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Beech Bend Raceway Park is alive with racing thunder as the Holley NMRA Intergalactic Ford Fest invades Bowling Green, Kentucky. The mega event offers racers and fans and endless weekend of Ford goodness with NMRA championship drag racing, autocross, 3S challenge, car show, swap meet, a manufacturer’s midway and a wild off-road and drift exhibition.
The Holley NMRA World Finals marks the close of the 2021 season, once which has seen amazing events in Bradenton, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; St. Louis, Missouri; Norwalk, Ohio and Martin, Michigan. But this is the weekend champions will be crowned and there are quite a few close battles to be played out.
Drag racers will blaze the quarter-mile strip in a wide range of classes, from street-legal machines to 3,000 horsepower Outlaws. There’s a place for anyone with a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury who wants to get out on track and NMRA makes it easy whether it’s your first time or you’re a 10-time champion.
True Street is the home for many enthusiasts who want to test themselves in a fun, low-key eliminator. It involves a 30-mile drive so you can include your family and friends, and then racers make three runs without making any changes to the car. There are awards and prizes for the winner, runner-up and the racers closest to 9-, 10-, 11-, 12-, 13-, 14- and 15-seconds.
Of course, NMRA is equally known for its array of Index and heads-up classes. If you have a FoMoCo product with Ford power, you can enter and go for a championship. And this weekend is going to be wild. Why? Because there’s so much at stake and points situations are tight. Steve Halprin leads the chase in VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw with 1,870 markers, but multi-time champ John “Fireball” Urist is close with 1,570 and Tony Hobson is right there with 1,505.
The Edelbrock Renegade points lead is separated by just 5 points with Eric Bardekoff, who just won a championship in NMCA, holding position over the tough Joel Greathouse. It will be fun to see if the young Eric can hold off the veteran to capture two championships in one season.
In other classes, Bill Putman holds a lead over Samantha Moore (2,340 to 2,120) and Moore laid down a quick test pass this morning to set the stage for a serious battle. Nathan Stymiest holds a commanding lead in G Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock and Justin Fogelsonger is doing the same in Richmond Gear Factory Stock. Other points leaders are Jason Henson in Mod Muscle, Dennis Corn with his stick-shift T-Bird in Open Comp, Chris Parisi in HP Tuners Super Stang, Mike Rupp in Truck & Lightning and Danny Towe in Ford Muscle.
As you can see, with so much at stake, the Beech Bend drag strip will be kickin’ with Fords. So come on out or stay tuned to Holley.com as we follow the action and see champions crowned.
It’s race day, at the Holley NMRA Ford Fest in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The fields in each class are qualified and final eliminations are underway. With poor weather predicted for Sunday, NMRA officials made the decision to go for a super Saturday, with all the classes, including Index, heads-up and True Street running to completion.
This puts extra pressure on drivers and teams as they normally have Saturday to figure out the track and make their cars perfect over the course of four qualifying runs. Today, the highly skilled competitors will challenge themselves, and a handful with hoist the NMRA Victor trophies for capturing a race win, or perhaps a championship.
Nine cars were entered in the top class, VP Racing Additives Street Outlaw and it was Bowling Green’s own Alan Felts who topped everyone with a 4.31 at 168 mph. Points leader Steve Halprin slotted into the 4th spot and he will have to outperform number 2 qualifier John Urist to retain the points lead and take home a NMRA championship.
After a tough first-round battle in HP Tuners Super Stang, long-time NMRA competitor Chris Parisi claimed the championship when Kevin McKenna and Lloyd Mikeska went out in the opening round. Amazingly, Parisi also lost a rare first-round match, but luck was on his side. McKenna, who qualified on pole, would have needed to win the race to claim back-to-back championships.
The Edelbrock Renegade is up for grabs, with Eric Bardekoff in a tight race with Joel Greathouse. Both racers advanced in round 1, and with eight cars remaining, it will be a tight one until the end. Haley James qualified atop the field with a 4.55/155 mph pass. She was followed closely by Greathouse and Bardekoff at 4.56 and 4.57 respectively.
The 2021 JDM Engineering Limited Street battle has raged all year, with Samantha Moore and Bill Putman trading the points lead. Moore qualified on pole here in Bowling Green with an 8.15, but Chad Wendel and Putman are close behind having run 8.35 an 8.36. Moore and Putman advanced to the second round. Putman currently leads the points championship by a slim margin.
G Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock points leader Shane Stymiest showed his strength, qualifying his 1989 LX on top of the 20-car field. Stymiest took a first-round win, and he looks like a lock for the title.
A bunch of gear-jammers are found in Richmond Gear Factory Stock and Mike Bowen showed them how to do it in qualifying, putting his 1971 Maverick on the pole with a 10.08 at 132 mph. He held almost a tenth lead over number two man Chris Niebauer, who ran 10.17 at 130. In the third spot was Justin Fogelsonger at 10.19.
Mickey Thompson Street Car Challenge is run at select NMRA events and is for wild combos that don’t necessarily fit the rules of other NMRA heads-up classes. Donato Sierchio had the quickest Mustang, having produced the only 7-second run in the class, a 7.51 at 184 mph. Terry Eshman and Shane Isaacs were 2 and 3 with runs of 8.15 and 8.28.
Other Top Qualifiers Included:
FSM Ford Muscle
Lloyd Mikeska, 2006 Mustang
ARP Open Comp
Brayden Creamer, 1985 Mustang
HP Tuners Super Stang
Kevin McKenna, 2014 Mustang GT
Exedy Racing Clutch MM
Don Jones Jr., 2007 Mustang GT
Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning
Mike Roup, 1970 Ranchero
