NMCA Bradenton 2011 Same Day Coverage - Page 3 of 4

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The season opener in Bradenton is one of the biggest races of the NMCA racing season. It is where 2010 records fall and new cars are unveiled. Also, this is the place that sets the tone for who will be on top in 2011. Many records were broken last year – will it happen again? Stay tuned all weekend as we bring you updates from the first race of the 2011 NMCA racing season. Special thanks to our event sponsor SCT Performance. Check out their great line of tuning products at www.sctflash.com. For LSX Challenge Coverage, check out lsxmag.com Coverage starts Friday morning!

: Bruce Robert’s notchback mustang is back out with a fresh paint job, new Race Craft wing, and parachute. It’s powered by a 434ci SBF Nelson Competition Motor with a Wilson Manifold and Nitrous combo. The driver, Eric Kenward, hopes to be running in the 7.70’s in X275 Drag Radial. Sponsors: TRZ Motorsports, AA Performance, Eric’s Automotive, and FTI Trans & Converts.

: This beautiful ’57 Belair is owned by Rob Alder and Lynwood Wood. It’s their first time out with the car running Pro Street this year. They used to run Super Street and have been racing for years. This Chevy is powered by a 521ci motor built by their own A-Team Speed Shop, Inc. from Tinley Park, Illinois.

: Bill Trovato is running the little Olds still but has a new ride under way being built by Patrick Budd out of Maryland. He is switching brands to a 2010 Camaro and 400 ci. LS engine with a GM Performance LSX block and LS7 heads. The new ride was purchased as a body in white and is being built from the ground up.

: Gary Duncan has a new engine this year from Jim Kuntz with about twenty more horsepower that last year. He has tested once so far before this weekend and was pleased but broke a transmission during the session.

: Louisville Mississippi racer Kevin Mitchel is here and has been 6.83 at nearly 215 with his twin turbocharged Camaro last year in Super Street. They made some changes over the winter to make it easier to work on. Crew members are Tim Mitchell, Randy Mitchell, Graham Hill and Wade Hopkins. All fab work on the car is was handled in house at Southern Speed, the 548 ci BBC was built by Proline Race Engines with TCI converter and transmission.

: Former NMCA NPS Champion Jeff Colletta is here with a new car and has made some small changes to the combination. The K & B built car has not been run by Jeff yet and they switched to a single carburetor to take advantage of the weight break and will run this year at 3125 pounds instead of 3250 for the other car.

: The Part Time Performance crew of Jason Lee and Patrick Barnhill found some bearing material in the oil and are yanking the engine today for a rebuild. Provided everything is fine upon tear-down they should be ready to rock tomorrow.

: Dave Merrit is here from Maryville Indiana with a 526ci. Alan Johnson blown 2000 Firebird. His father Jeff owns the car and they have not been in NMCA competition since 2003. They have been as fast as 6.38 a few years ago and are looking to better that here this weekend.

: Dave Lovendahl is the technical advisor for JRI Shocks and the company has signed on for NMCA sponsorship for the 2011 season. They will be providing tech support on site at all the NMCA points races this year for any racers that so desire and have a shock dyno in the trailer to check and fine tune their own or competitors products.

: Jesse Violante is the new owner of Bryan Markiewicz’ Super Street 10.5 Camaro. The Nelson Competition 737 is fresh and some updates to chassis, suspension and a new Spaghetti Menders wiring harness has been completed by AA Performance.

: Chris Rini is debuting a new car here this weekend. The 69 Synergy Camaro body is set on top of a Jerry Bickel chassis. All of Rini’s sponsors have returned for 2011 including ATI and initial testing has the car going straight and running well. The same Buck Racing Engine from last year has been freshened.

: Keith Valone is here with a brand new 63 Corvette built by Vito Antonicelli Race Cars out of New York. Purchased in November of 2010 this is the first NMCA race with this car. The Total Engine Concepts 565 nitrous engine has run a 7.05 @ 196 a few weeks ago on a soft tune.

: Jeff Lutz is here this weekend with two cars, the familiar Pro Street ride with new turbos, a fresh engine and is 150 pounds lighter.

: His son will be driving a 1980 Firebird in the new X275 class owned by Steve Chechak with a 548 BBC on nitrous.

: Susan Roush McClenaghan testing out her propane powered mustang.

: Jeff Lutz heating up the tires before a test pass.

: Chris Rini had a nice holeshot during testing in his pro street camaro.

: This Duster pulled a nice wheelie in testing.

: Jeff Lutz was on a nice run but had to move out of the groove as Judson Massengill lost steering and came into his lane.

