NMCA at Atlanta
The weather may have been cool, but the racing was red hot at the Nitto Tires 7th Annual NMCA Nats at Atlanta.
Open Comp
With a healthy 27-car field, Open Comp was off with a bang. In the first round, Greg Cole lit off a 9.560 on a 9.51 dial-in in his ’88 Mustang, but it was no match for Chuck Hockenberry’s 11.015/10.95 ’82 ‘stang. Gary Ayers fell to Susan McClenaghan, his 15.720/15.58 to her 10.782/10.71. Rob Whitney squared off against Greg Bagnell, and proved the closer racer, beating Bagnell with a 10.186/10.03 over Bagnell’s 9.737/9.74 and red light. Bryan Parker matched his ’86 Mustang with a dial-in of 10.313/10.19 run against Frank Suter III’s 9.457/9.42 ’78 Cutlass for the win. Norman Crane took an 11.783/11.82, but it was no match for John Chaille’s 10.113/10.10. Dale McClenaghan launched with a 9.099/9.03, and Dan Sullivan responded with a 9.796/9.63. Don Bowles made a valiant effort, only to red light and be shut down by Jamie Rickman’s 9.116/9.04.
In round two, Hockenberry fell to Susan McClenaghan, his 11.059/10.95 to her 10.725/10.71. Whitney and Parker did battle, and Parker’s 10.229/10.19 saw him to victory over Whitney’s red light. Chaille got a bye run to take him to the semis, and Rickman advanced over Sullivan, after Sullivan hit a heartbreaking .001 red light.
In the semi finals, McClenaghan ripped a 10.756/10.71 to shut down Parker’s 10.252/10.19, and Rickman’s 9.374/9.04 saw him through the double downer of a 10.671/9.63 and a .001 red light by Chaille.
Susan McClenaghan
As the racers geared up for the finals, it was McClenaghan against Rickman. Rickman cut an .051 light, and made a 9.090 run on a 9.04 dial in, but his run was no match for McClenaghan’s .038 light and a 10.717/10.71 in her Roush Racing ’01 Mustang.
Pro Street
Mark Micke started things out easy with a bye run in Pro Street, but the action was anything but easy, as round one saw plenty of hot matches. Corky Markwart brought his ’03 Mustang to bear against George Landis’ ’06 Stratus, and dominated with a 6.428 at 214.96 mph. Landis was only able to cut a 7.094 at 185.49. Next up was Chris Rini in his ’07 Stratus versus Jimmy Keen and his ’04 Mustang. Keen did his best, sporting a 7.718 and a speed of 141.79 mph, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Rini’s 216.45 mph, 6.482 pass. Vinny Budano squared off against Jason Carlton, but his 6.441, 220.98 mph run had no competition when Carlton was unable to leave the line. Finally, Vincent Demieri took his GTO against Jimmy Marino’s ’04 Mustang, and ran a blistering 6.529 at 219.90 against Marino’s 10.799 84.07 mph, to make his way to round two.
 Chris Rini |
Round two started off with Micke and Markwart going head to head. Micke may have had a free run in the first round, but he didn’t let that slow him down as he drove to a 6.367 ET at 220.62 mph. Markwart meanwhile, was only able to muster a 13.252 in response, with a top speed of only 64.39 mph. Rini took a bye into the semis, leaving just Budano and Demieri to duke it out for the last spot in the semi-finals. However, at the end Budano was home free, when his 6.382, 221.34 mph was unopposed by a broken Demieri.
The semis finals saw only one race, as Budano got a bye run, but that was more than made up for when Micke dueled Rini. Micke’s 7.104 just wasn’t enough to stop Rini from heading to the finals with a 6.531 at 213.7 mph.
Vinny Budano
In the finals, Rini came off the line with a .048 reaction time, and a mighty 6.478 and a top speed of 214.59. However, it wasn’t enough to triumph, as Budano undercut his reaction time by .01 seconds, and set the day’s top speed with a 221.38 mph, 6.357 second run for the win.