Nostalgia Pro Street racer...
Nostalgia Pro Street racer Kevin Parent calls his car “Old School” given the category’s throwback to the earlier years of Pro Street racing with more conventional-type engines rather than Pro Modified takeoff parts. It also refers to his chassis construction being a little simpler than some other competitors in the class. Parent took the NPS victory and set the standard with a 7.28 at 190 mph.
Last year the NMCA Flowmaster traveling tour of street freaks made a return to Atlanta Dragway, located approximately 60 miles north of Atlanta in the quaint town of Commerce, Georgia. The action was dramatic; cars burst into flames and crashed into walls. Those vehicles that remained unscathed ran quick times, thanks to the excellent weather and track conditions. This year, the NMCA event was every bit as exciting, but thankfully the heart-breaking accidents were kept to a bare minimum, with some fender benders here and there, but nothing that made you shake your head in despair. The 2012 running of the Nitto All-Star Nationals was all about racing, and we packed up a few cameras and loaded up on sunscreen to cover it all.
The star of the show was the Mickey Thompson Super Street 10.5 category, which attracted 16 cars that came packing 10.5W tires and mid 6-second times. The class is called Outlaw 10.5 in other racing circles, and the NMCA officials dubbed it Super Street 10.5 due to its roots and the fact that the powerplants feature some restrictions when compared to the wide-open rules format of traditional Outlaw 10.5 competition. The somewhat-loose set of rules to govern engine sizes and turbocharger dimensions helps create parity amongst the different power adders. Despite perceptions, the racers are serious players, with the top spot being nailed by Mike Murillo who had run 6.49 at 232 mph. No worries, the vast majority of the category is powered by Chevy engines—second in qualifying was Eric LaFerriere driving the world famous ’80 Malibu belonging to Jason Carter. The ’Bu unleashed the fury by stopping the clocks in just 6.54 seconds at a terminal speed of 231 mph. Top speed in the full field was a nasty 234 mph that was put up by Willard Kinzer and his big-block, Chevy-powered Mustang.
Michael Fratena ran his turbocharged third-gen Camaro in 275 Drag Radial and ran a career best of 7.71 at 186 mph during qualifying. He went all the way to the semifinals before losing to eventual class winner Jason Lee.
The excitement didn’t end there on the track; we watched Pro Street cars shoot for the 5s with speeds in excess of 240 mph as well as the unique full-bodied muscle cars slug it out at 190 mph in one of our favorite categories—Nostalgia Pro Street. The action flowed down through the other heads-up ranks and over into the Index categories—one for late-model cars and another just for ’70s-and-older muscle cars. The NMCA Flowmaster series also caters to the Nostalgia Super Stockers that are certainly a throwback to the earlier years of drag racing. Throw in a car show, manufacturer midway, a few Jet cars, and you had enough stuff to keep busy for a few days. CHP
Bill Lutz went for a wild...
Bill Lutz went for a wild ride in his turbocharged Pro Street machine when excessive oil pressure split open the dry-sump tank and dumped its contents under the front wheels. An experienced driver and some good luck prevented the Garrett Turbo–sponsored ride from hitting the wall.
The two quickest Pro Street...
The two quickest Pro Street cars of the weekend met up in the finals. Chris Rini in the near lane packs an 825ci engine with four stages of NOS nitrous, while the Pontiac GTO in the far lane has the smallest engine in the class—427 ci of small-block Chevy from Duttweiler. Rini won this round as Jim Hairston had a broken race car after his car went off track a round earlier. The team simply took the green and watched Rini take the win.
The biggest engine in Pro...
The biggest engine in Pro Street competition belongs to the Keen Brothers, with Jimmy Keen behind the wheel of the family’s ’63 Corvette replica. The Reher-Morrison engine packs 854 ci with four stages of Speedtech nitrous and Keen drove it to a best of 6.18 at 229 mph in his semifinal’s loss to Hairston, who had gone quicker with a 6.06 at 245 mph.
Don Baskin’s ’67 Nova was...
Don Baskin’s ’67 Nova was the lone Chevy entry in the Pro Stock category, where the Fords dominate the naturally aspirated category. Baskin ran 8.48 at 156 mph to take out Robbie Blankenship who had run a quicker 8.47 but lit the dreaded red light, giving Baskin the automatic win.
Kevin Scott and his ’65 Nova...
Kevin Scott and his ’65 Nova whoa’d the crowd with its outstanding looks. The team entered the event to have some fun and ran in Super Street 10.5s, as they rolled to nearly 190 mph on smallish 29.5x10.5 tires. The turbocharged small-block is from Pro Line Racing Engines and ran a best of 7.69 at 186. The back window blew out, preventing us from doing a feature on the car. We are going to catch up with him later in the year so keep your eyes on CHP for an in-depth story.
Jeff Lutz, no relation to...
Jeff Lutz, no relation to fellow Pro Streeter Bill Lutz, brought out his brand-new ’69 Camaro Pro Modified car to the Pro Street ranks. The car shows promise as his company, Lutz Race Cars, and tuning company, PTP, worked hard to get the kinks out of the Pat Musi–built 540ci turbo engine. Lutz promised us that it would run in the 5s at over 250 mph.