Coverage: NMRA Florida 2008 - Saturday

[powerjames]

Welcome to Saturday morning of the NMRA Spring Ford Nationals presented by Nitto Tire company. A stiff wind is blowing, this time a cross-wind, and some minor showers might come visit the track. The wind is a greater concern for racers already sorting out brand new combinations, especially in major wheel stand conditions.

The sun is out and the clouds are missing, which could make for a sticky racetrack with high winds. In any case, it will be interesting.

As mentioned yesterday, the starting line proved a major challenge for most of the top racers in the series. It was not a lack of preparation from the expert Bradenton staff, but rather the overcast skies, humidity, and on and off peek-a-boo sun that played games with the crew. Check out the image below of NMRA Super Street Outlaw driver Phil Hines smoking the tires past the 60' mark.

[powerjames]

I spent some time talking with John Urist today about his new car and the dedication his team has made to the sport. Urist is one of the most committed racers here, and he has done arguably more to support the NMRA series and Super Street Outlaw class than anyone else since the inception of the class.

I might point out that I believe that Urist has raced and supported the NMRA at every single Super Street Outlaw event ever held going all of the way back through the ill-fated 1999 Phoenix, Arizona NMRA event. In addition to running Hellion full time, his commitment to the sport has resulted in him and Dwayne James putting together a 3-car team which basically has put thousands of hours and by my guess no less than a million dollars into their operation, despite the challenges of the economy.

I think the most impressive thing about John is that not only has he accomplished a great deal on the race track, but he has gone out of his way to support (and even sponsor) other drivers in his own class like Jarrett Halfacre to help preserve the health of the class and to share knowledge for both safety and performance reasons. As one noted Ford racing expert told me yesterday, "Urist should be ambassador of the year - every year".

The Hellion Decal on Halfacre's car isn't there by accident:



Urist also admitted he has a full plate in getting his brand new Coupe sorted out for 2008 competition and to back up his championship, and to become the first 4X NMRA champion in NMRA history.

New car bugs prevented the team from making a qualifying pass in the first round, but our cameras will be focused on him, as always, for Round 2 and beyond.

[powerjames]

Conrad qualified at the top of the field with a 6.97, but didn't make it past the long arm of the tech line as the team had a problem with their fuel. We spoke with Thom Bates (NMRA's Tech Director) and he said that the team didn't actually do anything wrong other than not flushing the tank from the previous fuel they were running.

This 6-second pass is the first 6-second run in Pro Outlaw 10.5W since David Hance a few years ago. At least this is what some guy tells us in the tower and he may be lying or just generally inaccurate. Maybe not though.

[powerjames]

We've gotten a lot of questions about how Murillo's rear Turbo kit really works. We shot a photo of the underside of the car so you can see for yourself how the turbo plumbing runs.

Mike was a happy guy after qualifying in the #2 position with a pass over 211 mph in the final round of qualifying.



Murillo's turbo system's piping routes around the perimeter of the vehicle, and uses oval tubing for ground clearance.

[powerjames]

At the end of qualifying, there were two Renegade cars in the 8.40s. Brian Mitchell took his New Edge Mustang into the top slot with an 8.47, and his hard work has paid off.

Mitchell told us that he made some major changes to the chassis, as well as the engine. Not only does he have a 25.5 chassis good to 7.50s, but he tested a new heads/cam combination that has picked up performance big time.

Also dipping into the 8.40s with a 8.48 is Team Sutton with a 4V Mod Motor. What's funny is that Bob Cook is 48 years old... so we've got a paid of 48s.

[powerjames]

There is a rumor that Bob Kurgan has gone quick in testing, quick enough that he is a serious threat to take home the $5k BFG has put up for the first Drag Radial car to run in the 7.99 zone. Kurgan ran high 8.0's at the end of last year, and testing at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA revealed a significant improvement. Kurgan is racing in 2008 with basically the same - a freshened engine combination, including a brand net set of CNC heads.



The bigger question is Kolivas going to take Kurgan's 7.99 and wreck that with 7.80 passes? Word on the street is that Kolivas can go 180 mph at will. He hasn't shown it here.

Yet.

[powerjames]

John Urist made a great hit in the second round, going a 7.604 at 190.43 mph to qualify in the #5 position. The car left straight and true and ran very solid. The team was seen in good moods after that pass which took the pressure off them for round 3. In round 3, Urist got out of shape and lifted smartly.

[powerjames]

Phil Hines pulled a crazy wheel stand in Q2 here at Bradenton. During the run his car hit the wheelie bars hard as his SSO car went wheels up way more than he planned. Then, with the wheels in the car, the rear tires starting spinning, producing a wicked miss of wheel stand, tire spin, and then another wheelstand once the car re-hooked.

The complete wheel stand photo sequence is here.

