Real Street is always a hard-fought class, with the blown and nitrous combinations consistently running in the high nine-second range. However, this weekend it would take a 9.62 to be on top, and Jim Breese ran the number in qualifying to take the top spot.

On Sunday, Breese went out in the second round to long-time teammate Tim Matherly, who went on to the final round where he faced the 2008 Co-Rookie of the Year, Dave Ginter. Ginter came out swinging after the offseason, cutting through the field on Sunday with a string of stout 9.70s, but his 9.70 in the final round wasn’t enough to beat Mathery’s 9.63.

Words by Greg Acosta
Photos courtesy NMRA

The first round of the 2009 season of the National Mustang Racers Association’s Keystone Ford Nationals was held in sunny Bradenton, Fla., at Bradenton Motorsports Park. After a particularly cold winter, all the racers were champing at the bit to get out of the snow and try out all the off-season changes they made. The fans had the same sentiment and came out in force to watch what might have been the most exciting NMRA season opener in recent memory.

Factory Stock was a long and hard-fought battle in 2008, and all the action carried over into the season opener. Through the first three rounds of qualifying, several of the big dogs were reluctant to show their full hands and other struggled to get down the track. In the end, Carlos Sobrino came out on top in qualifying with an 11.48.

However, on Sunday the defending class champ came out and went three tenths quicker than Sobrino in the first round. With three tenths-plus in the bag, Tommy Godfrey worked his way to the final round where he met the number two 2008 points finisher, John Leslie Jr. Godfrey defeated Leslie 11.18 to 11.64.