Day three here in Bradenton kicks off with mostly cloudy skies which will help keep track temperatures down for at least a few hours. Street Outlaw and the newly renamed Kooks Pro Mod classes should have some tights racing today with several cars in each class running some good consistent numbers. Stay tuned to Dragzine for our same day coverage from Bradenton.
A special thanks to Comp Cams, the presenting sponsor of our event coverage here on Dragzine. For all your high performance valvetrain needs, including camshafts, lifters,  valve springs, rockers, and more, visit Comp Cams!Â
John Trobiani is the top qualifier in ARP Nitrous Pro Street hailing from Romeville, Illinois with his 1968 Camaro built in John’s garage with Neil Becker and Josh Ridley. The Tom Dixon built 482 is topped with twin Dominators from Pro Systems and is backed by a NCRC converter and Proformance Racing Transmission. Sponsors include Winner Circle Speed Shop, All Line Car Star paint and body with Brian, Jimmy and Michael. Crew this weekend is John’s father Tony Trobiani, John Trobiani, Jim Anderson and Steve Gilbert from left to right.Bart Tobener is here running Edelbrock Xtreme Street this weekend with his Mustang crossing over from Renegade on the NMRA side. Changes for Xtreme Street include a lighter weight and larger throttle body. The rules for the class this year have been pulled back some to allow cars from Ultimate/Ultra Street to cross over into the NMCA with little to no changes to their combos. He landed second in the field with an 8.17 at 170 MPH. He enjoys running the NMCA Bradenton race bringing his sons to the race and dropping them off at home in South Florida after the race. Sponsors include Prestige Mustang, MV Performance and Diablosport. He runs a trans and converter from Automatic Transmission Factory behind the Procharged Mod motor. Bart (pictured right) is shown here with his son William.Another cross over racer is Tony Alm who sits number two in Stainless Works Street Outlaw. He runs X275 locally and is right on his best performance in X275 this weekend running a 4.68 to the eighth mile with only a gear change to run the full quarter mile. The MPR engine is fed by a Garrett GTX 88 MM turbo backed with transmission and converter from ATF. Dave Dodge from Tig Vision built the chassis. Steve Lee, Tony Alm and Nick Lee from left to right.
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Jason Hoots is here for his debut weekend with a new car owned by Paul Alfeo. It has a 363 cubic inch small block Ford engine purchased from Jason Lee last year force fed by a belt driven V7 YSI supercharger. A front mount PT 3000 intercooler avoids interior piping. They are looking to run in the 7.90’s. The car was built in house at Hooty Racing. The crew from left to right is Keith Washburn, Shawn Albritton, Jason Hoots and Paul Alfeo.
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Don Bowles and crew underwent a long thrash to get the car ready after losing an engine on Friday. They should make round one after installing a backup engine at Don’s house a couple of miles away from the track that was driven down from Kentucky. I popped by their pit this morning as they were still in thrash mode getting things buttoned up and some significant modification to fit the spare engine in the car.
Round One Results
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Kevin Fiscus had the earned single in round one of Kooks Pro Mod. He knocked the tires off going past the tree and rolled through with a 15.56.Michael Biehle II had a nice run vs. John Benoit after a late .200 reaction time. He was able to get around Benoit with a 6.039 at 247 to Benoit’s 6.207 at 232.Billy Glidden left first on Vinny DeMieri and went on to a 6.38 at 179 clicking it early to advance over the off pace DeMieri’s 7.23.Jimmy Keen set low ET for the round with a 5.988 at 237 MPH against Andrew Handras who shut down early.Josh Green put up a clean 6.022 at 232 earning a win over Jim Bell who was just .003 red. he will face Steve Summers in round two.Willard Kinzer ran a 6.63 at 223 for his win in Micky Thompson Super Street 10.5 W.John Trobiani ran just one hundredth behind his qualifying ET with a 7.523 at 180 on an earned single in ARP Nitrous Pro Street.
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Andy Vogt took the win over Jennifer Rice in ARP NPS with an 8.061 at 176 MPH to Rice's personal best 9.12 at 155 MPH. Dwayne Barbaree ran it out for lane choice in Stainless Works Street Outlaw turning a 7.151 at 195.39 on his earned round one bye.
