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JE Pistons NMRA/NMCA West Coast Shootout - Right — And Fun — The First TimeThe Inaugural JE Pistons NMRA/NMCA West Coast Shootout From the December, 2011 issue of Chevy High Performance By John Nelson
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Before we begin, we want to make sure that we get the name of this event perfectly correct: the Inaugural JE Pistons NMRA/NMCA West Coast Shootout presented by Lucas Oil. Why all the worry about making a proper introduction? That’s easy—in bringing the NMRA/NMCA act to the Left Coast for the first time, the efforts of the sanctioning bodies and sponsoring companies combined to produce a great event period, no debate. It was a load of fun, an extravaganza with something for everyone—well, there were no open laps on the Auto Club Speedway oval, but short of that, there’s not much more a gearhead could have asked for. Right off the bat, the NMRA and NMCA had almost all of their race classes running. We say almost because Pro Street and Outlaw 10.5 classes had to sit out because of ongoing noise restriction issues at Auto Club Dragway. That left, however, plenty of other ways to tip down the straight line, including the Nitto Tire West Coast Shootout, the Mickey Thompson Xtreme Drag Radial and Wild Street classes, the Centerforce Hot Street class, the Ford Racing Mustang Madness class (for those who swing that way), and three bracket classes in place. Just that added up to a full two days, but believe us, there was much more going on. (You can find race results for the NMRA/NMCA slate at www.nmradigital.com or www.nmcadigital.com). When all was said and done,... When all was said and done, Mike Nordahl of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and his ’64 Nova were proclaimed King of the RASR True Street Challenge, and we mean that quite literally. Nordahl and his ’box silenced any naysayers, putting in an active day at Friday’s test and tune, handily completed 11 laps on the California Speedway oval, and made the required three back-to-back quarter-mile passes look easy, averaging 10.258 seconds per run. As if that wasn’t enough, Nordahl was also runner-up in the Nitto Tire West Coast Shootout. Plan on seeing a feature on this overachiever in an upcoming issue of CHP. The premier event of the weekend, held on Saturday, was the Racers Against Street Racing (RASR) True Street Challenge present by Tremec, Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine, and Nitto Tire. Tremec True Street is one of the organization’s most popular classes. Even so, it made it even bigger for this initial West Coast running by including a class for the many West Coast–based magazine staffers, and another manufacturer class, all in an effort to promote the event, as well as a cause: RASR ( www.rasr.org). Take racing off the street and put it on the track (where it belongs), is their motto, and that’s what the True Street participants did. The idea? Any street-legal cars had to complete a 15- to 20-mile cruise (we heard this one was more like 30), which in this case happened primarily on the Cal Speedway ovals … not a bad way to go. Once complete, the participants pulled directly into special staging lanes (right in front of the spectator grandstands) and had to complete three back-to-back quarter-mile passes. The fastest average time won. Several NHRA Wallys were on the line, we’ll tell you that, but multiple plaques were given out for time classes—along with lots of goodies—take it from us that the manufacturers were generous. Doesn’t sound so hard to some of you? Well, here are the facts, or at least as close as we could get to them. Forty-three cars lined up to start the event; 15 did not finish, and three more were disqualified for receiving outside assistance (once the event started, only the driver could touch the car—even a push from a friend got you booted). In short, the event was a tough challenge that lived up to its True Street name. Even then, that’s not all that was going on. Hotchkis Sport Suspension came through in magnificent style for those who like to turn their cars a bit, sponsoring a weekend-long autocross event that did a brisk business both days of the weekend. The competition was close, we’d say even cutthroat, but the H-crew brought along plenty of extra helmets, and rides were available all weekend long. Along with that was the Baer Brakes Speed-Stop Challenge that presented quite the challenge by requiring participants to go from a dead stop to as fast as they dared before stopping 600 feet down the road within a 20x40-foot stop box—without taking out any cones, which is always easier said than done.  Long Beach, California’s Jacorie...  Long Beach, California’s Jacorie Gray also proved his mettle in his ’72 Vega, completing the True Street regimen and averaging 11.813 seconds for his three runs to take home the prize as 11-second winner, which he is seen here receiving from NMCA president Steve Wolcott and True Street Coordinator Damon Rivetti.  Camaro Performers’ Tech Editor...  Camaro Performers’ Tech Editor Steven Rupp and his ’68 Bad Penny Camaro achieved quite the prize, running the gamut to average 11.589 seconds through his three runs, conquering a hearty field of media and manufacturer True Street representatives to win a genuine NHRA Wally, sponsored by Chevy High Performance; Rupp also earned the “Turn and Burn” award, which honored the driver with the best combined quarter-mile and autocross time. Kudos, Rupp.  Car Craft Associate Editor...  Car Craft Associate Editor John McGann did pretty well for himself, grabbing the runner-up spot in the media class, driving Jeff Smith’s ’66 Chevelle. Given that McGann weighs half as much as Smith, the two figured the Chevelle would post its fastest times. And it did, averaging 11.789 through its three quarter-mile runs.  Our friend Will Baty of Centerforce...  Our friend Will Baty of Centerforce Clutches also took home some new decorations for his trophy case. Baty averaged 12.160 seconds over his three runs to take home an NHRA Wally award as fastest manufacturer entrant—his average was also good enough to make him the 12-second winner in media/manufacturer class. Baty looks very pleased with himself as NMRA’s Steve Wolcott, Hot Rod’s Rob Kinnan (who sponsored the Wally), and Damon Rivetti presented the awards.  Our friend Will Baty of Centerforce...  Our friend Will Baty of Centerforce Clutches also took home some new decorations for his trophy case. Baty averaged 12.160 seconds over his three runs to take home an NHRA Wally award as fastest manufacturer entrant—his average was also good enough to make him the 12-second winner in media/manufacturer class. Baty looks very pleased with himself as NMRA’s Steve Wolcott, Hot Rod’s Rob Kinnan (who sponsored the Wally), and Damon Rivetti presented the awards.  It was just another picture...  It was just another picture when we took it, but Lynwood, California’s Mike Cardenas and this ’73 Vega ended up as the 12-second runner-up in Tremec True Street, while his opponent in the far lane Los Angeles’ Paul William, piloted his ’72 Nova to the second spot in the 11-second class.  We’re quite certain that the...  We’re quite certain that the EPA would have something to say about the “True Street” status of Rick Fletes’ Duramax diesel–powered ’70 Chevelle. Fletes put on quite the crowd-pleasing smoky show, but in the end was DQ’d.  The Tremec True Street Challenge...  The Tremec True Street Challenge brought many strange pairs together: Here, Robert Vogel’s fifth-gen Camaro averaged 12s across the board—his elderly opponent (we mean the ’65 Nova, not its driver, Robert Alcala) was runner-up in the 14-second class.
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