Coverage: NMRA Florida - Sunday

[powerjames]

We're here at the track and we just moved through Round 1 of Drag Radial Eliminations. Track conditions are perfect - the altitude is between 400 feet and 0 feet (yes, zero), it's chilly and the sun is out making the track work perfect.

Round 1 Drag Radial News coming in minutes.

Videos - click here to watch Sunday's Videos
Photos - click here for Sunday's Photos

[powerjames]

Our predictions turned out to be true. Johnny's K. crazy drag radial Modular freak just went 179+ mph and an 8.06 with a relatively soft launch, in a victory over DR newbie Sean Lyons.

Kolivas left with a 1.43 60-foot and has a run best of mid 1.3's. This means 7-seconds are easily within reach by Johnny K, if not 7.80s. We remember when Super Street Outlaw couldn't run 7's - THAT was a long time ago.



The truth is - it appears at first glance Kolivas found the best combination in the rulebook based on what was presented in the off-season. Given the "outspoken" Drag Radial community - what will the fall out be?

[powerjames]

StangTV writer Scott V. had to go home on Saturday morning due to a family emergency. That left us short-handed. However, we have managed to get through our stifling workload with a little help.

Vodka + No Sleep = Good coverage.

Between Mark, Lloyd and I we managed to kill the Smirnoff, handle 2/3 of the Three Olives (bonus - Cherry flavor), and put a mild dent in the Ketel.

[powerjames]

We were just checking out the Drag Radial Round 1 results, and we decided to type them out below.

Mauro Vitale .122 / 8.71 / 165.47 defeats Bill Wolf .092 12.67 / 82.81
Chris Tuten .104 / 8.23 / 170.71 defeats Dennis Bell .465 / 10.35 / 153
Tony Akins .083 / 8.232 / 174.41 defeats Matt Bell .170 / 8.63 / 164.50
Jason Lee .219 / 8.657 / 168.31 defeats C Douglas Johnson .143 / 12.35 / 98.61
Kevin Fiscus .039 / 8.08 / 176.29 defeats Joey Bridge .024 / 8.85 / 181.67
Phil Clemmons - 8.19 / 172.91 defeats Pete Johnson (n/a)
Shane Jennings .204 / 8.304 defeats Enzo Pecchini (broke)
John Kolivas .017 / 8.06 / 179.92 defeats Sean Lyon .525 / 9.04 / 154.50
Bob Kurgan - single/bye

One major item of note - Joey Bridge, the only competitor who shares the 5.4L/88mm Turbo combination with John Kolivas, went a stunning 181.67 mph even though it was not a good pass. 181.67 mph means that there is likely to be a big chatter in the drag radial camp when it comes to a competitive balance. Nobody is hiding their cards in Bradenton.

We think Kolivas is proving his smarts. He took advantage of the rule book that the NMRA provided, spending $30,000 on a new combination with the big 88mm.

[markm3673]

Well i think its about time the the NMRA tech staff got there heads out of there asses and quit giving the mod motor combo's every advantage in all of the classes not just DR.
This just proves the mod motors don't need a 300lb weight break or a forward facing turbo.

[powerjames]

In the first round of Pro Outlaw 10.5W Mike Murillo won his match up against Jim Brown but it appears he may have hurt the transmission. We spoke with Mike last night and he told us that he was having some problems with fluid leakage after the pass and they were worried they might have had problems.

Check out the photos below, the first of Murillo ahead just past the 60-foot mark, the second of his transmission smoke.





Conrad Scary made his first 6-second run in NMRA competition in Round 1, going 6.89 at 208 mph to take out Ray Johnson. That makes it two deep 6-second NMRA Pro Outlaw 10.5W cars, Scary and Carpenter.



Can we give Dan Millen extra props for bad ass burnouts? Millen beat Ed Rice. Other wins include Essick, Mike Brown, Morgano, and Brian Carpenter with a single.

[powerjames]

A.J. Powell stepped up the program something fierce in round one with his fastest e.t. ever with a 7.468 at 186.48 over Burleson. Powell joins the sub 7.50 club in the former coupe built and raced by Jason Smith.



Jarrett Halfacre's 7.43 at 198.06 over Marasco matched Phil Hines e.t. in qualifying. For the first time ever that puts 3 cars faster than 7.50.

Papakasmos spun badly at the 100 ft mark, giving Manny Bugina a victory with his 7.57 at 184.04 mph pass.

Check out the photo we got below. This was right when Papkasmos's tires being to go into a death spin.



In other action, Don Burton won with a 7.69 at 184.99 over Bussell, Leslz took the win, and Phil Hines took a single run.

Urist's 7.57 at 191.73 mph over Macdonald showed he is beginning to get the feel of the new car.

[powerjames]

Bob Cook's #2 qualified efforts were all for naught as he was taken out in the first round by Jason Gerovlo. Cook slowed to 8.83 and lost to a slightly quicker 8.802. Was it the belt problems that felled the team so early?



In Edelbrock Hot Street, the two Roush rides of Mens and Blankenship went 8.68 and 8.71, but they didn't keep up with Booze, who went an incredible 8.62 at 162.45 mph.



Brad Meadows escaped Round 1 eliminations by the skin of his teeth as he missed a gear in the middle of a major wheel stand, but still recovered enough to win on the basis of a massive holeshot over Shawn Hansen.

In Factory Stock, it's again the Gifford and Godfrey show, with Gifford going .079 and a 11.23 at an impressive 121.58 mph to defeat Jamie Holten. Godfrey took a single with a 11.28 at 119.90 mph.

Also, if you're interested, here are a bunch of new photos from Round 1

[powerjames]

On the property today is none other than Bill Glidden. He was invited by track management and the NMRA to make some test passes in the Team M/T Pro Stock car.




We have to give big props to Paul Huizenga from Race Pages Magazine who has built a very cool "camera on a stick" which allows him to take photos from areas that are either physically impossible or dangerous without any (apparent) harm to his person.

Going through the photos, we were shocked to see that Ray Johnson has converted his Pro Outlaw 10.5W Mustang to front wheel drive..

[powerjames]

We spoke with Edelbrock about the new race heads that John Urist is using