: 7.46 @ 157 for Joe Bucaro, the Chris Duncan Race Cars built Mustang runs the Nostalgia Pro Street class.

: Don Bowles ran a decent 8.70 @ 154 in his Comp Cams Pro Stock Maverick. he will need to improve on that time in qualifying tomorrow.

: Jesse Violante put up a 7.93 in his Super Street 10.5 Camaro after pedaling it a couple of times on the pass. he was one of several racers fighting the track surface during today’s session.

: Team Powerhead is here with two cars in Pro Stock and running in the 8.5 zone.

: Eric Kenward had a nice clean pass this afternoon in Bruce Roberts’ Mustang running an 8.11 @ 167 in the X275 Drag Radial class.

: Colletta made a clean straight pass on motor only to shake down the new ride, he clicked it early shortly after the eighth mile.

Friday Night Pit Notes

: Jason Lee and crew have been hard at it all day rebuilding the engine in the little red stang. They plan to refire it later tonight.

: This beautiful 81 Camaro belongs to Steve Summers from Utica, Illinois. The new entry for Super Street 10.5 features a 499 cubic inch big block Chevy from Jasiak Racing Engines, then force fed by an F3-R Procharger on gasoline. The chassis started out from Fast Forward Race Cars and has been updated since by Jerry Bickel. Patrick Barnhill is is helping out tuning the fuel management.

: Joe Dunn made the switch to a clutch Lenco for this year and has seen promising results in early testing in Georgia. Jerry Bickel Race Cars did updates and the trans swap fabrication over the winter and prepped the car. Musi freshened his fuel injected 867 BBC as well. Here in Bradenton they are just trying to learn the new set up and didn’t make a full run today.

: “Dangerous” Dave Beeson came from Nawlins with fresh crawfish and a party in tow. Good stuff for sure.

: Vinnie DeMerieri is back with a new debut after a crash last year. He returns with the same engine/trans package as before and was making the first hits on the new ride today.

: Don Baskin had a trans give out in the red car this afternoon so out it came for inspection. Once inside there was no major damage found so a straightforward replacement of overused parts was all that was necessary.

: Some other big news on the Baskin Trucking front is a new sponsorship deal with 2010 Pro Street Champion Chris Rini. The Baskin Trucking logo will be on the quarter panel soon. We will have some more info on this exciting news on Saturday. His best run today was a 6.18 @ 227 clicking it just a little early. A nice 4.01 1/8th should have the car at a .15 or slightly better according to prior data and are looking forward to Saturdays qualifying.

: Here’s an interesting car – Honda S2000 powered by a LS3 Chevy V8 with a F-1 Procharger. Owner Carlos Rios and crew built the car at their shop called Action Auto Care.

: Here’s a picture of the LS3 conversion in Carlos Rios’ Honda S2000. The motor is a forged 416ci with factory heads and intake.

: I had the pleasure of meeting Pete Pagliese and his crew: Fred and Hailey Pagliese, Russ and Donna Sutherlane, and Tom Orr. Pete’s awesome Pro Street Vette has a 526ci Oddy Race Engine with chassis work done by Pat Bennett. The car shook the tires a few times today but after making a few adjustments they hope to get it hooking up and going straight down the track tomorrow! Sponsors: Pagliese Service & Performance.

: Don Lamana is testing to get his new turbo notch all dialed-in. A few weeks back in Georgia he broke a driveshaft while pulling a big wheelstand. At the NMRA race two weeks ago he ran 8.80 @ 171 mph with a bad 60 foot. He shook the tires on his only test pass today, but tomorrow he is hoping to get into the 8.30 zone if he can get it to hook! Built by Pro-Fab Performance.

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: Pagliese’s Pro Street Vette spun the tires and went sideways! Thankfully he was able to recover and keep it from hitting the wall… Nice driving!

: Andrew “Drew” Handras (driver) with his father George Handras (owner) are down from New York. This is their first race since Shakedown in E-Town where they broke their transmission. They here to compete in Pro Street. Good luck guys!

: Steve Cagle heating them up before a pass!

: Robbie Blankenship making a test pass.

: Don Baskin and crew making some adjustments to the car for tomorrows qualifying. They are running a 528ci motor with a 600 shot. They made one pass today and shut down early, it went 7.78 @ 142mph. Sponsors: Baskin Truck Sales.

: Bill Trovato is working on his 78 Oldsmobile Starfire to get it ready for tomorrow. His Starfire is powered by a 403ci Olds with a 450 shot running through a powerglide. He will be running the the Extreme Street class. Sponsors: M/T Tires, BTR Performance, and Edelbrock.