will meet in the second round later today. Mills clicked off a stout 4.14 in round one, while Massengale carded a 4.26 on his break single, giving up lane choice.
Brian Hicks advanced on to the semifinals in Pro Mod, getting a freebie when Clint Hairston broke in the pre-stage beam.
Billy Glidden uncharacteristically went red against the quicker-qualified Michael Biehle, needing everything he could on the tree as Biehle uncorked a 5.86.
Jason Lee (left) reeled off a 6.98 in round one of Street Outlaw to take down Rob Goss, giving him a ticket into the next round, where he'll face the Phil Hines juggernaut. (Right) What goes up must come down, as Dwayne Barbaree learned in his first round defeat of Gino Cavallo. After the harsh landing, Barbaree fought his Mustang wildly all the way down the strip.
Current Ladders
Pro Mod Semifinals
Brian Hicks squares off with newly-crowned champion Steve Summers. Both drivers have been in the 5.80’s, but Summers has had the upper hand on paper, running 5.81 in qualifying. Just beyond sixty feet, Hicks’ Duster powers into a huge wheelstand, forcing him to lift. Summers, meanwhile, powers through to a 5.88 at 254 mph, but leaves a big cloud of death-smoke all through the shutdown area. Word comes that Summers’ parachutes failed to deploy, and the cloud of smoke was the result of some excessive braking to get the Camaro stopped. The wrecker is headed to top end, as Summers reportedly flat-spotted one or both front tires to the point of deflation.
After a brief delay, Jim Widener’s nitrous car pulls into the beams alongside Michael Biehle’s twin-turbo Camaro. Widener made his best run of the weekend earlier today with a 6.10, but Biehle has been a bracket car all weekend, running 5.80’s every pass. Widener gave it all he had, getting out of the groove and hanging with it, but he was no match for Biehle, who ran 5.87 to punch his way into the final.
Nitrous Pro Street Semifinals
Don Baskin and Kevin Parent are locked side-by-side in their semifinal match, but Parent just can’t catch the flying Baskin and his Olds Cutlass, which cards a 7.20 to move into the final, There, he’ll meet teammate Greg Delaney.
Radial Wars Round Two
Steve Criafulli takes on the ageless wonder, Willard Kinzer in the first pair out in Radial Wars. Crisafulli knocked out a 4.19 in round one, while Kinzer was well back at 4.34. The two were locked together straight and true, but Crisafulli just had too much, taking the 4.21 to 4.30 victory.
A last-minute lane swap in the second pairing, as Keith Berry switches to the right hand lane. But this one was over quickly, as Bill Houghton rolled through the beams in his Barracuda. Berry, not one to take a run in these kinds of conditions lightly, clicks off a 4.17 to move into the semifinals.
Another late lane swap — DeWayne Mills moving over to the right lane behind Berry, pushing Rodney Massengale over to the left. Massengale got out on Mills early, but could;t match the 4.15-second effort.
The last pairing is Josh Klugge and top qualifier Mark Micke. Klugger shared with us earlier this morning he felt the new Racecraft machine could go 0’s today if the team can get a handle on the early numbers. Well it wasn’t an ‘oh’, but Josh Klugger did drop a perfect light on Micke, carrying it through to a 4.38 to 4.42 victory.
Street Outlaw Round Two
First out, Manson and Corndog. Identical lights, but it’s Manson with the quicker 7.00 to Phil Smith’s 7.07 for the win.
A pair of NMRA and NMCA veterans, Phil Hines and Jason Lee, square off in their six-second Mustangs. This one was ugly from the word go, as Lee roasted the tires before moving six inches, while Hines appeared home-free. Near half-track, however, smoke became visible trailing behind the car as he slowed and coasted. Lee, realizing what was happening, made every effort to chase him down, but it was Hines at 8.90-seconds moving into the semis to face Barbaree.
Xtreme Street Round Two
John Warren lines up in the first pairing with top qualifier Dan Baumann. Warren is out ahead early, and takes a big holeshot win, 7.81 to a quicker 7.79.
Next out is Steve Wardlow and Doug Keen. Keen welds Wardlow to the tree, but doesn’t have enough steam at the top end, with Wardlow taking it with a 7.85.
