Preview: NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl VIII At Joliet This Weekend

hinesOver the last eight years, the NMRA and NMCA have put together one of the coolest drag races known to man – the Super Bowl of Street legal Drag Racing, held at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois on the second weekend of July.

The Super Bowl is unique in that it’s three races in one – the NMRA’s competition classes have a race to find a winner, as do the NMCA’s heads-up competition classes, and at the end of the event the two series go head-to-head in a handicapped-start format based off the quickest elapsed times of the weekend. At the end of the race, the winning team receives a set of the coveted Nitto Tire Diamond Tree rings – jewelry given only to the baddest of the bad in the world of street-legal drag racing.

This year, the NMRA will contest four heads-up classes, from the king-of-the-hill Street Outlaw class down to the spec-engine Coyote Stock class. In the Afco Racing Street Outlaw class, Filthy Phil Hines is currently leading in the points standings over multi-time NMRA champion John Urist, but the lead is up for grabs, as there are enough points available at this event for Urist to take over the lead in the hotly-contested, small-tire category. Although Hines currently holds the class record with a 7.12 at 202 MPH, Sean Ashe has eclipsed that number in testing. And the rumor is that class-killer John Kolivas will be on the premises in his turbocharged machine, along with Jason Lee, Andy Manson, and others. We’ll be looking for 7.0 passes all weekend long in the killer Chitown air.

clementsThe Edelbrock Renegade class has Brian Mitchell sitting at the top of the points list right now, but Valerie Clements has been hot on his heels all season, as has nitrous racer Scott Grove and supercharged racer AJ Wyce. We’ve even heard that former class champion Scott Lovell and Swill Racing will be at their hometown track looking to make a big splash in their return to the class. This class has seen 8.30 ET’s all year, and if the forecast holds out, we could have some record-setting weather this weekend.

Nitto Tire Factory Stock points leader Matt Amrine has a commanding points lead over perennial contender John Leslie, Jr. But Louis Sylvester, Jr., Carlos Sobrino and Sondra Leslie have been working hard on their programs as well heading into the event. Amrine has taken home three of the four event wins so far this season; can anyone knock him from his perch?

mariniAnd in the NMRA’s newest class, the Strange Engineering Coyote Stock spec-engine class, “Shifty” Shane Stymiest, running out of the Booze Brothers Racing stables in Pennsylvania, has a lock on the points chase at this time, with one runner-up and three event wins to date this season. HiPo Joe Charles says he’s got something for Shane this weekend, and we know Joe Marini will be there running hard in his JPC Racing-backed machine along with Jacob Lamb, Joe Guertin, and the rest of the Coyote Stock warriors. Stymiest will be hard to beat, but as Coyote Stock has all competitors using the same engine platform, it’s anyone’s game on Sunday. 

If you’re anywhere within 200 miles of Chitown this weekend, we suggest you come on out and check out the event. If not, stay tuned to StangTV.com all weekend as we’ll be bringing you same-day coverage from the track and in the pits!

About the author

Jason Reiss

Jason draws on over 15 years of experience in the automotive publishing industry, and collaborates with many of the industry's movers and shakers to create compelling technical articles and high-quality race coverage.
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