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Phil Hines took the in over Rob Goss' Challenger with a 7.22 at 187 to Goss' 7.35 at 191. Sean Ashe is making performance improvements round by round running a 7.253 at 194 in his win over Dennis Lugo.Steven Wardlow set low ET in round one of Edelbrock Xtreme Street with a 7.92 at 174.T.J. Strange took the win over Jason Hoots with an 8.15 at 167 over the slowing Hoots.Bart Tobener is right there with an 8.17 at 169 taking the win over Ray Cox.Don Bowles made the call for ropund one but was off pace with an 8.43 at 161. DeMayo and Team Powerhead worked most of the night on his car as well. His 8.020 at 168 is right in line with his qualifying numbers.Dwayne Ausmus clicked it early for an easy win over Anthony Ferrante was took the tree for points with a hurt engine.
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Round Two Results
Kevin Fiscus fell victim to a damaged carbon fiber drive shaft for the second time in his career this weekend in round two of Kooks Pro Mod. Michael Biehle II went on to a 6.08 at 244 and will face Jimmy Keen in round three.Josh Green and Steve Summers were the last pair in Pro Mod with both drivers going red n a big way. Summers was worse so Green took the win and had his first five second run with a 5.99 at 237 MPH and a bye into the finals to face off with the winner between Biehle and Keen who posted a 5.96 at 239 in his win over Billy Glidden.In Edelbrock Xtreme Street Bart Tobener put up an 8.02 at 172 to earn the round over Dan Kroll.Steven Wardlow reset low ET with a 7.89 at 175 in his win over T.J. Strange.Phil Hines took a loss to Dwayne Barbaree after slowing to a 7.29 at 283 to Barbaree’s bracket like 7.13 at 195 MPH. Sean Ashe is also out after spinning the tires against Tony Alm’s 7.21 at 185.
Round Three Results
Jimmy Keen faced off with Michael Biehle II in the Pro Mod semi finals running a 5.94 at 239 to Biehle’s game 6.06 at 246 setting the stage for an all nitrous final.
 Final Results
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Jimmy Keen took the Kooks Pro Mod win over Josh Green. Green left too soon with a -.044 reaction handing Keen the win. He went on to a 5.954 at 237 MPH.Tony Alm took the win in Stainless Works Street Outlaw running a 7.214 at 192.02 MPH over Dwayne Barbaree who was quicker with a 7.177 at 195 MPH but his .657 reaction time was way off pace. Tony gives special thanks to his wife Patty, Thunder Autosports, ATF, Tig Vision, UPR, Mark Menscer and Tim Eichorn from from MPR for the reliable engine, NMCA and Bradenton Motorsports Park.Steven Wardlow took the Edelbrock Xtreme Street win for Team Midnight and Nelson Competition running a 7.900 at 175 over Bart Tobener who could not grab hold of the track in the final.Any Vogt went .006 on the tree against John Trobiani who was .008 red in the ARP Nitrous Pro Street final negating his best run of the weekend which was good for both top MPH and top MPH with a 7.502 at 184.46. Vogt’s 7.562 at 178.39.Dwight Ausmus picked up his first event win in NA 10.5 this weekend in a holeshot win over number one qualifier Mike DeMayo. Ausmus’ .019, 8.074 at 169 was enough to stay in front of Demayo’s .059, 8.044 at 168.
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Day two is under way for the 2014 NMCA season opener here in Bradenton, Florida for the twelfth annual Ross Racing Pistons Muscle Car Nationals. We have two qualifiers today and should have a tight field in Kooks Pro Mod with several cars on the property capable of running deep into the 5 second zone. Kevin Fiscus currently leads the field with a 5.89. Stay tuned to Dragzine for the latest news from the track with our same day event coverage.
A special thanks to Comp Cams, the presenting sponsor of our event coverage here on Dragzine. For all your high performance valvetrain needs, including camshafts, lifters,  valve springs, rockers, and more, visit Comp Cams!
This morning was routine maintenance for most racers with the Keen brothers swapping transmission ratios in their orange Juice powered split window Corvette based locally out of Parish, Florida.
