Friday action here at Rockingham Dragway kicks off with a test and tune session followd by Round 1 of qualifying for the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport. Both the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals and the Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals will compete at this weekend, and the event will also host the next round of the Radial Tire Racing Association featuring the X275 and Ultra Street, the latter of which is combined with the NMRA Renegade and NMCA Xtreme Street classes and are points races for all of the series and classes.
CLICK HERE for today's schedule.
Bangin’ Bob Hanlon (pictured) of Hanlon Motorsports fame is back on the property this weekend, and spent Friday morning underneath his son, Andrew Hanlon’s 1990 Ford Mustang LX, along with help from Adam and Becky Moldenhauer and the rest of the BHP Racing crew. Andrew typically runs in NMRA Richmond Gear Factory Stock but has switched to NMRA Exedy Modular Muscle this weekend instead. During this morning’s first qualifying session, Andrew launched well, gabbed second, and went to third but his G-Force Racing Transmissions G101A wouldn’t go into gear – fortunately, the guys have found that it’s simply an issue with the shifter and got it sorted out in a flash. Other than the little shifting snafu, Andrew’s Gen 2 Coyote engine, Gen 3 intake manifold, JLT intake, Ram clutch, Inland Empire driveshaft, and full UPR Products suspension setup are all working perfectly.
No, there aren’t any donks or lowriders in NMRA G-Force Transmissions Coyote Stock this weekend, but Tim Donathen developed this trick new airbag setup to lift his 1978 Ford Fairmont Wagon. Donathen lowered the unconventional Fox body platform to be able to get the suspension geometry where he needed it, but that tucked the tires up in the fenders and made it tough to change or rotate them easily – especially when he used the rear end as his jack point. Now, he’s got these two airbags set up to lift his retro wagon quickly, easily, and evenly to making changing tires a breeze.
Piloting a 1989 Mustang with a long history, Bill Worstell plans to compete in every NMRA SCT Ford Muscle race this season. The car is motivated by a tried-and-true 351 Windsor engine that is backed by a C6 automatic transmission, the car runs consistent 11.75ish elapsed time, and Worstell is just hoping that he can uphold his part of the bargain behind the wheel.
In NMRA JDM Engineering Limited Street trim, Stacey Roby has been working to dial in his ProCharger supercharged 2014 Ford Mustang but hasn’t been able to obtain the right torque converter (due to Covid-19 parts delays) to get the RGR-built engine where it needs to be. After the season opener in Florida, Roby had the engine refreshed but when the wrong piston rings arrived (in in the right part number boxes, however) he had to wait even longer. Roby picked up the engine on Tuesday before this week’s race, got home at 3:30am, put it into his car on Wednesday, and had the whole combination off the dyno and loaded into his trailer by 1:15am. Roby drove all day Thursday to get to Rockingham Dragway in time for testing – hopefully his determination pays off as he’s going with a “run whatcha brung” style this weekend in lieu of the delayed converters.
If you have a soft spot for Fox Mustangs the way we do, Luis Mellado Jr.’s Lujan Motorsports-backed 1991 Mustang GT checks all the boxes. A legit street machine that is just a compressor short of having working AC, this machine is powered by a super-clean Coyote Aluminator swap boosted by a Precision turbocharger and controlled by a Holley EFI system. It puts down more than 1,000 horsepower through a Rossler Turbo 400 transmission and a full UPR suspension. It has run a best ET of 8.26, but he has it detuned to run the number in the SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class.
After blowing up a blower and still averaging 9.685-seconds in NMRA TorqStorm Superchargers at the season opener in Florida with his 2020 Ford Shelby GT500, Gary Muder is back on the property in North Carolina at Rockingham Dragway looking to improve. His former Track Pack car was cut up and converted to a drag car by Coastal Dyno, with changes including a ton of bolt-ons, ported supercharger, lots of cooling mods such as an upgraded heat exchanger that feeds to an ice tank in the trunk, parachute, and more. Muder ran 9.6-seconds at 154 mph on Friday in testing but has put down a personal best of 9.1-seconds in the past and has even more upgrades planned for the near future including a Whipple supercharger and MoTeC engine management system to help overcome the Ford DCT transmission tuning limitations.
