The racing heats up today at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport as racers in both the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals and Red Line Oil Muscle Car Nationals series transition from qualifying hits to eliminations runs that will decide who takes a trip to the Winner’s Circle.
For those running in the TorqStorm Superchargers True Street and Dodge // Mopar Hemi Shootout categories, today's runs decide the winners in a full range of ET categories. Meanwhile, the eight quickest Hemi Shootout competitors will move on to tomorrow’s HHP Racing Hemi Quick 8 class.
Stay tuned to this page and our social channels for updates on all of today’s action.
Keep tabs on NMRA QUALIFYING HERE.
Keep tabs on NMRA QUALIFYING HERE.
Today’s schedule at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport looks like this.
After sorting out transmission issues, Nathan Stymiest is trying to get his G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock entry dialed in again. Without must time to test the tweaks needed to improve in the class, he is back to square one at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport. With new slicks onboard, he is hoping to get his car’s 60-foot times down into the 1.27-second range that he believes is necessary to run at the front of the pack in this ultra-competitive category.
If you see a fast Mustang hailing from South Florida, there is a good chance that William Lujan of Lujan Motorsports had a hand in improving its performance. After qualifying well at the season opener, he made the trip to Rockingham with his own Fox Mustang to run again in the Suncoast Performance 8.60 Street Race class this weekend with a new Vortech YSi supercharger under the hood. Propelled by a 363-cube small-block Ford topped by AFR heads and a Trick Flow intake, his Fox has run in the low-eights, so it is obviously detuned this weekend via its AEM Infinity EFI system.
Whether you are looking for tools or aftermarket upgrades, there is a sampling of everything on the Manufacturer’s Midway at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport.
What is not to love about a four-eyed Fox with a Coyote swap and a Whipple supercharger under the hood? That’s just what Gil Correa is running in TorqStorm Superchargers True Street this weekend. The car can run 9.70s on E85, but he recently detuned it to run 10.0s on 93-octane pump gas for Sick Week competition and he is sticking with that until he gets his licensing to run quicker. Once that is in order, Correa hopes to move back to burning corn and dip his street stallion’s ETs into the 8-second zone.
Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle racer Matt Harget picked up a new sponsor in time for the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport. After the season, he will drop the car off with Woodside Motorsports for a host of chassis, suspension, and rearend upgrades. These upgrades should not only help in his current class, but set the stage for a possible jump over to Richmond Gear Factory Stock when his budget allows.
During Friday qualifying, Samantha Moore made the run heard round the world in JDM Engineering Limited Street. Despite a leisurely launch, she blasted to a blistering 8.08 at 170.04 mph. In only the second outing since completely revamping her car to suit the ProCharger P-1X supercharger underhood, Moore is still learning the car and dialing in the tuning. The latest combination is only viable thanks to an influx of sponsor support from the likes of Coan Engineering, Frankenstein Engine Dynamics, Holley JE Pistons, Lucas Oil, Manley, and Viking Performance. Moore hopes to back up her run today and claim the record before eliminations.
There are some beautiful rides in on the display in the UPR Products Car Show at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport. For example, Kevin Taylor’s 1990 Mustang GT is looking sharp. Sporting a street/strip style, it features a twin-turbo small-block underhood with an NOS nitrous kit at the ready should the occasion require it.
As we caught up with Jimmy Dahl, he was busy trying to wire up the launch retard on his 1990 Mustang LX’s MSD ignition. Hoping to reel in the power at the hit with ignition timing rather than boost, he hopes to improve upon his 6.45 at 130 pass early in qualifying of VP Racing Madditives Renegade.
A major attraction on the Manufacturer’s Midway at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport is the Original Bigfoot. Grabbing a photo with the monster truck is a definite must this weekend at Rockingham Dragway.
Running out of the Coastal Chassis Dyno & Performance stable, Gary Muder made the trip to Rockingham Dragway from Tampa, Florida to compete in the TorqStorm Superchargers True Street category. Racing a 2020 Shelby GT500 optioned with the elusive Carbon Fiber Track Pack, Muder put the carbon wing and wheels in storage and turned it into a straight-line rocket with a few select bolt-ons, including a Jokerz-ported supercharger. It puts down four-digit power and is capable of running low-nines if he can find the hook.
