Event Wrap-up, NMRA Spring Break Shootout
Courtesy of NMRA
Bradenton FL – The 18th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout Presented by Steeda officially kicks off the 2012 NMRA Keystone Ford Nationals season. Old faces along with new ones made the trek down to sunny Bradenton
Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida. There were some impressive elapsed times run on Sunday, when the headwind switched directions and the temperature and humidity dropped, racers turned the wicks up and put on an awesome show.
In SCT Pro Outlaw 10.5 turnout was light thanks to cars not being ready or hurt in pre-season testing, with only four cars taking the beams in competition. At the end of Saturday, Tim Essick sat at the top of the ladder with a 6.88 at 201 miles per hour. Archie Marasco was able to sneak by an ailing Mike Murillo to advance to the final round and meet Tim Essick. Essick cracked off an outstanding 6.663 at 208 miles per hour to take the win over Marasco’s aborted run.
ProCharger Super Street Outlaw, six drivers were all vying for a spot in the winner’s circle. After an intense three rounds of qualifying, Chris Tuten came out on top with a 7.16 at 200 miles per hour to lead the field. However Tuten fell in the first round to Andrew DeMarco, who advanced all the way to the final round where he met John Urist. DeMarco left first but Urist was able to drive around him for the win, 7.16 to 7.39.
In Blow-By Racing Renegade, there were a couple of new faces as Tim Matherly and Jim Breese moved up from Real Street. However, it was Alton Clements who held the rest of the field at bay with an 8.48 at 158 miles per hour in qualifying for the top spot going into Sunday. As the ladder worked out, Breese advanced into his first final round in Renegade, where he ran into Chad Allmandinger. Breese had a stout advantage off the starting line, but slowed down track, while Allmandinger put up a stout 8.44 at 162 mph to take his first Renegade win.
AFCO Drag Radial qualifying saw Jason Lee cover the field in qualifying from the word “go”. At the end of three rounds, he had the number-two qualifier – David Hill – covered by over three and a half tenths with a stout 7.52 second pass at 185-plus miles per hour. En route to the final round, Jason Lee broke the class record, running an insane 7.41 at 177 miles per hour. There, he faced Don Lamana. Lamana was sleepy at the tree and didn’t put up much of a fight against Lee’s solid 7.50 at 172 miles per hour.
The premiere naturally-aspirated class in the NMRA, Edelbrock Hot Street, features some of the most technologically-advanced small-block Ford engines in the world. Robbie Blankenship took the top spot with an 8.55 at 156 miles per hour. Blankenship had a bye into the final round, while Don Bowles advance into the finals over a broken Mike DeMayo. In the final, Blankenship got a holeshot, but Bowles’ consistent 8.45 won out as Blankenship spun the tires and slowed to a 9.23.
New for this season is Strange Engineering Coyote Stock Presented by 5.0 Mustang Magazine. The sealed crate motor class utilizes a sealed version of Ford Racing’s newest 5.0-liter powerplant and a sealed processor. With cars not yet finished for the class, turnout was light with only two cars, and Joe Charles took the top spot in qualifying with an 11.13 at over 121 mph. In the only round of eliminations for the class it was a battle of the Joes, as Charles ran a 10.90 at 118 miles per hour to Joe Geurtin’s 12.19 at over 122 miles per hour.
In Nitto Factory Stock action, Louis Sylvester, Jr. took the top qualifier spot with a 10.97 at 121 miles per hour. He carried those performances over into eliminations, resetting the class record with an astonishing 10.73 at 125 miles per hour en route to the final round. There, he met Carlos Sobrino, and while late on the tree, was able to drive around Sobrino’s 10.93 with a 10.79 at 124 miles per hour for the class win and backing up his ET record.
In Trick Flow Open Comp, Randy Conway qualified number one with a .001-second reaction time. However when it came to the final round, it was Rodney Ward and Kurt Neighbor facing off. Ward took the win light when Neighbor made a hard move to center about 100 feet out, killing his ET.
James Steamer took the top spot in Detroit Locker Truck and Lightning qualifying with a perfect reaction time. The final round came down to Jim Roberts and reigning champion Steve Martin. Roberts led from stripe to stripe to take the win at his home track.
Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle saw class-veteran Donnie Bowles take the top spot with a perfect .000-second qualifying effort. Donnie Bowles continued his domination all the way to the winner’s circle as he defeated Gary “Hollywood” Parker with a 9.775 on a 9.76 index.
In ROUSH Performance Super Stang Chad Wendel took the top honors after the first round, running within .029 second of his dial. In the final round, Kent Nine defeated reigning champ Alan Miller when Miller went .025 red on the tree.
In TREMEC True Street actions, Randy Seward took the overall win with an 8.937-second average, while Chris Lancaster took the overall runner-up spot. Deneen Segura took the 1o-second class-win, and Burt Greiner took home the plaque in the 11-second class. Brent Nelson was victorious in the 12-second bracket, while Jerry Casale was the king of thirteens. Mike Idol took home the hardware in the 14-second class, and Chris Parisi took home another win in the 15-second class.
In the Baer Brakes Spring Break Shootout By virtue of his win, Randy Seward was sitting in the top spot going into the quick-16-style shootout. However, the final round came down to the numbers two and three qualifiers – Chris Lancaster and Mike Jovanis. Jovnis was first out of the gate, but his stellar 8.52 was no match for Lancaster’s incredible 8.06-second elapsed time, for the win.
Special for this race was the FRPP Cobra Jet Showdown presented by Jackie Jones Ford. Robbie Hudlow took out Gary Richard in the final round, in a heads up SS/L showdown, with Hudlow carding a 9.67 to Richard’s 10.27.
