If you are looking for automotive action, Rockingham Dragway is the place to be this weekend as the Top of the Rock Thrill Festival Presented by Innovation Performance Technologies joins the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance today.
In addition to the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals championship drag racing and street car classes, today’s Thrill Festival adds BMX Xtreme Stunt Shows; No Prep and YouTube Celebrities; TV personality/DJ Clarence Barnes, a Fan Experience, a Manufacturer’s Midway, and a special Mustang Day celebration with car show classes and a dedicated Circle D Specialties True Street class just for Mustangs. The first 500 Mustang Day participants will score a collectible goody bag as they get the jump on the Mustang’s 60th Birthday next week.
On the drag strip, Dawn Perdue and Larry Aldrich clash in their jet dragsters in an attempt to break the North Carolina land speed record. There may be some records set as NMRA racers across the heads-up and index classes jockey for position in qualifying and move into eliminations. Meanwhile, the Circle D Specialties True Street classes send their victors across a range of elapsed time categories to the Winner’s Circle.
Keep your eye on this page and our social channels throughout the day for highlights.
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Running both NMRA and NMCA ARP Open Comp, Cameron Bowles has had his fair share of hardships this weekend. First off, a hood issue resulted in the windshield needing replaced, which necessitated putting the car on the open trailer, and hauling it to Carthage Auto Glass 45 minutes from the track. They left it on the trailer while the tech replaced the windshield. Good news about that is a factory Ford windshield was used. Next up for the crew, the engine began dropping cylinders sporadically going down track, so Bowles and the crew got to work finding the issue. They have replaced the number 5 injector, a crank trigger and a faulty cam sensor in an attempt to remedy the situation. The good news about all that is they’re done for the day, and work on the car to get it ready for Sunday’s eliminations. Brian Warcup is here this weekend helping the Roush/Bowles crew, but jokingly, there is talk of Warcup bringing bad luck since every race he’s been with the crew they’ve had mechanical issues. However, he does help work on the cars, so maybe he’ll be invited back. We’ll definitely have to monitor this situation at future races.
Does this look like a race car to you?! Well, it doesn’t look like a race car at all, but this weekend at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance it’s a race car to Bill Worstell. This 1966 Mustang GT fastback was originally an A-code car with a Toploader four-speed. However, when Worstell bought it 35 years ago at the age of 16, it was a shell of its original self, literally. Worstell put it back together with a Boss 302 block and crank, Edelbrock Performer heads, a 4-barrel intake and a Holley Avenger 650cfm carburetor. The Toploader was put back into service, matched with a 3.25 gear in a 9-inch rear end with Granada brakes at all four corners. Worstell is from Missouri, and he and his wife are on a whirlwind tour with the car, driving it to the Mustang’s 60th show in Birmingham last weekend, to Charleston to see friends, back to the Charlotte area and then here to Rockingham for the All-Star Nationals. Obviously, with the 3.25 gear, the fastback is more of a cruiser, but Worstell needed to keep his points going in Ford Muscle, so this weekend the fastback is a race car.
Jay Misener is an NMRA regular, racing in Limited Street in recent years. These days, he’s racing this 1988 LX in Modular Muscle with a Ford Performance Aluminator short block combined with GT350 heads. Behind the Aluminator is a G-Force G101A with a McLeod Soft-Lok clutch, which transfers power back to a pair of 28x9 Mickey Thompson ET Drag slicks. Misener tunes the car using a Holley Dominator EFI, and the car itself has been acting right so far, but his tow vehicle is the one giving him problems. Bad thing is that Misener is from Canada so he is a long way from home.
Getting a head-start on celebrating the Mustang’s 60th birthday, a huge group of pony cars is gathered in the corral as part of the NMRA Mustang Day celebration today 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.
If your clothes need an upgrade, head on over to the Power Mall on the vendor midway and pick up some new NMRA and NMCA gear… just beware of photobombers while you take your new jacket for a test drive. ;)
If there was a competition for cleanest race car on the property, you would be hard pressed to find a cleaner car than Greg Creamer’s Vengeance Clutch Coyote Stock LX Fox. Qualified so far with a 10.23 at 134 mph, he spun right at the hit for first round of qualifying, but he recently added Menscer front struts and new coilovers so he was on the phone with Tin Soldiers, along with Martin Connelly, on the best setup for the new front end components.
