The months leading up to the NMCA West 2016 season opener at Auto Club Raceway in Fontana, California on April 1-3 were packed with anticipation, as every new season allows for champions to defend their titles, and all challengers to set themselves up for the points chase to claim the title. The addition of Limited Street, Top Sportsman, Ultra Street, and Street Comp was set to bring added excitement to the fifh installment of the Nitto Spring Nationals.

Testing kicked off on Friday and it was evident the time and dedication that track officials and NMCA West personnel put into prepping the racing surface. It was a predestine Californian day with tempetures that would certainly lead to record-setting passes. As the drag strip opened for testing, racers filled the staging lanes to test new combinations and dial-in their cars for an intense weekend of racing.

Pro Mod

The Hemi-powered ’93 Corvette of Mark Moffat took runner-up at the NMCA West season opener.

Greg Seth-Hunter’s modular-powered Ford Mustang, hailing from Camarillo, California, showed a lot of promise in the testing rounds on Friday, displaying the potency his 351-inch DOHC motor with twin turbochargers attached. Seth-Hunter later took the number one qualifying spot in with a 168 mph, 1/8-mile pass that registered a respectable 4.05 elapsed time.

Continuing his reign, Seth-Hunter decided to stretch out his Mustang’s legs on his laddered single run in the first round, backing up both the elapsed time and speeds on a record-setting pass with a 4.11-second time at 167 mph. Number three qualifier Lonnie Patrick and his Malibu bowed out of competition early with a red light in the first round against the Hemi-powered ’93 Corvette of Lancaster, California resident Mark Moffat, who landed himself into the finals against Seth-Hunter with a 4.42 at 156 mph.

Seth-Hunter took home the victory in NMCA West Pro Mod in his ’09 Mustang.

The final round of Pro Mod showcased an age-old rivalry, Ford versus Chevrolet, in a heads-up showdown. As the blown Corvette of Moffat pulled into the pre-stage beams, everyone knew it was going to be a close race between the number one and two qualifiers. Moffat managed to win the battle on the tree against Seth-Hunter, but was unable to hold off the closing speed of the turbo Mustang, allowing Seth-Hunter to pick up the win. Moffat’s 4.39-second pass crumbled under the weight of Seth-Hunters 4.15, despite the advantage he gained on the starting line.

Jeff and Kevin Young made the long-haul from Idaho, with their new Procharger-powered Corvette. Unfortuantely, they weren’t able to make it out of the first round.

Procharger Limited Street

The newest class to debut on the West Coast, most competitors of this ProCharger-sponsored class showed up with relatively untested cars, some getting buttoned up the night before. As the event progressed, a majority of the competitors found the ragged edge of what the track could handle. As the sun set on the track Saturday, James Lawrence of Temecula, California, pilot of the Dragzine ’02 Camaro, claimed the number one qualifying spot with a thundering 4.59 at 162 mph.

The first round of eliminations pitted Ford against Ford, with Dana Cook’s 2010 GT500 paired up against Lafayette Williams’ ’01 Mustang, with Dana coming out onto top, edging out Williams with a 4.83 at 163 mph. Brand-on-brand crime continued as Ryan “Toaster” Jones’ bandaged-up, LS-powered Chevy II outran Kevin Wallauer’s ’67 Camaro with a 5.17, sending him into the next round.

Rodger Rydell’s blown 2002 Camaro went to the final round of Limited Street, losing the match to James Lawrence.

Roger Rydell capitalized on Johnny Coleman’s no-show, as a result of transmission issue in his ’69 Camaro in the last round of qualifying the day before. Rydell used this competition bye to throw a 4.70 up on the scoreboard. This round was finished up as the two Procharged entries of Jeff Young and Lawrence filled the stands with hellacious howls as the tree dropped. Even after treeing Lawrence, Young wasn’t able to power around him, allowing the BlownZ Camaro to move on to round two with an impressive 4.63-second run at 164 mph.

And then there were four: Lawrence faced Jones, and Cook battled Rydell in a round overflowing with action. Jones continued fine-tuning his red Chevy-powered monster, resulting in an outstanding 4.77-second pass on a 275 drag radial; however, with all the advancements made with his car, he wasn’t able to overtake Lawrence’s LSX-powered ride. In the end, Lawrence claimed the the mph and elapsed time record at the same time with a 4.57-second pass at 167 mph. Rydell advanced to the final round after beating out Cook’s twin-turbo Mustang with a 4.64 at 154 mph, despite having a starting line mishap.

Lawrence took home everything under the sun in Limited Street, winning the event, qualifying No.1, and setting both the e.t. and mph records in his class.

The finals paired up a nasty set of supercharged Camaro’s, and despite laying down a 4.67-second pass, Rydell was unable to come out on top. Pulling out all the stops and blazing down the track, Lawrence and crew earned a spot in the Aerospace Components Winners Circle as a result 4.53-second pass, setting both low elapsed time and top speed of the event and backing up his previous run.

ARP Outlaw 8.5

Richard Shelly managed to outrun the competition in his nitrous huffing ’94 Mustang, until the final round.

