It’s Sunday, the final day of the 21st NMRA Spring Break Shootout here in Bradenton, Florida. We’re ready for eliminations and a full day of side by side racing. Many of the heads-up classes have the top contenders separated by thousandths of a second. Today, anyone who was holding back during qualifying is going to be forced to show their full hand if they want to go rounds. It should be an interesting day to say the least.
Joe Cram found the limits of his head gaskets at 29 pounds of boost and 9,500 rpm. “Oh well, I’ll take it out, ship it to Holbrook, and I’ll be ready for the next one,” Cram says.Hopefully, the shipping company he uses this time will treat him right.
Wayne and Debra Vance now have two Mustangs to show at events. Wayne has his usual SVO with a blown Coyote swap, but Debra now has a ’15 GT to enjoy, as well. Bradenton always has a strong car show, and this year was no exception.
Bart Tobener’s Renegade ride had a mysterious smoking issue Sunday morning, but it seems that issue was worked out. Unfortunately for Tobener, Frank Varela had his car running a little better, and ran a 7.75 at 180 mph to take the semi-final round win over Tobener. It’s Varela vs Brian Devilbiss in the ‘Devil’s Reject’ in the Renegade final.
Shiftin’ Shane Stymiest didn’t have a great start to the 2015 NMRA season. He had struggles all weekend, and the car shut off after the launch during eliminations. We know Stymiest will be ready for Atlanta.
One of the quietest people in NMRA competition is Super Stang racer Lloyd Mikeska. Mikeska rolls with Joe Cram, and we all know Cram can carry the conversation of two people. Therefore, Mikeska doesn’t usually have to say much. We call them Joe and Silent Lloyd, and for this year Mikeska has “Silent Lloyd” on the window. Mikeska didn’t do too well at Bradenton with a quick exit in round 2.
Okay, Jeff Smith, here ya go. The Orlando, FL resident won the Tremec Stick Shift Shootout in 2013, and was in the final last year, where he lost to Anthony Heard. While other competitors have become quicker, Smith hasn’t been able to keep up. He’s still having fun, though, which is the object.
First time drag racer Jeff Scofield came to the Spring Break Shootout not really knowing the landscape. Thankfully for him, he can drive. His ’14 GT500 makes over 1,100-rwhp, and usually runs deep into the 9s. The weekend’s heat, and the use of drag radials in the True Street class had him chasing the launch. Still, he made it the final of the Tremec Stick Shift shootout, where he was unable to beat Anthony Heard. However, he also made it to the semi-finals of the Terminator/GT500 Shootout. The weekend was a learning process for Scofield, but maybe he’ll do a little more drag racing in the future.
Final Round
During Sunday’s eliminations, classes sorted themselves out as the day went on. There were some surprises, some that shouldn’t have surprised us, and some that appeared to signal that even though it is a new year, the players are the same. Many performances tell us that as the year goes on, that at some of the faster tracks on the NMRA tour, there are going to many record runs, and maybe on a race-by-race basis.
In the Street Outlaw final, it was familiar foes John Urist and Phil Hines; ProCharger vs Precision turbo. At the hit Hines went up in smoke, blowing the tires off, and Urist cruised to the win to start the season. Urist ran consistent 6.90s on Sunday to get past Chip Pike, Dan Saitz, and Hines in the final.
What a Renegade debut for Frank Varela! He did the B-Team proud by qualifying in the top spot, and running consistent 7.70s on Sunday with his Precision single turbo motivated GT. Varela barely made it to Florida after having truck issues in Texas on the way to Bradenton. Thankfully, he was able to get the truck fixed, and make it to the race.
In Coyote Modified, Johnny Lightning was the only racer capable of beating a member of the Hellion 3. Lightning’s Cobra Jet was able to nose out Haley James with an 8.28 over James’ 8.29. Lightning had a better reaction time than James, which helped keep him out front for the win. In an NMRA first, Lightning also won the Truck class at Bradenton. He is the first NMRA competitor to win two classes at the same event. Well done, sir.
In Pure Street, it was the Teddy Weaver show, again. Weaver has the suspension sorted out pretty well on his car, while it seemed final round opponent Jimmy Wilson is still looking for the sweet spot. Wilson has the horsepower, you can see that, so once he gets the suspension set-up down, he could really give Weaver some stiff competition.
Steve Gifford picked up where he left off in 2014 when he closed out the NMRA season with a Coyote Stock win at the World Finals. Gifford was able to do some testing at Bradenton leading up to the event, and he put that testing to good use. His times were a little inconsistent, but quick when it counted in the semi-final against Joe Marini and the final round against Michael Washington.
