NMCA Super Bowl 08 Friday Coverage

[Mark Keiser]

We finally made it to the race track here in Joliet after getting stuck in traffic for 45 min. A large box truck tried to straddle a guard rail and they brought in a crane to life it off since he drove about 200 feet like that. The weather is great now and we are hoping the weatherman is incorrect for tomorrow and Sunday! Round one qualifying has begun and the staging lanes are still filling up with cars from 22 classes. Check back here for race coverage through out the day. The Motive Gear gorillas are making their appearance.











Staying out of the heat, even when adjusting tire pressure.

[REDGAR]

That gorilla is very distracting!!!

[mark@streetlegaltv]

Friday morning was pretty quiet in the pits. Thursday was a Test and Tune day where some racers took advantage of it, some just sat back and relaxed with confident combinations.





Steve Matusek is running NMCA Pro Street for the second time this year. His first time was during the season opener in Bradenton. They had the Mustang in Milan for exhibition passes for the NMRA race. Steve also plans to make the finals in Memphis.



Tony Bischoff had his car fixed up with a primer front end after his wreck in New Jersey. The frame wasn't damaged too bad but he has not tested the car since it has been fixed.





Bruce Kemp is a 100 pounds heavier since the mid season rule changes. There was a lot of controversy in regards to the new Pro Stock mid season rules. He did not test at all on Thursday and was seen in the pits tuning up his carb before qualifying.





When you think Nostalgia Pro Street, you think of old muscle cars. This '72 AMC Gremlin is a poster child of just that. Don Rayburn runs his first race of the season this weekend. He had lost a few sponsors and has been running on a limited budget.





Tony Nesbit shaved 300 pounds off his Super Street Corvette in Atco and it has helped dramatically. The whole OEM front end and doors were replaced along with the glass. During testing on Thursday, the tires shook hard on the Vette but managed to stay on par for how the car has been performing.





Last years Nostalgia Pro Street Champion Jeff Kolleta went a 7.52 in practice yesterday. The motor has been freshened since it was over revved and hurt in Atco. Straight Line Chassis has also helped Jeff out sorting a new rear suspension setup. He is hoping for a 7.49 in the heat today.





Uncle Robin running for the first time this year. They have been doing a ton of short track testing, especially in the 60 foot area. Robin ran consistent 5.09s in the eighth and an 8.20 lifting at a 1000 feet.

[mark@streetlegaltv]

Qualifying Round 1 went down without a hitch. There were no severe delays. Due to the 90 degree weather, the times were not that impressive. Also it seemed by watching the cars run, that a lot of people were having traction problems about 200 feet out. Here is some of our highlights from Round 1 of Qualifying.

Click here for all qualifying round 1 pictures.



Jeremy Harris put it his Pro Stock Camaro on the bumper in Pro Stock. The car landed safely and without any damage.



Tony Nesbitt let's everyone know that even though he is new to Super Street, he is still an accomplished champion. He was the only Super Street in the sixes with a 6.97 @ 201



The best thing Steve King ever did was changing from the Viper to his Camaro Pro Street car. It showed in first round of qualifying with the number one spot and the only thirty of the round with a 6.38 @ 224.88.



Pete Farber is driving George Landis' Pro Street car. George had a bad accident involving an H pipe and his leg. He will be out until at least Georgia. They still have the car set soft since Pete has only driven the car a handful of times.



Vincent Demieri got a little too close to the center line and punted two cones on his way down the track.



For all that were here in 2006 remember Dan Bills horrible 200 mph crash that destroyed his car. We are happy to report that he is back with a brand new and yet very clean 2007 Mustang in Pro Street.