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Lee Blankenship showed up at the Gainesville Spring Break Shootout in Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, and he’s here at the All-Star Nationals, as well. So far, Blankenship is down a tent thanks to Friday’s afternoon storm, but it’s going to take more than that to keep him from making every race in 2024. “I told myself I wanted to hit them all this year. As long as the car does well, I’m going to hit them all,” Blankenship says. His 1996 Mustang GT runs a Two-Valve with PI heads, Knieriem Racing Engines-spec’d Comp cams, and a Vortech JT-trim supercharger. The car is good for 10.20s, but it’s not consistent enough to run that number each pass, so he just runs what is necessary to stay in competition. The Ford truck Blankenship uses as his tow vehicle, he purchased with the proceeds of winning a Ford Tech program back in the day. He scored well enough on a written exam to qualify for a hands-on competition against 17 other Ford techs in an open field in Washington, D.C. Troubleshooting a 2003 Lincoln as part of the competition, Blankenship ended up finishing 2nd in the nation, using the proceeds to purchase a Ford truck, which he still owns and uses to tow his 1996 GT to each event. For those scoring at home, Blankenship’s tow vehicle and race car have a Two-Valve under the hood. The truck has a 5.4L Two-Valve and of course, the GT has a 4.6 Two-Valve.
>> QUALIFYING RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE <<
>> ELIMINATIONS RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE <<
Running both NMRA and NMCA ARP Open Comp, Cameron Bowles has had his fair share of hardships this weekend. First off, a hood issue resulted in the windshield needing replaced, which necessitated putting the car on the open trailer, and hauling it to Carthage Auto Glass 45 minutes from the track. They left it on the trailer while the tech replaced the windshield. Good news about that is a factory Ford windshield was used. Next up for the crew, the engine began dropping cylinders sporadically going down track, so Bowles and the crew got to work finding the issue. They have replaced the number 5 injector, a crank trigger and a faulty cam sensor in an attempt to remedy the situation. The good news about all that is they’re done for the day, and work on the car to get it ready for Sunday’s eliminations. Brian Warcup is here this weekend helping the Roush/Bowles crew, but jokingly, there is talk of Warcup bringing bad luck since every race he’s been with the crew they’ve had mechanical issues. However, he does help work on the cars, so maybe he’ll be invited back. We’ll definitely have to monitor this situation at future races.
Does this look like a race car to you?! Well, it doesn’t look like a race car at all, but this weekend at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance it’s a race car to Bill Worstell. This 1966 Mustang GT fastback was originally an A-code car with a Toploader four-speed. However, when Worstell bought it 35 years ago at the age of 16, it was a shell of its original self, literally. Worstell put it back together with a Boss 302 block and crank, Edelbrock Performer heads, a 4-barrel intake and a Holley Avenger 650cfm carburetor. The Toploader was put back into service, matched with a 3.25 gear in a 9-inch rear end with Granada brakes at all four corners. Worstell is from Missouri, and he and his wife are on a whirlwind tour with the car, driving it to the Mustang’s 60th show in Birmingham last weekend, to Charleston to see friends, back to the Charlotte area and then here to Rockingham for the All-Star Nationals. Obviously, with the 3.25 gear, the fastback is more of a cruiser, but Worstell needed to keep his points going in Ford Muscle, so this weekend the fastback is a race car.
Jay Misener is an NMRA regular, racing in Limited Street in recent years. These days, he’s racing this 1988 LX in Modular Muscle with a Ford Performance Aluminator short block combined with GT350 heads. Behind the Aluminator is a G-Force G101A with a McLeod Soft-Lok clutch, which transfers power back to a pair of 28x9 Mickey Thompson ET Drag slicks. Misener tunes the car using a Holley Dominator EFI, and the car itself has been acting right so far, but his tow vehicle is the one giving him problems. Bad thing is that Misener is from Canada so he is a long way from home.
With a huge race, car turnout, Mustang Day 60th anniversary celebration, and much more, the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals series continues its winning streak in 2024 with one of the largest events in series history at Rockingham Dragway with the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by Sipple’s Speed & Performance and Top of the Rock Thrill Festival Presented by Innovation Performance Technologies.
Getting a head-start on celebrating the Mustang’s 60th birthday, a huge group of pony cars is gathered in the corral as part of the NMRA Mustang Day celebration today 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.
If your clothes need an upgrade, head on over to the Power Mall on the vendor midway and pick up some new NMRA and NMCA gear… just beware of photobombers while you take your new jacket for a test drive. ;)
If there was a competition for cleanest race car on the property, you would be hard pressed to find a cleaner car than Greg Creamer’s Vengeance Clutch Coyote Stock LX Fox. Qualified so far with a 10.23 at 134 mph, he spun right at the hit for first round of qualifying, but he recently added Menscer front struts and new coilovers so he was on the phone with Tin Soldiers, along with Martin Connelly, on the best setup for the new front end components.
Ping pong champ Shane Stymiest qualified with a 9.75 at 135 mph in Vengeance Clutch Coyote Stock, landing him in the sixth spot so far after round 1 of qualifying. Like he does at each race, Stymiest is always experimenting with transmission and rear gear ratios while studying data after each run.
