NMCA Milan-Saturday Coverage

[Mark Walter]

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the pits are buzzin'! Teams continue to roll in for the 2nd Annual JE Pistons NMCA Muscle Car Nationals here at Milan Dragway.



This mornings most notable arrivals include the ever colorful Pete Richart in NPS fresh off a win at his home track in Columbus last night.





Tony Orts Exteme Street Camaro. Tony said he's hoping for hot weather and high track tempatures as the great equalizer for his small block XS entry, and Chris Rini's ATI Performance Products back Musi Powered Mopar Pro Street car rounds out my early morning walk through the pits.





Side note: Dave Lauer will take his Batavia, NY based Super Street Mustang home after a 1st round transmission fluid fire. "I need to make a few modifications to my trans cooling" stated Lauer, "better to head home and get the little things squared away then run the risk of losing the car, causing an accident or worse, getting hurt." We couldn't agree more Dave, we applaud your decision and know we'll see you and the team at a race some place on planet earth real soon.

Chris Glass finished the motor swap in his 4th gen Camaro at about 12:30 this morning. They have high expectations for the newly freshened BES bullet as they work to chase down team mate Skip Baskin and the standard setting Butch Kemp in this weekends Comp Cams Pro Stock category.

[Mark Walter]

With ambient temperatures in the 80's and track temps nearing mid 1 teens, the competitors would have their hands full finding the balance between making power and making it down the track.

Tom Hersch would provide the excitement for round 2 with his giant wheel stand and subsequent hard landing in Extreme Street. It actually pitched the electric fan for the radar out on the ground! The team is thrashing and plans to make round 3.



Jeff Pursey's misadventures would continue in rd2 of qualifying. A loose oil line would send him back to the pits until rd3 later this afternoon. Jeff is confident the car will run true and fast.



Dan Millen ran a 6.932 in rd2 to back up his new world record in Nitto Super Street of 6.888 from last nights 1st qualifying session.



Spiro Pappas, always looking for more power, completes a 'torque multiplication' change in after running a 6.93 in round 2. "We've got more," stated Spiro, "We're always trying new combinations, this change should put us back in our normal range. I think we can run a mid 6.80 if we've calculated everything correctly and the weather stays with us."





Tony Bischoff set pro Street on it's ear with a .997 60 foot time and 6.39 et taking the #1 qualifying position from Vinny Budano. Vinny ran a 6.45 in round 2, but with a reversed order for the third session he'll really need to step it up if he wants to dethrone Bischoff from the #1 position



Transmission troubles continued for the #1 qualifier in Nitto Super Street. Bill Lutz would lose reverse in his turbo 400 after last nights pass. It's been replaced with a power glide... should make for an interesting 3rd round!



Jeff Lutz would make the 2nd round as promised but appears to have hurt a head gasket and will miss round 3 qualifying.





Who is this guys? Somebody said he was lookin' for Superman...



Of course we know it's Steve Johnson from Edelbrock.

Nice wheels up launch for John Langer in Comp Cams Pro Street.

[Mark Walter]

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Hot and greasy. it doesn't matter what you do, on a day like today it's a matter of setting the car up for the conditions. There is no amount of track prep anyone can do that will allow you to set low et with the conditions the racers faced in round 3.

Pro street would be the first category to make the final qualifying shot. It would not take long before the conditions would claim their first victim. Tony Bischoff's car would make a small move at the 800 foot mark. He lift and looked like he had it all gathered back up when the car slapped the wall hard on the right side of the track. Fiberglass pieces flew every as the right front fender, door and rear quarter panel would take a simultaneous hit. Tony is fine, but unfortunately the car can not be made race ready for tomorrows eliminations. The team will head home and start the thrash to fix the car and have it ready for Atlanta in a few weeks. Know anybody with some Cougar parts?





The tough conditions would claim one other Pro Street mount. Vinny Demiere would take out the 330 block on the next pass. A little to aggressive on the clutch set up shook the tires making the car move hard to the left. Some white racers tape to fix the crack and a modified clutch setup will have Vinny and "Irv" in the hunt tomorrow for round 1 of eliminations.





Vinny Budano would be the low qualifier of the round with a 6.44.



Kevin Parent would make the best lap in Nostalgia Pro Street with his 7.535, moving him to the #2 qualifying position.



Bill Trovato's 8.12 was the best pass in Xtreme Street...and Jeff Pursey would get his car down the track straight and clean qualifying 16th with a 8.56. They'll be tuned up and ready for first round with a good pass under their belt.



Tom Hersch would not make it back for round 3. The team was still thrashing to fix the bent carburetor throttle blades. The motor was still filled with a volatile nitrous/fuel mixture when he tried to restart the car on track after the wheelstand in round 2, the resulting explosion caused the damage and unfortunately also hurt 2 cylinders. They are finished for the weekend.



Team midnight had the convert apart in Tony's Vette... I was assured it was just routine maintenance. Earlier in the day they had to make a few floor pan adjustments in the 94 Camaro of Heath Shemwell.





If I had to pick 5 top happenings from Saturday's qualifying they would be:

#5. Despite temperatures hovering in the low 90's the fan's turned out in droves. This speaks bounds to the level of competition at the NMCA as well as how well they run their show.

#4. More can be better, even on a hot greasy track. Bill Trovato actually add power to his Olds Starfire to run his stellar 8.12 in the last qualifying session. Bill's one of the sharpest nitrous tuners in the business.

#3. While many of the Pro Street teams are rather flashy at times, watch out for the quiet ones. Mark Micke quietly and without fanfare laid down a 6.41 in round 2 to take his Camaro to the #2 spot in Pro Street. He'll be a player tomorrow, especially with Bischoff out of competition.

#2. Testing does pay off. Robbie Blankenship came to NMCA Milan to test for the NMRA race next weekend in Columbus. In the heat of the day he ran a 8.68 to secure the #3 spot in Pro Stock. Look out Charlie, he's coming for ya.

#1. Bill Lutz has experienced transmission failures at the last 2 events. The car seemed to like the powerglide in round 3 qualifying. Did Bill click it off to not tip his hand. Only time will tell.

Eliminations start at 9:15 sharp!

[Mark Walter]