Edelbrock Renegade driver Alton Clements, who ran his small-block Ford and Vortech YSi-BX-powered Mustang to a personal best of 7.49 last month, posted a 7.79 and 177 mph to qualify fourth out of thirteen cars this weekend, and to help his machine run optimally going into eliminations for this weekend's race, he swapped his existing head gaskets for a fresh set last night. The weather conditions are challenging, but we're chipping away at it," said Clements, whose efforts are supported by the Supercharger Store. The multi-time winner'drove to a runner-up finish against Aaron Bates for the rain-delayed Maple Grove Raceway race last night.
While everybody's favorite comedian Carlos Sobrino ripped off a 10.37 and 126 mph in his mad Mustang to earn a seat in the second qualified spot in Race Pages Coyote Stock, the hard-launching and heavy-shifting required to go places in the category ate up his TKO500 transmission in the process. The funny, or not so funny, thing is that I had bought the transmission as a spare from Factory Stock driver Dan Ryntz here at the track on Thursday because I had a feeling I would need one, said Sobrino, who said he has swapped so many transmissions as of late that he can get the job done in 45 minutes. He's now ready to rock and roll into the first round of eliminations.
You are staring at the first-ever Whipple 3.6L supercharger, which was designed specifically for ProCharger Coyote Modified at the request of Jim LaRocca. The noted Mustang racer and tuner is crew chief on Tommy Annunziata's brand-new entry in the category. The team runs a 2014 Cobra Jet with an engine combination designed by LaRocca. They are sitting third in the field with an 8.18 at 165 mph as LaRocca is easing into the program. The team fought a belt issue prior to the trip to Ohio, forcing some changes in belt-wrap and pulley system. A new PMAS mass-airflow sensor was also added to the program as LaRocca relies on the Cobra Jet ECU to control the Coyote 5.0L engine.
Val Clements and her motivated Mustang are moving right along in Edelbrock Renegade, as she flat-footed it to a 7.70 and 176 mph to qualify in the second spot in this weekend's field of thirteen. It's going unexpectedly good, said Clements, who relies on a pushrod engine pumped up by a ProCharger F1A-94.The 7.70 is a new personal best, and the second qualified spot is my best qualifying effort since 2013. The fan-favorite Clements, who's learning how to tune her combination via Big Stuff 3 from her fellow racer and brother, Alton Clements, went on to share that there's more in the combination, and she has her sights set on 7.60s. UPDATE: Clements ran 7.65 at 176 mph in the quarterfinals of Edelbrock Renegade competition.
After 200,000 miles, 10 years of drag racing, and three championships it was time for 7-time national champion Chris Parisi to switch rides for his adventures to NMRA events all over the country. He still has his familiar 2007 Mustang V-6 but it will be handed down to his son to for use at local events. Parisi is now competing with a 2016 Mustang V-6 that he actually borrowed from his wife, Sarah Lee. We aren't sure if she knows he added his sponsor logos but this car is significantly quicker than his previous chariot. He competes regularly in Ford Muscle, QA1 True Street, and in the NMRA brackets whenever its possible. He is heading into second round for Ford Muscle and Bracket 1 while he already secured one class win yesterday by capturing the True Street 15-second category. The buzzin' half dozen gets a little kick up in power thanks to a Steeda cold-air kit and MagnaFlow axle-back exhaust system. A new SCT tuner and custom Tony Gonyon (at Tuners Inc.) tune-up are waiting for him when he gets back home to Jacksonville, FL. A pair of Nitto 555R drag radials keeps the Mustang consistent. Parisi says the car goes 14.60s deep staged but he has it backed off to 15.00 for Ford Muscle and 14.95 for the bracket race.
VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw bad man Manny Buginga is rocking a new DiSomma Racing Engines-built 400 cubic-inch bullet fronted by a 98mm Precision turbo. Nick and Rich Bruder are on-board to tune it with FuelTech, and while Buginga was shaking it down in qualifying and posted an off-the-throttle 5.46 and 115 mph, he jumped to a 4.62 at 166 mph in his round one win, and is now readying for the second round of eliminations. We've been struggling with the new combination, but the Bruder brothers and the whole Buginga crew are helping and we're headed in the right direction, said Buginga. We talked with T.J. (Bailey) and the NMRA staff about the track yesterday, and they sure listened to what we had to say and worked on the lanes to make them equal.