[mark@streetlegaltv]

Qualifying order as of first round

BF Goodrich Mean Street Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 2 Jeff Swanson 10.192 131.72 131.72
2 10016 Don Baskin 10.225 128.59 128.92
3 3 Jeremy Gillam 10.247 132.11 132.11
4 8 Tim Ketels 10.423 126.52 126.52
5 10503 Mike Winters 10.466 118.81 118.81
6 1MS Gary Duncan 10.635 126.22 126.22

Car Craft Street Race Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 6017 Tim Hendricks 9.024 152.40 152.40
2 2 John Macaluso 9.127 127.34 127.34
3 6341 Scott Carter 12.652 69.85 69.85
4 6000 Heath Shemwell 17.475 79.23 79.23

Comp Cams Pro Stock Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 1 Bruce Maichle 8.679 157.26 157.26
2 5115 Butch Kemp 8.688 154.53 154.53
3 5117 Michael DeMayo 8.705 153.75 153.75
4 5088 Andy Schmidt 8.728 156.52 156.52
5 5103 David Murray 8.762 151.60 151.60
6 6 Brad Wise 9.055 147.17 147.17
7 5015 Jeremy Harris 9.097 152.50 152.50
8 5313 Ann Erb 9.124 149.10 149.10
9 5213 Skip Baskin 22.127 33.34 33.34

Vortech Xtreme Street Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 4177 Bill Trovato 8.132 171.36 171.36
2 4005 Bob Curran 8.144 166.60 166.60
3 8 Bob Kurgan 8.179 171.10 171.10
4 1 Danny Shemwell 8.205 166.87 166.87
5 4105 Fred Brunn 8.263 171.58 171.58
6 4450 Steve Cagle 8.271 169.72 169.72
7 4126 Michael Alwardt 8.357 168.43 168.43
8 4108 Aaron Stapleton 8.389 170.90 170.90
9 4235 Mike Post 8.391 164.51 164.51
10 3 Tony Orts 8.44O 166.70 166.70
11 4233 David Purlee 8.445 166.11 166.11
12 4601 Tim Hendricks 8.495 166.72 166.72
13 4033 Adam Sailor 8.572 165.76 165.76
14 4028 Donald Culbertson 8.623 158.26 158.26
15 4747 George Carey 8.902 159.89 159.89
16 4436 Howie Knoebel 9.066 155.29 155.29


ARP Nostalgia Pro Street Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 6 Joe Bucaro 7.427 185.82 185.82
2 3003 David Beeson 7.516 177.60 177.60
3 3999 Justin Furnace 7.536 182.72 182.72
4 10 Jim Widener 7.547 183.67 183.67
5 1 Jeff Colletta 7.587 184.55 184.55
6 3000 Kevin Parent 7.631 182.43 182.43
7 5 Barbara Nesbitt 7.722 176.81 176.81
8 3918 Steve Summers 7.822 176.65 176.65
9 3059 Shawn Baker 7.846 175.89 175.89
10 3005 Mitch Mika 7.883 175.50 175.50
11 3920 Tim Oros 7.973 171.29 171.29
12 3211 Thomas Luther 7.982 175.14 175.14
13 3067 Rob Vanderwood 7.997 176.19 176.19
14 3919 Andrew Vogt 8.192 179.88 179.88
15 3300 Robin Lawrence 8.20O 175.07 175.07
16 3007 Scotty Kegg 8.232 168.66 168.66

Vortech Outlaw 10.5 Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 2999 Anthony Mesbitt 6.97O 201.25 201.25
2 3 Spiro Pappas 7.091 193.74 193.74
3 2995 James Robbins 7.157 203.86 203.86
4 2170 Shawn Zubler 7.277 197.19 197.19
5 2661 Rob Golobo 7.303 167.16 167.16
6 2115 Gino Cavalieri 7.54O 181.91 181.91
7 2381 Jimmy Byrne 8.357 169.55 169.55
8 2110 Tom Olsen 13.244 91.19 91.19
9 1 Jim Blair 17.995 43.67 43.67

