The following is a summary of what happened with the NSS class at the NMCA race in Milan this past weekend. For more details — visit the forum — where a thread for Milan race was created and posted to by some of the people who attended. If you attended and would like to add your comments on the race — please do so.

The track opened at about 10AM on Friday. Time trials started at 3PM — and NSS cars were allowed up to three TT passes before 6PM.

26 NSS cars attended — but one had a wreck. Jack Nelson had “Cracklin Jack” make its fastest ever (since he built the car ten years ago) pass at 10.07 for the first Time Trial. However in the second Time Trial the car got into its own coolant (the cap was found mid track) at the top of the track and turned into the wall tearing up the front right corner including the right side of the steering. Jack tried to take it off the wall but the steering brought it back into the wall — pancaking the entire right side. He rode the wall until the car came to the stop. He hit with such force that the seat was cocked to the center and his shoulder were very sore when the car finally stopped. Sadly Jack was looking to sell the car, truck, trailer, and golf cart (to me) — but wanted to make one last Hurrah in it. The car is pretty well damaged (I’ll post photos on he forum later) and the package might be the right deal for someone. Contact Jack if you’re interested.

The first Qualifying pass for NSS started at about 7:15PM.

Saturday was blue skies and between 75-85. Actually that was the weather for the whole weekend — with it dipping to the 50s at night.

The second qualifying occurred at about 10:30am. Final qualifying was to have been at 3:30, but attendance was light — so the NMCA announced that there would be a bonus 4th Qualifying added at 2:30 — so we all got 4. First time I’ve seen it happen since I started running NMCA in 2007.

Well almost all of us got four qualifying passes. Scotty Jiles did another of his monster wheel stands and pancaked the oil pan, pickup and round bearings. He was running to Mancinni to get parts for the 3rd and 4th Qualifying.

The below is the 3rd round qualifying — we never saw the 4th.

The tree (below) was established and the first round began at 9AM sharp on Sunday.

Fast Forward — Brian Merrick won the event and it looks like Doug Duell is so far in 1st that he’s got a lock on the 2010 Championship before the St. Louis race is even run.

Speaking of St. Louis, don’t forget to check out the story of the Future of Gateway.

Again — there is more detail and opinions on the forum. Don’t forget to add yours.

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Right after the NASCAR race at Gateway — Dover (the owner) announced that they would no longer race have a NASCAR race at Gateway. They also announced that they would like to sell the complex.

Rumors abound on the drag strip — but the position was that it cost $300,000 to host the NASCAR event — and was a money loser. Since they dumped that expense — they’d be OK.

Since Dover closed Memphis (rumored to be waiting for the bulldozers) the day after the 2009 NMCA event — not many people were buying the position of drag strip not being in danger of closing.

Recently NHRA released their 2011 schedule. You can look up and down the schedule and not find Gateway listed. That’s is Gateway’s “Bread & Butter”. An oversight — or does the NHRA know something?

Being the betting man that I am — I’ll take bets that Dover will announce Gateway’s closure shortly after the NMCA event next month.

So where does this leave the Monster Mopar Weekend, and the Dave Duell Classic, my two favorite things?

I guess four things can happen:

1. I’m wrong on Gateway closing and there are another 100 Monsters to come
2. Gateway closes and Scott moves it
3. Gateway closes and Scott says he had a great run and retires it
4. Gateway closes and Scott sells the event to another promoter (my wild guess)

I asked Doug Duell about the future of that Dave Duell Classic — and he assured me that it will continue regardless of how everything else plays out.

developing….

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The rumors have been flying on what tracks NMCA will be running next year.

One rumor is that Maple Grove is out. Nice track — but terrible draw and the PA State Police have been targeting trailers 28′ and longer, or with lettering — and giving tickets for no CDL.

Bradenton Sux — and all of the racers hate the track, the drive, and the sand in their carbs. Recent rumor was that Commerce, GA was going to replace it.

Then Zmax happened. Talk around the pits is that even combining NMCA and NMRA — the economics doesn’t work for Zmax. The event had the track and track personnel 100 times better this year than last year — but it still was a ghost town. Not enough racers for the far East tracks. So the rumor is that Commerce is going to take the place of Zmax. That might mean that replacing Bradenton gets put on the back burner (how about HRP or Gainesville for the first race!).

Gateway appears to be dead meat. Smart money is saying that they’ll announce their closure after the NMCA race at the end of September.

Word is that the bad luck on rain in Bowling Green in March/April might get that race moved to later in the year.

So by my count you have three races (Maple Grove, Zmax, and Gateway) going away, with Bradenton having racers wish it would go away — and only Commerce being talked about coming on board. I think NMCA has learned its lesson on East Coast races not drawing racers — so we’re safe from having that shit hole ATCO rearing its ugly head.

