Another show with great racing - the NMRA 08 season is going to be truly one of the most memorable in history. Although the loss of Pro 5.0 was felt, the Pro Outlaw 10.5W guys more than stepped up and pleased the fans.
Here's our random thoughts and ramblings about the weekend.
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Mike Murillo is a different man coming back to the NMRA than he left. I spent an hour talking to Mike and we're going to do an entire interview with him about his career. He's still as competitive as ever, but he's grounded and a mature racer. Plus - he's funny and a hell of a guy. He's a great, incredible addition to the NMRA series. Plus, his car is truly world class.
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Dan Millen made it all the way through eliminations and qualifying with a car that handled a bit erratically, but he's one of the best drivers in street legal drag racing. He really had a great command of a small tire car.
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Conrad Scary is going to be tough in the NMRA this year. He won the event, worked around problems, and put himself on the Pro Outlaw 10.5W map. I think we're going to see a lot of him.
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Manny Buginga's redone Mustang LX Coupe is going to be a force once he gets everything sorted out. As many know, Josh Deeds out of California is the new tuner for Manny, as Job Spetter is not working with the team this year. Deeds is a very talented guy and his work with Manny will be watched by many. You can see the Deeds logo on the front of Buginga's new bumper.
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Camera Guys - like powerTV Mark function just fine on a mixture of vodka, sleep deprivation, equipment failure, blinding sun, humidity, and fearsome winds.
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John Urist has a will to win that is hard to define. An almost "refuse to fail no matter what" type of attitude that produces four world championships in four years. The best question for me is, as many people that know John, how did he build an entire new car and not tell anyone?
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Richard Lelsz has mainly competed in the Fun Ford Series, and done very well. In the first SSO race of 2008, he impressed. Will he be in the top echelon at the end of the year?
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David Guy is not the guy I thought would win NMRA Bradenton.
Chris Van Gilder at least finished in the top 10 in 2007. I thought for sure either Team Sutton or Mitchell would win Renegade, but that's why we race instead of write.
• Apparently
Charlie Booze Jr. is tired of getting out run by Roush and did something about it. He dominated like the Booze of 2004 and his Kuntz engine is making big power.
• Drag Radial is class that never seems to settle down. Now the 5.4L Modular combination has gone out and really made some serious hay. Hey, in my opinion, the racers all had the same rulebook to work with and even if the rule makers didn't get it right (which I'm not saying per se) then the most resourceful racer won. That racer is
John Kolivas. Why is this guy not running NHRA Pro Stock or something?
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Bob Kurgan also deserves props. He's out here running basically 8.0's and low teens with his supercharged engine and it's got a lot more in it.
• I'm tired of seeing
Tim Matherly in the winner's circle. I love Tim - great guy, very passionate about the sport, good team mate, all that. But, come on - he lives in the winner's circle. And he's so casual about it. Isn't it someone else's chance? Like
Mike Washington's? :-)
• This is
our fuel for this evening. Not that we're drunks or anything. But, we've discovered that a man has to have fuel. (excuse the quality - this was shot from Mark's phone, we're too tired to shoot an actual photo and download it).
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Really happy for Victor Downs. Everyone said Victor has a ton of power but just needs to put together the chassis and driving to win a championship.
• Wouldn't it have been cool if
John Leslie beat
Steve Gifford in Factory Stock?
• Why does
Bart Tobener have his name stitched into his race suit?
• Sam Vincent sat next to us at dinner, and was helping crew for Tim Eichorn's Hot Street ride. I wanted to ask him where his Super Street Outlaw car was, but I was afraid to ask him..
• My last thoughts for the evening..a special thank you to the NMRA for the NMRA girls
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