Lee Blankenship showed up at the Gainesville Spring Break Shootout in Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, and he’s here at the All-Star Nationals, as well. So far, Blankenship is down a tent thanks to Friday’s afternoon storm, but it’s going to take more than that to keep him from making every race in 2024. “I told myself I wanted to hit them all this year. As long as the car does well, I’m going to hit them all,” Blankenship says. His 1996 Mustang GT runs a Two-Valve with PI heads, Knieriem Racing Engines-spec’d Comp cams, and a Vortech JT-trim supercharger. The car is good for 10.20s, but it’s not consistent enough to run that number each pass, so he just runs what is necessary to stay in competition. The Ford truck Blankenship uses as his tow vehicle, he purchased with the proceeds of winning a Ford Tech program back in the day. He scored well enough on a written exam to qualify for a hands-on competition against 17 other Ford techs in an open field in Washington, D.C. Troubleshooting a 2003 Lincoln as part of the competition, Blankenship ended up finishing 2nd in the nation, using the proceeds to purchase a Ford truck, which he still owns and uses to tow his 1996 GT to each event. For those scoring at home, Blankenship’s tow vehicle and race car have a Two-Valve under the hood. The truck has a 5.4L Two-Valve and of course, the GT has a 4.6 Two-Valve.
Longtime racer Joe Da Silva is celebrating a birthday today, and he really hopes to shake off the rust and reward himself with improved elapsed times during today’s Vengeance Clutch Coyote Stock qualifying. Friday’s lone qualifying attempt resulted in a 10.05 at 131 mph, which is a couple tenths off the pace. “I just didn’t have it yesterday. I short-shifted first and second, and hit the rev limiter in third,” Da Silva says. With zero chance of testing back home in Canada, he hasn’t had an opportunity to get any seat time, but he hopes to be back in the groove to make a better showing on his birthday.
Mike Winters has a successful track record behind the wheel of his 1982 Mustang GT, and we have discovered the secret to his lightning-quick reflexes at the starting line — before each run he gets hyped up on Milk Duds and Diet Coke! While he has the right hardware onboard and the tuning is critical, a rush of sugar and caffeine keeps him on his game at the starting line. It seems to be working, as he took home the win in the Whatever It Takes Transmission Parts Street Bandit 10.10 class at the season opener, and he is back for more with help from his brother Doug, who survived a gruesome crash on his way home from the NMCA finals last year.
Paul Svinicki hasn’t replaced any parts on his Godzilla-powered Mustang Cobra Jet, but he did have his knee replaced right after the season opener. He is still on the mend, but out here competing in ARP Open Comp. With 91 runs on his current, nitrous-injected Godzilla combo, he plans to tear down the engine and see how all the parts held up after 100 passes before installing a new, upgraded powerplant, which should be on board in time for the Godzilla Invasion during the Mickey Thompson NMRA Ford Homecoming Presented by Anderson Composites & TransTec Thrill Festival at Summit Motorsports Park in June.
John Harrell Jr. ran well in the Bracket class at this year’s NMRA season opener in Gainesville, Florida, so he decided to keep the momentum going in Rockingham. He made the trip up from Live Oak, Florida, with his 2021 Mustang Mach 1 to run in the HP Tuners Super Stang class for the first time as well as the Circle D Specialties True Street class. He says the car is a work in progress, as he is still dialing in the combination. However, with a ProCharger P-1X underhood his car makes 730 horsepower to the rear wheels through a 10R80 automatic, so the potential is there for some quick runs.
Truck & SUV stalwart, Mike Roup, nearly lost his championship-winning Ranchero on the way home to Texas from the NMRA season opener, as his truck’s battery caught fire. Fortunately, a police officer let him know that there was a fire in the trailer and he and Roup were able to extinguish it before major damage occurred. The Ranchero has some minor battle scars, but it is back in action this weekend in Rockingham, and no people or pets were injured in the fire.
Becki Cram is back in action in Edelbrock Renegade with a fresh Holbrook Racing Engine Coyote based on an iron block controlled by a BigStuff EFI system. She and crew chief Joe Cram are still sorting out the bugs, but they hope to dial it in and run competitively in NMRA’s quickest heads-up category this weekend.
Here is today’s drag racing schedule. For Thrill Festival features including Jet Cars, BIGFOOT, BMX Stunts, Mustang Day, and the Car Show schedule click >> LINK HERE
Truck & SUV stalwart, Mike Roup, nearly lost his championship-winning Ranchero on the way home to Texas from the NMRA season opener, as his truck’s battery caught fire. Fortunately, a police officer let him know that there was a fire in the trailer and he and Roup were able to extinguish it before major damage occurred. The Ranchero has some minor battle scars, but it is back in action this weekend in Rockingham, and no people or pets were injured in the fire.
Becki Cram is back in action in Edelbrock Renegade with a fresh Holbrook Racing Engine Coyote based on an iron block controlled by a BigStuff EFI system. She and crew chief Joe Cram are still sorting out the bugs, but they hope to dial it in and run competitively in NMRA’s quickest heads-up category this weekend.
Here is today’s drag racing schedule. For Thrill Festival features including Jet Cars, BIGFOOT, BMX Stunts, Mustang Day, and the Car Show schedule click >> LINK HERE