Madison, IL – The third event of the 2022 Holley NMRA Ford Nationals drag racing series took place just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway over the weekend of May 12-15, 2022, with the 17th Annual NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing presented by Fuelab.

From the vendor midway to the UPR Products Car Show, exciting on-track action, new personal bests and records, the event is a highlight of the NMRA tour. Winners take home the Nitto Tire Diamond Tree Super Bowl rings at this event, and gain critical season championship points.

In the Mickey Thompson X275 class, Earl Stanley, who won the Street Outlaw class at the 2021 NMRA season finals, claimed the top spot in qualifying with a 4.340. Stanley bowed out early, though, and it was Eric Moore and Frank Mewshaw who cleared eliminations to make it went to the final round. Moore claimed the slightest of margins at the start, and narrowly held on for the win, 4.328 to 4.329.

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Rockingham, NC – After bidding adieu to Atlanta Dragway in 2021, the 14th Annual Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by MAHLE Motorsport returned to its original home state of North Carolina for the 2022 Holley NMRA Ford Nationals. Hosted at historic Rockingham Dragway over the weekend of April 22-24, three hot days of competition culminated in new memories and new milestones.

In addition to the thrilling drag racing and coveted winner’s circle celebrations, the event hosted the UPR Products Car Show with a diverse range of American muscle from classic to current. The busy vendor midway, which included the original Bigfoot 4×4 monster truck on display, kept fans and families entertained between rounds.

The Mickey Thompson Tires X275 category was run as a special event for the weekend, and some of the country’s top drivers came out to shoot for the win. In qualifying, Justin Palmer from Missouri was the quickest of the field with a 4.305 at 168.32 mph pass in his ProCharger equipped 1993 Ford Mustang while Ron Rhodes and his 1968 Camaro with its small block nitrous combination was just behind in second. The two men met in the finals and it was an incredibly tight race to the stripe with some dramatic side-by-side action. When the scoreboards lit, though, the win light was on in Palmer’s lane as his 4.352 at 167.93 mph blast just barely edged out Rhodes’s 4.356 at 169.08 mph effort.

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Bradenton, FL – Kicking off the fresh 2022 NMRA Holley Ford Nationals season, the 28th Annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida, over the weekend of March 4-6, 2022, brought sun, fun, and new performance milestones.

The event was gifted not only with wicked performances from some of the fastest Ford-powered machines on the planet, but also beautiful weather and an abundance of sunshine. The perfect start to the racing season was punctuated by a race that suffered no major incidents or delays. This enabled racers to benefit from some downtime each evening to socialize and enjoy leisurely suppers.

Racers, fans, and spectators were all treated to a host of other exciting activities in addition to the on-track action. From the impressive UPR Products car show to the well-stocked swap meet, bustling vendor midway, and more attractions including the original Bigfoot 4×4 monster truck, it was the perfect way to end the monotony of the winter off-season.

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Bowling Greed, KY – The 23nd Annual Whipple Superchargers NMRA All-Ford World Finals presented by Competition Clutch & Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, wrapped up the 2021 racing season with a weather-shortened event that was not short on spectacular racing. Event winners drove to the NMRA Winner’s Circle and NMRA Champions collected their hard-earned Edelbrock Victor awards and Nitto Tire Diamond Tree rings.

This event marked the third year that Holley injected its infectious Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival into the event. Attendees were treated to asphalt-ripping drifting that included Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chelsea DeNofa, auto-crossing, burnout mayhem, a Grand Champion competition, and new for 2021, an off-road course that featured Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Loren Healy and their Ultra 4 Ford Broncos tearing it up.

VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw driver Alan Felts set the pace in qualifying with a 4.315 elapsed time, and was followed closely by John Urist with a 4.331 and Earl Stanley with a 4.353. Points leader Steve Halprin had a broke bye in round one, but went out in round two, leaving the door open for Urist to take a swing at the championship. Urist dispatched Felts in the third round en route to the final, where he ultimately lost to Stanley, 4.46 to 4.48.

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The NMRA Ford Nationals returns to action in 2022 with six (6) all-Ford national events through unique markets across the eastern United States. The national event series is the largest Ford motorsport show in the world hosting thousands of participants each year with championship street-car drag racing, True Street challenges, specialty shootouts, car shows, celebrity appearances, and much more.