CLICK HERE for today's schedule.
A wedding is not something you see every day at the racetrack, but competitors often say that their fellow racers are like family. That is true for Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle racer Pete Blosser and Val Chambers, who were married by Randy Ferrell in an intimate ceremony among the pine trees on the Rockingham Dragway property surrounded by their racing family. After the ceremony, they enjoyed a reception with cupcakes and champagne in Andy Russell’s pit.
Mr. Open Comp himself, Larry Geddes used Thursday’s test session to try a few shock adjustments in anticipation of today’s qualifying runs. He also moved to shorter front tires, which was part of the effort to tighten his reaction times. Geddes is taking advantage of the dual event to run in both NMRA ARP Open Comp and NMCA MagnaFuel Open Comp classes this weekend.
Andy Russell runs an unusual combination in Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle. His 2002 Mustang is powered by a BES-built, 305-cube modular engine that inhales air and fuel through an Edelbrock single-plane intake topped by a Holley Pro 950 carburetor. He says he runs the Two-Valve 4.6-liter engine because it is so reliable. Backed by a G-Force manual transmission the car has run as quick as 9.79, but he is chasing a better reaction time so far this weekend. Lots of fellow racers have helped Russell field a competitive race car, but he says he couldn’t make a pass without his crew chief Carolyn Duvelius.
The owner of this Maverick since 1970, John Russell collected multiple NHRA Wallys racing it. Formerly a six-cylinder car, it is now motivated by a Bischoff-built, 424-cube small-block, a Rottler Powerglide, and a Ford 9-inch. These days he enjoys competing in NMRA ARP Open Comp. Before this race, the car received chassis upgrades courtesy of Pat Kronenbitter, which helped get the front end under control at the hit. It picked up a 10th in elapsed time, and Russell hopes to go rounds with his dialed-in combo this weekend at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport.
Bangin’ Bob Hanlon (pictured) of Hanlon Motorsports fame is back on the property this weekend, and spent Friday morning underneath his son, Andrew Hanlon’s 1990 Ford Mustang LX, along with help from Adam and Becky Moldenhauer and the rest of the BHP Racing crew. Andrew typically runs in NMRA Richmond Gear Factory Stock but has switched to NMRA Exedy Modular Muscle this weekend instead. During this morning’s first qualifying session, Andrew launched well, gabbed second, and went to third but his G-Force Racing Transmissions G101A wouldn’t go into gear – fortunately, the guys have found that it’s simply an issue with the shifter and got it sorted out in a flash. Other than the little shifting snafu, Andrew’s Gen 2 Coyote engine, Gen 3 intake manifold, JLT intake, Ram clutch, Inland Empire driveshaft, and full UPR Products suspension setup are all working perfectly.
No, there aren’t any donks or lowriders in NMRA G-Force Transmissions Coyote Stock this weekend, but Tim Donathen developed this trick new airbag setup to lift his 1978 Ford Fairmont Wagon. Donathen lowered the unconventional Fox body platform to be able to get the suspension geometry where he needed it, but that tucked the tires up in the fenders and made it tough to change or rotate them easily – especially when he used the rear end as his jack point. Now, he’s got these two airbags set up to lift his retro wagon quickly, easily, and evenly to making changing tires a breeze.
Jacob Lamb says that G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock might be boring to write about, but it is always fun to watch. After chasing an issue for two years, he believes he has solved the problem with a fresh Clutch Tamer that he installed here. Otherwise, his four-eye Fox Mustang sat in the trailer since the season opener. With the change, he is confident that the car could run its best elapsed time this weekend.
