TorqStorm Superchargers NMRA/NMCA Power Festival – NMCA Results

Martin, MI – In the NMCA’s pinnacle category, the wild boosted-and-blown doorslammer spectacle known as VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod, Bob Glenn, who ran 3.654 at 204.08 mph in the eighth mile with his beautiful roots-supercharged 1967 Ford Shelby Mustang, took top qualifying honors. Just 0.004 seconds behind in second was NMCA newcomer Christopher Russo with his screw-blown 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle, and, unsurprisingly, the two men made it through to the finals where they faced off for all the marbles. Two big, smoky burnouts started the showdown, and both left the line in a hurry to prove they had made the right tuning calls to manage their thousands of horsepower in the mid-afternoon sun. Glenn blasted straight to the stripe with a 3.662 at 203.16 mph trip to turn the win light on in his lane and bolster his existing points lead, while Russo rattled the tires and clicked it off to coast to a runner-up finish.

ARP Nitrous Pro Street regular Lenny Grawburg set the pace for the class, as his 4.198 at 177.73 mph run was both the quickest and fastest of all the qualifying sessions. Grawburg kept his eyes on the prize throughout eliminations and ran against Nicole Liberty in the final. There, it was an incredibly close race for the two nitrous-infused monster door cars, but Grawburg grabbed the win over Liberty running a 4.202 at 173.01 mph over her 4.274 at 167.41 mph.
In a massive 30-car field of Edelbrock Xtreme Street and VP Racing Lubricants Renegade, it was Camren Massengale whose name topped the qualifying list. Massengale’s 4.487 at 158.45 mph trip gave him the advantage going into eliminations, and he absolutely refused to relinquish it even in the face of adversity. The finals, which paired Massengale against multi-time champion Joel Greathouse in a classic battle of Chevrolet vs Ford, was a true test of grit. Massengale smoked the tires at the hit while Greathouse was off and running and seemed like a shoo-in for the win, but Greathouse’s turbocharged Mustang met trouble partway down the track and slowed. Massengale never quit and pedaled his nitrous Corvette until he regained traction and drove around Greathouse for the win in a truly brutal battle.

Tony Scott topped the qualifying sheet in Holley EFI Factory Super Cars after having run 7.738 at 177.03 mph and hung on to his advantage through to the end of the weekend. Up against heavy hitter Jason Dietsch in the final round of eliminations, it was Scott’s Camaro versus Dietsch’s Mustang in a classic Chevrolet versus Ford matchup. Scott had an impressive 0.005-second reaction time, went wheels up at the hit, and stayed right out in front to the big end to mark his 7.724 at 176.96 mph pass as a winning one over Dietsch’s 7.759 at 178.22 mph runner-up performance.

Securing the number-one qualifying position in Dart NA 10.5, Rocko Khoury’s 7.712 at 178.57 mph time slip was one worth celebrating. Khoury exited uncharacteristically early, but Leonard Long and Dwight Ausmus continued into Sunday afternoon’s final heat. The adrenaline was high for the drivers of the all-motor machines, and Long’s reaction time was just two thousandths of a second too quick as a result, forcing the red light and ending the race before it even started. Meanwhile, Ausmus went all-in, but his car began to move around and he aborted the run before the stripe to coast to an easy victory.

Leading the Scoggin-Dickey Street Warrior 10.10 Presented by Chevrolet Performance qualifying results was Shawn Olson, as his 10.135 at 131.00 mph blast was the closest to the 10.10 target. The two who made it to the final, however, were Greg Woolard and Donald Fenlon. With the 10.10-second target elapsed time firmly in their sights, Woolard was on the money with an 0.008-second reaction time and a 10.104 at 129.53 mph trip while Fenlon ran too quick and went under the mark with a 10.064 at 131.77 mph pass and was deemed the runner-up instead.

LME Street King Presented by Chevrolet Performance wheelman David Rickey positioned himself as the number one qualified driver when he ran 10.506 at 124.93 mph on his 10.50 index, and Kurt Anderson was close behind in second with a 9.506 at 138.85 mph on his 9.50 index. The two men met in the final elimination round for an evenly paired matchup. Both were clean and green away at the start, but in a double-breakout scenario, Rickey had the advantage with a 10.492 at 127.70 mph to Anderson’s 9.407 at 133.97 mph pass and Rickey rocketed away with the win.