If you read the Buginga news item above, he credited NMRA track officials for fixing some issues with the racing surface from yesterday's qualifying sessions. This was the scene early this morning as NMRA's TJ "El Prepe" Bailey worked hard with Lonnie Grim and Derek Beach in scraping the rubber and building it back up to help the right lane. It worked as all the round wins came out of the right lane in VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw in round of eliminations with Manny Buginga, Charles Hull, and Ronnie Diaz all advancing.
Charles Hull and Phil Hines were the first pair to fire their engines after the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner before today's first round of eliminations, and when the tree dropped, Hines spun the tires on his Mustang in the left lane, while Hull drove his Mustang to a winning 4.62 at 161 mph, a tick quicker and faster than the 4.65 and 160 mph he qualified with. Hull, who will have lane choice when he faces Manny Buginga in the second round of eliminations, relies on a Bennett Racing Engines-built 400 cubic-inch small-block Ford and a 98mm Precision turbo for power, with KBX Performance perfecting the tune. Shown in the photo with him above is Justin McChesney from KBX Performance.
We don't know what lurks beneath the hood of this '89 Ford LTD Country Squire LX wagon, but we do know that it's getting its fair share of attention among all of the Ford muscle on property this weekend, and that it can be yours, as it has a sale sign on it. Whether you keep the personalized license plate frame which reads "She's a Beaut, Clark," is up to you.
Edelbrock Renegade drivers Chuck Bartholme, who qualified seventh with a 7.89, and Aaron Bates, who qualified in the top spot with a 7.69, had a heated battle in the second round of eliminations today, with Bartholme earning the win over his friend and pit-mate, 7.75 to 7.80.The weekend is going better than I expected, and now I face Alton Clements for the third round, said Bartholme, whose combination consists of a Vortech-fronted Steve LaPointe-built 370 cubic-inch engine tuned by Mike Dezotell of Dez Racing. Bates, who relies on a ProCharger-fronted Steve Lapointe-built 363 cubic-inch engine also tuned by Mike Dezotell of Dez Racing, referred to their race as a good side-by-side run. "I was glad to see Chuck win, and now I'll go stand behind him for the third round," said Bates.
FINAL ELIMINATIONS <<HERE>>
While everybody's favorite comedian Carlos Sobrino ripped off a 10.37 and 126 mph in his mad Mustang to earn a seat in the second qualified spot in Race Pages Coyote Stock, the hard-launching and heavy-shifting required to go places in the category ate up his TKO500 transmission in the process. The funny, or not so funny, thing is that I had bought the transmission as a spare from Factory Stock driver Dan Ryntz here at the track on Thursday because I had a feeling I would need one, said Sobrino, who said he has swapped so many transmissions as of late that he can get the job done in 45 minutes. He's now ready to rock and roll into the first round of eliminations.
You are staring at the first-ever Whipple 3.6L supercharger, which was designed specifically for ProCharger Coyote Modified at the request of Jim LaRocca. The noted Mustang racer and tuner is crew chief on Tommy Annunziata's brand-new entry in the category. The team runs a 2014 Cobra Jet with an engine combination designed by LaRocca. They are sitting third in the field with an 8.18 at 165 mph as LaRocca is easing into the program. The team fought a belt issue prior to the trip to Ohio, forcing some changes in belt-wrap and pulley system. A new PMAS mass-airflow sensor was also added to the program as LaRocca relies on the Cobra Jet ECU to control the Coyote 5.0L engine.
Val Clements and her motivated Mustang are moving right along in Edelbrock Renegade, as she flat-footed it to a 7.70 and 176 mph to qualify in the second spot in this weekend's field of thirteen. It's going unexpectedly good, said Clements, who relies on a pushrod engine pumped up by a ProCharger F1A-94.The 7.70 is a new personal best, and the second qualified spot is my best qualifying effort since 2013. The fan-favorite Clements, who's learning how to tune her combination via Big Stuff 3 from her fellow racer and brother, Alton Clements, went on to share that there's more in the combination, and she has her sights set on 7.60s. UPDATE: Clements ran 7.65 at 176 mph in the quarterfinals of Edelbrock Renegade competition.