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Rob Goss sat out Friday’s qualifying waiting for parts after a damaged blower and transmission during testing. Jason Gatlin at ATF took care of the trans and Goss runs one of his converters as well. I stopped by their pit this morning and found none other than former NMCA Pro Stock racer Bruce Maichle is the crew chief for the Goss team. The engine is a new gen Hemi from BES with Chassis and paint done by Rhodes Custom Auto. The car was assembled at Bruce Miachle’s High Horse Performance. The team has been struggling with parts reliability so far and this is the fourth time out with this set up with a best of 7.80 at Indy last year. Crew this weekend is Rob Goss, Bruce Miachle and Scott “Superbird” Segelberg.
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Dennis “The Menace” Lugo made it here this morning after testing a new engine and trans last night in Orlando. His “A” engine is out for service to the back up piece was quickly prepared last week and installed last night about six PM. This one is a 427 cubic inch small Ford with C3 Yates heads with a new Garrett GTX 94 MM turbo. Dennis wants a special thanks to go out to Pro Torque, the guys back at the Lugo Motorsports shop for working hard to get the car ready and Central Florida Machine.
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A trip through the midway this morning revealed some new items int he Holley Performance tent. The Terminator EFI system is designed more for the casual enthusiest that doesn't need the full race Dominator EFI system and also the new Dominator Gen 3 series carbs featuring longer bowls for more fuel volume, sight plugs on both sides, a provision on the main body for a TPS, billet booster inserts and metering blocks, fully adjustable external linkage, -8 o-ringed inlet threads and lighter all aluminum construction. The body is also taller with more generous entry radius. All very welcome improvements as well as making the new series more user friendly.
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Cartel Manufacturing Corp. is a contingency sponsor this year and will be supporting the full NMCA series with their new racer support trailer previously owned by John Force Racing that features on site bead lock conversions, a welding station and Bridgeport. They will be adding several features to the trailer including a fixture to resurface cylinder heads and will stock various components from Cartel, Aerospace Engineering, PAC Springs and other manufactures. Cartel owner Joe Barszcz hails from Brownsburg, Indiana and is certified welder in assorted materials and experienced fabricator. The trailer allows a car to be loaded on the second level for any chassis repair or service that may be required. Joe is pictured on the left with Kim and Al Kussy from Aerospace Components
Round Two Qualifying Results
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The top four in Kooks Pro Mod remain unchanged with small improvements by Steve Summers and Josh Green. John Benoit jumped up to fifth with a nice 6.15 at 231 MPH.Andrew Handras’ crew was able to make the call for round two after the heads came back from Nelson Competition this morning. He sits in eighth with a 6.42 at 219 MPH.Willard Kinzer is the sole competitor in Micky Thompson Super Street this weekend. He put up a 6.66 at 225 in today’s session.Dwayne Barbaree moved to number one spot in Stainless Works Street Outlaw with a clean 7.13 at 196 MPH.Rob Gross was able to make it for round two this morning putting up his best run to date, a 7.32 at 187 making the team very happy.Phil Hines was also waiting on parts this morning and they came in time for him to make the round. He was paired with Phil “Corndog” Smith who headed straight for the sky at the hit. Hines went on to a 7.32 at 191 landing fourth on the ladder after two sessions.Andy Vogt improved his ARP Nitrous Pro Street time over four tenths to a 7.534 at 182, now just behind Trobiani’s 68 Camaro. the order remains unchanged.Steven Wardlow is still top of the pack in Edelbrock Xtreme Street though now in the sevens with a 7.889 at 173 MPH.Bart Tobener is second in class in Xtreme Street with an 8.17 at 170 moving ahead of Terry Strange.Mike Demayo improved slightly in NA 10.5 with an 8.010 at 167 MPH. Ausmus also improved to an 8.09 so their gear change last night looks to have helped some. Don Bowles did not make the call this morning.
Final Qualifying Results
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In Kooks Pro Mod Kevin Fiscus held on to the top spot with his 5.89 at 248 MPH run from the Friday’s qualifying session. Fiscus Klugger Racing uses a car built by R2B2 with a Proline Racing Engine and Proformance Racing Transmission.