Bryan Benge put on an impressive performance in Proform Rumble Presented by Chevrolet Performance qualifying, running a nearly perfect 12.0006-second pass on his 12.00 target and rightfully earned the number one spot as a result. Benge bowed out in the semifinals, though, and left the door open for Tim Poston and Brad Kaemmerer to shine in the fourth and final round of eliminations. Running on 10.00 and 12.25 dial-ins, respectively, Kaemmerer jumped the gun by less than a tenth of a second and fouled the start so that Poston’s breakout run of 9.974 at 140.06 mph was still a winner.

In Micro Strategies Stock Eliminator, Dave Swanson topped the qualifying sheet yet again but wasn’t able to go the distance when eliminations got underway. After five fierce rounds of racing, Craig Saurbaugh and Kevin Zaskowski rolled into the water box for the final. Zaskowski left the line a mere 0.004 seconds too soon, and the slip-up caused the win light to immediately illuminate in Saurbaugh’s lane instead, even though the defaulted winner had put together an impressive package including a 0.009-second reaction time of his own and a run of 10.991 at 120.58 mph on a 10.98 dial-in.

Meanwhile, in Micro Strategies Super Stock, 2023’s champion Mark Nowicki put himself in the top spot once more. He hung on for two rounds, but Bill Lent and Randy Running passed him by on their way to the finals. Lent was geared up to go 12.40 while Running was hoping to run 9.39, and it was Lent whose package proved superior.

Cindee Hall had a smile on her face after the Erson Cams Nostalgia Muscle Presented by World Products qualifying results were finalized, with her 12.752 at 104.43 mph run marking her as the top driver, but by the end of the weekend, Jeff Toepper came out on top when his 11.230 at 117.40 mph run on an 11.25 dial-in proved to be a lesser evil than Tim Prieur’s -0.017 reaction time in the final.

Fastest Street Car Nostalgia Super Stock racer Brent Wheeler qualified first overall when he produced a 9.500-second time slip to match his 9.50 dial-in. Running consistently in eliminations to score their spots in the finals, however, were Joe Ewing and Doug Duell. The seasoned competitors were both confident in their tune-ups, but it was a surprising double-breakout scenario for the duo. Ultimately, Ewing’s 9.732 at 135.83 mph pass on his 9.75 dial-in was enough to take down Duell’s 8.975 at 148.47 mph blast on his 9.00 goal.

Nearly 40 entries in MagnaFuel Open Comp meant the competition was fierce, and three drivers produced 0.000-second reaction times. Taking it out the fourth number, though, meant Joe Garcia’s 0.0002 light put him in the lead. The top-tier competition never waned in eliminations, and two of the class’s toughest contenders earned the right to fight in the finals. There, Kurt Anderson showed how in control he is of his Chevrolet Camaro with an incredible 0.0001-second reaction time and a nearly perfect run of 9.434 at 133.02 mph on his 9.43 dial-in. Anderson’s sheer domination made it mathematically impossible for Massengale’s package with his Coal Digger Ford Mustang to take anything other than the runner-up, and Anderson got to enjoy a second celebration in the Winner’s Circle for the weekend as he had also finished second in LME Street King.

A special addition for this event, the National Parts Depot F.A.S.T. Fast Class Presented by Horsepower Depot class featured some gorgeous examples of period-correct muscle cars blasting down the strip. Jordan Pennington’s Corvette was the quickest, though, going 9.252 at 145.30 mph in qualifying and the pair made quick work of the rest of the field in eliminations. In the final, it was Jordan and his father, Terry Pennington, who enjoyed a memorable moment as they put their ‘60s-era Corvettes into the beams together. Both men went well into the 9-second zone, but it was Jordan’s 9.337 at 145.549 mph hit that got the job done against Terry’s 9.525 at 142.81 mph effort.

Similarly, the National Parts Depot F.A.S.T. Factory Stock Presented by Cor-A-Vent category showcased more incredible, iconic rides. This time it was Scott Pennington who had the quickest qualifying run, his 10.990 at 124.65 mph showing even classic Corvettes can cut quick times. Pennington showed his skill in each round of eliminations, consistently turning on the win light. The final was no different, although it was a gift from Jeff Wilkins in the opposing lane as Wilkins went for the holeshot with his Ford Torino Cobra but missed it and went red instead, while Pennington legged it out to go 11.059 at 124.65 mph.

