16th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA World Finals Race Wrap

Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky hosts an action-packed event where records were broken and champions were crowned!

Santa Ana, CA – The 2014 racing season has been an insanely-competitive one, making the weeks leading up to the 16th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA All-Ford World Finals filled with anticipation. This was the closing event of the NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals series. As the weekend progressed, so did the excitement as championship battles came closer to a head. By the end of Sunday’s activities the NMRA had crowned 10 new World Champions and 12 class winners.

In ATF Speed Street Outlaw, reigning champion Phil Hines led the qualifying with a record-shattering 6.87 at 202. That pass put him at the top of the field, but also lifted a cylinder head, putting his championship bid in peril. The championship came down to the semis, where Hines met John Urist, and the repaired cylinder head didn’t hold, causing Hines to skim the wall and allowing Urist to advance into the final and take the championship. Urist capped off his ninth championship with an anti-climactic final round single as Andy Manson was unable to make the final round call.

Edelbrock Renegade didn’t see the deep dip under the records that most of the other heads-up classes did, but did have the top five qualifiers separated by less than a tenth of a second, with Bart Tobener reigning supreme on Saturday with an 8.10 at 168 mph. Tobener found himself in the final round after cutting through the field to meet Adam Arndt. Unfortunately, Arndt got way jumpy at the tree and fouled out, handing Tobener the win to cap off his first Renegade championship.

One of the most thoroughly smashed records was in DiabloSport Coyote Modified, where Terry “Beefcake” Reeves went almost two-tenths under the established class record and over three tenths ahead of the number-two qualifier. However, the Frank Varela-Reeves showdown occurred in the semifinals which decided the championship as Varela was able to drive around Reeves to take the first Coyote Modified championship and meet Joe Cram in the final round. There, Cram went up on the bumper hard allowing Varela to streak down Broadway and take the event win.

Teddy Weaver led ACT Pure Street throughout qualifying, although half the class was in the single-digits. While Weaver rolled into the event with the championship locked-up, the rest of the field was looking to stop his perfect season. As it got later in the day, it started looking more and more like Weaver’s perfect season might become a reality. Jimmy Wilson stood in his way in the final as the number-two quickest car on the property. There, Weaver set it on kill, and was able to defeat Wilson, 9.65 to 9.73.

Strange Engineering Coyote Stock saw a large 18-car field in attendance, four of which were in the 10.30-zone. “HiPo Joe” Charles led the qualifying all weekend, and even dipped into the 10.20s with a 10.29 at 130 mph qualifying effort. Charles ended up getting shut down in the quarterfinal, ending his bid for the championship, while “Farmer Steve” Gifford met Drew “I Love Wheelies” Lyons in the final round. There, Gifford turned on the win light in a nail-biting holeshot win, while the points shook out to see Shane Stymiest crowned the first two-time Coyote Stock Champion.

James Meredith jumped out to an early lead in Nitto Tire Factory Stock, carding a 10.75 at only 120 miles per hour, taking the top spot of the eight-car field – which was possibly the quickest-ever qualified field. Matt Amrine locked up the 2014 championship in the early rounds, but exited in the semis. The final round came down to the number-one qualified Meredith and Justin Fogelsonger. Fogelsonger got overly excited at the tree and left before it activated, turning on Meredith’s win light.

26 cars turned out for the VMP Superchargers Terminator/GT500 Shootout, and at the pinnacle of the group was Brian Devilbiss, whose 2013 GT500 ran 7.69 at 176 mph. In the late rounds, Devilbiss stayed in, making it to the final round where he met Frank Yee, all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada. As the tree dropped, Devilbiss struck the tires, while Yee streaked down the track to the shootout win.

The Henchman Racing Turbo Coyote Shootout pitted the quickest turbocharged 5.0-Liter combinations in the country against one another. The top qualifier – Bud Sell – came all the way from Greely, Colorado and ran an 8.24 at 168 miles per hour to top the 12-car field. However, on Sunday it was Justin Burcham who came out swinging, posting an early ET that reset the national record for Coyote streetcars. Those ETs carried him into the final round where he met Alan Wooford. As the tree dropped on the pair, it was evident that Burcham had the kitchen sink in it, and even with some traction issues, handily took the win.

In Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, Jason Henson led the 13-car field with a .005-second reaction time. As the field narrowed, so did the list of possible champions. Susan Roush-McClenaghan met Jerry Fisher in the final, where her 9.55 on a 9.48 secured the event win and another class-championship for her.

34 cars packed the lanes for Flex-A-Lite Open Comp competition, and Tim Hamilton was at the top of the pack with a .004-second reaction time. Bill Jones secured the class championship with a quarterfinal appearance, however in the late rounds, it came down to former champion Wes Dalrymple and local racer Gordon Harlow. Harlow’s 10.169 on a 10.13 index put him into the winner’s circle.

Detroit Locker Truck and Lightning was led in qualifying by Dave Cole, who came out of retirement and shot right back to the top with a .002 reaction time. Drag Racing rookie Nina Gusler secured her first-ever championship in the class with a semifinal appearance. In the final round, it was Johnny Lightning getting the automatic win when opponent Fred Wade lit the red bulb with a -.037 light.

In Roush Performance Super Stang, Lloyd Mikeska took the number-one spot after a .007 reaction time in the first round of eliminations. Kent Nine was going rounds as well in a championship battle, and made it to the final, where he faced Shannon Papier. Nine left before the ambers flashed which cost him the race, but secured him his first Super Stang class championship.

In Race Pages Bracket Showdown action, Mes McPeake defeated Eddie Colwell for the Bracket 1 win. Jason Gregory defeated Greg Hines in Bracket 2 action, and Don Fotti defeated Bill Feckly in the Bracket 3 competition.

TREMEC True Street, presented by Muscle Mustang & Fast Fords magazine, saw two records fall in Bowling Green. The first was the huge turnout, which exceeded 130 cars – the most ever at an NMRA event. The second was Cal Hayward obliterating the three-lap average when he posted runs of 7.63, 7.89 and 7.67. When calculated, the Michigan racer averaged 7.73, becoming the first NMRA driver to average in the seven-second range.