NMRA SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE

Words by Jason Reiss
Photos by NMRA Communications

The NMRA put on a great show of racing at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky., the weekend of October 1-3. Huge wheelstands, record-setting passes, and championship-clinching battles took place in all classes, with most championships coming down to the wire.

Conrad Scarry

In the Pro Outlaw 10.5 class, Conrad Scarry lit the clocks with an outstanding 6.68 to lead the field of five into the elimination rounds. With Mike Murillo hot on his heels in the points chase, Scarry had no margin for error, and he came out blazing on elimination day. Scarry stunned the crowd with a 6.57 at nearly 216 mph in round one and then locked up the class title against Jim Brown with a 6.62. By the time the final round rolled around, the track was cold, and Murillo spun, handing Scarry the event win with a 6.63 at over 213 mph.

John Macdonald entered the weekend with a slim points lead over five-time class champion John Urist in the Super Street Outlaw class. Macdonald topped the qualifying ladder with a 7.28 on Friday. However, on that pass Macdonald torched a cylinder head, and he and crew chief Kim Mapes of Motorcity Motorsports made the sixteen-hour round trip drive back to Michigan to repair the castings. He returned to competition before hurting the engine again in the quarterfinal, putting his title hopes in the hands of Chip Havemann.

John Urist

Urist proceeded to put a 7.41 on the board to Havemann’s slowing 9.04, wrapping his sixth class championship in the process.

In EFI Renegade competition, the championship was virtually locked up heading into the event, as Chris Van Gilder had dominated the competition all season long. Perennial contender Bob Cook put an 8.42 on the board to take the top qualifying spot heading into Sunday’s festivities, while Van Gilder took the fourth position on the ladder of eight entries.