Sondra Leslie Ready To Sail At NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals

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While Sondra Leslie was successful and secured two top five and three top ten finishes in the S197 Mustang she began racing in NMRA Richmond Gear Factory Stock several years ago, she decided to shake things up last fall.

Leslie sold the car as a roller after the 18th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA All Ford World Finals in Kentucky in October and began having a 1987 Mustang coupe built for NMRA ProCharger Coyote Modified competition; but that will take some time, and rather than sitting on the sidelines, she has climbed into her crew chief Derek Craft’s 1985 Mustang for this year and possibly longer.

IMG_5409“When Derek told me that he had a roller and we could partner to bring the car out, I was immediately interested,” said Leslie. “So, we drew up a contract and Derek worked extremely hard from October through March to finish the car.”

Indeed, Craft installed into the car a new cage, as well as Strange brakes, shocks, struts and axles, and UPR K-member, A-arms, travel limiters, upper and lower rear control arms, and an anti-roll bar.

IMG_5400He also installed Leslie’s tried-and-true MPR Racing Engines-built Coyote engine, which had been given the once-over by Tim Eichhorn of MPR Racing Engines in the off-season, the electronics, Leslie’s Joel’s on Joy-built C4 and Ultimate Converter Concepts converter, and a fresh set of Mickey Thompson Pro Drag Radials which were provided by Hyperaktive Performance Solutions.

Then, Leslie and Craft headed to the 23rd Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout in early March at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida, where she entered NMRA Richmond Gear Factory Stock.

IMG_5621“We literally finished the car in the pits at the track,” said Leslie, with a sigh followed by a laugh. “So, we had an untested car and no idea what it would do, but we were willing to try. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it to hook up and we didn’t have a good showing.”

Immediately after the race, Craft put the car on the dyno at Matherly Performance in Georgia and used the data to design a new tune for the engine, and then made chassis and suspension adjustments.

With confidence in the car, they headed to the 9th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Steeda Autosports, April 6-9 at Atlanta Dragway, where new asphalt from the eighth-mile to the quarter-mile was waiting for them.

While handling two-foot wheelies, Leslie ran 10.79 and 120 mph to qualify seventh in the field of 13 experienced NMRA Richmond Gear Factory Stock drivers, picked up to a 10.73 — a personal best — to defeat Frank Brancaccio in the first round of eliminations, and recorded a 10.75 to oust James Meredith in the second round of eliminations. She fell out of competition in the semifinal when the car spun and turned in a 10.99 to Dan Ryntz’s 10.77.

“I was thrilled, especially with the 10.73,” said Leslie. “The car was working, and it was awesome to see how close everyone was in elapsed-time. It was very exciting and promising, and now I want to get to the 10.60s and the winner’s circle.”

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Additional support for Leslie comes from her parents, John and Barbara Leslie, the rest of her family and friends, PappaShine, Speedcraft Racing, Leslie Motorsports, Race Part Solutions and Hellion Racing. Catch her in action at the 17th Annual WyoTech NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals, May 4-7, 2017 at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania, which also can be viewed via live feed offered by SpeedVideo right here, which is sponsored by Mickey Thompson, TBM Brakes, UPR Products, E3 Sparkplugs, Edelbrock, Max-Fire, Moser Engineering, and GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association.

About the author

Mary Lendzion

Formerly a writer at the Detroit Free Press, Mary Lendzion writes for Power Automedia, NMCA and NMRA, is the director of media and public relations for Summit Motorsports Park and is happiest in the driver’s seat of her Mustang.
Read My Articles

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