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Saturday can mean only one thing, it’s time to get serious as racers had Friday to shake off the cob webs and shake down their cars. We wake-up to cool temperatures and a bit of a breeze this morning. Temps are in the 50s, and you know what that means – more horsepower, and faster elapsed times. Now it’s time to qualify, get on the ladder, and make plans for tomorrow’s race day. We’ll be here until late tonight, watching all the cars head down the track and bringing you the results.
If that doesn’t tell you cooler weather makes horsepower, Sam Lippincott just ran an 11.66 in his ’15 GT this morning. In yesterday’s 80-degree weather, Lippincott was stuck in the 12s.
If you’ve never seen the underside of a Cobra Jet, you have now. Cobra Jet Showdown competitors routinely put it on the bumper.
Hannah Sanders most often competes in eighth-mile races, but she’s here in her Four-Eye racing in Open Comp.
We brought you news of Rick Erdman’s ’15 GT a couple weeks ago, but he’s here at Bradenton with the car, and this morning he uncorked an 11.99 at almost 130 mph. Working with HP Tuners, the guys are working on torque management to improve 60-ft times. On Gulf Racing Fuels Mach 116, the car made 758 horsepower and 551 ft-lbs of torque at the wheels.
Pete Espeut bought this ’15 Roush Stage 2 the Monday before the race, and the first passes on the car were at Bradenton. Espeut ran low 13s at Bradenton, but the car displayed excessive wheel hop. “I didn’t want to break the car so I was launching off idle,” Espeut says. Espeut tells us the ’15 Stage 2 comprises an axle-back exhaust, Roush’s revised front and rear bumpers, and Stage 2 interior appointments. Espeut plans to add a more drag-oriented wheel and tire set-up with Mickey Thompson ET Street radials, Ford Racing axle shafts, and a Roush/Ford Racing supercharger kit.
As of second round, Michael Washington is the number 1 qualifier in Coyote Stock with a 10.40 pass. Joe Charles sits number 2. Round 3 of qualifying is coming up.
It’s safe to say Gary Parker has the suspension sorted out on his Factory Stock car. Parker just converted the car to a Coyote engine for Factory Stock competition for the 2015 season.
Qualifying has come to an end. Though the day started out a little cool with a negative DA, it warmed up, but it was still cool enough to provide impressive performances in many classes. With another year we know technology is going to help each class get quicker and faster. Combine technology with cooler temps, and quicker elapsed times will be the result. Almost every heads-up category is quicker than last year, which tells us it’s going to be some year in the NMRA.
NMRA starter TJ “El Preppe” Bailey worked hard all day long to keep the track prepped and ready. We don’t think his hat is good for aerodynamics, though. Perhaps a more streamlined lid will enable him to back to the line after retrieving a miscellaneous part off the track.
Though he thought he would be an underdog compared to his supercharged counterparts, John Urist showed why he is a multi-time champion with a 6.86 at 205 mph to earn him the top spot in Street Outlaw.
In Renegade, we’re not sure if anyone thought we’d see 7.70s already, but Frank Varela blasted out a 7.72 at 181 mph to qualify number 1. For Sunday, it’s supposed to be warmer so we’ll see if this number is the quickest of the weekend.
Some Cobra Jet competitors moved up to Renegade, but Johnny Lightning moved over to Coyote Modified. Lightning ran an 8.29 at 168 mph, which sightly edged Haley James’ Hellion Power Systems entry, keeping the Hellion crew from taking the top spot in all its respective classes.
With just 4 cars in competition in Pure Street, Teddy Weaver once again ascended to the top spot. Jimmy Wilson painted his car, and has had a couple struggles getting the handle on his ride. Sunday should be interesting in Pure Street.
Coming into Bradenton no one expected Joe Marini to lead the way after qualifying. There’s a group of racers in the 10.40s, but Marini bested them all with a 10.39 at 129 mph. Coyote Stock is going to be tight for Sunday’s eliminations.
In Factory Stock, Matt Amrine was able to keep the class’ Coyote competitors at bay. Amrine has almost two-tenths on the rest of the class, but there are good racers in Factory Stock so it’s not going to be a cake-walk.
Justin Burcham done lied to us. We asked him if his Turbo Coyote car had a 7-second pass in it, and he said, “I dunno.” Okay, so he didn’t lie to us; he just wasn’t exactly truthful, maybe. He was finally able to keep the front end down, and blast out a 7.59 at 183 mph. He is a second and a half quicker than number 2 qualifier Joey Basile.
In Modular Muscle, qualifying is by reaction time, and you can’t get much better than the perfect reaction Jason Henson put together, though Susan McClenaghan is right there, as well.