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Billy Glidden improved his position with a 6.014 at 215 moving up to third on the ladder. Michael Biehle II also improved from a 7.26 and ninth spot to a 6.12 at 246 moving to sixth. Stainless Works Street Outlaw had some movement in the field as well with Sean Ashe moving up to third for team ATF with a 7.263 at 194 MPH.Phil Smith improved but it still seventh with a 7.967 at 167 with the roof blowing off in the lights.The ladder in ARP Nitrous Pro Street is unchanged after the third session with John Trobiani the number one qualifier. He is based out of Romeville, Illinois and runs a 482 cubic inch big Chevy done by Tom Dixon from Markham Machine.Edelbrock Xtreme Street has a seven car field this weekend with Steven Wardlow the top qualifier with a 7.889 at 173.14 MPH.Jason Hoots is a late addition to Xtreme Street making a run in the final session today. The Mooresville, North Carolina racer left wheels up and ran it out to an 8.60 at 156 MPH to take fifth in the field.
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Mike DeMayo leads the NA 10.5 class with an 8.01 at 167. Dwight Ausmus improved on his second round run with a 8.034 at 169.49 in the final session taking top MPH away from DeMayo. Anthony Ferrante had no luck this weekend losing a connecting rod on Friday. They pulled the rod and piston out and took the tree under power in the final session for the qualifying points and are looking to have their new engine ready for the Commerce race in April.
The National Muscle Car Association kicks off its 2014 campaign in style in sunny Florida at the Bradenton Motorsports Park, with a clean slate in the points standings, a host of brand new race car and equipment, and even some new faces in the lanes. Dragzine will be on hand all weekend bringing you the same day coverage, including photos, news, notes, and results, that you’ve come to expect, so keep it tuned right here.
A special thanks to Comp Cams, the presenting sponsor of our event coverage here on Dragzine. For all your high performance valvetrain needs, including camshafts, lifters,  valve springs, rockers, and more, visit Comp Cams!
T.J. Strange hails from Anderson, Indiana and made the haul down for some Xtreme Street action. The car is powered by an in house built Stranges Competition Engines 565 cubic inch big Chevy with Induction Solutions nitrous and topped by a Pro Systems SV1 carburator. The crew from left to right is John Strange, T.J. and car owner Terry Wilson. John and T.J.s father could not make it this weekend.846 Dan Kroll has moved back to Xtreme Street after taking 2013 off to regroup. New for this year is Lou Iacopetti came on as a partner in the car a new 525 big Chevy from Brian Doss from Speed Services. The car has been revamped by Dan’s TKR Motorosports for this season and the new class after running Drag Radial in 2012. Troy Pirez Jr. from Innovative Racecraft has also come on board tuning. New Santhuff struts from Ron Rhodes, shocks from Mark Menscer, Stainless Works headers and new backhalf from Tim Lyons. He has tested to an 8.20 so far here this week.Edelbrock Extreme Street racer Ray Cox is down in Florida for the NMCA season opener with some new things going on for 2014. Cox has new headers from Stainless Works and bead lock wheels from Cartel and will be running new heads later in the year along with a new intake manifold. The nitrous is set up by Kevin Neal with engine assembly done in house by Ray. Sponsors include Cartel, Aerospace Components, Race Engineering, Moser and a Mark Micke transmission. Ray’s son Brad and Ray Cox from left to right. This will be there first hits this year this weekend.Mike DeMayo is sporting an updated 417 from Gabby Labiosa’s EIC Motorsports with a bit more power. He tested here at the NMRA event running a 7.90 with more on the table though the weather this weekend is not quite as good. Mike was the N/A 10.5 record holder with a 7.98 last year and will be looking for that title again though NMCA wipes the previous year’s records as rule changes often effect performance of the racers.Dwight Ausmus runs this 1972 Firebird in N/A 10.5 and is yet another racer that was unable to test in the off season due to the terrible weather up north. He has some new shocks and springs on the car and will be making the first runs on the car since the Indy finals. He runs a 558 from BES basically carried over from 2013.Don Bowles made a nice run in the Coal Digger VIII with a 8.084 showing on the board.Sean Ashe is sporting a wild new paint scheme fro 2014 featuring Eddie the Iron Maiden mascot on the hood. The design is based of the “Killers” album and goes right along with the team’s attitude for this year. Sean went to the semi’s here at the NMRA season opener just two weeks ago and is looking to hurt some feeling in Stainless Works Street Outlaw.
