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- Jim Blair has been working on some new engine pieces, mainly his new intake manifold design. They also moved the throttle body under the dash and went with a 4-5” piping step configuration. They also added a wideband O2 sensor in each primary and worked on improving valvetrain geometry on the internal side.
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- As we mentioned before, the air this weekend is going to be awesome for the forced induction cars with a high pressure front moving in. Needing to change the rear gear to accommodate the needed MPH, Steven Biggs crew was changing from the 3.4:1 to a 3.0:1 piece. Talking with Marvin Bridge, he hopes to have Joey back in the country by Atco and running in their red Mustang. Marvin managed to run a 8.15 on a soft tune at the NMCA finals last year, so look for big things from the Bridge team later this year.
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- Dan Baumann purchased Robin Lawrence’s fox body in 2005. Dan had been running some local series racing but decided to step up to Real Street by changing some engine pieces. They changed the pistons, added some fresh TFS heads, and a new chromemoly cage. They went 6.04 to the eighth yesterday with a 1.32 short time.
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- Walking to Mike DeMayo’s pit you will notice something different about his Hot Street car. That being the fox body was converted from a hatch to notchback – which is cheaper than building a whole new car. The conversion took some time but it saved the team over 40 pounds. Tech had a close eye to make sure the roof lined up properly within the stock specs, and it did.
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- Pro Outlaw 10.5 2009 runner up Mike Murillo is here with his freshly wrapped fox body Mustang. Finally the two holes for the rear mount turbo setup is now covered up.
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- Drag Radial 2009 runner up Enzo Pecchini went out and ran an 8.17 @ 173.07. And had a bit of a hairy ride at the top end when the shoots opened, shooting the car to the right lane. Second pass Enzo managed a 8.19 @ 145, lifting early.
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- John Leslie Jr is having problems with his Factory Stock ride, smoking down the track. Unconfirmed reports say that Leslie is down about 20-30 horsepower.
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- Johnny Mac attempted to go out for his first pass but they had problems with the car in the burn out box. After some quick adjustments, they rolled the SSO Mustang back up, though ended in aborted run.
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- John Leslie Jr is having problems with his Factory Stock ride, smoking down the track. Unconfirmed reports say that Leslie is down about 20-30 horsepower.
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- It was a evening filled with drivetrain woes in the pits at Bradenton after the first round of qualifying.
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- Next up would be Drag Radial champion runner up Enzo Pecchini with a broken first gear. Enzo’s fox body twin and fellow competitor Chad Doyle was also having problems with their transmission. They planned to haul the transmission over to Jim Blair’s pit so Jason from ATF could rebuild it.
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- We found Tim Matherly servicing his transmission on his brand new 2010 Mustang. What we thought was a clutch change, we later found out that Tim had plans to swap in his championship-winning two valve combination in favor of his current three valve setup.
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- David Guy seemed frustrated with his first round effort that ended in tire smoke off the line. David relies heavily on his driveshaft speed sensor on setting the tune up on the car, and has been chasing bugs with it lately on getting it to work properly.
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- We are happy to report that John Leslie Jr’s smoke show during test and tune was the result of a “non-critical engine malfunction” that was quickly fixed after the round. John feels that the gearing in the car is wrong and it is costing him power. Plans was to swap out for a lower ratio.
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- The first run for Drag Radial champion Jason Lee was a respectable 8.08 @ 176.57mph.
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- John Urist made history in Super Street Outlaw by becoming the first in the 20s with a 7.296 @ 194.13 mph. Chris Tuten followed in second with a soft hit but a still respectable run with a 7.407 @ 194 mph.
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- Jim Blair was the only Pro Outlaw 10.5 car that made it down the track for a full pass with a 6.944 @ 191.08 mph. Dwayne James had problems with getting the car on the bars, Jim Brown blew the tires off right at the start and Mike Murillo broke on the line.
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- Continuing on the records in Drag Radial is Bob Kurgan. Bob would have a sweet wheel stand that he carried out over 200 feet. Pointed straight down the track, he would motor to a new Drag Radial record with a 7.947 @ 176.29 mph. The rear gear change would prove beneficial to Steven Biggs who ran a 8.086 @ 177.93 mph.
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- Rob Valden was one of the first cars out in the Hot Street class, blasting to a record breaking 8.448 @ 156.22 mph. Robbie Blankenship would come out an run an identical 8.448. But then when it was time for Charlie Booze Jr to come out to run, he would shock everyone with a 8.412 @ 160.37 mph pass to take the number one spot. There is no doubt that the adjusted Hot Street rules is working out.
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- Renegade champion Alton Clements edged out his own 2009 record with a 8.347 @ 164.86 mph. Dan Rawls is currently in second with a good pass as well, a 8.436 @ 162.89 mph.
