The 37th Annual Mountain Motor Nationals delivered in its promise of horsepower, speed and variety for the annual May classic at Maryland International Raceway. Mother Nature also delivered on her promise of plentiful sunshine and blue skies for the weekend which resulted in a great weekend of drag racing action!
The unique annual event featured the region’s ever popular 900+ cubic inch, turbo-charged, supercharged, and nitrous injected pro mods in the 2nd stop of the season for the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Drag Racing Series 2015 points series chase. The 16-car field lived up to the pre-race hype as big numbers were posted all weekend long. Perhaps the best race of the weekend came in the semis as Robert Patrick Jr. of Fredericksburg, VA and his nitrous entry topped the turbo charged ‘53 Corvette of Craig Pio in the 2nd fastest side-by-side race in the track’s pro mod history, with a winning 5.873 to a losing 5.929! Kevin McCurdy and his Hamburg, PA based supercharged ‘68 Camaro continued his march through the completion this season capturing his 2nd title in as many events in NEOPMA competition taking down Patrick in the final with a 6.228 effort at 233.76 to Patrick’s 6.424 number.
The popular, wheel standing Outlaw Drag Radial class also made its second visit to MDIR in ‘15. The eight car bracket turned into a slug fest with Hamptonville, North Carolina’s Barry Mitchell and his ’92 Mustang coming out on top beating Steve Willingham and his ’67 Mustang in a close final, with a 4.34 winning effort in the 660 foot completion.
The wheels up X275 class was once again dominated by Ron Rhodes in his Townsend, Delaware based ’68 Camaro. At this young point in the ’15 season, Rhodes looks nearly unbeatable with his consistency and top end speed each and every run to this point. Rhodes tool down another strong competitor in Vinnie Cuozzo, posting a winning 4.636 at 153.93 MPH to a losing 4.875/146.23 effort.
In the events other heads-up competition was the Ultra Street class. John Snyder of Middletown, DE quickly became a crowd favorite throwing his beautiful ‘65 GTO on its back bumper every run, eventually getting the best of Ronny Rhodes in the final with a 4.971 run. The young Rhones continues to show a ton of promise and looks to become a class winner sooner than later, getting to the finals on a consistent bases.
The Wild Bunch also thrilled the large Mountain Motor Nationals crowd all weekend with its high-flying, long smoky burnouts and Chicago-style eliminations format. Bob White got the best of the class on a hole shot championship effort and running a 6.253 quarter mile blast at 208.26 in his 39 supercharged Fiat over a 217.84 MPH run and quicker 6.217 run in his 00 Altered.