2015 NMCA Norwalk World Finals Results

Race Wrap: The NMCA World Finals and Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series Crowns Victors

Santa Ana, CA (Sept. 3, 2015) – Anticipation was high heading into the 14th Annual NMCA Flowmaster World Finals held at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, as the competition is always hot, the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle awaited, and class championships were on the line. Along with the intense NMCA action, the World Finals played host to the third round of the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series.

VP Racing Fuels Pro Mod saw a highly competitive 14-car field qualifying with 2014 champion Steve Summers on top after posting a 5.88 at 253 mph. Michael Biehle has been racking up championship points all throughout the 2015 season, and it was he and Summers that met in the final. What would turn out to be the quickest and fastest, side-by-side Pro Mod run in the history of the NMCA started with Summers establishing an advantage off the tree. He then edged past Biehle with a 5.80/257.4 mph run to Biehle’s 5.83/257.8 effort.

It’s been a hard-fought season for the Mickey Thompson Radial Wars competitors, and Frank Mewshaw put up a substantial challenge to reigning champion Keith Berry all year long. It was DeWayne Mills, however, that attracted all of the attention in Norwalk, as he qualified with a 4.02 and repeatedly laid down 4.0s at over 200 mph throughout the weekend. Mewshaw and Berry would meet in the semi-finals-Berry took a .003-second advantage at the hit, and slipped past Mewshaw with a 4.12-to-4.14 victory. In the final round, Berry faced off against Mills, and as the lights came down, Mills’ Golden Gorilla ’68 Camaro failed to launch, handing Berry the win.

Joe Bucaro has been hot all season with his new-edge Mustang in ARP Nitrous Pro Street, and he continued his domination in Norwalk, setting low ET with a 7.29 effort. Don Baskin made a late-season challenge for the championship and the two met in the Norwalk final. The run started with Baskin’s chute popping loose in the burnout box, and Bucaro immediately killed his engine until the team could repack and make it a race. Bucaro took the holeshot and the win with a 7.29 at 185 mph run over Baskin’s 7.36 at 188.

This is the home race for Street Outlaw sponsor Stainless Works, as the company’s Chagrin Falls, Ohio, base is just an hour and a half from Norwalk. Eleven racers qualified with Californian Eric Gustafson taking the top spot in his supercharged, LSX-powered Mustang. While veteran Phil Hines was a threat all season, Norwalk saw many newcomers looking to challenge as well. Gustafson sawed through the field all weekend and met Jarod Wenrick-who debuted his newly rebuilt Chevy II Nova this weekend-in the final. Gustafson took a slight advantage at the tree and pushed forward at the end where his 4.500-second elapsed time bettered Wenrick’s 4.59 effort.

2014 Edelbrock Xtreme Street Champion David Hutnick qualified in the number-one position in Norwalk, but was dispatched in round two by former NMRA-Renegade-turned-Xtreme-Street racer, Aaron Bates. Bates would make it to the final round where he faced veteran John Warren, whose Nova had showed a late-season charge in performance. After laying down a best-ever elapsed time of 7.69 in the semis, Warren then laid down a 7.68 to beat Bates’ improving, but slower 7.72.

The naturally aspirated machines in Quick Lane of Downs Ford N/A 10.5 packed in 14 cars for the season finals, and NA veteran Robbie Blankenship qualified number one with a 7.92-second run. Michael DeMayo, the class’ 2014 champion, did away with Blankenship in the first round, and squared off against the stick-shifting Leonard Long in the final. DeMayo took the starting line advantage and the stripe, clocking a 7.90 at 170 to edge out Leonard Long’s 7.94 at 172.

The NMCA’s new sealed crate engine class, Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center, has been a lot of fun all season, though racers have spent the majority of it sorting out their new rides as few had the opportunity to test over the winter. Ronnie Hackelton’s CRC Camaro had been laying down the quickest elapsed times all season (10.3s in testing and a 10.42 to qualify number one), but consistency was an issue. Kevin Lumsden and Glenn Pushis went rounds at every event, but Pushis’ CRC Camaro has been quicker and would challenge Hackelton in the Norwalk final. The all-COPO Camaro final saw Hackelton leave first and use the holeshot advantage to make his 10.54 outperform Pushis’ quicker 10.52 elapsed time.

The new-for-2015 E3 Spark Plugs Top Sportsman had another exceptionally strong showing here in Norwalk and Benjamin Board qualified on top of the super-quick, dial-in class in his supercharged Camaro. As the rounds came and the field was whittled down, it was Jeff Melnick in his ’02 Dodge Avenger that squared off against Gary Wosnowski and his ’96 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Melnick dropped a .007 light and went 7.366 on his 7.37 dial-in, bettering Wojnowski’s .022 and 7.064 on a 7.07 dial-in for the double-breakout win and trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle.

