he NMRA racers streamed through the gates of Kansas City International Raceway for the Inaugural Aeromotive NMRA Ford Nationals, presented by ProCharger and Metro Ford. The racing turned out to be some of the best of the year, with the return of two champions to the winner's circle and some new winners.

ProCharger Pro 5.0 had five cars, led by defending champion Don Walsh Jr. in Philip Pickering's car. At the end of last year, Walsh decided to take a year off, but the pull of heads-up Mustang racing was too much to resist. He first showed up this year at the Maple Grove race and finished runner-up, but at KCIR Walsh had the new, smaller ProCharger blower combination turned up high and set the pace with a 6.69 qualifying effort. He went on to beat Mike Hauf's Mustang in the final round, using a .004-second reaction time to do it!

MSD Super Street Outlaw also saw its defending champion return to the winner's circle for the first time this year.

John Urist (shown) had only competed in one NMRA event in 2004, but when he showed up at KCIR with his newly painted big rig containing customer Dwayne James's supercharged car, everyone knew he was serious about getting back on top. Setting the pace was still points leader Jim Blair with a 7.68 at 183 to qualify on top. Blair lost in the second round, however, and in the semis Urist beat Maple Grove winner Manny Buginga while Mauro Vitale had a bye to the final. Urist used a holeshot and a 7.81 to beat Vitale's 7.88.

Edelbrock Hot Street has been owned by Charlie Booze Jr. in 2004, and at KCIR he once again led the field in qualifying. His 8.96 at 151mph pass was the only qualifier in the 8's, and Booze would also be the only 8-second car in eliminations. The final round came down to Booze and Andy Schmidt. Schmidt's car broke, while Booze (lead photo) blitzed to a 9.03 at 150 to take his fifth win in five events.

ProCharger EFI Renegade had nine power-adder cars on the ladder, led by the Maple Grove winner, Zoop Zellonis (below).