Words by Greg Acosta
Photos courtesy NMRA

The 19th annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout was once again held at Bradenton Motorsports Park in beautiful Bradenton, Florida. The season-opener is always a good race, and this year was no exception, with the added excitement of a new class in the mix– AFCO Street Outlaw.

Leading the qualifying pack in the new Street Outlaw class was Phil Hines, with an astounding 7.344 at 196 miles per hour, putting him more than a tenth ahead of the number-two qualified John Urist. The final round came down to Hines and Urist, with Hines taking the win light after a side-by-side race, 7.30 to 7.42.

In the Edelbrock Renegade class, it was a mixture of old and new faces, and leading the pack was the class sophomore, Scott Grove. Grove’s 8.434 at over 160 miles per hour took the top spot from Brian Mitchell by a scant four-hundredths of a second. In the final round, it came down to defending champion Brian Mitchell and AJ Wyce. It was all Mitchell when the tree dropped, taking a solid win, 8.54 to 8.97.