Scorpion Perf Pro Street Q1

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 1471 Steve King 6.387 224.88 224.88
2 1 Vinny Budano 6.458 220.98 220.98
3 1001 Tony Bischoff 6.459 212.16 212.16
4 1600 Steve Spiess 6.642 213.50 213.50
5 1010 Chris Rini 6.645 214.72 214.72
6 4 Ryan Hargett 6.668 175.11 175.11
7 1969 Noel Felton 6.673 208.30 208.30
8 1560 Jeff Lutz 6.73O 201.49 201.49
9 1003 Tony Williams 6.734 210.70 210.70
10 1031 Steve Miller 6.747 219.54 219.54
11 1024 Corky Markwart 6.75O 206.80 206.80
12 1967 Mark Micke 6.929 217.91 217.91
13 2 Pete Farger 6.998 205.79 205.79
14 1995 Jimmy Keen 7.034 185.54 185.54
15 1957 Mario Orsini 7.162 202.67 202.67
16 1015 Jeff Lorch 7.229 195.99 195.99

[mark@streetlegaltv]

After qualifying round one carnage





Johnny Mac has had an interesting 24 hours, and it isn't getting better. Taking his Mustang to only a 8.15 due to a valve train issue in his 388 Windsor. "We were up past midnight last night getting this car ready," said Mac. Everything was going great through the powerglide until half track when it all went wrong. While this minor setback won't be the end of their weekend the question will be if it will hold up in the cut throat Super Street Outlaw class.





Lutz's engine self gaped a spark plug for him. They attest it to a clogged injector. They did do a "once over" on the motor to make sure their wasn't any other problems





Landis and company huffed a little too much oil. They had the blower off and checking through the motor to find the source of the problem. George Landis, even though in a wheel chair, is still an active crew member.







During qualifying, Jim Blair ran into some nasty wheel shake as he came off the line. We spotted a piece of metal that came off the car. Luckily enough, it is nothing important. They were having wheel rubbing issues on the inside lip of the front wheel well. I had the crew simulate it on the outside lip because I am too lazy to shoot a shot from under the front clip.

[mark@streetlegaltv]

News from Round 2 of Qualifying



Despite spinning his tires the first trip down the track, Mark Micke stepped it up as usual and dialed the car in for a solid pass, a 6.32 @ 221 MPH though still three hundredths off the record set by Steve King in Bowling Green.



John Macaluso managed to take the number one spot in Street Race by dipping down into the 8.90 ETs











Jeff Swanson, Bruce Maichle, Bill Trovato, Joe Bucaro, Tony Nesbit were the list of racers that held their number one spots al day

[mark@streetlegaltv]

Car Craft Street Race Q2

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 2 John Macaluso 8.900 140.52 140.52
2 6017 Tim Hendricks 8.978 152.71 152.71
3 6034 Brian Edwards 9.314 148.66 148.66
4 6007 Jay J. Canella 9.885 147.26 147.26
5 6341 Scott Carter 12.652 69.85 142.69
6 6000 Heath Shemwell 17.475 79.23 79.23

Comp Cams Pro Stock Q2

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 1 Bruce Maichle 8.671 158.32 158.32
2 5115 Butch Kemp 8.688 154.53 155.11
3 5117 Michael DeMayo 8.705 153.75 155.63
4 5088 Andy Schmidt 8.708 156.79 156.79
5 5103 David Murray 8.762 151.60 155.51
6 5213 Skip Baskin 8.769 156.05 156.05
7 5015 Jeremy Harris 8.829 155.52 155.52
8 6 Brad Wise 8.955 149.76 149.76
9 5313 Ann Erb 9.113 149.27 149.27

Vortech Xtreme Street Q2

Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 4177 Bill Trovato 8.132 171.36 171.36
2 8 Bob Kurgan 8.133 170.51 171.10
3 4005 Bob Curran 8.144 166.60 167.70
4 1 Danny Shemwell 8.145 177.49 177.49
5 4105 Fred Brunn 8.241 171.51 171.58
6 4450 Steve Cagle 8.271 169.72 169.72
7 4126 Michael Alwardt 8.319 168.89 168.89
8 4108 Aaron Stapleton 8.337 170.75 170.90
9 4235 Mike Post 8.391 164.51 165.90
10 6 Andy Mayes 8.411 167.76 167.76
11 4033 Adam Sailor 8.427 166.05 166.05
12 3 Tony Orts 8.44O 166.70 167.59
13 4632 Henry Schneider 8.442 165.23 165.23
14 4233 David Purlee 8.445 166.11 166.11
15 4601 Tim Hendricks 8.495 166.72 168.49
16 4028 Donald Culbertson 8.623 158.26 158.26

