Drag Illustrated Issue 150, November 2019 | Page 32

Dirt
Championship Drive
NMCA closes out 2019 season at
NMCA World Street Finals in Indy
By Steve Baur
T
round lane call due to breakage, which allowed
Tim Knieriem to take the win light uncontested
and the trip to the Aerospace Components Win-
ner’s Circle.
High RPM is the hallmark of the FST Carbure-
tors NA 10.5 class and the engines were singing
at the tops of their cylinder heads this weekend.
Leonard Long collected another lead qualifier
with a 7.83 pass in his manual transmission-
equipped SN95 Mustang. Long waded through
the crowded field to meet Dwight Ausmus in the
final round of competition. There, Long drove to
a winning 7.86 over Ausmus’ 8.03.
Defending Chevrolet Performance Stock pre-
sented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center champion
Jesse Wilson collected a win at the last event in
Norwalk, Ohio, but it was Haley Burkhammer
who led qualifying in Indy with a 10.19 in her
Camaro. Burkhammer continued her quest for
victory until she faced Scott Brown in the final
round. There, Brown took the advantage at the
tree, but Burkhammer powered around him with
a winning 10.19 to Brown’s 10.25.
With over 60 Nostalgia Super Stock cars entered
into competition in the 14h annual Dave Duell
Classic and the 4th Annual Nostalgia Super Stock
All-Star Shootout, there would be many rounds of
the best nostalgia racing anywhere. In the final
round of the Dave Duell Classic, Ramon Powell
took a trip to the Aerospace Components Win-
ner’s Circle after defeating Jim Guy in a Dodge-
RACEPAGESDIGITAL.COM
he 18th Annual NMCA World
Street Finals presented by Chevrolet
Performance, which was hosted at
Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis Sep-
tember 19-22, marked the end of a successful
season of NMCA Drag Racing presented by E3
Spark Plugs, and culminated in the crowning of
class champions who had worked the hardest
all year and found their place in the Aerospace
Components Winner’s Circle.
Framed by the legendary Dave Duell Classic,
Nostalgia Super Stock All-Star Shootout, and
the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series, the
NMCA World Street Finals did not disappoint,
and one only had to look at the VP Racing Fuels
Xtreme Pro Mod qualifying sheet to see just how
tight the racing could be.
Twenty-two cars attempted to qualify for the
16-car field, and the top spot changed every
round. John Stanley put his blown Cadillac CTSV
above all else with a 3.725, and the entire field
was separated by less than a tenth of a second,
making it the quickest field since the inception
of the Xtreme Pro Mod format. Stanley struck
the tires in round one, allowing No. 16 qualifier
Stephan Stringer to advance. In the final round,
Stringer drilled the tree and took the holeshot
win with a 3.80 at 196 to Jim Widener’s nitrous-
backfiring 3.78 run.
Shawn Pevlor, who led qualifying at the previ-
ous race in Ohio, topped the Mickey Thompson
Street Outlaw sheet with a 4.33 effort from the
BES Racing Engines Mustang. Pevlor advanced
round by round to the finals where he fell to the
hard-charging Rob Goss in a 4.38-to-4.55 match.
The Holley EFI Factory Super Cars category has
been hotly contested all season long, and while Bill
Skillman sailed in to this event with a huge points
lead, it was Chris Holbrook who lead the qualifying
charge with a 7.80 at 176 mph. Holbrook broke on
a mid-round bye run and in the finals, Skillman
edged out Randy Eakins, 7.95 to 7.96.
Billy Glidden dusted off his legendary black
Fox-Body Mustang, tuned up its small-block Ford
engine, and entered the ARP Nitrous Pro Street
class. Glidden was immediately quick from the
start of qualifying and grabbed the top spot with
a 4.34 at 164 mph performance. He advanced
round by round until he met Tony Gillig in the
final round. Glidden unleashed a 4.31—his quick-
est run of the weekend—to arrive at the finish
line first, with Gillig not far behind with a 4.36.
In Edelbrock Xtreme Street, longtime racer
Scotty Guiler claimed the top spot in qualifying
with a 4.710 at 150 mph. Guiler knocked the tires
off early in eliminations, allowing Jessie Coulter
to advance, but Coulter couldn’t make the final-
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Issue 150