In a big Bracket Class on Sunday, 45 pairs of cars and drivers put it all on the line to see whose skills would reign supreme. It came down to an all-Mopar final with Trista Scholten’s 2019 Dodge Redeye Hellcat and Brent Wheeler’s 1966 Dodge Coronet taking the beams on either side of the tree. Scholten left the line first as she was aiming for a 6.48 run (and went 6.494 at 107.27 mph) while Wheeler wasn’t far behind with his 6.00 dial-in. When he broke out and went 5.995 at 112.19 mph, though, Scholten cleaned up and claimed the cash prize for the second time in the weekend as she also won Saturday’s Dial-In for Dollars competition.

Some of the sickest street cars in the area showed up on Saturday for a showdown in Circle D Specialties True Street. After a 30-mile cruise around the area, each street-legal ride made three back-to-back blasts down the drag strip and two were clearly the quickest of them all. Taking the overall win with a 7.713-second average was Dan Sharp in his 1962 Chevy II while Tyler Baber was hot on his heels for the runner-up honors with an average of 7.734 seconds in his 1989 Ford Mustang. Other winners included Scott Oshinski (9-second), John Cole (10-second), Kevin McCotter (11-second), Matt Mentink (12-second), Bob Huyser (13-second), Adam Retford (14-second), and Mary Walters (15-second).

Mopar’s finest muscle showed off some serious Gen III Hemi power on Saturday in the Dodge // Direct Connection Shootout. Back in the winner’s circle once again was John Johnson of Alabama with his 2016 Dodge Challenger after running the quickest three-run average elapsed time of 8.998 seconds. Bryce Rohrs took the 9-second win with his 9.076 average while additional winners included Darrell Cox (10-second), Adam Hicks (11-second), Alan Scanlan (12-second), Todd Early (13-second), J Sanders (14-second), and Tim Burkett (15-second).

The eight quickest competitors from the Dodge // Direct Connection Shootout were invited back for the special HHP Racing Quick 8 Presented by Scoggin-Dickey competition on Sunday. As the rounds pared down the potential winners to just Jim Burr and Tripp Carter, both men were hungry for the taste of success. Dropping the hammer on their low-9-second Dodges, Burr’s 2016 Charger Hellcat led by about a car length at the finish over Carter’s 2023 Dodge Demon 170 thanks to a massive holeshot – 9.455 at 146.48 mph getting the win against Carter’s 9.250 at 148.12 mph.

Also on Sunday, the baddest street cars in the country were brought together for the exclusive Sick the Mag Drag-and-Drag Invitational Shootout. Pushing the limit of what’s possible for high-performance street-and-strip dual-duty doorslammers, Dave Schroeder and Steve Morris staged side-by-side for a final. Unfortunately, Morris’s twin-turbo BoostMaster 1993 Chevrolet Caprice station wagon was shut off during the burnout when his fuel cap came off, but the tough break translated into triumph for Schroeder whose nitrous-assisted C7 Corvette ran its quickest pass of the weekend — 4.091 at 180.51 mph in the eighth-mile — for the unopposed win. But the drag-and-drive drama didn’t end there! In a showing of supremely good sportsmanship, Schroeder wasn’t content getting the win on a broke bye, so both men requested the round be re-run. Karma rewarded Schroeder with a second — legitimate — win when he went 4.094 at 178.29 mph to Morris’s valiant 4.522 at 172.28 mph hit.

Finally, in Saturday’s special Classic Instruments NMCA vs. Great Lakes Stock / Super Stock Shootout, 32 contestants toughed it out in a highly competitive battle. Only sixteen stayed on, and three more rounds whittled down the field to just two: Grant Saurbaugh and Paul Brown. Racing on 10.60 and 10.27 dial-ins, respectively, each man had a strong shot at securing success but when they crossed the stripe, it was Saurbaugh who had the advantage for the win with his 10.620 at 125.42 mph pass over Brown’s 10.246 at 132.28 mph effort.

Sunday saw the conclusion of the event for all classes, and winners were crowned with emotional celebrations and prestigious Victor Award presentations. With only two races left to go in the Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals 2024 season, the excitement amps us as the action heads to the 23rd Annual Mickey Thompson NMCA All-American Nationals and Xtreme Sports Festival at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, on August 23-25, 2024. For more information and advance tickets, visit NMCAdigital.com.