Sun Shines on Record-breakers
The 29th Annual Nitto Tires NMRA Ford Nationals at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, brought together the old and new in Ford performance; from the Y-Block shootout and classic pre-’79 Blue Oval bracket racers to the NMRA’s cutting-edge heads-up classes. Last year, sporadic rain on Saturday couldn’t dampen the fans’ enthusiasm, and this year, perfect weather brought big crowds to National Trail, and set the stage for several record-breaking performances during qualifying and eliminations. With just one event left in the ’07 season after the Columbus round, and every class points chase still in play, National Trail would make or break racers’ championship hopes.
While some racers making big power would spend the weekend trying to get it to the pavement, Pro 5.0 racer Tony Bischoff got his mojo working early, pegging the top spot in the second round of qualifying with a 6.600 at 209.17 mph. Defending champ Mike Hauf was right behind him at 6.668, while Mike Bavlsir rounded out the three-car field with a 7.661, still feeling out the newly-acquired Probe.
In eliminations, Hauf got past Bavlsir with ease in the opening round, improving to 6.660 in the process, and went on to meet Bischoff in the final at the end of the day. In a straight-up drag race, Hauf was away first by a small margin, .046 to Bischoff’s .069, but down-track the nitrous car caught up and built just enough of a lead to slip past, with Bischoff running a winning 6.634 to Hauf’s 6.690. The margin of victory? A scant .033 seconds at the stripe.
Super Street Outlaw has been one of the most exciting classes to watch this year, and Columbus was no exception. In qualifying, Jarrett Halfacre (shown) took his turbocharged Mustang to the top of the ladder with a 7.447-second blast at 195.59 mph in the final session, ending the pass pointed the wrong way at the edge of the sand trap.
A total of a dozen true 10.5 cars filled the lanes on Sunday, with Don Burton and John Urist joining Halfacre in the 7.40’s and the sevens stretching all the way down to tenth place. Eliminations came down to Halfacre and Urist, both drivers having runs of both good and bad luck this year. With a near dead-even start, it was Halfacre ahead at the stripe, running 7.573 to Urist’s 7.655 and earning his first SSO victory.
Eighteen drivers fought it out for the top spot in EFI Renegade qualifying with Brian Tuten way out in front, his 8.560 at 155.97 a full tenth ahead of his nearest competition, Bart Tobener. In third place was a familiar face who’s been AWOL for the past few races, George “4 on 4.25” Seeger, showing that he hadn’t lost his chops in the interim. In eliminations, a -.008 redlight put Tuten out of the running in round three, allowing 2006 class champ Brian Mitchell to continue his climb to the finals. There, he’d meet Seeger in a matchup nobody would have predicted that morning. Both drivers hit the tree with everything they had, Mitchell cutting a .017 to Seeger’s .032, and the race came down to who could pedal faster – Mitchell’s 9.224 was enough to hold off Seeger’s 9.595, despite giving up more than 35 mph through the traps.