NMRA tested Houston last November, and they and NMCA are testing it this November. It isn’t a really fair test since they do it when most northern racers have their cars in moth balls and it is a non-points event — but maybe they’ll take that into consideration. You need a Southern track to start the year and end the year — and Houston Raceway Park is an excellent track — especially in March or October.

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TTA’s Texas State Championships

The 2010 Texas State Championships will be held Saturday, October 23rd at San Antonio Raceway on Interstate 10 in Marion, TX. It is the continuation of a famous annual event first held at Caddo Mills, more than 50 years ago. It will be an all-inclusive major drag race embracing every traditional style of drag race car: dozens of street-driven pre-‘64 Traditional Hot Rods (a la the HAMB Nationals, the Day of the Drags, and the Texas Thaw), plus all the Gassers, Super Stockers, Altereds, Fuel Altereds, Fuel Funny Cars, Junior Fuel Dragsters, and Top Fuel Dragsters it takes to make this the don’t-miss-it final national event of the season.

The Texas Timing Association revived the Texas State Championships at the suggestion of numerous traditional hot rodders, long-time drag racers, or members of hot rod clubs who wanted a yearly end-of-the-season national event. It is scheduled after every other vintage or nostalgia race across the country has been run, and all the important regional racing circuits (Outlaw Fuel Altereds, Texas Blown Fuel, Southwest Junior Fuel, Central States Gassers, Nostalgia Super Stocks, Southwest Superchargers, etc) have concluded their seasons for the year. TTA’s vision is to bring cars from each of these groups, plus every traditional hot rodder and drag racer for hundreds of miles in every direction, to meet at San Antonio Raceway for this annual season-ending event.

The Texas State Championship was once the biggest race of the year in our state. We are working to make it that again. The most famous names in drag racing used to come from both coasts to race the best in Texas. Don Garlits won Top Eliminator in 1958. Don Prudhomme won it in 1966. Legendary Texas drag racers Bobby Langley, Vance Hunt & Ed Mabry, and Eddie Hill split up the victories amongst themselves many other years. The fastest cars in the nation always flocked here to run against the very best that Texas had to offer at one of the biggest races of the year held anywhere in the country.

The Texas Timing Association’s mission is to promote traditional drag racing. In recent years, the TTA has cooperated with racetrack owners and major clubs of Texas hot rodders to produce many memorable traditional drag races. The TTA has worked with the Kontinental’s Car Club in Austin, bringing dozens of our traditional and historic competition cars out to race at their Day of the Drags, and still more for display and cacklefests at their Lone Star Rod and Kustom Roundup.

The TTA produced the 2009 Texas State Championship race at Northstar Dragway in Denton last year, with nearly 100 vintage race cars and street-driven traditional hot rods in competition. It is our vision to re-establish an event with the same kind of camaraderie, cars, and competition that the original Texas hot rodders enjoyed when this race was first run at the legendary Caddo Mills Drag Strip in the earliest days of our sport. Class and eliminator winners of Texas State Championship trophies from earlier years are invited to return to the track in 2010 and join the Texas Timing Association in this final traditional event of the season.

Live history, and come with us, “forward, into the past,” at the 2010 running of the Texas State Championships at San Antonio Raceway in Marion, TX, on Saturday, October 23rd.

http://www.texastiming.com/index.html

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States In Financial Trouble Target Racers

 

I recently read an article where states in financial trouble are writing double the tickets in the first half of 2010 than they had in 2009, as a way to generate revenue. The biggest tickets obviously go to bigger vehicle — and so you have noted a many Sate Police in pickup trucks — carrying portable scales.

Last year at the NMCA race at Maple Grove in Reading, PA — quite a few racers with pickups pulling trailers larger than 28' feet (overall — not just the box) were ticketed for not having a Commercial License. North Carolina were turning back rigs greater than 65' — but recently amended their statute to allow going to and from races. Florida requires a permit, as does New Mexico. There have been complaints from New Jersey ticketing small race car trailers for weight violations and Kentucky for by passing weigh stations.

I've seen stings set up at race events and even rodeos and cattle shows — ticketing pickups and small trailers not having CDLs, with the premise being that if they can earn a prize — they're commercial.

The latest big sting appears to be the Michigan State Police and Indiana State Police targeting motorhomes pulling trailers to the tracks. Click here to see an 8+ page discussion on the topic. Troy Coughlin's Motorhome with a trailer was stopped in Michigan yesterday on the way to a IHRA race, the driver given three tickets for not having a CDL, over length, and another — and the trailer is currently sitting in an impound yard.

