Drag Illustrated Issue 136, September 2018 | Page 26

Dirt Jason Hamstra’s Camaro Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing NMCA drivers deliver double-dose of action at Route 66 Raceway By Mary Lendzion | Photos by Fastest Street Car Magazine M ore than 600 race cars and 250 show cars arrived for the show- down that is the 13th Annual Nitto NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing presented by Fuel Systems Technology, July 27-29 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. The weekend of wild racing was as exciting as expected, and everything escalated when win- ners in each series ran off at the end of the event as Team NMCA and Team NMRA to determine which drivers would wind up with specially- designed Nitto Diamond Tree Rings. Twenty-nine drivers vied for a spot in a 19-car field in VP Racing Fuels Xtreme Pro Mod, and each brought their A-game as it was another all- 3-second field. Current points leader Don Walsh Jr. led the charge with a 3.70 in his Corvette, but Jason Hamstra and Billy Harper made it to the final, and Hamstra hung on for the win with a 26 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com 3.69 in his Camaro while Harper was 4.79 in his Viper. DeWayne Mills motored to a 3.89 in his Ca- maro to set the pace in Mickey Thompson Radial Wars qualifying and made it to the final round to find James Lawrence and his Dragzine Corvette waiting for him. Both drivers were off the starting line with similar reaction times, but Lawrence, who was hungry to hang onto his lead in points, picked up the win with a 3.89 to Mills’ lifting 4.86. Joel Greathouse glided to a 4.6 8 in his Mus- tang to lead Edelbrock Xtreme Street qualifying, then raced onto the final to meet Jessie Coulter. Greathouse got the win with a 4.70 in his Mus- tang when Coulter ran into trouble at the hit and had to lift in his Camaro. It was Greathouse’s first Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle experi- ence in three years. Jordan Ensslin led ARP Nitrous Pro Street with a 4.37, but the final round featured points leader Jennifer Brooke Rice and her Mustang, Joel Greathouse’s Mustang Issue 136