2012 NMRA World Finals Saturday Racing Coverage
After the first round of qualifying in Nitto Tire Factory Stock, Matt Amrine jumped – literally – to an early lead with a 10.88 at almost 122 miles per hour. Louis Sylvester was only a couple ticks behind with a 10.90. There are several other ten-second players on the property, so we’re expecting to see quite a few more ten-second passes in today’s qualifying.
Strange Engineering Coyote Stock presented by 5.0 Mustang Magazine saw the quickest pass in class history as Shane Stymiest, running out of the Booze Brothers Racing stable, carded a 10.701 at 124.32 mph in the first round of qualifying. The temperature has dropped considerably today, so we’re expecting the early-season ET predictions of 10.60s to become reality in short order this weekend.
Charlie Booze, Jr. took an early lead in Edelbrock Hot Street with an 8.494 at 157 miles per hour. However he was only one of two Hot Street cars to get a clean hit in the first round, and with the competitors on the ground, the class should be a dogfight once everyone gets cleanly down the track.
Even though he’s got an almost-insurmountable lead in the points, Brian Mitchell isn’t pulling any punches this weekend, turning in an 8.44-second effort in the first round of qualifying. “Titanium Bob” Cook isn’t letting Mitchell run unchecked, as he was right on his heels, carding an 8.45 in the lane opposite Mitchell.
How’s this for customer service? Yes, that’s Tim Matherly wrenching on a four-valve engine, but it’s not the motor out of his car. Rather, it belongs to Dave Ginter, who brought it down in the back of his SUV after hurting it after a recent race and Matherly is helping Ginter work on the engine between rounds when he has some downtime.
The NMRA really is a family-oriented organization, and no class exemplifies that more than Nitto Tire Factory Stock. John Leslie, Sr. – father of Factory Stock racers John, Jr. and Sondra – Has his own Factory Stock car here on the premises. He’s currently qualified with an 11.87, and is looking to better than in the remaining two rounds of qualifying today.
Tremec True Street is cooling down in the lanes after their 30-mile street cruise and are awaiting their three back-to-back passes down the Beech Bend quarter-mile. There are a couple of cars here who are looking the make a seven-second pass in competition today, making this awesome class even more exciting this weekend.
