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(Friday Coverage) 12th Annual NMRA Ford Nationals presented by Downs Ford Motorsport

 
Were here at Maryland International Raceway for the 12th annual NMRA Ford Nationals presented by Downs Ford Motorsport. The third stop on the tour should provide some exciting action at this new venue for the NMRA. Rigs are rolling in and the pits are coming alive. Stay tuned to this post and check back often as we'll be updating it throughout the day with today's goings on.
After a hurt head ended his weekend in the final round in Atlanta, Alton Clements got it fixed, and swapped back to his tried and true C4 transmission, opting to put the Powerglide aside until he has more testing time available to him. With his known-quantity combination back in the car, he’s looking to put the car into the winner’s circle this weekend.
Also recovering from broken parts suffered in Atlanta is Louis Sylvester, who busted a pair of transmissions at the previous race. He said they were able to take the good parts from each of them and put together one good one for this race. Hopefully everything will hold together this weekend.
The staging lanes are packed as we roll into today's test and tune session. We'll be running test and tune for three hours today before rolling into the first qualifying round at 7pm.
So far in test and tune the track has been working like no other. The amazing track prep is thanks in large part to the man pictured here - Jason Miller. MIR is known for giving the racers an incredible track surface, and even in test and tune, we've found that to be resoundingly true.
Ronnie Diaz had quite the week leading up to this race. Last Friday, Diaz hurt the motor. Monday, Dominic  (pictured, right) of DC Performance diagnosed the problem and pulled the motor out, got the block machined and everything put back together on Tuesday, and had everything back together and in the car  on Wednesday, and went 4.97 in testing right before the race
Andrew DeMarco was another racer who damaged his equipment in Atlanta, but is back in action for this race. He's planning on sneaking up on the tune this weekend and has thrown the 'chutes early so far in testing, presumably gaining data without showing his hand.
How's this for a switch? Normally behind the lens, Jason Reiss is out here piloting Dez Racing's shop car in ROUSH Performance Super Stang. And if you are noticing that the rear tires look large, that's because they are 305/45-18 Nitto  NT-05Rs. He hasn't made any passes in the car yet, but that shouldn't be a problem.

All First Round qualifying results can be found here:

http://forums.nmradigital.com/showthread.php?t=109555  
 

Gallery of first round index qualifying can be found here: http://www.nmradigital.com/2012/05/05/friday-gallery-index-classes/

Gallery of first round heads-up qualifying can be found here: http://www.nmradigital.com/2012/05/05/friday-gallery-heads-up-classes/

 

Jason Lee made an absolutely incredible first round qualifying pass, turning on the scoreboards with a 7.37 at over 190 miles per hour. That puts him three-tenths ahead of the number-two-qualified Dave Guy.

 

John Urist and Kenjo Kelley had an amazing side-by-side qualifying run, with both of them carding a 7.08, with Urist going .006 quicker and almost ten miles per hour faster than Kelley, suggesting Kelley has more left in it. Tomorrow should be an exciting qualifying battle.

 

Anyone who has been to MIR knows that the whole facility - not just the racing surface - is quite exceptional. Chris Miller in responsible for keeping the tower running smooth as silk. While that's something that most racers may take for granted, it sure makes our life a whole lot easier.

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