As we make our way to the second race in the NMCA WEST event series, we find ourselves at the world famous Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. Stay tuned all day Saturday and Sunday for same day race results.
Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor COMP Cams. Check out their fine line of performance products at www.compcams.com.
Eliminations Round 1 and 2 Results
In bracket-like fashion, Scott Oksas took out Snavely with a round ET low 6.09 at 248.3 mph, then took the second round bye into the semi-finals. The closest race of first round was between Greg Seth-Hunter and John Sciapli, where the top end power from Seth-Hunter’s turbo Mustang was able to take out the Roots-blown ’57 Chevy – a 6.16 at 236.71 mph to a 6.26 at 225.56 mph.
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The two turbo Mustangs of Seth-Hunter and Mihovetz would face off in the semis, where Mihovetz would take the easy win against a red-lit Seth-Hunter. The nail biter of the semis went to Lepone and Berry where Berry's turbo Camaro BARELY nudged out Lepone with a 6.126 at 242.32 mph to Lepone's 6.130 at 237.88 mph run.
Despite being the number one qualifier in TT5 with a 6.78, Roger Holder has been having a hard time getting down the track during eliminations. He narrowly missed defeat in round one as he took out Crain with an off-pace 8.29. Spinning off the line during the second round, Holder lucked out again against Coleman by winning on a 8.329 at 196.73 mph run to Coleman’s close 8.335 at 198.96 mph run.
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After Mark Luton took out a spinning Kephart and Cook taking out Heck, the MMR teammates would race each other in the second round, where Luton took the expected win with a 6.88 at 215.20 mph to Cook's 7.31 at 199.46 mph.
Project BlownZ dealt with traction woes throughout qualifying, though when it came time for eliminations, Lawrence was able to get the Camaro down track to take the first round win against Kevin Young – a 7.46 at a round-fastest 199.67 mph, to Young’s lifting 7.884 at 186.90 mph. Though during the second round match up against Toaster, the Camaro unexpectedly shut off just as the tree came down, handing the win to Ryan Jones.
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Armen Maghdessian would grab the easy win as Kevin Young red lit, though would get defeated in round two against number one qualifier Eric Gustafson - a 7.23 at 193.85 mph to Armen's 7.60 at 182.18 mph run.
Looking at the left rear tire in this shot, it was a good thing that number one qualifier Tony Aneian was on on bye run during the first round of NA 10.5. Aneian’s luck was renewed in the second round as his competitor Keurjikian went red, pushing Aneian into the finals.
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Randy Jones narrowly escaped being passed by Shippy at the top end of track when it appeared that Jone's suffered from transmission or converter issues at around 1,100 feet. Jones continued into the semis and took down Cobbett with a 8.18 at 166.35 mph to Cobbett's 8.46 at 163.16 mph run. George Raygoza has been a small tire monster this weekend, navigating the tricky Pomona race track with precision. Raygoza took down Kevin Brain in the first round matchup and then Erick Aldrich in the semi-final second round – a 5.22 at 141.28 to a 7.12 at 77.06 mph.
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On the latter side of the ladder, Dan Hale would win against no-show Brian Greenberg, to face off against Erik Carlstedt who took out Eric Outland (a lot of Erics in Outlaw 8.5) - a 5.43 at 132.29 mph to a 5.66 at 126.80 mph. Dan Hale continues to the final round as he won against Erik Carlstedt - a 5.34 at 139.16 mph to a slower 5.50 at 134.04 mph pass.
Final Round
It was a lucky draw for Mark Lutton in the final round of TT5 where Roger Holder was quick to pull and went red, handing the win to second place qualifier Lutton. Number one qualifier Tony Aniean had the consistency and naturally aspirated horsepower needed to take the final round win against Randy Jones – a 8.17 at 167.12 mph run to Jones’ 8.27 at 165.62 mph.
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Mr. Consistency - Andrew Berry has run in the 6.teens virtually every run this weekend. It was the consistency along with being good on the tree, that got him the win this weekend in Pro Mod. In the final round against John Mihovetz, Berry's .060 reaction time to Mihovetz's .115 would allow him to pick up the holeshot win - a 6.09 to Berry's slower 6.13. Margin of victory - .015.
Just as we were talking about the consistency of George Raygoza, the win in Outlaw 8.5 went to Dan Hale, partially due to Raygoza’s spin at the line, but also a stout 5.341 at 139.70 mph pass. The unstoppable Eric Gustafson has been two to three tenths ahead of the Street Outlaw class all weekend and ended up with the win against Ryan “Toster” Jones with a 7.26 at 194.91 to Jones’ foul start.
