Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Steve Gruenwald

The U.S. Street Nationals held at Bradenton Motorsports is just down the highway from Orlando where the Granddaddy of Pro Street races, the World Street Nationals, is run and while it doesn’t get the car count  or crowds that the WSN attracts, the Bradenton race is still one of the four big races held for these cars (the races at Las Vegas and Englishtown are the other two). It is traditionally the first of the four big “Street Legal” racers. This the only one of the “Big Four” that is contested on an eighth-mile track so that fact by itself makes this race special.

This year the race attracted about 150 entries and a couple of surprise winners and losers. DRO sent our man in Florida, Steve Gruenwald, to photograph the event. So, if you couldn’t get to the race and since it isn’t televised we thought you readers would enjoy a look through his lens.

In the Pro Street division it appeared that Pro Street icon, ex-Pro Stock racer and Florida resident Tony Christian was going to get off the “schnied” and back into the winners circle until an uncharacteristic red-light in the semi-finals against number-one qualifier and eventual winner Mike Hill put him on the trailer.  Hill can normally be found racing his ’63 split window ‘Vette in the ADRL’s Ten-five class. Hill, who may have had a slight advantage since all of the ADRL races are contested on eighth-mile tracks, went on to defeat Trevor Eman in the final round by leaving first with a .035 light to Eman’s .039 and then just motored away from Eman with a 4.114/179.56 to his opponent’s respectable 4.164/175.60

The pride of the island of Aruba, Trevor Eman qualified second and was runner-up to Mike Hill in Pro Street.