The Coyote -swap cars in Factory Stock still have to get through Matt Amrine’s little Two-Valve. Amrine won Factory Stock over James Meredith with a 10.73 vs a 10.86.
This is why you race on Sunday; you never know what can happen on the track during any given run. Case in point, Adam Kuffel didn’t have the fastest car in the Spring Break Shootout class, but when the smoke cleared, his ’85 GT with a 363-inch combination was the last man racing. Kuffel’s Four-Eye is capable of high-8s, and that’s what he used to win the class.
One class that appeared to be a foregone conclusion was the Turbo Coyote Shootout. If Bradenton was any indication, it does appear JPC Racing runs the Coyote game. Justin Burcham simply dominated the class from start to finish. No one else was even close. Though we greatly respect Joey Basile’s 8-second runs on 20s, Burcham owned the class on this weekend.
In the VMP Tuning Terminator GT500 shootout, the class was dominated by the Terminators. A few of the GT500 players have moved over to heads-up categories, which has left just a few GT500s to battle the ’03-’04 Cobra crowd. Scott Waters and Shane Halleman were the class’ heavy hitters, and both pilot Terminators. Waters had issues on Sunday, and Halleman took it from there, running 8s seemingly at will, even during the heat of the day.
In the Tremec Stick Shift Shootout, Anthony Heard was able to successfully defend his title. Heard’s Fox coupe has a naturally-aspirated 363-inch combination for power, and he was able to drive his way to victory over Jeff Scofield. Heard was ready when the tree came down, unlike Scofield. Heard won thanks to a huge starting line advantage, and was able to stay out front, even though Scofield ran four-tenths quicker.
Saturday can mean only one thing, it’s time to get serious as racers had Friday to shake off the cob webs and shake down their cars. We wake-up to cool temperatures and a bit of a breeze this morning. Temps are in the 50s, and you know what that means – more horsepower, and faster elapsed times. Now it’s time to qualify, get on the ladder, and make plans for tomorrow’s race day. We’ll be here until late tonight, watching all the cars head down the track and bringing you the results.
If that doesn’t tell you cooler weather makes horsepower, Sam Lippincott just ran an 11.66 in his ’15 GT this morning. In yesterday’s 80-degree weather, Lippincott was stuck in the 12s.
If you’ve never seen the underside of a Cobra Jet, you have now. Cobra Jet Showdown competitors routinely put it on the bumper.
Hannah Sanders most often competes in eighth-mile races, but she’s here in her Four-Eye racing in Open Comp.
We brought you news of Rick Erdman’s ’15 GT a couple weeks ago, but he’s here at Bradenton with the car, and this morning he uncorked an 11.99 at almost 130 mph. Working with HP Tuners, the guys are working on torque management to improve 60-ft times. On Gulf Racing Fuels Mach 116, the car made 758 horsepower and 551 ft-lbs of torque at the wheels.
Pete Espeut bought this ’15 Roush Stage 2 the Monday before the race, and the first passes on the car were at Bradenton. Espeut ran low 13s at Bradenton, but the car displayed excessive wheel hop. “I didn’t want to break the car so I was launching off idle,” Espeut says. Espeut tells us the ’15 Stage 2 comprises an axle-back exhaust, Roush’s revised front and rear bumpers, and Stage 2 interior appointments. Espeut plans to add a more drag-oriented wheel and tire set-up with Mickey Thompson ET Street radials, Ford Racing axle shafts, and a Roush/Ford Racing supercharger kit.
As of second round, Michael Washington is the number 1 qualifier in Coyote Stock with a 10.40 pass. Joe Charles sits number 2. Round 3 of qualifying is coming up.
It’s safe to say Gary Parker has the suspension sorted out on his Factory Stock car. Parker just converted the car to a Coyote engine for Factory Stock competition for the 2015 season.
Qualifying has come to an end. Though the day started out a little cool with a negative DA, it warmed up, but it was still cool enough to provide impressive performances in many classes. With another year we know technology is going to help each class get quicker and faster. Combine technology with cooler temps, and quicker elapsed times will be the result. Almost every heads-up category is quicker than last year, which tells us it’s going to be some year in the NMRA.
NMRA starter TJ “El Preppe” Bailey worked hard all day long to keep the track prepped and ready. We don’t think his hat is good for aerodynamics, though. Perhaps a more streamlined lid will enable him to back to the line after retrieving a miscellaneous part off the track.
Though he thought he would be an underdog compared to his supercharged counterparts, John Urist showed why he is a multi-time champion with a 6.86 at 205 mph to earn him the top spot in Street Outlaw.
