NMRA World Finals 2012 Day 1
HiPo Joe Charles is here working on his car—or rather his Pro Stock level crew is working on his car—as he has some big competition in Strange Engineering Coyote Stock. The other competitiors have worked hard and caught up to his impressive performances. The quick cars have gone into the 10.60s in testing with a few other guys running 10.70s, also in testing. There is a slim chance Justin Burcham can win the championship but the big gun battle is the one to win final fight of 2012. HiPo Joe did want to give a shout out to Paul Dishroon and Joey Angrisani for their help yesterday and all season long.
Victor Nieblas and Team MPR is on the property ready for a two-car assault in the heads-up ranks with Nieblas running in Renegade with his nitrous-enhanced EFI small-block. Nielblas is seen here swapping from an older set of 275 drag radials to a brand-new set of Mickey Thompson Pro 275 Radials. The second car out of the MPR stable is proprietor’s Tim Eichorn’s gorgeous Hot Street coupe powered by a MPR 400ci naturally aspirated engine.
Tommy Passallaqua has his beautiful GT500 here, ready to take on the Terminator/GT500 Shootout. He has an array of pulleys for his Kenne Bell Mammoth twin-screw blower. Here, he’s got what he’s calling the “qualifying” pulley installed, and next to it, he’s holding the “final rounder.” The larger pulley is said to make in the neighborhood of 22 psi while the smaller one is closer to 30 pounds of boost.
If this was the NFL rather than the NMRA then Carlos Sobrino would’ve been put on the disabled list thanks to a newly torn ACL. Luckily, for Carlos, the torn ACL is his loud pedal foot rather than his clutch pedal foot. He said he is ready to make some noise and endure the pain for less than 11-seconds at a time as he chases the championship in Factory Stock.
Billy Glidden is here testing his Mickey Thompson-sponsored Mustang. A regular on the ADRL tour, and the winningest driver in that series, he is in Bowling Green testing for next weekend’s NMCA World Finals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Glidden informed us that he has his 500ci Hemi Ford engine and is looking to run Pro Street next weekend.
YES! Randy Seward does have a pick-up truck and a trailer, LOL. We are used to seeing Seward roll through the gates driving his calypso green LX from his New Mexico home. He is here for True Street as are about 30 other entries thus far and we expect close to 100 True Street cars by tomorrow’s cruise.
Mickey Thompson Wheel and Tire Company is here with their racer support rig to assist in the mounting and balancing of slicks and other racing tires. It is located at the top of staging lanes for easy access.
True Street in the 7s? Chris Gish is here with his 1991 Mustang LX and is packing a nasty twin turbocharged. Gish is the 2011 NMRA World Finals as he knocked off an 8.54 average last year. The engine checks in at 347ci and is built by Quillen Motorsports. The same company built the turbo system that consists of a pair of Precision 62mm turbochargers. Gish is aiming for a 7-second run but is not sure about grabbing a 7-second average. There has never been a 7-second average in True Street’s history but you just never know what will happen.
Nitto Tire probably wouldn’t like it but we love the Hellion Racing/John Urist Racing Super Street Outlaw coupe without any stickers. The car has fresh paint on it after the mishap at Milan Dragway back in June. Urist touched the wall at Milan in the finals and the damage was more cosmetic than anything else. The coupe is back in action and looking fantastic. He is in the lanes for a testing run, complete with Nitto, ProCharger, Hellion, and many other stickers for the companies who support his racing habit.
There’s a special treat here this weekend as Joe Elmore – the producer and co-host of Horsepower TV – and crew are on the grounds getting footage for an upcoming Mustang episode of the show.
After the first round of qualifying, Mike Murillo sits atop the ladder with a stellar 6.64 at over 221 miles per hour. With the weather supposed to cool off quite a bit in the next two days, we have to wonder, will be better that ET?
Those are ProCharger Super Street Outlaw racers Phil Hines (left) and John Urist (right). This sie-by-side shot begs the question, will we see sixes this weekend in SSO? We’ve been on the cusp for a year, and this could be the last real barrier left to be broken in the class.
Coyote Stock is going to be a dogfight. Shane Stymiest (shown) is the leader after round one of qualifying with a 10.70 at 124 mph. Hot on his heels is Justin Burcham with a 10.78 at 124 mph. The next three racers on the list are HiPo Joe Charles (11.00), Jacob Lamb (11.01), and Joe Guertin (11.04). Guertin is the sole C4-equipped racer in the field as Stymiest made the switch to a Tremec TKO-600 transmission with assistance from Booze Brothers Racing.