Outlaw 8.5 racers were out in full force this weekend, and during testing, Dan Hale of Semi Valley, California managed to drive his modular-powered Fox body to a 4.98-second pass to put the class on notice. Many other 8.5 cars were on his heels with low 5-second runs, ensuring that this class of 14 entries would be one to watch as this event continued.

Anthony Smith and his turbocharged ’93 Mustang managed to clinch the top qualifying spot with a 5.00 pass, marking him as the man to beat. During eliminations, Smith continued by laying down sub 5-second runs until meeting Benjamin Davidow in the semifinals, who edged out Smith.

In the closest race in arguably the most competitive heads-up class, Benjamin’s 5.00-second pass took the win over Anthony’s 5.01. This victory catapulted the number four qualifier into the finals against Richard Shelly of Glendale, Arizona. Shelly ran into problems after leaving the starting line in the final round, while Davidow powered down the 1320 to turn on the win light with a 5.05-second run at 142 mph.

Benjamin Davidow powered his way through the ranks in ARP Outlaw 8.5, in the end taking home the trophy.

Ultra Street

Despite not being a part of the NMCA West points race classes, the heads-up Ultra Street made its debut at Fontana, garnering quite a bit of attention. A collaboration between NMCA West and the disbanded West Coast Hot Rod Association racers, this event was a combining of efforts to make this class happen, opening the door to competitive entry-level heads-up racing at NMCA West events.

Bill Wallace’s Capri took the No. 2 spot in Ultra Street.

The ’64 Chevy II piloted by Mike Silva took the number one qualifying spot the day before eliminations, with a 5.53-second 1/8-mile pass, granting him the competition bye in the first round. Silva put up a 5.56-second pass on the finish line board in the second round, shutting out Justin Robbins and his ’78 Fairmont, who ran a slower 5.94-second pass.

The third round paired the numbers one and two qualifiers. Kevin Watson may have been able to get the jump on Silva at the light, but wasn’t able to keep his power planted through the run, and gave up the round to Silva’s quicker 5.52-second run.

On the opposite side of the ladder, the number four qualifier, Bill Wallace, worked his way through eliminations, first taking an easy victory over James Ferguson, after he fouled out in first round. Wallace was then paired up against the ’91 Mustang of Kevin VanNuy in the second round. Wallace managed to find some extra power over his previous run to blow by his newest challenger, laying down a 5.65 to claim the victory over the number three qualifier’s 5.84-second pass, securing a bye run in the next round to propel him into the finals.

Mike Silva and his ’64 Chevy II asserted dominance over the entire Ultra Street class, qualifying number one, winning the event, and setting the low elapsed time and top speed.

Wallace and Silva both laid down their quickest passes in the final round of Ultra Street. Wallace traversed the 1/8-mile in 5.63-seconds, and despite running quicker than he had yet in eliminations, was eclipsed by the 5.46 at 128 mph that Silva laid down, allowing him to take home the trophy.

Lucas Oil NA 10.5

In a 50/50 chance to secure the event trophy in the Lucas Oil NA 10.5, Ross Wilson and Ryan Bell faced off as the sole competitors in the class. Wilson qualified in the number one slot with an 8.12 pass at 171 mph, while Bell took second qualifier by default. In the final round, Bell fouled out, handing Wilson the win with an 8.16 at 162 mph.

Ryan Bell went red by a bunch in the Lucas Oil NA 10.5 finals, sending him home with a runner-up

Bracket And Index Classes 

The Bracket and Index class winners were comprised of familiar faces and first-time event winners. Kevin MeCelland threw together an .021 package in the final round of Champion Cooling Pro Comp, pulling off a .011 reaction time and running a 9.91 taking home the win over Gary Cooke. Dennis Sato took home his first NMCA West trophy in Jet Hot Open Comp, beating out Ron Mihild and his 12-second ’67 Mustang. Greg Dreher, the 2015 MMR Mustang Madness champion, finished right were he left off, beating out Cal Gordon in the final round of competition after Gordon ran into traction difficulties.

Ryan Houmard took home the Bracket 2 trophy in his fathers Kevin’s beautiful blown Camaro.

Hedman Headers Nostalgia Street Car saw James Ferguson and his ’66 Malibu take the victory over Jim Losquadro. Zach Meziere’s quickness on the tree gave him the edge he needed to beat out Kevin Houmard in Edelbrock Super Quick. The ’66 Coronet of Calvert Racing Quick Street racer Jeff Inerlicchia was present in the Aerospace Components Winners Circle, after treeing Dan Geis and taking the victory. However, Geis was able to take home the victory in the new Street Comp class, with a win over Vince Frontino in the final round.

Another new class, Meziere Top Sportsman, crowned Kelly Harper the event winner after outperforming Gary Ross in the money round. Hank Pramov overtook Pete Bothe to take the win in Bracket 1, and Ryan Houmard caught a break after Michael Furiani fouled out in the final round of Bracket 2. Willie Hoefer’s win in Bracket 3 over Bob Zahner secured his place in the winners circle.

The Spring opener proved to be a great start to the 2016 NMCA West season, and we look forward to the upcoming events. Keep it locked on Dragzine as we bring you coverage from other NMCA WEST and NMCA events throughout the year.