NMCA at MIR

Words by Jeff Burk
Photos courtesy NMRA

The traveling doorslammer drag racing circuit that is the NMCA brought their road show to the drag strip closest to the nation’s capitol: historic Maryland International Raceway. MIR has been the center of fast doorslammer racing on the East Coast for decades and the track has a reputation  for providing a great surface and record setting racing. Both the track and the NMCA racers lived up to racers’ and fans’ expectations for a record setting 10th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Nationals.

Despite air temps in the 90s and a track surface temp that often exceeded 140 degrees during the day, as the sun set and the air and track cooled, NMCA racer Bill Lutz took advantage of the changing conditions and qualified his ’69 Pro Street Camaro with a 5.97/247 lap. Proving it was no fluke, he went on to back the run up with an under the lights lap of 5.97 /247 mph run, which set both ends of the Pro Street record.

Pro Street Eliminations, which ran during the heat of the day, was a different story as a hot track delivered less than ideal traction. The final was an all Lutz Brothers benefit, as the brothers and their ’69 Camaros had put away all competitors to duel in the final round. At the green, Jeff Lutz left first, putting a serious hole-shot on brother Bill with a .031 light to Bill’s .088 effort, but he couldn’t hold the lead and Bill defeated Jeff in the Pro Street finals with a 6.095/241.37 to a 6.716/175.41 effort.