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- There is a new NMRA car out of the Triangle Speed Shop in Texas, driven by Daniel Pachar. This is a former Outlaw 8.5 car setup with the larger true 10.5” tires for the Super Street Outlaw class. Daniel normally runs 5.20s in the eighth in Outlaw 8.5 trim and hopes to get into the 7.70s today. The motor is a 282ci 2-valve with a F2 Procharger. Daniel plans to also run Joliet and the non-points event in Texas at the end of the year.
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- We didn’t see Sean Lyon during first round of qualifying yesterday. The problem ended up being a bad bearing cartridge that was causing the compressor wheel to clip the inside of the housing. A new turbo is on and he will be in qualifying round two coming up. Sean has also been working on a new cam/valvetrain combination and tested it for the first time last week at ORTC where he managed a respectable 4.92 in the eighth.
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- Johnny Mac won his first race at zMax last year but also suffered some catastrophic engine failure. The problem was broken wrist pin. Part of the new combination includes a new piston/ring package and a 3.70” stroker crank. Johnny thinks the engine is up about 80-100hp over the previous engine, though he is not sure since the engine has not been on the dyno. Also a new housing and ladder bar setup will aid in delivering the additional traction.
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- The Drag Radial guys had a hard time with their transmissions yesterday as we saw four cars in a row with their transmissions out. One of those guys still working on sorting out a few bugs this morning was Jason Lee. They were not sure if they were going to make qualifying round two.
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- Sam Vincent was in need of some more gear after the first qualifying attempt and swapped out his 3.70:1 over to a 3.40:1.
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- Off to the pits after qualifying round 2 I found yet more drivetrain carnage with Tim Matherly swapping out his broken transmission in place of a new unit.
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- David Ginter was also under his Real Street ride, replacing a smoked clutch and doing some standard maintenance.
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- Bub Kurgan had an off run during his second qualifying attempt. Bob was checking over things to make sure all was well, including inspecting his supercharger gear drive setup.
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- In Pure Street, Ryan Hecox jumped up to the second qualifying spot with a 10.250 @ 128.77 mph. Following up in third spot is David Hill with a 10.273 @ 130.15 mph.
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- Jay Dold stays at the number one spot in Factory Stock, though took the fastest ET record away from defending 2009 champion Tommy Godfrey with a 11.015 @ 119.37 mph. It didn’t take long for tech to get to Dold’s pit as we saw the crew pulling the engine apart for inspection. Godfrey sits in second with a respectable 11.029 @ 122.24 mph.
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- Drag Radial is tight on the top qualifiers with a tenth and a half separating the top six qualifiers. Bob Kurgan still sits at the top with his seven second pass from yesterday. Sean Lyon comes in with his first qualifying pass with a 8.007, Jason Lee with a 8.052, 8.056 for David Guy, 8.058 for Enzo Pecchini and then Steven Biggs rounds out the top qualifiers with his attempt from yesterday.
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- Conrad Scarry showed up this morning and took over the number one qualifying spot in Pro Outlaw 10.5 with a 6.788 @ 211.96 mph. Conrad is sporting some new air brushing on the front of his Mustang. Jim Blair sits in the second spot, though left last night after suffering from engine failure.
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- Bart Tobner came out after the record during the second round of qualifying and got it. He pulled it off with an 8.301 @ 166.08 mph. Alton Clements sits in second with his pass from the first round of qualifying.
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- 2009 Factory Stock champion Tommy Godfrey would become the first ever car in the class to run in the 10 second range with a 10.964 @ 121.88.
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- Newcomer Dan Baumann made his presence felt in the final round of qualifying by breaking Bruce Hemminger’s Real Street record and claiming the number one spot with a 9.548 @ 141.59 mph.
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- The most exciting class of the weekend so far has been Drag Radial. One of the tightest fields was tightened further during the last round of qualifying. A tenth and a half still separated first to seventh, but .040 separated the top four qualifiers, who were all sitting with runs in the 7s. At the top of the mound is defending champion Jason Lee with a 7.941 @ 180.14 mph.
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- The gear change in Sam Vincent’s fox body proved helpful as he showed the Super Street Outlaw class that nitrous combinations can be contenders, laying down a new SSO record with a 7.282 @ 192.47 mph. Johnny Mac would jump to the number four spot with a 7.450 @ 194.17 mph.
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- Conrad Scarry stayed at the top of the list in Pro Outlaw 10.5 with his second round pass. Murillo bumps up to third with a 7.112 @ 197.19. We saw Murillo leaving the track to head to the Clearwater eighth mile test session to help sort the car out.
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- The save of the round and the only real danger on the race track all weekend went with Renegade racer Victor Nieblas’. The car hooked to the left around 100 feet out, up on two wheels, and straightened out in the left lane when it was all done… with no damage.
