Dirt
The biggest class of the weekend with 50 entries , ATI Performance Products Nostalgia Super Stock kept things interested during qualifying as Doug Harrison , Jimmy Ray , and Clay Kossuth all ran within 0.02-seconds of their dial-ins and filled the top three spots , respectively . The final pair consisted of Doug Wright with his ’ 64 Belvedere in the left lane and Tom Hoffman with his ’ 63 Plymouth in the right . Hoffman had Wright on the tree , but Wright reeled him in with a top-end charge and although it was a double-breakout situation , Wright was awarded the win .
The incredible classic muscle cars of Detroit True Trac Nostalgia Muscle Car showed off that they run just as good as they look . Last year ’ s winner here , Jerry Stamps , put on the best show in qualifying when he went 12.001 on his 12.00 index fielding his ’ 73 Duster . Ken Weilbrenner and his ’ 70 Chevelle , however , brought home the big win with a killer 0.006-second reaction time and a 9.771 at 129.07 run on a 9.75 dial-in over Audrey Baize at the end of eliminations .
Mel White ’ s perfect 0.000-second reaction time in his ’ 66 Mustang while qualifying for MagnaFuel Open Comp meant he had the right to sit atop the list of 33 driver names . Five rounds whittled the field down to William Jones and Kurt Anderson as the last two men standing . Both men broke out and ran below their dials , but the lesser of two evils went to Jones and his ’ 68 Falcon .
The Dave Duell Nostalgia Super Stock eliminator special event this weekend offered four separate classes for drivers to contest and winning the quick 9-second FX category sponsored by Goodwin Competition was Doug Wright as he ran 9.246 at 144.46 over runner-up Jeffrey Frees , who took himself out on a red light . Victory Performance helped make the three other races possible , and , in the A-group for 10-second cars , Randy Stansbury was successful going 11.135 at 93.28 to Justin Geary ’ s 11.395 at 119.85 runner-up effort . In the 11-second B-group , Shawn Johnston ran almost dead-on the money with a winning 11.005 at 121.88 hit to defeat Brent Wheeler in the finals . Last , but not least , in the 12- and 13-second C-group , winner Butch Cassary put Al Wilson on the trailer .
Three separate True Street-style classes were offered at this event , with the tried-and-true traditional Gear Vendors True Street taking center stage . Running a 7.861-second overall average was Jeff Knox and he was awarded the top honors as a result . In the runner-up spot was Troy Eaton on an 8.487-second average , while Casey Flora won the 10-second category with a 10.192-second average . For the 11-second group , John Combs was named the winner while Chris Cowles took the title for the 12-second group and Matt Johnson rounded things out with his win in the 13-second section .
Running this weekend in the Chevrolet Performance Street Car Challenge , Jeff Brady had the quickest Chevy of all , as his ’ 10 Camaro SS averaged 10.043-seconds through three passes to take the win outright . Hot on his heels with an 11.105-second average was Kevin Rowand and his ’ 08 Corvette . Brandon Cardwell won the 11-second average , Dennis Pett won the 12-second title , and Jeremy Britt went home victorious in the 13-second group .
Similarly , in the Dodge // Mopar Hemi Shootout , Steve Best ’ s ’ 18 Dodge Demon was devilishly quick when it was the only car in the 10-second zone and averaged 10.442-seconds in the quartermile for the big win . J Orrand ’ s ’ 16 Hellcat was crowned the runner-up as it averaged 11.209-seconds , Jenny McClain went home a winner for the 11-second bunch , Trenton Smith won the 12-second honors , Travis McKenne won for the 13-second drivers , Michael Oellrich walked away on top for the 14-second group a and Don Fielder finished the weekend on a high note in the 15-second pack .
In the True Street Bracket 3 , the final round paired Chris Cowles in his Chevy Nova on a 12.12 dial in against Dietrich Bollinger in his Chevy Camaro on a 10.48 dial . When the final numbers were posted on the scoreboard , it was Cowles in the left lane who lit the win light .
Mark your calendar for the next stop on the NMCA E3 Spark Plugs Drag Racing tour , the 13th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA / NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet , Illinois on July 27-29 , 2018 ! DI
PHOTOS : KEVIN DIOSSI
36 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 134