Back for another running of the SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class this weekend, Terry "Beefcake" Reeves was chasing an issue with his turbocharged S550’s powertrain control module that caused it to lose power during a run. Reeves found a loose fuse which he hoped was the issue. After running with radials in testing, he decided that swapping to the slicks was the move for this weekend.
The season opener wasn’t kind to Aaron Worstell’s G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock ride. There he took out his clutch and transmission, but between the races, he was able to rebuild the trans, make the move to a new Ace Racing Clutch, and fix his brakes. Worstell arrived at Rockingham Dragway late on Thursday, so there was no time for testing the new combo, so Aaron was dialing in the settings for his Clutch Tamer in preparation for today’s qualifying action at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport.
Piloting a 1989 Mustang with a long history, Bill Worstell plans to compete in every NMRA SCT Ford Muscle race this season. The car is motivated by a tried-and-true 351 Windsor engine that is backed by a C6 automatic transmission, the car runs consistent 11.75ish elapsed time, and Worstell is just hoping that he can uphold his part of the bargain behind the wheel.
With the experience driving one of the longest-running cars in the NMRA G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock class, Tim Matherly says that 90 percent of what makes these sealed-crate-engine racers tick is in the clutch setup. There are minor suspension tweaks, gear-ratio changes for weather, and such, but he says it is easy to overthink these cars, but it is challenging to replicate the hook of an NMRA track in testing, so a lot of testing takes place at the events.
In NMRA JDM Engineering Limited Street trim, Stacey Roby has been working to dial in his ProCharger supercharged 2014 Ford Mustang but hasn’t been able to obtain the right torque converter (due to Covid-19 parts delays) to get the RGR-built engine where it needs to be. After the season opener in Florida, Roby had the engine refreshed but when the wrong piston rings arrived (in in the right part number boxes, however) he had to wait even longer. Roby picked up the engine on Tuesday before this week’s race, got home at 3:30am, put it into his car on Wednesday, and had the whole combination off the dyno and loaded into his trailer by 1:15am. Roby drove all day Thursday to get to Rockingham Dragway in time for testing – hopefully his determination pays off as he’s going with a “run whatcha brung” style this weekend in lieu of the delayed converters.
If you have a soft spot for Fox Mustangs the way we do, Luis Mellado Jr.’s Lujan Motorsports-backed 1991 Mustang GT checks all the boxes. A legit street machine that is just a compressor short of having working AC, this machine is powered by a super-clean Coyote Aluminator swap boosted by a Precision turbocharger and controlled by a Holley EFI system. It puts down more than 1,000 horsepower through a Rossler Turbo 400 transmission and a full UPR suspension. It has run a best ET of 8.26, but he has it detuned to run the number in the SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class.
With his move into a new position as Vice President of Supply Chain at NGK Spark Plugs, Clair Stewart will have too much on his plate to complete the racing season behind the wheel of his G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock racer. He turned to Ed Bennett III, who has served as his crew chief and even driven this car in his stead on other occasions. A stick-shift racer since he was 16 years old, Bennett is committed to piloting the Stifflers-backed Fox Mustang for the remainder of the season. He even hopes to construct a Dart NA 10.5 machine for NMCA competition, so you might just see him racing in both series.
After blowing up a blower and still averaging 9.685-seconds in NMRA TorqStorm Superchargers at the season opener in Florida with his 2020 Ford Shelby GT500, Gary Muder is back on the property in North Carolina at Rockingham Dragway looking to improve. His former Track Pack car was cut up and converted to a drag car by Coastal Dyno, with changes including a ton of bolt-ons, ported supercharger, lots of cooling mods such as an upgraded heat exchanger that feeds to an ice tank in the trunk, parachute, and more. Muder ran 9.6-seconds at 154 mph on Friday in testing but has put down a personal best of 9.1-seconds in the past and has even more upgrades planned for the near future including a Whipple supercharger and MoTeC engine management system to help overcome the Ford DCT transmission tuning limitations.