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- Number three qualifier David Hill went to launch his Pure Street Mustang and went no where. The crew brought out the dreaded jack to wheel the car off the track. A reach into the rear end housing presented a handful of ring and pinion pieces.
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- Mark Anderson did not run his Tim Matherly borrowed, converted Pure Street car during the last two rounds of qualifying. Initially, due to the intake configuration, Anderson had 20 minutes to get a hood that cleared onto his borrowed ride. At the end of the first round of qualifying, he was not happy with the performance. Though he is contemplating on running tomorrow since now his tow rig is broken, and he couldn’t even leave if he wanted to.
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- A lot of broke bye runs in the first round for most classes – in particularly Pro Outlaw 10.5 and Super Street Outlaw. Billy Driscoll would take a broken bye against Jim Blair who left Friday night due to engine failure with an 8.077 run. Next broken bye was Dwayne James against Mike Murillo. Murillo left last night due to a cracked cylinder head he was unable to repair. Dwayne went on with a 8.185 solo pass. The last run of the round would go to Jim Brown and Conrad Scarry. Jim would spin instantly off the line and nearly spun the car while trying to regain it. Conrad went on with a 6.810 @ 201.38 mph
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- Phil Hines would take on Anthony Lawson with a 7.568 @ 169.49 mph, as Anthony loose control of the ex-Papakosmas car and pitch it into the left side wall The damage the Mustang wasn’t overly severe. Johnny Mac would be up on another competition bye against Daniel Pachar. Johnny Mac would run an eighth mile shot, clipping off with a 8.844 @ 107.01 mph pass. Chris Tuten would take out Andrew De Marco with a 7.568 pass to Andrew’s slower 7.924. Chip Havemann would go up against John Urist. Chip had to pedal the car several times and gave up to the leading John Urist by the eighth mile. Realizing that Urist had shut the car down to converter problems, Havemann regained himself motored down to a 9.429 win. Sam Vincent would have a number one qualifier bye run with a choppy 8.281 pass.
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- Robbie Blankenship would take on Max Gross in the next round, though Gross would end his run after a huge, bumper-dragging wheel stand. Robbie would go on to a 8.471 win. Charlie Booze would take a bye into the finals against Blankenship with a 8.466 @ 159.63 mph
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- The 2009 winner and runner up from Hot Street, Don Bowles and Robbie Blankenship, would face each other in the first pair of Hot Street. Robbie would take out Don, who had to lift briefly with a 8.490 to a slower 8.552. Tim Eichhorn would put up a hard battle against defending champion Charlie Booze Jr, though it was Booze that came out with the narrow 8.462 to 8.476 run. Max Gross would take a competition bye with a 8.517 @ 157.61 mph.
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- Jason Lee would end up with a 8.293 win over David Guy, who instantly went up in smoke off the line. Enzo Pecchini’s 7.986 won over a 8.484 from Sean Lyon as Sean was having a hard time keeping his car off the centerline. Steven Biggs would take a solo run with a 8.249 @ 173.94 mph.
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- Bob Kurgan would pull the same wheel stands as he has been all weekend, though this run it seems he was not pointed completely straight and had to pedal during his run. This handed the win over to Steven Biggs with a 8.295 vs Kurgan’s 8.524. Keeping fairly consistent all weekend, Sean Lyon would win over Chad Doyle with a 8.191 vs Doyle’s 8.577. Enzo Pecchini would be on his way to a fairly easy eliminations round with his first competitor, James Urban, being a no show, giving Enzo the win on a lifting 10 second pass. Jason Lee also had a solo pass with a 8.985 @ 130.41
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- Teammates Jim Breese and Tim Matherly ended up in the semi final round together. It would be Jim who took the win over Tim with a 9.490 to a 9.606, though with nearly identical MPHs at 142. Dan Baumann would take a bye to the finals.
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- Tim Matherly has been struggling all weekend with his new 2010 Mustang. Though in the first round of eliminations against Paul Wiley, he was able to win with a 9.634 vs Wiley’s 9.775. In a purely coincidental run, Jim Breeze picked up the win with a 9.775 (the same exact time Wiley ran the previous round) pass over Paul Alfeo’s 9.850. NMRA rookie Dan Baumann has had a great weekend, picking up the number one spot in Real Street. He would go on with the win in the first round with a 9.639 over Dave Ginter’s 9.754.
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- Defending champion Ryan Hecox won over a lifting Eric Burkhart with a 10.220 vs a 11.564. David Hill would win with a 10.261 over Gifford, who seemed to be having drivetrain problems.
