Counting all the drag strips across the globe, few, if any, can match Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio for the presentation, customer service, and of course, traction. The Bader family-owned facility is a fan and racer favorite for many reasons, including the famous $1-per-pound ice cream. And this past weekend, we had a front-row seat for the Inaugural NMRA Ford Performance Nationals held June 11-13, 2021.

The event was a home run with droves of Fords in the show field, a huge manufacturers’ midway and wheels-up, door-to-door racing all weekend. And in addition to the championship classes, NMRA added an All-Female Shootout, round two of the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout and the specialty events were topped off with the Mickey Thompson Street Car Challenge.

NMRA events offer a wide range of competition and the top of the heap are the fast Fords found in VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw. And for the second race in a row, Tony Hobson’s led qualifying after running 4.353 at 165 mph with his ProCharged 1990 Ford Mustang. Hobson faced number two qualifier John Urist in his Hellion-backed turbo Mustang in the final and the Lake St. Louis, MO runner held strong, running 4.42 at 164 to top Urist, who ran 5.06 at 151 mph.

Joel Greathouse went wire to wire in Renegade, qualifying on the pole and then taking the win over Eric Bardekoff.

Edelbrock Renegade was another strong class with 14 entries and amazingly quick eight-mile performance. Reigning champ Joel Greathouse, drove Jeremy Wolf’s turbocharged 1993 Mustang to a quick 4.612 at 154.00 mph to get the pole with Eric Bardekoff on his heels with a 4.640 at 154.58 mph. And just as the Outlaws, the top two in Renegade met for an exciting final. Greathouse took a slight starting-line advantage (.044 to .051) and held on running 4.63 at 153 mph to Bardekoff’s 4.71 at 152 mph. It was looking to be even closer, but Bardekoff’s Mustang drive into a wheelie, causing him to briefly lift. This was enough to seal the deal for Greathouse, who leads the 2021 points chase with two races to go.

Bill Putnam found the JDM Engineering Limited Street Putnam winner’s circle after defeating Kevin McCotter in the final with a strong 8.53 at 161 mph.

The familiar bright orange Mustang of Bill Putnam was back in winning form, with the 2020 champ taking a win in JDM Engineering Limited Street Putnam laid down a 8.525 at 160.48 mph in qualifying, ultimately defeating Kevin McCotter in the final with a strong 8.53 at 161 mph.

If you’re into gear-jamming, door-to-door action G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock is for you. The 2021 switch to the 480-horsepower Gen3 5.0L Coyote has given racers the power to run 9s with speeds over 135 mph in good weather and the racing is so close that the Norwalk winner came from the 12th qualifying position!

Chad Stephens (far lane) took his first G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock win in Norwalk.

On the topic of qualifying, Nathan Stymiest ran 9.905 at 134.91 mph to nab the pole with his 1992 Mustang LX. But Stymiest fouled away his chances when he faced Chad Stephens in the first round. Stephens, who drives a wheelstanding 1987 Thunderbird, took advantage and worked his way through the field to capture his first-ever Coyote Stock win. Stephens beat Jacob Lamb in round two (10.03 to 10.07) and Kevin McMullin in the semis (9.96 to 16.21). With Soper running 9.95 in his semi-final match, the final looked to be a real battle. Soper sealed his own fate when he left too soon, handing the win to Stephens. Soper then ran 9.99 at 135.66 mph to Stephens 10.01 at 134.59 mph, but it was for naught as the win light was already on for the Canadian runner.

Factory Stock is full of great cars and drivers including Mark Anderson and his high-flying LX. Anderson qualified second but outlasted the field for a win, running 10.36 in the final.

Richmond Gear Factory Stock is another class where stick shift racers rule. Mike Bowen of Girard, Pennsylvania, qualified first with a 10.362 at 129.83 mph trip in his Grabber Blue 1971 Maverick. But it was when the dust settled, it was Mark Anderson and Justin Fogelsonger who lined up for the final. Amazingly, it was a rematch of the St. Louis race which was concluded in Norwalk just 48-hours prior. But this time Anderson turned the tables with his Laris Motorsports Insurance-backed Mustang clocking the win with a 10.363 at 127.04 mph to Fogelsonger’s 10.41 at 127.28 mph.