Final Sheets
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As we make our way to the second race in the NMCA WEST event series, we find ourselves at the world famous Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. Stay tuned all day Saturday and Sunday for same day race results.
Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor COMP Cams. Check out their fine line of performance products at www.compcams.com.
Saturday Morning Pit Notes
DragZine’s Project BlownZ is in the house with our brand new (and hard to keep clean) 3M flat white wrap with carbon fiber racing stripes. This is only the second race on a virtually brand new combination. Even new for this race is a redesigned Wilson intake manifold that will help provide better cylinder-to-cylinder air/fuel distribution.Mike Maggio is here testing his Pro Mod that is also sporting a new wrap. Yesterday during the heat of testing, Maggio managed to click off a questionable 5.46 at only 254.52 mph. We will be keeping an eye on Maggio this weekend to see if he can really break the Pro Mod record in the 100 degree heat.
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Rick Snavely crashed his 10.5W Mustang pretty hard at the last NMCA WEST event in Fontana. Luckily, Bothwell Motorsports, in conjunction with Turbos Direct, have been building a new Pro Street Camaro since January. Now, you might be thinking this is the same Camaro that made test hits during the NMCA WEST Bakersfield finals last year, but it's not. A business decision put the Bothwell team in a position to build a brand new car this year. Due to the recent tragedy with their 10.5 Mustang, the Bothwell team stepped it up to get the new twin turbo Camaro ready for this race.
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(Left) Up from Outlaw 8.5 to Street Outlaw this year is Ryan 'Toaster' Jones and his staple, red '65 Nova. Toaster was one of the few in Street Outlaw that was able to get down track during yesterday's first round, with a number one qualifying 7.63 at 184.22 mph. (Right) Scott Oksas and his '70 Camaro sits atop the Pro Mod charts heading into round two of qualifying with a 6.044 at 253.56 mph. An unusual True Street vehicle has made its way to the second race is this McLaren MP4-12C. This amazing supercar runs consistently in the 10.6-10.8s.
Qualifying Round 2 Results
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Exhibitionist Mike Maggio showed the Pro Mod class how to get down the track with a huge 5.84 at 256.80 mph.
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A rather uneventful round two of qualifying in Pro Mod as Scott Oksas still sits on top of the class with his round one 6.044 at 253.56 mph. Greg Seth Hunter improves slightly with a 6.651 at 215.96 mph pass to put him in seventh, while most of the crowd remained in the same qualifying spot as their first attempt. The Bothwell crew has been dealing with tire chattering issues that has been violent enough to deploy the parachutes on both passes.
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True 10.5 got their second round tuneups figured out and Roger Holder came away with a stout 6.78 at 228.54 mph pass to put him in the number one qualifying spot. The MMR mastermind Mark Luton with teammate Dana Cook rounded out the top three with a 6.94 and 7.45, respectively.
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Eric Gustafson put the Street Outlaw class on notice by breaking the ET and MPH record with a 7.20 at 196.93 mph. We will see if Eric can back it up during round three of qualifying. Armen Maghdessian ran his personal best time in his '57 Chevy with a 7.75 at 181.72 mph. Our own Team BlownZ continued to struggle in the second round and currently sit sixth.
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Bryan Cobbett bumped up to second in qualifying with a 8.35 at 164.55 in NA 10.5 while Brad Udell in his '67 Nova sits in third after his first qualifying attempt of a 8.52 at 154.00 mph.
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George Raygoza improved slightly on his number one qualifying effort in Outlaw 8.5 with a 5.32 at 140.18 mph, while Stevo Fulgham slid up to fourth with a 5.937 at 130.43 mph pass.
Qualifying Round 3 Results
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A few minor shuffles took place in the final qualifying round in Pro Mod, but it was the smallest engine in the class the ex-Aeromotive Mustang piloted by John Mihovetz that jumped to the second qualifying position with a 6.04 at 253.56 mph.Kevin Young made the biggest move up the Street Outlaw qualifying list with 7.70 at 188.78 mph run, putting Kevin in third.
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Randy Jones made is way to the second qualifying spot in NA 10.5 with a 8.31 at 164.79, and Joe Keurjikian slid jumped from the bottom to fourth with a 8.41 at 157.39 mph run.
