The ambassador of the class,...
The ambassador of the class, Bob Curran, smokes the hides of his '96 Corvette Grand Sport. It boasts a 399ci small-block Chevy from famed engine shop Fast Time Motorworks. Curran runs a single Edelbrock direct-port nitrous system. Curran has chosen to run a FAST XFI fuel injection system, which he was still sorting out at the event.
 The stark contrast in style...  The stark contrast in style is very common during NMCA events. In the near lane is Bill Trovato in his '78 Olds Starfire, powered by an Olds 403ci engine on nitrous. Bob Kurgan and his '86 Mustang GT sit in the far lane and pack a 363ci with a Vortech V24 Xi-trim supercharger. |  Jamie Stanton and Jake Holdrege...  Jamie Stanton and Jake Holdrege were back out with their '02 Camaro. The car did pull several big wheelies during the test-and-tune session, however Holdrege, the crew chief, managed to tame the front end down and this was as dramatic as their launches went for the remainder of the weekend. Stanton ran an 8.07 at 172 mph in the first round of eliminations. Unfortunately, the engine stumbled in Round Two and shut off on the starting line. We expect these guys to be in the 7-second zone by the next outing. We also have to inform you, we made a mistake in the NMCA-Maple Grove coverage, while these two guys act like brothers, they aren't! They joke about being related from different mothers, though. Sorry guys! |  Steve Cagle unleashed an 8.05...  Steve Cagle unleashed an 8.05 at 170 mph during qualifying and secured the second spot on the ladder. That was the quickest run in NMCA competition for the veteran Street Legal drag racer. A Ty Tech 525ci engine with a two-stage nitrous plate powers the '70 Nova. |
The Joliet outing saw 19 cars roll through qualifying with top honors going to Bill Trovato and his wild Oldsmobile Starfire (complete with a 403ci small-block Olds engine). The wily engine builder at Bill Trovato Racing, Inc. ran the lone 7-second run of the event with a 7.99 at 172 mph. But right behind him were a hungry set of racers led by Steve Cagle (8.05/170.9 mph), Bob Kurgan (8.10/171 mph), Jamie Stanton (8.113/172 mph), and Tony Orts (8.116/170 mph). As we said earlier, the racing was tight and one had to run 8.33 to qualify in the top 10.
Calling this class unpredictable is an understatement and proof is one look at the first round of eliminations. Cagle, who had run a new career best e.t. in qualifying, went out when the 10.5-inch slicks spun hard and he never recovered. As more and more rounds wore on, the less Chevy racers remained in competition. It looked as though Bob Kurgan and his dreaded Mustang was advancing along with Trovato and his unique Olds combination. Kurgan drove his Vortech-supercharged Mustang past David Buckley and his Chevy-powered Mustang in Round One: 8.11 vs. 8.38. Then in Round Two he got by Tim Hendricks with an 8.11 to an 8.38. Kurgan and Tony Orts got into a staging duel that ended with Orts going red and Kurgan simply driving down track and into the final round.
Trovato worked his side of the ladder by starting with a bye run in Round One, then he took out local chassis builder and fulltime X/S racer, Aaron Stapleton with an 8.10 to an 8.23. In Round Three, Trovato continued to freight train the competition with a win over one of his customers, Scott Guiler: 8.05 to 8.30. Trovato would make his first final round of 2009 by dispatching the lone Mopar in the field, which belonged to Andy Mayes. The mighty Olds ran 8.09 to Mayes' 8.39 effort. The barrage of 8.0s runs came courtesy of a small-block Olds engine and a single stage of Edelbrock nitrous in the form of a direct-port nitrous system.
The final round, despite not having two Chevy racers, was an epic battle between the nitrous and blower combos. Trovato was packing the Edelbrock laughing gas and Kurgan pounded the pavement with a Vortech V24 Xi-trim blower. On track, the cars had run within striking distance of each other all weekend long, with Trovato having a slight advantage. Kurgan left the starting line first with a 0.042 reaction time but Trovato was there with a near identical 0.043. The cars remained side-by-side as they rolled down the historic track. At the finish line, Kurgan got the win light and both racers had run identical 8.163 runs! The margin of victory was the 0.001-advantage Kurgan took at the flash of the green. It was the closest race of the weekend, which is quite an accomplishment considering there were over 500 cars competing.