[powerjames]

FINAL QUALIFYING ORDER - NMRA BRADENTON FLORIDA 2008

*These are unofficial results

Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 - Final Qualifying

1. Brian Carpenter 6.886 212.01 mph
2. Mike Murillo 7.03 206.32 mph
3. Mike Brown 7.055 212.21 mph
4. Tim Essick 7.063 206.56 mph
5. Dan Millen 7.202 199.77 mph
6. Conrad Scarry 7.231 201.25 mph
7. Jimmy Keen 7.332 192.88 mph
8. Jerry Morgano 7.340 198.93 mph
9. Ray Johnson 7.665 182.29 mph
10. Ed Rice 7.745 211.81 mph
11. Carl Barnett 8.431 168.06 mph
12. Keith Neal 8.711 107.24 mph
13. Jim Brown 9.499 99.26 mph

ProCharger Super Street Outlaw - Final Qualifying

1. Phil Hines 7.461 191.12
2. AJ Powell 7.487 185.95
3. Jarrett Halfacre 7.508 196.76
4. Richard Lelsz 7.597 189.31
5. John Urist 7.604 190.43
6. Yanni Papakasmos 7.633 193.29
7. Don Burton 7.695 183.89
8. Chris Burleson 7.778 182.33
9. Archie Marasco 8.202 178.96
10. Billy Driscoll 8.28O 145.98
11. John MacDonald 8.283 182.18
12. Manny Bujinga 10.152 87.24
13. Chris Bussell 11.077 87.60

DiabloSport EFI Renegade - Final Qualifying

1. Brian Mitchell 8.476 162.04
2. George Seeger 8.517 162.80
3. David Guy 8.521 163.75
4. Randy King 8.559 158.36
5. Chris Van Gilder 8.63O 160.22
6. Alton Clements 8.663 157.56
7. Joel Howard 8.678 158.22
8. Bob Cook 8.698 141.82
9. Jason Gerovlo 8.782 158.06
10. Bart Tobener 8.837 158.39
11. AJ Wyce 9.321 144.60
12. Brian Tuten 9.408 105.21
13. Chris Beary 9.47O 109.67
14. Victor Nieblas 11.073 92.85

BF Goodrich Drag Radial - Final Qualifying

1. Bob Kurgan 8.121 173.34
2. Kevin Fiscus 8.149 174.89
3. Tony Akins 8.289 174.68
4. Philip Clemmons 8.293 171.16
5. Jason Lee 8.432 167.87
6. Shane Jennins 8.468 162.48
7. Chris Tuten 8.51O 168.22
8. Mauro Vitale 8.564 166.32
9. John Kolivas 8.648 172.64
10. Joey Bridge 8.683 160.22
11. Matt Bell 8.983 162.57
12. Pete Johnson 9.052 157.67
13. C Douglas Johnson 9.263 132.27
14. Enzo Pecchini 9.589 154.53
15. Dennis Bell 10.106 163.30

Edelbrock Hot Street - Final Qualifying

1. Charlie Booze JR. 8.654 156.73
2. Ben Mens 8.735 154.10
3. Robbie Blankenship 8.736 151.38
4. Tim Eichhorn 8.757 154.82
5. David Murray 8.777 154.32
6. Justin Curry 8.806 153.66
7. Michael DeMayo 9.387 148.90
8. Keith Courtney 9.54O 121.76

5.0 Magazine Real Street - Final Qualifying

1. Tim Matherly 9.742 137.53
2. Jim Breeze 9.745 140.55
3. Brian McCormick 9.754 139.59
4. Car 4 9.859 136.67
5. Shawn Johnson 10.127 132.66
6. Paul Alfeo 10.233 136.38
7. Dave Ginter 10.772 126.83

Tremec Pure Street - Final Qualifying

1. Brandon Alsept 10.152 132.62
2. Brad Meadows 10.257 131.73
3. Eric Burkhart 10.347 129.18
4. Ryan Hecox 10.426 129.79
5. Teddy Weaver 10.482 129.73
6. Scott Barker 10.633 126.40
7. Shawn Hansen 10.725 125.55
8. Victor Downs 10.789 126.13
9. David Hill 11.101 98.99

ACT Factory Stock - Final Qualifying

1. Tommy Godfrey 11.238 119.68
2. Steve Gifford 11.283 121.47
3. John Leslie Jr 11.486 117.01
4. Charlie Rankie 11.851 114.43
5. Rick Walsh 11.854 116.18
6. Jamie Holten 12.279 108.87
7. Carlos Sobrino 12.327 105.85
8. Jay Dold 12.652 115.10
9. Steffen Pearman 12.787 106.45

[powerjames]

Drag Radial Racer Enzo Pecchini, who debuted in NMRA competition in 2007, hit the wall during the third round of qualifying. Pecchini's machine was out of control during the pass and impacted the wall while going backwards over 130 mph. Pecchini was shaken up but was released by the medical staff with a clean bill of health. We wish Pecchini the best of luck at returning to competition.

Unfortunetly, the car is a total loss.