When Clair Stewart decided his shop truck should be running in Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning, longtime racer Tom Motyka volunteered for the driving duties. The 219,000-mile SVT Lightning still needs some test hits before Motyka feels it can be competitive, but he plans to get it over to Livernois Motorsports for tuning and make some test runs before the next event. This weekend at the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport he hopes to get a better feel for the truck and go a few rounds.
There’s a LOT going on in the Cram/Mikeska/Holbrook pit area as the racing family is staying busy with four drivers this weekend. Left to right:
Joe Cram’s better half, Becki Cram, had a huge 4.734 at 153.25 mph qualifying run on Friday which put her sixth overall in the combined NMRA Edelbrock Renegade/NMCA VP Racing Madditives Xtreme Street field. The couple will be adjusting the tune up a touch on her 2010 Ford Mustang, though, to tighten up the run and improve in a more conservative fashion so as to save the photos for the winner’s circle instead of the on-track wheelies.
Serving as the designated driver for Lloyd Mikeska’s racecar rental service, Maci McKenna is working on bringing 2016 Mustang up on the torque converter and cut better lights, thanks to Mikeska’s coaching. The effort is paying off, and she ran 11.799 on her 11.75 dial in during qualifying to sit fourth in NMRA SCT Ford Muscle coming into Saturday’s sessions.
McKenna’s boyfriend, Del Holbrook, is wheeling his 2017 Ford Mustang in NMRA JDM Engineering Limited Street and sat second in the qualifying list after Friday’s sessions thanks to his new personal best of 8.430 at 160.31 mph and Holbrook Racing Engines power under the hood.
Finally, Mikeska himself is enjoying the action as his 2006 Mustang has picked up a bit on its performance this weekend. Although he’s running quicker than expected, his car is so well set up that it’s maintaining its consistency and Mikeska is cutting lights to match. In NMRA HP Tuners Super Stang qualifying on Friday, he was provisionally fifth overall with a 0.023-second reaction time.
It’s far better to be under the car by choice rather than by necessity, and that’s exactly what NMRA G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock racer and design engineer at Ford Motor Company, Frank Paultanis was doing Saturday morning. Paultanis was busy making adjustments to his 2004 Ford Mustang’s clutch to try and pick up an improvement over his best Friday qualifying effort of 9.736 at 137.43 mph.
NMRA Richmond Gear Factory Stock rockstar John Leslie recently rescued a kitten from drowning in a creek, but the little furball tore up his face in the process. This weekend, Leslie is tearing up his Fox body Mustang to make a quick gear change as he recently switched to slick tires (instead of his usual radials, which are in short supply at the moment) to accommodate to change.
No changes since the last race out for reigning NMRA Edelbrock Renegade champion Joel Greathouse, but it’s no surprise he was sitting in the number one spot after Friday’s qualifying on a 4.576 at 156.26 mph – it’s just that killer KBX Performance, Bennett Racing Engines, and FuelTech combination of domination.
They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Good guy Gordon Harlow had a hectic week leading up to the weekend. On Tuesday before the race, he was running the valves on his NMRA ARP Open Comp 1989 Mustang’s engine and heard something suspicious. After spending the next day thinking it over, he went home and tore down the engine but didn’t find anything wrong. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any gaskets to button it back up, either, so Harlow drove from his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, over to Louisville on Wednesday night. By Thursday morning, the engine was back together and Harlow was on his way to North Carolina with a car he felt confident in and an engine that was running perfectly.
Mike Dezotel of Dez Racing is using what he's learned by tuning Justin Palmer's X275 Mustang this weekend to come up with a plan to get Charles Bartholme's Xtreme/Renegade/Ultra Street Mustang down the tricky racing surface today. Dez noted that the car usually goes down most tracks, but that the Rockingham Dragway surface has been tough to figure out. Once he does get it, though, he knows it'll help their program in the long run.