NMRA Georgia 2008 Coverage - Sunday

[JustinC]

What looked like a rainy morning has turned to sun and the racers are loving it! With fear of a compete rain out, many racers braved the weather and stuck it out hoping for the best. It looks like we got it! The sun is out here in Reynolds GA and it will look like it'll be a killer day all day long.



Drying time for the track

Obviously with all the rain Friday and Saturday the crew here at Silver Dollar had their hands full getting the track in good shape this morning. I can say they are doing a great job getting it in running order. Everyone is out here paying amazing attention to detail to make sure nothing gets missed.







Jerry Morgano

We spent some time this morning with Jerry Morgano and his gorgeous twin turbo Mustang. After a rought friday test and tune session, Jerry trashed a transmission and had to scramble all night driving to Atlanta to get a new planetary and other important parts. Here they are getting the new tranny in the car ready to rock. Jerry and his crew are confident in the car and hope to do well today.









John Kolivas

John Kolivas looks ready to go! Early this morning John had the car up and running, getting everything to temp and playing with the laptop. Tuning seems to be the big issue on everyones mind. The weather is so different today from Friday that it may be hard for the racers to nail down the tunes. Hopefully everyone is able to adapt quickly this morning and run well into the night here at Silver Dollar.







Bridge Racings new setup

Bridge Racing was having what looked to be a relaxing morning. Early on they had the car out and ready to go, spending time cleaning it and final prep work for the racing today. You gotta respect any car that is this clean. The engine bay and wiring looks like it belongs in a show car not a race car!












Motorcity Motorsports

Motorcity Motorsports was also looking very confident this morning. After an admitted struggle in Bradenton last week, they feel good about the car and how it will perform this weekend. The new engine combo, which is smaller then most at 388ci and the smaller Procharger seems to be working great with there current strategy. They are concerned about boost and tuning with the weather how it is, but said they ran good on fridays test passes and are excited about this mornings racing.



First round of trucks are coming in the staging lanes - Check back soon for results!!

[JustinC]

Kolivas goes 8.17

A little off from other passes, Kolivas still blistered to a 8.17 on his first friday pass. Car looked soft out of the hole, so you know its got more in it.



Bob Kurgan has trouble on his first pass

Bob kurgan ran next to Chris Tuten during qualifying today and looked a little slow down the track. Tutens car looked on point but also soft.

[JustinC]

Mike brown

As a fan first and photographer second, it is in great respect that we post the following pictures of Mike Browns wreck at the NMRA GA 2008 event.

Mike walked out of the car and is okay, which is amazing after you see how hard he hit. We must give the team, builders and drivers respect - this is never a good thing to happen and there attention to detail is what kept Mike safe and in one piece. Watch this video

[JustinC]

The compressor housings off Mike Browns car - found at the 1000' mark.

[JustinC]

7.09 to a 7.09

Tons of close racing here today! Early on the tower side lane was a little slippery but it seems to have come together at this point. You can see how tight the racing is...




Still chasing that 7 second pass

DR is is up now...who can do it? Well, no one yet - but Kolivas went a 8.12, so we are getting close. Kurgan and Tuten both also move on in DR to round 3.

[JustinC]

Tim Matherly running strong into the next round

Tim Matherly has been running great all weekend - will he win in Georgia?

[JustinC]

FINAL ROUND Coming up!

Tim Essick and Conrad Scarry in 10.5

[JustinC]

Kolivas and Kurgan in the final round of DR

Kurgan edging out this semi finals



Tom Motycka and Susan McClenghan in the finals of Mod Muscle

[powerjames]

Complete Photo have been put online from Sunday's Qualifying and Round 1 Eliminations.

Check out Justin's photos here.

[powerjames]

Pro Outlaw 10.5W

The first round in Pro Outlaw was marred by the crash of Mike Brown as detailed above. Getting down the race track with a clean pass was the order of the round.



The best race of the round was clearly Tim Essick, who qualified in the 9th position but was the 2007 champion, and Dan Millen who qualified in the #5 position.

It's hard to believe - but Tim Essick ran a 7.091 against Millen's 7.090. Yes, 1 thousandths of a second slower. However, his reaction time was a .024 compared to Millen's .035, giving him a .01 advantage at the stripe. That's a tiny, tiny win margin, but it makes for a sad first round exit for Team Millen who is getting a handle on their ride.



Other highlights of the round include Carpenter who ran a 7.04 at 213 mph, Ed Rice who defeated Jim Brown on the basis of a red light, and Conrad Scary who defeated Dwayne James who went up in smoke with a 7.03 at 203 mph.

Super Street Outlaw



It was upset time in SSO as Richard's Lelsz single turbo machine downed John Urist when Urist red-light - a very rare move for the champion. Urist had Lelsz beat but the red make his better package on the race track null and void.



AJ Powell made a statement in the first round as well, defeating Mike King and going 7.68 at 178.90 mph. This backs up his 7.56 at 182 qualifying pass and announced him as a major player at Silver Dollar.



Best e.t. of the round 1 eliminations went to Jarrett Halfacre, the only remaining member of Team Urist. Jarrett laid the smack down with a 7.48 at 194.07 mph, backing up his last pass of 7.47. After first round it was clear that Halfacre and Burton were the head of the class.