It took a perfect .000 light to get the pole in ARP Open Comp, and it was driver Ray Williams Sr. of Thomasville, Georgia who got the job done. But in was Dennis Corn who clocked the win with his own stick-shift T-Bird after defeating Ashley Conway-Lang in the final. Conway-Lang faltered at the tree and Corn used the advantage to run 9.41 on his 9.32 dial to get the win.

With a .000 light, Jason Henson was the top qualifier in Exedy Clutch Modular Muscle.

Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle was another tough field, with the top three drivers recording perfect lights in qualifying. But Jason Henson did it first, so he led the pack. In fact, Dean Snow’s .019 was only good enough for the 13th spot! The final came down to Andy Russell and Fallon Walker (third and sixth in qualifying respectively). Russell went .043 with Walker coming up very late and that was enough to hand the win to Russell who drove to a 10.21 on a 10.12 dial in.

Llyod Mikeska made the most of his NMRA trip from his home base in Texas by qualifying number one in HP Tuners Super Stang with a 0.004-second reaction time. Mikeska then made the finals in HP Tuners Super Stang, but he couldn’t get past the tough Chris Parisi, who took the win and leads the points.

NMRA has a class for trucks and Randy Conway topped the field in Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning. Multi-time champion Randy Conway scored another “Victor” trophy when he bested Bob Dill and his quick Lightning. Dill redlighted giving the win to Conway.

Ford Muscle went to Lavonia, GA’s Danny Towe and his ’70 Mach 1 Mustang.

In RacePagesDigital.com Ford Muscle racers choose an index and none did it better than Danny Towe who defeated Matthew Keiser in the final. Towe, driving his familiar 1970 Mach 1, dropped a .055 light and ran 12.01 on his 12.00 index, while Keiser left too soon and handed the win to Towe.

The Fastest Street Car Bracket classes hosted full fields of fast cars on both days. On Saturday, the B1 Fast Ford winner was John Gregory who ran 9.824 at 119.95 mph over Kenny Robinson, the B2 Quick Ford winner was Randy Conway going 10.248 at 131.78 mph over Rod Lenhart, and the B3 Street Ford winner was Daniel Imloff with a 12.199 at 109.70 mph pass over Duane Vennings. On Sunday, however, B1 was won by John Gregory yet again with a 9.725 at 126.29 mph pass over Jerry Spoor, B2 had Gary Fitzgerald as the winner with a 10.012 at 123.45 mph pass against Kim Moritz, and B3 was trumped by Mike Baker on an 11.589 at 114.95 mph trip to Elaine Moistner’s effort.

St. Louis winner Adam Cox heats the tires on his Mod Muscle Mustang.

Over 60 drivers competed in QA1 True Street that also included the All-Female Shootout and TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout. But first, participants set out on the obligatory got to and scenic 30-mile cruise around Ohio farm country, and then they got to take on the famous Summit Motorsports Park quarter-mile.

Randy Thomas took the overall win with an 8.691-second average in his 2010 Ford Mustang. Neal Adler took the runner-up spot after clocking a strong 9.471-second average. Individual class winners were Rick Baum (9-second), Bo Webb (10-second), Dominic Post (11-second), Thomas Van Tassel (12-second), Timothy Miller (13-second), Chris Lee (14-second), and Chris Graff (15-second).

Leticia Hughes scored the All-Female True Street win with an 11.09 average from her all-motor 2018 GT. Hughes has been in the 9s with this car, but had it dialed back for True Street competition.

For the first time in a few years, NMRA brought back the QA1 All-Female True Street Presented by Baer Brakes. Leticia Hughes took the crown with her naturally aspirated 2018 Mustang GT. She averaged 11.095-seconds, with the runner-up position going to Leigh Ann Wagoner, who ran a 11.982 average in her 2019 Ford. Maci Belcher won the 12-second prize, with Sabrina Wright taking the 13-second class. Amanda Jordan was the quickest of the 14-second racers and Heather Flanagan took the title for the 15-second class.

Another specialty class was the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout. TREMEC and Mcleod Clutches teamed up to present a class for the top eight manually shifted driver in QA1 True Street. Each qualifier was presented an engraved acrylic award, with a bigger prize going to the winner and runner-up. Jeff McCool scored his second TREMEC SSS win and he scored a McLeod Racing RXT twin-disc clutch and flywheel valued at $1,300 for his effort. Tim Lasto scored a $500 McLeod Racing product certificate for his runner-up finish.

The 2021 Holley NMRA Ford Nationals drag racing series continues at the Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival presented by Force Engineering at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, on July 22-25.