5th Annual Nitto Tire NMCA WEST Spring Nationals on April 1-3 at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, California

Santa Ana, CA – Beautiful weather welcomed racers and race fans alike as the 2016 NMCA WEST VP Racing Fuels drag racing season began at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, California, April 1-3. During the off season, the NMCA West changed the class lineup a bit, so we saw new racers coming to compete in addition to last year’s champions who would be defending their top status.

In the Fastest Street Car Pro Modified category, the familiar Mustang of Greg Seth-Hunter set the pace with a low e.t. of 4.05 and a high mph of 168.64 in the new eight-mile race distance. He would square off against Mack Moffat in his ’93 Corvette in the final round, and while Moffat took a slight advantage off the tree, Seth-Hunter’s 4.15 edged out Moffat’s 4.39 effort.

ProCharger Limited Street was created to put True Ten 5 and Street Outlaw competitors on a level playing field for 2016, and the Dragzine Camaro of James Lawrence was the car to beat, setting the pace with a 4.53 elapsed time and a 167.63 mph speed. In a centrifugal vs. roots blower final round, Lawrence’s ProCharged combination slipped past Roger Rydell’s Woppado Racing Camaro to take the win, 4.53 to 4.67, and the ride into the Aerospace Component’s Winner’s Circle.

Following the previous two eighth-mile racing categories, the new-to-NMCA WEST Ultra Street Shootout is a non-championship eliminator that we be contested at all four events this year. The eighth-mile class welcomed nine racers to the Nitto Tire NMCA WEST Spring Nationals, and Mike Silva’s ’64 Chevy II was the top qualifier with a 5.46. Silva would move through the rounds to meet Bill Wallace and his ’81 Mercury Capri in the final round. Silva left the line first and never looked back, taking the win with a 5.46 over Wallace’s 5.63 pass.

Moving into quarter-mile combat, the Lucas Oil NA 10.5 class saw what could have been a very close, final-round matchup with Ross Wilson and Ryan Bell. Wilson’s Pontiac Sunfire charged to an 8.16 while Ryan Bell’s newly painted, little red Corvette stopped the clocks in 8.25 seconds. Unfortunately, Bell was -.057 red at the hit, thus handing Wilson the win.

Back in an eight-mile format we saw ARP Outlaw 8.5 stocked with new and old racers alike. In the final round, it was an all-SN95-Mustang affair with Benjamin Davidow’s ’95 Mustang tripping the win light with a 5.05 at 142 mph and defeating the ’94 Pony of Richard Shelly.

Meziere Top Sportsman racers had an extra incentive to win going into this season as the class has been added to the championship lineup. Taking the 2016 points lead is Kelly Harper and his ’07 Pontiac GTO. Harper faced Gary Ross and his ’69 Chevy Camaro in the final round, and as Ross’ car failed to back up behind the starting line after its burnout, Harper was handed the easy win.

In Champion Cooling Pro Comp, Paul Wiechmann took pole, but it was Kevin McClelland in his ’27 Davis roadster who would meet Gary Cooke and his ’61 Corvette in the final. Both racers ran 9.91 on their 9.90 index, but it was McClelland’s .011-second reaction time that gave him the win over Cooke’s .042.

Jet-Hot Open Comp is full of killer drivers, so the competition among them is always fierce. In the final-round matchup, it was a Camaro vs. Mustang battle with Dennis Sato’s Third-Gen Camaro taking the double-breakout win over Ron Mihld.

San Diego, California’s Dan Geis competes in several NMCA WEST classes and he’s a potential winner in every one of them, so when he entered the new Street Comp foot-brake class, he was certainly a favorite to win. Geis cut an .098 light and piloted his ’64 Chevy II to a 10.08 on a 10.18 dial-in to defeat Vince Frontino’s ’88 Mustang, which was .182 at the hit and 10.04 on a 10.07 dial-in.

In Hedman Hedders Nostalgia Street Car action, James Ferguson’s 10.02 on a 10.00 dial-in was enough to defeat Jim Losquadro’s 10.56 on a 10.50 dial-in, but he also had him in the tree as well for added insurance.

After five rounds of competition, 2015 MMR Mustang Madness champion Greg Dreher was victorious in his return to defend his title. Dreher drilled the tree against Cal Gordon, and eased off the throttle towards the top end after Gordon’s ’85 Mustang had issues.

There’s no easy way to the win in Edelbrock Super Quick with names like Gotts, Houmard, Dutcher, and Meziere on the qualifying list, and in the final round of eliminations, two of those names were lined up side-by-side. Unfortunately for Kevin Houmard, Zach Meziere had his 2011 Mullis dragster set on kill, as he was .004 on the tree, and 8.903 on an 8.90 whereas Houmard was .017 at the hit and 8.50 on an 8.49-tight racing for sure!

Calvert Racing Quick Street was jam-packed this weekend with racers going six rounds into the final. Street Comp winner Dan Geis found himself in another final round this, but broke out by two hundredths of a second, handing Jeff Interlicchia and his ’66 Dodge Coronet the win and a trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle.

It’s been quite some time since we didn’t see a Nova in the top two positions of Gear Vendors True Street, and that didn’t change here at the start of the 2016 season. Bryan Corey’s familiar blue Nova edged out Dan Geis’ white deuce with a 9.62-second average (9.99 for Geis) for the top position. Arthur Thompson was the 11-second winner at the wheel of his Chevy Malibu, and Ken Slater was the quickest Mustang in TS competition, as his Shelby GT took home the 12-second honors. Gene Federico grabbed the 13-second award and was followed by Kevin Stokesberry, who drove to a 14.007 average for the 14-second win.

In the Edelbrock Bracket Showdown on Saturday, D.J. Houmard took the Super Pro win with his new dragster, Trey Sommers grabbed the B2 Pro win at the wheel of his wheel-standing ’56 Chevy, and Frank Malone grabbed the trophy in B3 with his Mopar. Sunday’s winners were Hank Pramov in Super Pro, Ryan Houmard at the wheel of his father’s pro street Camaro in Pro, and Willie Hoefer in B3 Sportsman.

Racers will get a short month off before returning to Fontana for the second NMCA West race of the season, the 6th Annual Lucas Oil NMCA West Coast Shootout, where championship points, prize money, and more will be on the line