ARP Nostalgia Pro Street Q2
Position Car # Driver Name ET MPH Fastest MPH
1 6 Joe Bucaro 7.427 185.82 185.82
2 3003 David Beeson 7.516 177.60 177.60
3 3999 Justin Furnace 7.536 182.72 182.72
4 10 Jim Widener 7.547 183.67 183.67
5 1 Jeff Colletta 7.587 184.55 184.55
6 3000 Kevin Parent 7.631 182.43 182.43
7 5 Barbara Nesbitt 7.722 176.81 177.44
8 3918 Steve Summers 7.822 176.65 176.65
9 3059 Shawn Baker 7.846 175.89 175.89
10 3005 Mitch Mika 7.883 175.50 177.21
11 3920 Tim Oros 7.973 171.29 171.29
12 3211 Thomas Luther 7.982 175.14 175.14
13 3067 Rob Vanderwood 7.997 176.19 176.19
14 3919 Andrew Vogt 8.192 179.88 179.88
15 3300 Robin Lawrence 8.20O 175.07 175.07
16 3007 Scotty Kegg 8.232 168.66 168.66

[mark@streetlegaltv]

It is nearly 11 pm and we have been at the track for about 14 hours. We have that feeling of sweat and dried rain water on our skin. All we want to do is go back to the hotel and wash the tire chunks off our skin. But before we do that, here is the news from the pits as we conclude Friday.



Dan Saitz went through the clutch hard on his run during qualifying round 2. The combination is still new, so they are still learning it in their Probe chassis. They will put more clutch in it tomorrow for the tuned up twin turbo combination.



Andy Mayes was working on his rear end. We were not able to grab them for a comment but it is a strong possibility they needed more gear like a few others have. Another reason we may have not been able to get a comment could have been that he was sleeping, and not fixing anything.





Steve Matusek was another candidate in need of more gear. They had their Strange rear section waiting behind the car as the crew tore into the rear end.





As we saw in Bradenton, the Gillam brothers have a hard time keeping their Mean Street car off the bumper. So Bruce Hemminger and Jeremy Gillam decided to add more weight to the back of the car. We don’t understand the idea behind it, but we are sure they do.



Number one qualifier Bill Trovato had his Xtreme Street car torn apart. Trovato was fixing his transmission. With qualifying being over for the night, it wil give him plenty of time to get the car back together for tomorrow’s final round of qualifying.

[mark@streetlegaltv]

Overall, things on the NMCA side stayed pretty laid back today. Nothing extremely crazy happened. After rounds most racers were kicking back and enjoying some fresh BBQ or chatting with fellow racers.



It rained. During NMRA Drag Radial the sky over Joliet opened up for about 20 minutes. The track personnel worked their ass off getting the track dry. The rain delayed us about an hour, which is not bad. This is the second year out of three that it has rained during the Super Bowl



We have five Pro Street cars in the 6.30s. After the rain stopped three quarters through round three of qualifying, the air got cooler. It was still by no means “ideal” conditions outside, but was dramatically better then the previous heat of the day. This helped our fastest class to get even faster.



Xtreme Street is the largest class as usual with 23 recorded cars today. Though Pro Street is in with a close second. XS keeps the top spot for car count (and usually does).



People not running enough gear. I came across three people during qualifying round two that were swapping out rear ends to get more gear. Is everyone going that much faster that they need the extra MPH?



Jeremy Harris putting his Camaro on the bumper has been the best wheel stand of the weekend so far. By round two Jeremy toned the wheel stand down to a much more manageable one.

Check back tomorrow as we bring you more of the same great coverage.