After 200,000 miles, 10 years of drag racing, and three championships it was time for 7-time national champion Chris Parisi to switch rides for his adventures to NMRA events all over the country. He still has his familiar 2007 Mustang V-6 but it will be handed down to his son to for use at local events. Parisi is now competing with a 2016 Mustang V-6 that he actually borrowed from his wife, Sarah Lee. We aren't sure if she knows he added his sponsor logos but this car is significantly quicker than his previous chariot. He competes regularly in Ford Muscle, QA1 True Street, and in the NMRA brackets whenever its possible. He is heading into second round for Ford Muscle and Bracket 1 while he already secured one class win yesterday by capturing the True Street 15-second category. The buzzin' half dozen gets a little kick up in power thanks to a Steeda cold-air kit and MagnaFlow axle-back exhaust system. A new SCT tuner and custom Tony Gonyon (at Tuners Inc.) tune-up are waiting for him when he gets back home to Jacksonville, FL. A pair of Nitto 555R drag radials keeps the Mustang consistent. Parisi says the car goes 14.60s deep staged but he has it backed off to 15.00 for Ford Muscle and 14.95 for the bracket race.
VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw bad man Manny Buginga is rocking a new DiSomma Racing Engines-built 400 cubic-inch bullet fronted by a 98mm Precision turbo. Nick and Rich Bruder are on-board to tune it with FuelTech, and while Buginga was shaking it down in qualifying and posted an off-the-throttle 5.46 and 115 mph, he jumped to a 4.62 at 166 mph in his round one win, and is now readying for the second round of eliminations. We've been struggling with the new combination, but the Bruder brothers and the whole Buginga crew are helping and we're headed in the right direction, said Buginga. We talked with T.J. (Bailey) and the NMRA staff about the track yesterday, and they sure listened to what we had to say and worked on the lanes to make them equal.
If you read the Buginga news item above, he credited NMRA track officials for fixing some issues with the racing surface from yesterday's qualifying sessions. This was the scene early this morning as NMRA's TJ "El Prepe" Bailey worked hard with Lonnie Grim and Derek Beach in scraping the rubber and building it back up to help the right lane. It worked as all the round wins came out of the right lane in VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw in round of eliminations with Manny Buginga, Charles Hull, and Ronnie Diaz all advancing.
Charles Hull and Phil Hines were the first pair to fire their engines after the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner before today's first round of eliminations, and when the tree dropped, Hines spun the tires on his Mustang in the left lane, while Hull drove his Mustang to a winning 4.62 at 161 mph, a tick quicker and faster than the 4.65 and 160 mph he qualified with. Hull, who will have lane choice when he faces Manny Buginga in the second round of eliminations, relies on a Bennett Racing Engines-built 400 cubic-inch small-block Ford and a 98mm Precision turbo for power, with KBX Performance perfecting the tune. Shown in the photo with him above is Justin McChesney from KBX Performance.
We don't know what lurks beneath the hood of this '89 Ford LTD Country Squire LX wagon, but we do know that it's getting its fair share of attention among all of the Ford muscle on property this weekend, and that it can be yours, as it has a sale sign on it. Whether you keep the personalized license plate frame which reads "She's a Beaut, Clark," is up to you.
Edelbrock Renegade drivers Chuck Bartholme, who qualified seventh with a 7.89, and Aaron Bates, who qualified in the top spot with a 7.69, had a heated battle in the second round of eliminations today, with Bartholme earning the win over his friend and pit-mate, 7.75 to 7.80.The weekend is going better than I expected, and now I face Alton Clements for the third round, said Bartholme, whose combination consists of a Vortech-fronted Steve LaPointe-built 370 cubic-inch engine tuned by Mike Dezotell of Dez Racing. Bates, who relies on a ProCharger-fronted Steve Lapointe-built 363 cubic-inch engine also tuned by Mike Dezotell of Dez Racing, referred to their race as a good side-by-side run. "I was glad to see Chuck win, and now I'll go stand behind him for the third round," said Bates.
FINAL ELIMINATIONS <<HERE>>