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Words courtesy of NMRA
Photos courtesy of ProMedia Publishing
6/2/04

he 5th Annual Quarter Master NMRA All-Star Nationals received inclement weather and a rain delay, but eliminations action on Monday had some of the best racing ever.

The weather forecast did not look good for the 5th Annual Quarter Master All-Star Nationals, predicting rain for the entire weekend, with a chance of dryness on Sunday. As it turned out, Saturday was nice enough to run two full rounds of qualifying and a third round for a few classes, but then the skies opened up and it didn’t stop raining until sometime Sunday night. The forecast looked good for Monday, so the decision was made to run the race then, and a good number of racers stuck it out. It was a good thing too, since Sunday’s eliminations, especially the final rounds, were some of the best side-by-side racing in the history of the NMRA.

The biggest story was in ProCharger Pro 5.0, where legendary Ford racer Wild Bill Devine debuted his new Pro 5.0 Mustang. The purple car had not turned a tire before Columbus, but after a few shake-down runs, it was solidly in the 7’s. Also on hand was the team of Vic Williams and Tom Sanders, whose nitrous car won the first two NMRA races of the season, and Brian Carpenter’s beautiful new Outlaw 10.5 car. In eliminations, number one qualifier Williams got the bye and Devine beat Carpenter to go to meet Williams in the final round. And what a final round it was! Devine got out first by .013 seconds, and Williams couldn’t reel him in. Devine won with a 7.175 at 198 mph to Williams’ 7.272 at 194, making it the first NMRA winner’s circle appearance for Wild Bill.

In MSD Super Street Outlaw, everybody is chasing Jim Blair’s supercharged ‘95 Cobra. Blair won the first two events of the year in dominating, record-setting fashion. In Columbus, Blair once again set the pace, qualifying on top with a 7.84. But hot on his heels, less than a tenth away, were the nitrous cars of Sam Vincent and Bryan Sorby. Eleven of the SSO racers stayed for Monday’s eliminations, but the Sorby Brothers weren’t among them, having to get back to work on Monday. By the time the semifinals rolled around, Blair and Vincent were still in it, and they were joined by Manny Buginga (turbocharger) and Billy Laskowsky (supercharger), both of whom were screaming all weekend. Laskowsky pulled off a huge upset to go to his first SSO final round, beating a trouble-plagued Blair. Laskowsky’s 7.78 at 180 served notice that he had his combination figured out. Buginga took out Vincent with a brutal 7.71 at 182, setting up a great final round. Laskowsky got the holeshot and blasted off a 7.78 at 183, but Buginga got around him, running a 7.75 at 182. The difference at the stripe was a mere .013 second!

Edelbrock Hot Street also saw an underdog make it to the final. Max Gross used his traditional starting line prowess to get past John Paterimos and the always tough Mike Curcio to meet Charlie Booze Jr. in the final. Booze won the first two events of the year and was looking for the hat trick in Columbus. He got it, running a 9.06 to overcome Gross’s 9.22.

ProCharger EFI Renegade had 15 Mustangs entered, led by defending class champion Kurt Gallant. But when Monday came, Gallant ran into trouble and fell to Brian Mitchell in the second round. The semis featured Mitchell taking on Zoop Zellonis and Bob Cook facing veteran Renegade racer Bob Kurgan. Mitchell took out Zellonis, and Cook pulled off the upset to get past Kutgan, setting up a blower versus nitrous final round. Mitchell had been marginally quicker all weekend, so the odds were in his favor, but Cook got him on the tree and stayed out front, winning with an 8.856 at 151 mph to a quicker and faster 8.842 at 153 mph.

All 12 of the BFGoodrich Drag Radial field stayed for Monday’s eliminations, and all eyes were on number one qualifier Trace Meyer. Meyer took out Jason Lee in the first round and looked to put a hurtin’ on Chip Provenza in the second, but Provenza unloaded an insane 8.450 at 167 mph pass to get past Meyer’s also great 8.505 at 164 mph. Phil Clemmons took our class champ Chris Little with the quickest pass in the class’s history, a brutal 8.343. Dave Hopper also advanced, and then took out Clemmons in the semis, while Provenza got the bye. In the final, Hopper left first, but slowed to a 9.00 while Provenza won with an 8.936 at 169 mph.

5.0 Mustang Real Street also had all 14 cars stay for eliminations. Tim Matherly, winner of the first two events, qualified in fourth place with his supercharged modular Mustang, behind Bruce Hemminger, Chris Tuten, and Robin Lawrence. But it was Matherly in the final round, thanks to consistent 9.80’s. In the other lane was Hemminger who had run as quick as 9.73 in eliminations. Matherly got out first with a .063-second advantage and laid down a stellar 9.69 at 139 mph pass to take out Hemminger’s nitrous car.

For the third race in a row, Gene Hindman and Rich Groh met in the final round of Tremec Pure Street. Hindman won the first two races at Bradenton and Silver Dollar, so Groh was looking for some payback. He got it at National Trail in one of the closest races of the weekend. When the two cars crossed the finish line, the scoreboards showed identical elapsed times of 10.579! Groh’s .020-second starting line advantage made him the winner.

BFGoodrich Factory Stock was owned by Michael Washington last year, but he has fought with Bob Cosby’s modular car all year, losing the final round to Cosby at the first two races. Cosby had transmission problems at National Trail, however, and went out in the

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second round, while Washington marched to the final. There he would face yet another modular car, this one the red Cobra of Shawn Johnson. Washington had the 12-flat modular car covered, but his bad luck continued when he broke a valve spring in the burnout box, handing an easy win to Johnson.

Vortech Modular Muscle had 27 cars entered, with Michael Tymensky’s ex-Hot Street car leading the pack in qualifying. Tymensky left in the third round, thanks to a redlight, and by the time the finals rolled around, it was newcomer Bill Putnam in a 2000 Mustang taking on semi-regular Brandon Rivard in a silver 2000 Saleen. Rivard got a big holeshot, but broke out trying to maintain his lead, giving the win to Putnam.

True to form, Toyo Tires Open Comp was the biggest class of the weekend, with 46 Fords entered. Surprisingly, more than half of them stayed over for Monday’s eliminations, a testament to the rabid Open Comp racers! The finals came down to Mr. Open Comp, Larry Geddes, taking on Robert Blankenship’s ‘91 Mustang. Geddes got a very slight holeshot and then ran a 12.018 on his 12.01 index to take the win over Blankenship, who ran 10.726 on a 10.71.

DynoMax Truck & Lightning had 10 trucks battling it out, including the defending class champion Mark Morales. Morales took out his buddy Captain Keith Kohlmann in the second round and then had a bye to the final, while Jeff Conley took his 2001 Lightning past number one qualifier Scott Sexton and Robert Johnson to face Morales in the final. Conley got a big jump, but broke out with a 12.256 on a 12.30 index to Morales’ 9.669 on a 9.44.

Hedman Hedders Wild Street had 11 cars entered, and they got all three passes in on Saturday before the rains came. The winner, for the second year in a row, was Bill Klein. Klein’s ‘85 Mustang averaged 9.153 on all three passes, while runner-up Greg Wooigro was the next quickest at 11.203. John Koenig won the 12-second bracket, while Adam Hodge and Jamie Hinds took home the trophies for the 13- and 14-second brackets, respectively.

For their number one qualifying efforts, Vic Williams and Jim Blair once again won the UPR Top Qualifier Shootout. Due to the weather, the Superchips Bracket classes and the SLP Burnout Contest were not run at National Trail.

The next event is the 20th Annual Ford Motorsport Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, PA on June 18-20, 2004.