A Fantastic Finale!

Race Wrap for the 5th Annual Mickey Thompson NMCA West Coast World Finals at Auto Club Dragway

 – With the conclusion of the 5th Annual Mickey Thompson NMCA West Coast World Finals, the 2016 NMCA West season comes to a close. It was the racers’ last chance to make a run for the class championships, and their last opportunity to visit the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle this year.

In Fastest Street Car Pro Mod, Mack Moffat and Greg Seth-Hunter faced a new challenge from the ’69 Camaro of Gary Ross. Seth-Hunter was top qualifier with a 4.13, and used a 4.14 to defeat Ross’ 4.210 effort in the final round.

ProCharger Limited Street saw James Lawrence make it a clean sweep of the class for 2016 with his fourth win of the year. Lawrence set the pace in qualifying with a 4.53 run and faced Ryan Jones in the final round. Jones had the better light (.036 to .092), but his 4.65 just couldn’t keep his Nova ahead of Lawrence’s Camaro, which clocked a 4.48 to grab low et of the weekend and the win.

Erick Aldrich was back at the top of ARP Outlaw 8.5 competition as his Maverick qualified number one with a 4.885. He went to the semi-finals where the super-consistent Tim Schmackpfeffer got past him for a trip to the final round where he would face Anthony Smith. Schmackpfeffer left just .008 of a second before Smith, but Smith’s 4.88 got him to the finish line before Schmackpfeffer’s best pass of the weekend, a 5.00-flat.

Ross Wilson has been dominating the Lucas Oil NA 10.5 ranks this year, and he qualified number one this weekend with an 8.16. The final round would be a rematch of the NA 10.5 final from the September race where Wilson faced Bryan Cobbett. Wilson took the win in that race, but it was Cobbett that would be victorious this weekend. Cobbett drilled the tree with an .018 light to Wilson’s .108, and the holeshot allowed his 8.23 at 165 run to defeat Wilson’s quicker and faster 8.15 at 166, which was low et for the weekend.

It was four straight event wins this year for Madera, California’s Mike Silva in the new-for-2016 Ultra Street Shootout. At the final NMCA West race of 2016, Silva qualified on top with a 5.408, and went on to defeat Kevin Watson in the final round, 5.43/128.36 to 5.57/124.78.

Meziere Top Sportsman saw Doug Crumlich continue his winning ways, though it was a good bit of luck that kept him going. He put his Corvette on top of the qualifying ladder with a 7.13 hit, but was -.011 red at the hit in the final round. Fortunately for him, his opponent, Kelly Harper had left before the third amber activated, thus handing Crumlich the first or worse win.

Zach Meziere qualified at the top of Champion Cooling Systems Pro Comp in his dragster, but it would be Greg Ventura who defeated Gary Cooke in the final round after Cooke couldn’t make the run.

Brent Calvert made a strong case for a Jet-Hot Open Comp championship bid by winning two in a row with his victory at the finals. He was number-one qualifier with a .002 light and made his way to the final round to square off against Paul Geis. Despite Geis going red and handing Calvert the win, Calvert launched his Mustang with a .009 reaction time just to drive home the point of how hard he and his ponycar have been to beat.

Dan Geis won the very first Fastest Street Car Street Comp class win at the beginning of the year, but he’s been chasing Jan Vanderpool at the following races. Geis qualified number one with his big-block-Chevy-powered Nova with a 9.87, but Vanderpool was not to be denied and made it three in a row with his win at the final event of the season. Facing Justin Keller at the tree, Vanderpool had the reaction-time advantage (.076 to .159) and secured the double-breakout win when his 10.37 on a 10.38 beat Keller’s 13.34 on a 13.41.

Brent Calvert was on track to make it a double-double this weekend, but the final round of MMR Mustang Madness didn’t quite go his way. Though he had a slight reaction time advantage, his Mustang fell off its 8.77 dial in to an 8.82, which allowed Henry Roberson’s Fox Body to take the win with an 11.96 on an 11.94.

There’s really no telling who will win in Hedman Hedders Nostalgia Street Car at the beginning of the event, as there are a ton of exceptional racers who all have the talent to bring home the Victor. Paul Wolfe qualified on top, but in the final, it was Monte LaFrenz facing Robert Zahner in a Thunderbird versus Nova showdown. Zahner had a slight advantage at the start, but LaFrenz pushed him out on the big end, running 9.51 on a 9.50 while Zahner broke out, 11.99 on a 12.00.

Mark Miyashiro was the man to beat in Edelbrock Super Quick this weekend, but after taking the top-qualified spot, he took the win in the final on Sunday after besting David Butler. Butler drilled the tree with a .009 light, but drove deeper at the top end with Miyashiro’s roadster closing in fast. Miyashiro was 8.32 on an 8.32 while Butler broke out, 10.52 on a 10.54.

Tim Seymour was the number-one qualifier in Calvert Racing Quick Street, but Marvin Roles would meet Trey Sommers in the final round of competition for the year. Their lights were dead even at the start, and Roles was dead-on at the stripe with a 10.19/10.19 performance, which urged Sommers to drive under his 10.30 with a 10.28 at the finish thus handing Roles the win.

The Top Dragster Shootout returned for the final round of NMCA West racing and last event’s winner, Michaelyn Roelle, dropped out in the first round. In the final Katelyn Whynaught was victorious over Will Mangrum as her supreme reaction time advantage allowed her 7.56 on a 7.55 to best Mangrum’s dead-on 7.30/7.30.

Fast trucks are pretty popular these days, and with LS-based engines under their hoods, the Chevy/GMC trucks are easy to modify to go fast. Javier Hernandez took the Gear Vendors True Street at the final NMCA West race of the year in his 2004 Silverado with an average of 9.89 seconds. Last event winner Dan Geis saw his Nova drop off on its last of three runs to a 10.54, which dropped his average to 10.04 thus putting him in the runner up spot. Ross Thorpe grabbed the 10-second win with is ’69 Camaro by averaging 10.90 seconds, Alexander Esparza nailed the 11-second prize with an 11.16 average, and Bob Zahner cruised his Nova to the 12-second average with a 12.11. Patrick Williams averaged 13.09 in his ’70 Mustang for the 13-second prize, while Melanie Green once again took home the 14-second award with a 14.06 average pace.

In Saturday’s Edelbrock Bracket Showdown, Jay Shelton took the B1 win, Mike Nordahl grabbed the B2 trophy, and David Maynor secured the B3 win. On Sunday, it was more tough competition with David Butler, Marvin Roles, and David Maynor taking home the B1, B2, and B3 wins respectively.