This past weekend, Ford enthusiasts headed south to Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida to take part in the season-opening tradition that is the NMRA Holley Ford Nationals Spring Break Shootout. Now in its 28th year, the event is one of the biggest on the schedule and it gives many racers a chance to get going in the points championship, while others are simply there to get away from the cold and to see their favorite FoMoCo machines on the strip and in the huge car show.

Fans, racers and show goers were blessed with four days of perfect weather and the facility was packed from end to end with incredible Fords, from the fire-breathing Renegades to the 100-plus hot rods that filled the True Street racing class.

NMRA events offer a host of heads-up drag racing classes, along with Index and Bracket categories and the ever-popular QA-1 True Street. In addition, the Bradenton event also hosts the Spring Break Shootout and TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout classes as a bonus for True Street racers.

If show and shine is your thing, NMRA offers the UPR Products car show and there’s a massive swap meet and manufacturer’s midway for those looking to take home all kinds of parts. Another special attraction was the original Bigfoot 4x4 monster truck that drew loads of attention.

Kieffer Simpson ran 4.554-seconds at 158.45 mph to lead VP Racing Madditives Renegade qualifying.

With a clean slate in terms of NMRA points, racers attacked the track on Friday and Saturday in qualifying with final eliminations taking place on Sunday. NMRA’s top class is VP Racing Madditives Renegade and Kieffer Simpson led qualifying in the eighth-mile category with a run of 4.554-seconds at 158.45 mph. He was chased by Joel Greathouse, who ran 4.56. Simpson and Greathouse were the last men standing and Greathouse edged out the win to take the point lead.

Samantha Moore was untouchable in Bradenton, running as quick as 8.15 with her California Special in Limited Street.

Coming off an up-and-down season, Vector Motorsports’ Samantha Moore came to Florida prepared for battle in JDM Engineering Limited Street. The Michigan racer unloaded an 8.151 at 168.66 mph to top qualifying and she never let off the gas. Moore raced Stacey Roby in the all-ProCharger final, but her 8.151 at 169.08 mph effort was too much to handle.

The 2022 NMRA Spring Break Shootout marked the first event for the all-new SunCoast Performance 8.60 Street Race category. William Lujan slipped into the number-one spot with an 8.605 at 158.93 mph pass, but it was the number-five qualifier, Jeff Bloem, who took home the NMRA Victor trophy. The Canadian racer made the pilgrimage south with his 1991 Ford Mustang and ran 8.626 at 161.88 mph pass in the final. Despite having a foul start, Bloem took the win because his competitor, Randy Thomas ran too quick for the 8.50 cage in his 2010 Mustang GT500 (8.483 at 160.59 mph) and was unfortunately disqualified.

NMRA offers all types of classes and clearly the most popular is TorqStorm Superchargers True Street, which had 132 competitors. True Street allows any street-legal Ford to get on track with a bunch of time runs and a three-run competition with awards being offered to a multitude of racers.

Mike Jovanis ran consistent 7s to win True Street. The New Jersey racer was also victorious in the Spring Break Shootout class.

New Jersey’s Mike Jovanis, a True Street veteran, took top honors with his amazingly clean 1989 Ford Mustang that averaged 7.890 seconds. Larry Albright averaged 8.230-seconds for the Runner-up and Adam Kuffel won the 9-second category on an average of 9.071-seconds. Additional winners were Art Kalbhenn 10-second class with his 10.052-second average; Tom Barrett (11-second), Dale Aldridge (12-second), AJ Williams (13-second), William Papaleo (14-second), and Daniel Augustine (15-second).

The SBS offered True Street racers the chance to take one more win in the BBK Performance Spring Break Shootout class. This pitted the quickest 16 cars from TorqStorm Superchargers True Street in a heads-up eliminator. Mike Jovanis was able to double up with his 7-second turbo LX, while Randy Thomas collected the runner-up prize.

TorqStorm Superchargers True Street racers running a manual transmission had the chance to compete in the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout category. The TREMEC SSS paired the top 8 racers in a special race with a handicapped start, but with no breakout. Each participant earned a custom plaque and TREMEC jacket along with a chance for some fantastic prizes.

Alex Martinez scored the coveted TREMEC Stick Shootout win with his mod-swapped 1995 GT.

Tampa local Alex Martinez faced off against Brian Biegert for the final with Martinez taking the win with a 10.051 at 111.31 mph pass on his 10.31 dial, in while Biegert ran 11.687 at 115.38 mph on his 11.82 dial. Martinez received a McLeod RTX clutch, while Biegert received a $500 gift certificate to McLeod, and both drivers were surprised with two tickets to the NASCAR Racing Experience courtesy of TREMEC and McLeod.

As you can gather, the Ford racing was non-stop with all types of vehicles and performance levels. The beauty of every NMRA Holley Ford Nationals event is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a seasoned pro or a novice, there’s a class for you to get on track and have a ton of fun.

Bradenton proved to be an incredible start to the 2022 NMRA Holley Drag Racing season and we’ll do it again in Rockingham, North Carolina, for the 14th Annual Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE Motorsport on April 22-24 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.