Written by Mary Lendzion
Photos courtesy of Connelley Racing
SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race has become one of the favorite categories on the NMRA tour.
The strong competitors and street-legal cars are an attraction for a lot of people.
Among those competitors is Chris Tino, who earned a top-ten finish in points in 2023 despite running an abbreviated race schedule in his 2015 Mustang.
Over winter, Tino, who flies with a Fast Forward Race Engines-built Coyote engine and a Garrett turbo massaged by Forced Inductions, hired Gary Rohe Race Cars to replace his independent rear suspension with a TRZ straight axle and pair it with KellTrac shocks and struts. When his car was ready, he made his way to the first NMRA race of 2024, the 30th Annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout and Saturday Thrill Festival in late February at Gainesville Raceway in Florida, where he qualified in the fourth spot out of 19 racers with an 8.64 before exiting in the first round of eliminations.
Tino then qualified in the fifth spot out of 19 racers with an 8.62 before exiting in the first round of eliminations at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance and Top of the Rock Thrill Festival presented by Innovation Performance Technologies in mid-April at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.
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Upon returning home from that race, he delivered his car to Connelley Racing in Salyersville, Kentucky, where reigning NMRA VP Racing Madditives Renegade and NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street champion Martin Connelley and Eric Mitchell worked on the car’s suspension.
“We hired Martin and Eric to plot the suspension after we had issues in Rockingham,” said Tino, who is just outside of the top-ten in points this year after the first two races. “Originally, it was set up a little aggressively, and Martin and Eric made some suggestions and gave us a few different suspension settings to use depending on how the track surface looks.”
Tino is now ready for the 19th Annual NMRA/NMCA Race for the Rings and Saturday Thrill Festival, May 3-5 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
“We would love to go deep in the rounds, move up in the points and ultimately come home with a win,” said Tino, who relies on his good friend, Jeff Wightman, to tune his car with a Holley Dominator, with occasional remote help Ken Bjonnes of Palm Beach Dyno. “This wouldn’t be possible without my wife, Cryssie. She is a huge help and makes it easy because she loves it also. Casey, Kelly and Cary Shotwell, Mike Hall, Tom Mueller and Chad Smith are our racing family. We go together and race together for Team Ohio.”
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Photos courtesy of Connelley Racing
SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race has become one of the favorite categories on the NMRA tour.
The strong competitors and street-legal cars are an attraction for a lot of people.
Among those competitors is Chris Tino, who earned a top-ten finish in points in 2023 despite running an abbreviated race schedule in his 2015 Mustang.
Over winter, Tino, who flies with a Fast Forward Race Engines-built Coyote engine and a Garrett turbo massaged by Forced Inductions, hired Gary Rohe Race Cars to replace his independent rear suspension with a TRZ straight axle and pair it with KellTrac shocks and struts. When his car was ready, he made his way to the first NMRA race of 2024, the 30th Annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout and Saturday Thrill Festival in late February at Gainesville Raceway in Florida, where he qualified in the fourth spot out of 19 racers with an 8.64 before exiting in the first round of eliminations.
Tino then qualified in the fifth spot out of 19 racers with an 8.62 before exiting in the first round of eliminations at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance and Top of the Rock Thrill Festival presented by Innovation Performance Technologies in mid-April at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.
Upon returning home from that race, he delivered his car to Connelley Racing in Salyersville, Kentucky, where reigning NMRA VP Racing Madditives Renegade and NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street champion Martin Connelley and Eric Mitchell worked on the car’s suspension.
“We hired Martin and Eric to plot the suspension after we had issues in Rockingham,” said Tino, who is just outside of the top-ten in points this year after the first two races. “Originally, it was set up a little aggressively, and Martin and Eric made some suggestions and gave us a few different suspension settings to use depending on how the track surface looks.”
Tino is now ready for the 19th Annual NMRA/NMCA Race for the Rings and Saturday Thrill Festival, May 3-5 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
“We would love to go deep in the rounds, move up in the points and ultimately come home with a win,” said Tino, who relies on his good friend, Jeff Wightman, to tune his car with a Holley Dominator, with occasional remote help Ken Bjonnes of Palm Beach Dyno. “This wouldn’t be possible without my wife, Cryssie. She is a huge help and makes it easy because she loves it also. Casey, Kelly and Cary Shotwell, Mike Hall, Tom Mueller and Chad Smith are our racing family. We go together and race together for Team Ohio.”