Having ventured east to mix it up with the NMCA’s east coast racers at the Super Bowl of Street legal Drag Racing in Joliet, Illinois, Tony Aneian was back home in California to continue his run for the 2015 Lucas Oil NA 10.5 championship. Aneian was top qualifier (8.07) and faced Vic Brum in the final round. Brum took a slight advantage at the hit, but bailed out of the run—Aneian’s 8.13 at 167.97 mph over Brum’s 10.31 at 96.30 secured his victory celebration in the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle.

Carrying the late-model flag into NMCA WEST battle was ARP Outlaw 8.5 racer Dan Hale, whose ’89 Fox-body Mustang was low qualifier after posting 5.14 at 146.57 mph. He faced the always-tough Erick Aldrich in the final round of ARP Outlaw 8.5 competition. Aldrich left earlier (.082 to .097) but Hale’s 5.24 at 144 got him to the stripe sooner than Aldrich’s 5.60 at 140 mph.

It was an all-4th-gen F-body final in Top Sportsman where the 2000 Firebird of Anthony Matassa prevailed over Ricky Deuschle and his 2002 Camaro. Matassa was .001 at the tree (.026 for Deuschle), and went 7.958 on his 7.91 dial in, while Deuschle was 8.023 on his 7.99 dial in.

Champion Cooling Pro Comp is always a tough class to run in, and Corona California’s Dave Gotts and his ’67 Camaro proved to be the toughest. Gotts faced Hank Pramov and his ’72 Vega in the final round, and from the start, things were just about dead even at .031 to .030 respectively. Gotts went on to take the win, running 9.91 on a 9.90index while Pramov was 9.94 on the same.

In Scat Crankshafts Open Comp, Dennis Sato qualified number one with a .004 reaction time, but it was Justen Spencer that found himself in the final against Mike Nordahl. At the hit, Spencer was slightly ahead (.054 to .064), and he would go on to take the stripe first, running 9.753 on a 9.74 index versus Nordahl’s 10.566 on a 10.54.

Marking his second runner up finish in as many races was Bakersfield, California’s Greg Dreher who drove his ’84 Mustang to the final round in MMR Mustang Madness. Said final turned out to be a double breakout, with Ron Mihld piloting his classic ’67 Mustang to a winning 13.114 against a 13.12, which edged out Dreher’s 10.702 on a 10.72.

In another upset, James Ferguson let his ’66 Malibu loose .001 seconds too soon in the final round of Hedman Hedders Nostalgia Street Car, handing the win and trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle to Charlie Jorgensen and his ’72 Chevy Nova.

Having both logged wins at previous NMCA WEST events this year, the Edelbrock Super Quick finalists were sure to engage in a hard-fought battle. Dustin Lee took the starting line advantage over Katelyn Whynaught (.005 to .035) and after used it to take the win after running 7.970 on his 7.96 dial in compared to Whynaught’s7.810 on a 7.82 bid.

The Calvert Racing Quick Street final saw Jeff Interlicchia’s bright orange Mopar square off against the bold pro street Camaro of D.J. Houmard. Reaction times were nearly identical (.010 to .019) but Interlicchia’s 10.672 on a 10.67 dial in bettered Houmard’s 9.505 against his 9.52 dial in.

While Dan Geis has had a good run in the Vortech Superchargers True Street ranks, Bryan Corey took home the win this weekend behind the wheel of his Chevy Nova with a three-run average of 9.61 seconds. Geis was close behind in the runner up spot with a 9.97, and A.J. Narasimhan averaged 10.56 in his 300C for the 10-second win. Ed Urcis claimed the 11-second award with an average of 11.35 in his 2015 Stingray, while Michael Santa Cruz went the old school route in his ’69 Camaro with a 12.08 average for the 12-second class win. Bill Quay’s ’71 Mach 1 Mustang logged a 13.05 average for the 13-second class and Nichole George rounded out the class with a 15.08 average.

In the Edelbrock Bracket Showdown, Mark Miyashiro was victorious over Kevin Houmard in B1’s battle of the open roadsters. In B2, it was Kevin’s son, Ryan, who took the win behind the wheel of a ’93 Camaro after defeating Jeff Interlicchia, and Willie Hoefer took the B3 win over Jack Swanson.

The Hotchkis Performance Autocross presented by Nitto Tire was hotly contested this weekend with dozens of new and old hot rods vying for the Hotchkis Cup. As a result of the finalist’s two-day efforts, Ryan Thacker raised the coveted Hotchkis Cup with a 32.162-second average.