David Hutnick, in his bright red Camaro, takes his match with Dewey Bastin wire-to-wire, clicking off a 7.72 to Bastins’ struggling 8.69. With the win, Hutnick will meet up with T.J. Strange in the semifinals.
N/A 10.5
A family affair in the first pairing, with Vince Khoury meeting Rocko Khoury. Rocko takes it to the top qualifier, running 8.06 for the win to a right-there 8.15.
In the second pairing, Shawn Dixon, already the benefactor of one foul start, gets another gift when the much-quicker Rick Riccardi, who has been in the sevens this weekend, goes red, handing the round over to Dixon, who posts an 8.79 at 160. In the next round, Dixon will face Robbie Blankenship, who advanced with a 7.99 on the foul start of Andy Schmidt.
N/A 10.5 Semis
Shawn Dixon’s luck finally runs out in his semifinal match with Robbie Blankenship, as the Florida racer puts a 7.92 on the boards to move into the final. Rocko Khoury, on his competition single, clicks off an 8.17, losing lane choice to Blankenship.
Radial Wars Semis
Corvettes a pair, as new champ Keith Berry takes on Steven Crisafulli in the first pairing. The pair was welded together, but Berry unloads the quickest pass in the shirt history of the category at 4.11-seconds, ousting Crisafulli’s game 4.18. In the other pairing, DeWayne Mills nearly match Berry, running 4.12 for the win as Josh Klugger is forced to lift about 500 feet out.
Street Outlaw
We’ve ot a pair of singles here, as Phil Hines is unable to make the call to face Dwayne Barbaree. Dwayne takes a shot at the track, but strikes the tires early and lifts. On the opposite side of the ladder, Andy Manson takes the tree for his bye run, picking up the front wheels twice as he pedals his way to a 7.54 for lane choice in the final.
Xtreme Street
A bit of suspense in this round of Xtreme Street, as Steven Wardlow and David Hutnick are still locked in a bid for the class championship. If Hutnick advances one round further than Wardlow, he can steal the title. And just like, it gets interesting, as Wardlow lights the red bulb, handing the win and the trip to the final to John Warren, who to his credit, carded a stout 7.80. That puts the pressure on Hutnick, who does what he needs to do to steal the championship way, ousting T.J. Strange, 7.71 to 7.75, to pounch his way into the final. With the race win, he’ll be the champ.
Final Round Eliminations
Michael Biehle was the picture of consistency all weekend long, running 5.80’s on every pass from qualifying to eliminations, and he parlayed that into his first career NMCA Pro Mod victory, taking down an out-of-shape Steve Summers in the final round with a 5.890 at 251.44 mph.
David Hutnick (left) leapfrogged both Dan Kroll and Steven Wardlow to snatch the Xtreme Street title with a win in the final round. (Right) Dwayne Barbaree, far lane, also stole away the Street Outlaw title in the final round, going two rounds further than a broken Phil Hines and winning a spectacular final round matchup with Andy Manson, 6.971 to 6.973.
In Xtreme Street, David Hutnick, needing a win to come from behind and upset incoming points leader Dan Kroll and then new leader Dan Wardlow, did just what he needed to do, thanks in part to a red light start by John Warren. Hutnick rolled out to a 7.75 at 178 to clinch the title, much to the delight of his crew back on the starting line. In Street Outlaw, Dwayne Barbaree, after a couple of less-then-stellar passes in the previous rounds of eliminations, got his combination lined out for the final, and he needed every bit of it, taking down Andy Manson in a spectacular final round, 6.971 to a 6.973. With that win, he also snagged the championship from Phil Hines, as Hines was forced out of eliminations with a broken motor in the second round. Robbie Blankenship, a former champion of the naturally aspirated category, put together a stellar run in the final against Vince Khoury, carding the second quickest pass of the weekend at 7.907 and 170 mph to oust Khoury’s off-pace 8.07.
The new Radial Wars class has been a huge source of interest for the NMCA this season, and it's only fitting that they finish off the year with the final pass of the season here at Indy. And what a way to close it out! DeWayne Mills saved his best run for last, coming from behind to take down Keith Berry in the final round with the quickest run in NMCA all season long, a stout 4.08, to Berry's 4.11.