Racer's need to heavily lean on promoters and tracks to in turn lean on the police to stop targeting recreational drag racers. Bruton Smith did this in North Carolina when racers going to Zmax were targeted — and was able to have the regulations amended to allow for travel to and from a racing event. If something isn't done soon — promoters and tracks will see a dramatic reduction in car counts.

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For a limited time, we will put your large 728X90 pixel banner linking to your web site on your choice of our web sites for only $1 a day* — and you can lock that price in for as long as you continue your subscription. For years, Mopar has sold this service for the great price of $500 a year, but now we are not only dropping the price in this sale — but also allowing you to select three other sites to have your 500X62 pixel banner. Below are but a few of the current advertisers:

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	Big Red Ram Big Red Ram is a racing site for the Big Red Ram racing team. It is generally frequented by those interested in drag racing and Mopars.
	Vitamin C Racing A new racing site for the Vitamin C racing team. It is generally frequented by those interested in drag racing and Mopars.
	MagnumGT This is a web site that has been around since 2001 that is frequented by a very loyal group of men and women who favor the Mopar Late B-Body cars like the Magnum, Charger, Sport Fury, and Cordoba.
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NMCA Zmax Recap

15 NSS Cars showed up to the NMCA event at Zmax last week:

• Doug Duel

• DW Hopkins

• Barry Camp

• Dallas Schultz

• Jeff Meece

• Doug Poskavitch

• Skip Koester

• Kurt Neighbor

• Dave Schultz

• Steve Wilson

• Brian Merrick

• Morris

• Wright

• Gerry Bates

• Duugil

It was hot, the track was prepared amazingly well (as compared to last year), and the track personnel must have also got the word — as they were actually a little more easy to deal with this year. We had rain Thursday and Friday night, which didn't affect racing as it was later — and a brief shower on Saturday that delay things for about 90 minutes.

 

Thursay was set up pits and tech in. Friday we had the opportunity for three time trials — and then first round of qualifying in the early evening. Saturday morning had the 2nd and 3rd round of Qualifying. Dallas was Number 1 with 10.002, Meese was 2nd and Doug Duel 3rd.

 

Elimiations started at 3PM:

 

• Duell over Hopkins

• Skip over Me

• Poskevitch over Duugil

• Neighbor over Morris

• Wilson over Merrick

• Meese over Wright

• Camp had a Broke (Bates) Bye

• Dallas a Competition Bye

Next Round had:

• Wilson over Skip

• Duell over Camp

• Dallas over Neighbor

• Meese over Poskevitch

Semis had:

• Wilson over Dallas

• Duell gets a Broke (Meese) Bye

Finals had Doug Duell win and Wilson Runner Up.

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---

Here’s the ladder

Dallas gets a bye for being the #1 Qualifier
I run Skippy
Technically Dallas and I can meet in the third Round

One Round of Eliminations today — finish tomorrow. I figure we run at about 2PM Eastern

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Vitamin C Update

08/06/10

Some updates: (Friday 5:30PM)

We got here at 5PM Wednesday and they parked us at Lowe’s Motor Speedway parking for the night. After a night of moderate drinking (with just my two sons as no one else spent the night) they let us on the track at noon or so Thursday.

We teched the cars and got them in the trailer before the sky opened up.

Scott Sparrow who is the editor of the NMCA/NMRA magazines is a pretty good friend. My youngest son Justin is into photography — and spent $7500 for a camera. That’s about 3 times what his car is worth lol

Anyway, Justin (20 years old) isn’t into racing, but since he is going into the Air Force soon — I wanted him to come with Dallas and I for this race. He was game when I told him it would be a photo opportunity. I asked Scott if he’d acquire Justin a Media apron and give him a 20 minute “how to photo drag race cars” lecture — and let him photo on the line. At first Scott thought I might be looking to have him baby sit — was a little leery — but I convinced him that Justin would be OK and not jump onto the track nakid — and so he was game. Then it looked like they might be short photographers — so Scott was more motivated. I haven’t seen Justin in 8 hours — except to photo cars when I come to the line. It looks like he’ll have a lot of experience when this is over.

Back to cars — Dallas’ car can’t do the 9.75 in the 93 degree heat and bad air so we put a A/NSS on the car. He’s the top qualifyer after the first round — with a 10.01. Doug Duell is right there with him. Actually — not sure which of them is 1 and which is 2.

My car did at 11.029 this morning and then I bumped the timing up and it did a 11.026 in hotter weather. In the first qualifying it did a 11.065 — so I unbolted 50 pounds and added 2.5 gallons of gas. It should be about 5 degrees cooler for the next qualifying — so I might be OK.

There are 17 NSS cars here — but the other classes are real light. I’ll update later.

http://nostalgiadragracers.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nss&thread=259&page=1

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