NMRA at Bradenton, Fla.

Spring Break Shootout is a Slugfest

Results and photos courtesy NMRA

Teddy Weaver, Pure Street winner.

The 2016 NMRA Keystone Automotive drag racing season broke out in an all-out slugfest at Bradenton Motorsports Park during the opening weekend of March. The 22nd Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout presented by Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords is the first of six races for the all-Ford series. As the rest of the country dug out from snowstorms and battled against the cold, NMRA racers began chasing their championship dreams and the glory that that comes along with it.

The VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw class saw Dwayne Barbaree (shown) and Russell Stone push their Kuntz and Company-powered 1990 Mustang LX coupe into the Aerospace Components Winner's Circle with a win over newcomer Vince Palazzolo. The number-one qualifier found himself in a pedal-fest against Palazzolo, which Barbaree won with a 5.14 at 154 mph, far off his quickest run of 4.39 during qualifying.

The Edelbrock Renegade finals came down to the two most dominant racers from 2015, Frank Varela and Alton Clements. The supercharged coupe of Clements ran 7.64 at 181 mph to Hellion Racing B-Team's Varela, who had gone 7.78 at 177 mph.