The Final Countdown!

Race Wrap for the 4th Annual NMCA WEST World Finals

Santa Ana, CA – The last race of the NMCA WEST VP Racing Fuels Drag Racing Series kicked off with racers and fans alike welcoming milder, fall temperatures, and racing action that would decide championships in addition to who got to visit the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle. The Auto Club Dragway staff, including track starter Allen Jackson, worked hard on the track surface leading up to the event, and their efforts really paid off once racing got under way. During the event, their hard work and teamwork with NMCA staff made sure the track was in great condition despite numerous challenges throughout the weekend.

It was a dramatic day for the Garrett Turbo Pro Mod contingent in eliminations. John Mihovitz had a competition bye run when Greg Seth-Hunter’s Mustang had issues in qualifying that the team couldn’t resolve this weekend. The second pair, consisting of Scott Oksas and Mike Bowman, looked great from the start but soon turned into two cars being taken out of competition. Oksas’ Camaro hooked hard with a wheel stand past 60-foot resulting in extreme tire shake, got out of the groove, and then veered left just past half track, hitting the left wall and rolling several times. While Bowman had a parachute deployment failure, he ended up on fire in the safety net. Following that, Rick Snavely in the TurbosDirect Camaro took the number-one qualifier bye run in the first round, and then defeated Mihovitz in the second, 5.10 to 5.36. With no competitor on the other side of the ladder able to make lane call, Snavely only had to take the light for the event win.

Regular Street Outlaw racer James Lawrence opted to run his LSX-powered Camaro in Mickey Thompson True Ten 5 this weekend, and he qualified second right behind Dana Cook and her 2010 Mustang. Lawrence edged out Rich Hoyle, but fell to Johnny Coleman in the second round. Coleman then faced Roger Rydell in the final, who had previously dispatched Cook after her first-round bye. Rydell then took the holeshot win over Coleman, as his stellar .014 light versus Coleman’s .106 allowed his 4.65 run to better Coleman’s quicker 4.57.

In ProCharger Street Outlaw, two-time event runner up this season, Armen Maghdessian, led the field with a 4.91 second eighth-mile elapsed time. Trailing being him with a 4.95 performance was the winner of the last two events, Ryan Jones. The two would meet in the final where Jones was first out of the gate, and took the win after his 4.861 edged out Maghdessian’s 4.867 effort.

A new racer to the Lucas Oil NA 10.5 ranks, Randy Jones made his presence known after posting up an 8.006 run to take the top spot in qualifying. 2015 event winners Vic Brum and Tony Aneian weren’t far behind, but the bar was set. All three made it past round one, and Aneian slipped past Brum in an 8.06-to-8.09 contest during the second round. In the final, Jones railed the Liberty five-speed in his Camaro en route to a winning 8.000 at 172 mph performance over Aneian and his 8.07/166 lap.

ARP Outlaw 8.5 was hotly contested in Fontana this weekend with a couple of new entries vying for their place in the class. Number-one qualifier George Raygoza faced Anthony Smith in the final, and at the hit, he had the lead. Problems for Raygoza shortly thereafter allowed Smith to scoot to a 5.06 eighth-mile elapsed time and the victory.

The Top Sportsman Shootout featured five cars vying for the prize money. The final came down to Ricky Deuschle’s 2002 Camaro SS and Troy Williamson’s 2000 Dodge pickup. Both driver’s went red at the hit, but Deuschle’s -.002 gave him the win over Williamson who was -.393 thousandths early.

In Champion Cooling Systems Pro Comp, Paul Wiechmann took the advantage at the starting line in the final over Michael Boner, but Boner’s 9.93 on a 9.90 pushed Wiechmann to break out with a 9.88 on the same 9.90 dial in.

Edelbrock Super Quick is always a tough class to enter and this weekend was no exception with quarter-mile lumberjacks chopping the Christmas tree down with regularity. In the final round, both drivers broke out of their 9.90 dial in, but Dave Gotts went a winning 9.88 while Ashley Deuschle was further under at 9.86 seconds.

Calvert Racing Quick Street featured 18 cars in competition, and a number of red lights ended many driver’s days early. The final round would feature one such tragedy when Randy Walker barely tripped the red bulb with a -.009 early reaction. Camarillo, California’s Mike Johnson then took the easy trip to the win light.

Kevin Stokesberry had taken the number-one qualifying spot in Hedman Hedders Nostalgia Street Car, but he would bow out in round one to Jim Losquardo who would make his way to the final round. There, he met Mike Nordahl who cut a .008 light to Losquardo’s .018, and drove to a 10.54 on a 10.50 dial in, pushing Losquardo to break out in the process (10.49 on a 10.50).

MMR Mustang Madness saw 12 racers try for the trophy and the prize money. The final came down to the pushrod-powered Fox body of Greg Dreher matching up against the Modular OHC-motivated SN-95 of Justen Spencer. Spencer took a hundredth at the light, but the double breakout at the strip saw Dreher’s 10.71 on a 10.72 beat out Spencer’s 9.84 on a 9.87 bid.

Like many NMCA WEST competitors, Brent Calvert races in numerous classes throughout the weekend, and he had the most success in SCAT Crankshafts Open Comp this weekend. Calvert took a red light from Mike Nordahl in round one, a single in round two, and then edged out Justen Spencer to put him in the final against Greg Dreher. Calvert took the light first and used that to let his 8.84 on an 8.82 run push out Dreher who went 10.66 on his 10.72 dial in.

Vortech Superchargers True Street saw 19 racers enter the competition and only two were unable to finish. It was going to be a tough battle between True Street stalwarts, Bryan Corey and Dan Geis, as the two regularly run their Novas in the 9-second range. Corey would come out on top with a 9.59 average, while Geis wasn’t far behind at 9.84 to claim the runner up spot. With no one claiming a 10-second average, the next winner was Michael Webb, who used an 11.48 average to take the 11-second award. In the hard-fought 12-second class, Bob Zahner was victorious thanks to a 12.05-second average, and Ted Borges was next on the podium with a 13.35 average. Rounding out the category was first-time winner, Carol King, who drove her 2014 Mustang to a 14.13 average.

The Edelbrock Bracket Showdown featured winners on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Rob Strong piloted his Chevelle SS to the B1 Super Pro win over Tom Pendergast, and D.J. Houmard did the same with the family’s Pro Street blown Camaro after defeating Mike Smith. In B3, Jack Swanson drove his patina’d ’67 Camaro to the win over Michael Earlywine. Sunday’s brackets came to an end with Kevin Houmard winning over Steve Hannawacker in B1, Dan Geis cutting a .001 light to route Mike Johnson in B2, and first-time winner Brenda Cox who drove her 2005 GTO to a win over Frank Malone.

On the other side of the wall at Fontana, the Hotchkis Performance Autocross presented by Nitto Tire heated up with over 140 cars in attendance. Racers arrived on Friday to set up and test the course, which featured a lengthy straightaway at the end. Saturday began the official timing sessions, and you could see everything from pickup trucks, to pro-tourers, to Crown Victorias carving up the cone course