PROCHARGER RACERS GEAR UP FOR NMRA RACING SEASON
The NMRA drag racing series kicked off its 2013 season in March with the 19th Annual Spring Break Shootout in sunny Bradenton, Florida. It was the start of a brand new race season that brought out some of the best Ford racers in the country. A lot of things have changed since the end of the 2012 season. With a new Street Outlaw class and new rules in several other classes, ProCharger-powered racers came out to show they were ready for the season to begin.
Street Outlaw – The start of a new era has begun in NMRA heads up drag racing. At the end of the 2012 racing season NMRA combined two of its classes, Super Street Outlaw and Drag Radial into one class named Street Outlaw. The first test of this new class came just a few weeks ago at the 19th annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout season opener in Bradenton, Florida. Phil Hines and John “fireball” Urist started off where they left off in 2012 vying for the top qualify position. After the tire smoke cleared Phil Hines was able to take the top spot with a string of low 7.30 passes in his 01 ProCharger F-1X powered Mustang. Three more ProCharger-powered cars rounded out the top five with DJ Loiacano in the 3rd spot followed by newcomer Chip Pike and NMRA veteran Sean Ashe in the 4th and 5th spots, and the last of the ProCharger contingents, Mike Altward qualified 7th in the 11 car field. As race day got under way Phil Hines continued his dominance and raced his way to the final round to face John Urist. Leaving the line side-by-side Phil Hines was able to pull away for the win with a 7.30.
Several other ProCharger racers were in attendance as well. In the Edelbrock Renegade, the always tough and former class champion Tim Matherly along with Jim Breese made the tow down to compete with their new intercooled combinations. This event marked the first time that Renegade racers have been allowed to use an intercooler on their supercharged combinations. Dialing in their combinations was a challenge for both drivers given the newfound power, and they qualified 6th and 7th respectively. On race day Jim Breese was the only one to make the call, and went out early in eliminations, still working to get the new combination dialed in. Both drivers are looking forward to the next event so they can showcase what their ProCharger-equipped cars can really do. In Super Stang Joseph “Coffee Man” Decaria led the ProCharger contingent with his 11 Mustang running low 9 second passes en-route to a second round finish. Up next for the NMRA is the 5th annual NMRA/NMCA ALL-STAR Nationals in Commerce, Georgia the weekend of April 11th. We want to wish all ProCharger Racers good luck in the 2013 racing season.