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Phil “Corndog” Smith is here with a new combo for Street Outlaw. The Trans Am was reconfigured for 2014 with the stock suspension under the car and a new 588 from Nelson Competition and a three speed transmission from Proformance Transmissions. They have not tested prior to the event and made one hit yesterday on motor. Phil’s sole hit in today’s session resulted in tire spin early. Reggi gave me the scoop on Willard Kinzer’s Mickey Thompson Super Street Mustang. The car was purchased mid season last year so this is the first outing here at Bradenton. It’s got a 522 big Chevy maintained by Pro Line Racing and twin turbos out front.
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Team Green has three cars here this weekend with Jonathon making some laps in the Camaro to get seat time before jumping into the teams 55 Chevy. Jennifer is running their Pro Mod Corvette with a new nitrous engine from Pat Musi and Joshua is driving the Pro Mod Camaro this year. They have made a couple of hits in testing and things are looking good so far. Kooks Pro Street is now Kooks Pro Mod for 2014, dropping the old name as most of the cars in the class are no longer “pro street” style cars. Jim Bell is here with his R2B2 built Mustang.
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Kevin Fiscus hails from Jacksonville, Florida and ran his first Gator Nationals this year. His is here running Kooks Pro Mod this weekend. I caught his first hit in testing but he shook the tires past the tree and aborted the run. John Benoit is back in NMCA Pro Mod after three years and normally is found running Top Sportsman. He is debuting a new car this weekend built by Jerry Bickel and powered by a big by large Buck Racing Engine.
Round One Qualifying Results
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Kevin Fiscus lit up the boards to the tune of 5.89 at 248 to lead the Kooks Pro Mod field int he first session today. The Fiscus/Klugger Racing team is happy with that run as it did what it was supposed to do. If the conditions are favorable in the morning they will be looking for a 5.85 ish run for the 2014 Pro Mod record.Steve Summers haiuls from Utica, Illinois with this beautiful 1970 Camaro. he sits second with a 6.016 at 256 and has high MPH for this session.it’s been three years since John Benoit has run with the NMCA and he is shaking down his new car this weekend. He sits tenth so far after having to abort his run this afternoon.Don Bowles was paired with Mike DeMayo in N/A 10.5 and lost an oil pump belt on his run causing sever damage to the engine while DeMayo went on to an 8.02 at 168 taking top qualifier in class. Bowles has an engine being driven down from Kentucky tonight and took the car to Robbie Blankenship’s shop about two hours north of here to make the necessary repairs.Dwight Ausmus left hard on his pass running an 8.12 at 168.Steven Wardlow laid one down to take top qualifier in Edelbrock Xtreme Street running a full two tenths ahead of the field with an 8.01 at 172 MPH for Team Midnight. Terry Strange was beside him landing second in class with an 8.29 at 164.Sean Ashe was way ahead of the pack in Stainless Works Street Outlaw running a 7.40 at 188. The team is making a converter change looking to get back on track for Saturdays session and into the low sevens.Dwayne Barbaree made the ride from El Dorado, Arkansas and had trouble keeping the car hooked up in today’s qualifying session. He is a multi time event winner last year and is running the same basic combo from 2013.John Trobiani is new to the Nitrous Pro Street class and is doing well so far with the top qualifier with a 7.56 at 180.Andy Vogt is based out of Des Moins, Iowa with this 1990 Trans Am and sits second in ARP NPS, earning his MPH with a 7.97 at 182 MPH run.Newcomer to the Nitrous Pro Street class is Jennifer Rice. She ran the full NMCA tour last year in Open Comp with her father Ed RIce. her 9.53 at 143 was on motor only and Ed is setting up a nitrous system on the car tonight for Saturday’s qualifying.
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Andrew Handras dropped a valve on his pass in Kooks Pro Mod. They pulled both heads and have to change out a piston. The heads are at Nelson Competition for repairs.Dwight Ausmus is changing the rear gear to a get a little more leverage in the hotter weather since he ran the car last year.Phil Hines did not run today and is waiting on some parts from Procharger in the morning to get it back to running condition.Jim Bell shook the tires on his run in Pro Mod. the crew was getting ready to pull the valver covers to check things over this evening after qualifying.Team Midnight was also doing a gear change on Phil Smith’s Trans Am. One of the things not changed over from the previous combo the car was running.
