By Mary Lendzion |
The National Muscle Car Association offered outstanding classes that catered to various cars and combinations. One of the most popular was Dart NA 10.5, where the competition was incredible and the companionship among the racers was inspiring. So when the series ceased operations in the fall of 2024, former Dart NA 10.5 racers Joe Clemente, John Langer, Dwight Ausmus, David Theisen, and Robbie Blankenship focused on forming another class to call home and welcoming other racers with naturally aspirated big-block and small-block engines in cars of various makes and models rolling on 10.5 slicks. With that, Small Tire Pro Stock was created.
The group set up rules, secured some sponsors
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, and sealed the deal with tracks to serve as hosts before announcing its 2025 schedule. With support from 10K Technology, Pen and Paper Strength App, Dolce and Clemente’ s Market, V & J Inc., BES Racing Engines, CFM Carburetors, and Exstreme Fab and Beadlocks, Small Tire Pro Stock debuted at Sick at the Rock presented by Motion Raceworks, April 10-12, at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.
REVVED UP AT ROCKINGHAM DRAGWAY While the start of the race at Rockingham Dragway was delayed due to rain, racers told their tales, one trip down track at a time. Among them were Dwight Ausmus and John Langer.
Ausmus, of LaFollette, Tennessee, wheeled to a wicked 7.59 in the first round of qualifying to set the pace in his Firebird powered by 573-cubic-inch Pontiac by BES Racing Engines. The determined racer picked up to a 7.56 in the second round of qualifying, after a. 0001 reaction time, set a record with that elapsed time, and was awarded a bull-themed trophy and a $ 250 top-qualifier bonus sponsored by Dolce and Clemente’ s Market and V & J Inc. In eliminations, Ausmus won the first round with a 7.59 over Tony Petrovski,
John Langer who turned in an 8.00 in his Mustang, and won
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Dwight Ausmus
the second round with a 7.54 over Rob Ingles, who was in competition with these racers for the first time and clocked a 7.84 in his Camaro. That set up the final round featuring John Langer and his Trans Am. It was anyone’ s race, and Ausmus took the victory with a lifting 8.78 as Langer ran into an issue.
“ It was a long winter, and we came out and knocked the tires off in testing on Thursday, but the air on Saturday was good and the track had teeth and could not have been better for racing,” said Ausmus, who was celebrating his 26th wedding anniversary with his wife, Becky, on race day.“ I was happy to run the way we were running. It was a good start to the season to say the least. Curt Jamison and Charlie Campbell were helping me, and while Keith McCormick could not make it, we were keeping him updated. This is a great group of racers, and we help each other out. At one point over the weekend, the pilot rope got tangled up with the parachute rope on my car, and Carlos Sobrino, who was racing with us, and his crew came over to take care of that while I was working on my clutch. We are going to have a nice little points series here since our beloved NMCA NA 10.5 dissolved. That is for sure.”
Meanwhile, Langer, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, landed at 7.60 to qualify in the second spot in his Trans Am with a new 577-cubic-inch
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARY LENDZION |