“It was refreshing to get back to normal in 2021 after we successfully navigated through the global pandemic in 2020, and we’re excited to reveal our 2022 event schedule. Next season is consistent with our traditional schedule with the addition of Rockingham Dragway as the new home of the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals. That’s the third new host track we’ve added to the schedule in as many years,” said Rollie Miller, General Manager and National Event Director of the NMRA Ford Nationals.

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by Ainsley Jacobs
Norwalk, OH – Hosted at the iconic Summit Motorsports Park, the fourth stop on the 2021 Holley NMRA Ford Nationals drag racing tour was the Inaugural NMRA Ford Performance Nationals on June 11-13 in Norwalk, Ohio, and the weekend wound down the fields in over a dozen classes to finish out strong with memorable winner’s circle celebrations.

Continuing his number one qualifying streak from St. Louis in Norwalk as well, Tony Hobson’s name topped the order for VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw as his ProCharged 1990 Ford Mustang ran out the back door to go 4.353 at 165.01 mph. The Lake St. Louis, Missouri, resident took on John Urist in his Hellion Turbo 2015 Mustang, and although Urist had the hole shot advantage, he spun not long into the run and Hobson powered past to conclude another event with a win as his 4.422 at 164.81 mph time slip made things official.

Once again, the Edelbrock Renegade qualifying sheet hosted KBX Performance power in the top spot as Joel Greathouse, the 2020 season champion, piloted Jeremy Wolf’s turbocharged 1993 Mustang to a quick 4.612 at 154.00 mph timeslip. New Yorker Eric Bardekoff was close behind in second with his supercharged 2016 Mustang and a 4.640 at 154.58 mph trip. The two took out the rest of the field on their way to the finals where it was a wild fight for glory, but Greathouse refused to relinquish his advantage and got the job done with a 4.633 at 153.33 mph blast to cap off his second win of the weekend.

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Written by Ainsley Jacobs

Madison, IL – The third event of the 2021 Holley NMRA Ford Nationals drag racing series took place just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, at World Wide Technology Raceway over the weekend of May 15-17, 2021, with the 16th Annual NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing Presented by HPJ Performance.

An iffy weather forecast presented challenges to the schedule, but the bulk of the event was able to be completed. Sadly, on Sunday afternoon, the rain returned and prevailed to the point where the race had to be called. Some classes were able to be run to completion, but the remaining final rounds that weren’t wrapped up will be contested at the next event, the Inaugural NMRA Ford Performance Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, over the weekend of June 10-13, 2021.

From the vendor midway to the UPR Products Car Show, exciting on-track action and tons of new personal bests and records, the event was a highlight of the NMRA tour and only further fueled the fire of the critical season championship points chases that are already in full swing.

In the combined NMRA VP Racing Madditives/NMCA Mickey Thompson Street Outlaw class, Tony Hobson of Lake St. Louis, Missouri, clinched the qualifying advantage when he ran 4.279 at 167.07 mph in his ProCharged ’90 Mustang for the number one position. Hobson held strong throughout eliminations and put Nicky Notch’s ’79 Mustang on the trailer in the semi-finals. Newcomer to the NMCA series, Randy Matlock of Missouri, had a bye and was eligible to race his LS-powered ’92 Mustang in the rain-postponed finals, but the two men will have to wait to run one against another until the NMRA and NMCA meet up again in Martin, Michigan, and a winner can be determined.

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Commerce, GA – Continuing the 2021 Holley NMRA Ford Nationals drag racing series with the second stop of the tour for the season, the 13th Annual Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport at Atlanta Dragway over the weekend of April 9-11 also marked the final time that either series will run at the facility, as the property has been sold and is slated for demolition at the end of the year.

With the threat of rain looming and the forecast showing Saturday as almost a guaranteed washout, race officials pushed hard to get two rounds of qualifying completed on Friday. However, the day’s events ran so smoothly that the schedule actually completed early, and a third session was run on Friday as well. Saturday morning broke with skies clearer than expected, so qualifying continued until afternoon showers ultimately forced race officials to call the day a wash.

By Sunday, though, the sunshine had returned and eliminations were contested without interruption so that the rightful winners of each category were able to enjoy their celebrations in the winner’s circle. Fans showed up in droves to watch one of the last events in Atlanta Dragway’s storied history and enjoyed the on-track action as well as the UPR Products car show, manufacturer’s midway, swap meet, and so much more.

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