Drag Illustrated Issue 144, May 2019 | Page 22

Dirt Double Dose of Action T he pits were packed and the stands were stuffed at the 11th Annual Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center NMRA/ NMCA All-Star Nationals by MAHLE Motorsport, April 4-7 at Atlanta Dragway. That’s where drivers in both series made every effort to wheel their cars to the coveted Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle, and they put up plenty of personal bests and potential records along the way. On the NMCA side, drivers in VP Racing Fuels Xtreme Pro Mod put on a show while pushing their cars to the limit. Among them was Daniel Pharris, who stopped the clocks at 3.72 in his Mustang to lead qualifying. Several competitive rounds later, he made it to the final. There he lined up alongside Don Walsh Jr., who, like Phar- ris, had been consistent and quick all weekend. The tight race saw Walsh Jr. take the win with a 3.72 in his Corvette to Pharris’ 3.75. Drivers in VP Racing Fuels/Mickey Thompson Street Outlaw faced off for fierce fights, and Phil Hines hauled to a 4.37 in his Mustang to lead qualifying. When he exited eliminations early, Rob Goss and Vinnie Palazzolo got around him and met for an oh-so-close final that saw Goss go .008 on the tree and grab the win with a 4.38 in his Challenger while Palazzolo was right there with a 4.39 in his Mustang. The ever-exciting Holley EFI Factory Super Cars category saw Bill Skillman blast to a 7.78 in 22 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com his Mustang Cobra Jet to lead qualifying, but the final round featured Carl Tasca and Paul Roder- ick and their commanding Mustang Cobra Jets. Tasca, with a slight reaction time advantage, took the win with a 7.83 over Roderick and his 7.87. ARP Nitrous Pro Street saw Tricia Musi, who was celebrating a birthday this weekend, muscled her Firebird to a 4.48 to lead qualifying. She took things all the way to the final against Mark Hoa- gland and his Camaro. Musi had Hoagland on the tree, but Hoagland had her on the top end, and won with a 4.46 to Musi’s 4.55. Edelbrock Xtreme Street/Renegade drivers duked it out at this event, and NMCA’s Jessie Coulter cruised to a 4.67 in his Camaro to lead qualifying. Several rounds later, he flew to a 4.73 to take the win over Tim Knieriem, who was quicker than Coulter at the bottom end, but not quite as quick at the top end with a 4.87 in his Mustang. In the high-winding world of FST Carbure- tors NA 10.5, Leonard Long lapped up a 7.80 in his Mustang to lead qualifying. As he often does, Long remained on point through the final, where he pushed to a 7.81 to defeat Joe Clemente, who went 7.93 in his Mustang. Reigning Chevrolet Performance Stock pre- sented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center category champion Jesse Wilson wheeled to a 10.11 in his Camaro to lead qualifying, and on race day, he rolled up next to Haley Burkhammer and her NMCA stars shine at NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals in Atlanta By Mary Lendzion Issue 144