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- Eric Burkhart would take the win over Paul Foster with a 10.340 to Paul’s 11.066. Mark Anderson with his borrowed car ended up running the first round, though let out after first gear giving the win to David Hill with 10.314. Ryan Hecox would win on a broken bye against Jimmy Wilson with a 10.220 @ 130.39 mph. Steve Gifford would have a solo pass, though lifted after having problems getting it into gear.
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- Rick Walsh, though sleeping on the tree with a .228 light, still managed to take out Jay Told with a 11.335 vs Dold’s 11.918. Carlos Sobrino took out a spinning Charlie Rankin with a 11.270 to a 11.727. Defending champ Tommy Godfrey pushed deeper into the 10s with a 10.899 to Alan Cann’s 11.592 @ 118.53 mph. John Leslie Jr who is still down on power still managed to take the win over Zane Reed with a 11.522 vs a 11.958.
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- Running the only 11 second run of his eliminations run, Tommy Godfrey still had enough to take out Carlos Sorbrino with a 11.019 to Carlos’ 11.443. With the only holeshot of the round, John Leslie took out Rick Walsh with a 11.440 run on a .087 light. Rick’s loosing run was a 11.394 on a .175 light.
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- Round two (semi finals) of Pro Outlaw 10.5 would place Billy Driscoll against Dwayne James. Dwyane’s car would literally hop the rear tires off the ground on the launch, pitching the car to the right. The run was immediately aborted and Billy went on with the 8.144 @ 170.58 mph pass. Conrad Scarry would take the lights and take it easy down the track. The finals will be Driscoll and Scarry
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- The close pass of the round would be Johnny Mac running his personal best of the weekend with a 7.345 @ 195.60 mph to Vincent’s slower 7.387 @ 192.22 mph. Chip Havemann would have a bye run though would abort about 100 feet out as the car pitched hard to the right.
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- Alton Clements would win against a smoking Chris VanGilder with a 8.354 to a slower 8.484. The smoke from Chris’ car caused a brief fluid delay. Dan Rawls would win in a close race against Bart Tobner with a 8.372 to Tobner’s 8.428.
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- It would come down to Jason Lee and Steven Biggs to decide who raced Enzo Pecchini in the finals. Steven was going to have to try hard since he was at an ET disadvantage. Steven jumped Jason on the light, though went up in smoke as the car over powered the tires. Jason ended up with a stout 7.916 @ 179.78 pass. Enzo had a solo pass in his semi final round but ended up in a wheel stand that he was unable to ride out.
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- Johnny Mac had been struggling with his tune up all weekend, but by the second round of eliminations, he had it all figured out. John went up against Chip Havemann who himself has been having major traction problems in previous rounds. MacDonald was on a solid 7.372 pass while Chip was having traction problems from the start, finally letting out as the car drifted hard towards the centerline. Chris Tuten would have a solo to the finals that ended in tire spin.
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- Chris Tuten would take the win against Phil Hines, though Phil lost the race in a 8.597 to 7.543 pass, he would ride out a wheel stand all the way to the 330ft cone.
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- It would be defending champion that would continue is push into the 10 second range in the finals of Factory Stock where he took on John Leslie Jr. Leslie would be the first off the tree but Godfrey had the additional horsepower that he needed to end up with the win on a 10.923 to Leslie’s 11.473.
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- The finals in Real Street would come down to new comer Dan Baumann and season veteran Jim Breese. Dan would be off the light first, though Jim would end up with the win with a 9.518 @ 143.31 mph to Dan’s 9.643 @ 141.06 mph.
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- Pure Street champion Ryan Hecox took out David Hill with a 10.176 @ 131.19 mph versus David Hill’s 10.602 @ 129.31 mph.
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- Another consistent champion, Alton Clements, chalks up another win against Dan Rawls. Alton was quick on the tree with a .002 light and a 8.389 @ 164.89 mph. A traction limited Dan Rawls came in 3 seconds later.
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- It would be a crazy Hot Street final as Robbie Blankenship motored to a 8.440 time, though in the left lane, Charlie Booze Jr. would ride out a wheel stand to over 300 feet, set the car down inches from the wall, and drove it back into the groove. Charlie did all this without getting off the gas but all the extra driving put Charlie 2 tenths behind Blankenship at the stripe.
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- Conrad Scarry would be the only Outlaw 10.5 racer all weekend that found the 6 second barrier consistently. Conrad used this consistency to take out competitor Billy Driscoll with a 6.805 @ 206.75 mph to Billy’s 7.984 @ 179.31 mph.
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- It would be number one and number two from 2009 that would face off in the final round battle of Drag Radial. Reactions were nearly identical off the line though it would be Enzo that found himself drifting towards the left side wall, eventually crashing into it and handing the win to Jason Lee, who ran a lifting 8.751 @ 138.58 mph.
