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It’s the last major, and certainly largest, doorslammer drag race of the year this weekend in Vegas for Street Car Super Nationals. From 46 Pro Street to 26 Outlaw 8.5 cars, the classes are packed. With cool, overcast weather look for some record breaking runs this weekend.
This all couldn’t be possible without our event coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson Tires. Please take a minute to go check out their latest wheel and tire technology via their website.
Pro Mod racer and owner of Aeromotive, Steve Matusek, is frustrated about the Pro Mod class rules this weekend. Normally Matusek runs in the Get Screened NHRA Pro Mod series, which regulates turbo sizing to 88mm.
“We are running against guys with 98s out here and it’s just not fair,” explained Matusek. “The only regulation is the size of the inlet but that hardly compensates for it. We are running with all these guys to the eighth mile but we are just getting smoked on the top end.” Matusek still sits at a respectable 8th spot so far with a 5.974 at 249.95 mph.
In addition to the turbo sizing, Matusek is frustrated with the weight break for automatics, and states that his Liberty manual transmission should be on an even playing field. “Automatics aren’t what they use to be and that’s pretty clear for anyone that watches the sport,” said Matusek. “We are using this as a test session, which is still good, so it is what it is.”
More exciting news from the Aeromotive camp is that crew chief and fellow racer Chuck Samuel will be piloting the Mustang in the ADRL next year while Matusek still plans to race in the NHRA Get Screened Series.
It is confirmed, Mike Murillo’s mult-time championship winning Mustang is for sale – $85,000 gets the entire car, ready to race. “It’s time to step up,” said Murillo. “I want to go Pro Mod racing in the NHRA Get Screened series.” While Murillo wants to build a Fox body Mustang Pro Mod Mustang, he feels like the task will be more than he’s willing to take on and will instead just build the commonly-accepted Pro Stock-style Mustang. “If we can get the car sold, it will take us a few years to build the new Mustang,” said Murillo.
Selling the Mustang is a hard decision, but with the NMRA Pro Outlaw 10.5 class being cut in addition to lowering car counts in NMCA Super Street, he feels there is no other choice. “We plan to run a select amount of NMCA events next year if we still have the car, starting in Bradenton. But you never know,” laughs Murillo, “if we end up doing well, we might continue on with the season.”
One would think it would be hard to sell a car that has done so well, especially this weekend, with Murillo running the fastest time ever with a 6.354 at 235.39 mph during last night’s qualifying session. “We are only 100 pounds lighter than NMCA trim, which is really nothing for these cars,” said Murillo. “The fastest we have gone before was a 6.49, so we are stoked with this weekend’s performance so far.”
There has been some chatter on the internet about Billy Glidden's Thursday qualifying pass being under weight. While the exact amount of weight under is not known, we have confirmed that Glidden's engine and power adder combination was miscalculated during tech, which led to Glidden being under weight. Everything has been fixed and all parties involved are fine with the adjustment.
Saturday Morning Qualifying Notes
Mike Bowman went for a wild ride during his Pro Street run, bring the wheels up from around the 330 foot box down to the eighth mile. Bowman kept it straight to a lifting 7.067 at 145.80 mph.
Gary Soulgaes had a bit of a mishap when the back left tire on his Lightning blew out as he deployed the parachutes. The truck made a hard turn to the right, bouncing off towards mid track and then back into the right wall where it then stopped. Gary is OK.
Who says you can't hook up hard on a 8.5-inch tire? Cedric Washington had a heck of a ride as his Mustang launched, momentarily bogged and the came straight up on the bumper.
Steve Matusek had a close call when his Mustang pitched violently to the right at about 200 feet out, but luckily Steve's quick reaction kept everything under control.
Saturday Morning Qualifying Sheets
Saturday Evening Qualifying Notes
Jose Gonzalez has been chipping away at his number one qualifying spot time and has run the fastest time ever for a Pro Mod car with a 5.730 at 258.02 mph run. Second spot Don Walsh Jr. sits close behind with a 5.736 at a faster 261 mph. There were a total of nine cars in the 5s with the bump spot being a 6.343.
Extreme Drag Radial racer Doug Shelton, who has been unable to lay down a good qualifying pass yet, caused a complete oil down of the entire track, causing a 1.5+ hour clean up.
Doug Sikora quietly stepped ahead of Mike Murillo during Saturday morning's qualifying session in Outlaw 10.5W and held the spot through the final session with a 6.350 at 226.54 mph run. Second place Murillo tried for another pass during the final round and ended up lifting at the eighth mile marker. Third spot Billy Glidden would suffer from a nitrous backfire on his final attempt.
Willard Kinzer is showing all the youngsters, which is everyone compared to him, in the class how things are done in Extreme Drag Radial. Kinzer leads the pack in his ex-Wolfe Mustang with a 6.733 at 230.92 mph pull. Proline's own Eric Dillard is sitting in second with a 6.799 at 224.77 mph.
While NMRA/NMCA racer Michael DeMayo managed to hold down the number one spot in Hot Street Friday, it was Tony Aneian that would take the number one today with a jaw dropping 8.140 at 165.29 mph run.
Despite being firmly seated in the number one spot in Wild Street by one and a half tenths, (7.463 to Artis Houston's 7.637) Young scummed to mechanical issues while getting ready for his final qualifying hit. Family member Kevin Young sits in third with a 7.768 at 143.95 mph.
Final Qualifying Order