Scott Conley and his ’64 Belvedere qualified number one in ATI Performance Nostalgia Super Stock, but it would be long-time NSS racer Doug Duell and Dallas Schultz that met in the final round. Schultz left first (.088 to .123) and clocked a 9.77 on his 9.75 dial, while Duell broke out, running a 9.48 on a 9.50 dial-in.

In Detroit TrueTrac Nostalgia Muscle Car, Keith Seymore qualified in the top spot with his ’74 Malibu. While Andy Warren had been on a hot streak this season, he was taken out in round one by Tom Mulhan Jr. in his ’65 Malibu, who would end up facing Cindee Hall in the final. Hall’s ’63 Falcon left first (.026 to .065), but lost the race when her .059-under 12.941 (13.00 index) was further under Mulhan Jr.’s .056-under 10.944 (11.00 index).

Jenna Pierce-Wilson was on fire this weekend in Norwalk, and her COPO Camaro took out five rounds of racers in Magnafuel Open Comp. She squared off against veteran racer John M. Pickering in the Camaro versus Mustang final. The lights were near identical, and Pickering forced Pierce-Wilson to break out (9.77 on a 9.79 dial in), while Pickering logged a 9.66 towards his 9.59 dial in.

The 5th annual Ford Racing Cobra Jet Showdown presented by BuyFordRacing.com was once again a big hit. Twenty-three CJ Mustangs fought through five rounds of competition, and it was Charlie Downing who took the win over Chris Holbrook and visited the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle. Downing had the startling line advantage (.018 to .079), and took the stripe first, running 10.832 on his 11.90 index compared to Holbrook’s 8.546 on a 9.60 index.

Gear Vendors True Street swelled to 80 cars thanks to a combined street car shootout with the NMCA competitors and those running in the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series. On the NMCA side, we saw a lot of Mustangs that we had seen earlier this year during the NMRA race. Mike Martyn pushed his turbocharged car to the cusp of a seven-second average with an impressive 8.11 average that came by way of 7.95, 8.01, and 8.38. The Shelby GT500 of Randy Thomas was the Overall Runner-Up with a 9.61. The other winners include Scott Hasty (9-second), Kevin McCotter (10-second), Chuck Watson (11-second), and Jeff Yepper (12-second), Shawn Matis (13-second), Kevin Fitz (14-second), Shane Fitz (15-second).

The second stop on the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series features racecars running GM’s latest small-block powerplants. Anthony Manna took the win in JE Pistons Drag Radial presented by K1 Technologies over David Adkins by running 4.35 at 179 mph (eighth-mile) versus Adkins’ 4.61 at 167 mph. Holley EFI Real Street was packed with quick cars, and it was George Farkouh in the American Racing Headers Camaro that defeated Jessie Coulter in the final. Coulter had the better light (.065 to .084), but Farkouh surged past the Coulter running 7.70 at 178 mph to Coulter’s 7.75 at 173. In the new LME Street King class, Jeff Heintz defeated Donald Dixon, and Trey Sikes took the win in Proform Rumble over David Rickey.

In addition to the Cobra Jet Showdown, the NMCA World Finals also played host to the Factory Appearing Stock Tire group, which runs two classes – the F.A.S.T. class, which has no restrictions on engine modifications (other than appearing stock), and the Factory Stock class, where everything down to camshaft size is limited. In the F.A.S.T. class, it was Don Giannone’s wheelstanding ’66 Chevelle that defeated Dave Dudek in his Hemi Road Runner. The Factory Stock class was stacked full of contenders, and in the end, it was an all-big-block-Chevy final with Eric Simpson’s 427 ’69 COPO Camaro taking the win over Jimmy Johnson’s ’69 L88 Corvette.

Norwalk, Ohio, always brings a ton of local bracket racers in for competition and they flocked to the NMCA finals this weekend. In Super Pro B1, Rick Bailey took a trip to the Aerospace Winner’s Circle after going 8.525 on an 8.51 dial-in. He had a .017 starting-line advantage over Rod Peck, who went 8.376 on an 8.35 dial-in. At the end of Pro Bracket 2’s six rounds of competition, it was the NMRA’s King Ford winner A.J. Buchanan who drilled the tree in the final with a .006 light, and went 10.358 on his 10.35 dial-in to defeat Todd Lauffer who wasn’t far behind at .025 and 10.836 on a 10.83 dial-in. In the Sportsman B3 group, Daniel Imhoff took the double break-out win with a .033 light, and a 14.206 on a 14.25 dial-in over Andy Bailey who was .043 and 12.631 on a 12.68 dial-in.