In Renegade, we’re not sure if anyone thought we’d see 7.70s already, but Frank Varela blasted out a 7.72 at 181 mph to qualify number 1. For Sunday, it’s supposed to be warmer so we’ll see if this number is the quickest of the weekend.
Some Cobra Jet competitors moved up to Renegade, but Johnny Lightning moved over to Coyote Modified. Lightning ran an 8.29 at 168 mph, which sightly edged Haley James’ Hellion Power Systems entry, keeping the Hellion crew from taking the top spot in all its respective classes.
With just 4 cars in competition in Pure Street, Teddy Weaver once again ascended to the top spot. Jimmy Wilson painted his car, and has had a couple struggles getting the handle on his ride. Sunday should be interesting in Pure Street.
Coming into Bradenton no one expected Joe Marini to lead the way after qualifying. There’s a group of racers in the 10.40s, but Marini bested them all with a 10.39 at 129 mph. Coyote Stock is going to be tight for Sunday’s eliminations.
In Factory Stock, Matt Amrine was able to keep the class’ Coyote competitors at bay. Amrine has almost two-tenths on the rest of the class, but there are good racers in Factory Stock so it’s not going to be a cake-walk.
Justin Burcham done lied to us. We asked him if his Turbo Coyote car had a 7-second pass in it, and he said, “I dunno.” Okay, so he didn’t lie to us; he just wasn’t exactly truthful, maybe. He was finally able to keep the front end down, and blast out a 7.59 at 183 mph. He is a second and a half quicker than number 2 qualifier Joey Basile.
In Modular Muscle, qualifying is by reaction time, and you can’t get much better than the perfect reaction Jason Henson put together, though Susan McClenaghan is right there, as well.
Winter is finally gone, and with the coming of spring brings the first race of the season, the 21st annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout held in Bradenton, Florida. The weather is warm and sunny, and it’s time to see if all the winter thrashing paid off for many racers. We’ll be here all weekend long to bring you the latest coverage and photos. So whether you made it to the track and didn’t catch all the action, or you’re snowbound somewhere and couldn’t get here, just keep checking back, and we’ll have all the racing action right here.
John Leslie Jr was chatting with Joe Charles and crew in the lanes before a test and tune pass. Leslie is loving his Factory Stock ride’s new Coyote powerplant.
Matthew Laszaic brought his Cobra to run in True Street. The Cobra has a ton of miles, and it seems Laszaic is trying to shorten the engine’s life span by sprayin’ it with a good dose of nitrous. So far we’ve seen Laszaic run a few low-13s, but he was able to coax a 12.85 out of the car after a bit of coaching.
Shiftin’ Shane Stymiest has gone Hollywood on us. He sits in the car while his girlfriend Bobbi Jo Rector checks air pressure.
Haley James is making a big splash in Coyote Modified at Bradenton. She started out with an 8.30 pass, but during today’s hot test and tune she blew the tires off. The crew had to make some rear suspension adjustments to the car before that pass, but the track wasn’t holding it.
The 2014 Tremec Stick Shift Shootout champion Anthony Heard is back to defend his title. Heard had to do some work to the car leading up to the race, and though he made a 9.96 pass earlier in the day, he spun out of the hole during the heat of the day.
Round 1 Qualifying Results
Street Outlaw
In Street Outlaw we had a side-by-side 6-second pass in round 1 between Phil Hines and John Urist. Hines was the quicker of the two, and is sitting in the top spot.
Renegade
Alton Clements made a strong statement in round 1 of qualifying with a 7.981 at 174 mph, but Renegade newcomer Frank Varela is right there with a 7.989 at 175 mph.
Coyote Modified
Michael Harris in his Cobra Jet sits atop Coyote Modified after round 1, but Joe Guertin had a couple solid passes, and sits second with an 8.55 at 161 mph. This is a new combo for Guertin, and it’s showing promise so far.
Pure Street
In Pure Street, Teddy Weaver wasn’t sure what his car was going to do since he hadn’t been able to test since getting his engine back from Roush Performance. However, it’s looking pretty good so far with a 9.67 pass in round 1. Jimmy Wilson is in the second spot after a rowdy pass in his newly-painted ride.
Turbo Coyote
In Fluid Turbo Concepts’ Turbo Coyote, Justin Burcham is showing the way with an 8.44 at 158 mph. Burcham came close to the wall down track, but was able to stay in it. No doubt he’s looking for a 7-second pass this weekend. Burcham runs a single 85mm turbo with a ‘Glide transmission. The biggest challenge for Burcham is keeping the front end down.