Mike Murillo got all of his bugs worked out and shot off like a rocketship in the third round of qualifying, taking the top spot from Tim Essick with a monster 6.57 ET at only 215 miles per hour. That will give him the first round bye in today’s eliminations
Strange Coyote Stock presented by 5.0 Mustang is starting to heat up, but “HiPo Joe” Charles is still the only driver to break into the ten-second-zone. He’s continuing his top-qualifying ways carding a 10.93 to take the top spot here in Maryland.
The VMP Tuning Terminator/GT500 Shootout saw a familiar car jump to the top of the ladder when Joe Logan carded an 8.64 at over 164mph to bump Tom Passalacqua from the number one spot. The nine-car field has a 3.5-second spread in qualifying ETs, but anything can happen on race day, so this shuld be a fun class to watch.
It was a foregone conclusion after the first round of qualifying, as Gary “Hollywood” Parker went triple-zero on the tree, securing the top spot on the Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle ladder. Coming into the race leading the points, Parker is in solid position to extend his lead this weekend.
Downs Ford Motorsport is the presenting sponsor here at the 12th annual NMRA Ford Nationals, and Rick Riccardi has his car in their display on the midway. The car isn’t quite ready to return to Hot Street competition but it’s close. We’re looking forward to seeing the Capri and Riccardi back on the track.
After the first round of eliminations in ROUSH Super Stang, Miles Wagoner took the top qualifier spot, carding an .024-second reaction time in his 2013 “Gotta Have It Green” Mustang GT during the first round of eliminations.
Before the first round of eliminations today, we caught up with Jason Lee and asked if he thought he was going to be able to back up his 7.37-second qualifying effort for the new record. “I didn’t claim it,” replied Lee. “To get the record I’d have to start from scratch now.” In the first round he actually went quicker, carding a 7.36 at 190.24 mph. We’re wondering whether he’ll claim that one and try and back it up or not.
Marchal Racing brought their dyno out to the event and are dynoing vehicles on the property. It’s always nice to have a dyno on-site, whether for street cars to looking get some numbers or for racers trying to clean up a trouble spot under the curve.
Race Wrap:
http://www.nmradigital.com/2012/05/06/the-12th-annual-nmra-ford-nationals-are-in-the-record-books/
