Competitors settled into the new home of the Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines, March 17–19, at Orlando Speed World Dragway in Florida.
VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod: Ty Tutterow, in his ’57 Buick-bodied Pro Mod, hammered the tree with an .014 and then hauled to a 3.634 to take a trip to the winner's circle over Robert Abbott, who was right there with a 3.635 in his Camaro-bodied hot rod.
Holley EFI Factory Super Cars: AJ Berge and Ricky Hord hung on for the final round, where 13th qualifier Berge turned on the win light with a 7.63 over Hord’s close 7.62.
ARP Nitrous Pro Street: David Fallon Jr. wound up in the final round of eliminations with Kyle Salminen in the other lane. Fallon Jr. won with a 4.28.
Edelbrock Xtreme Street: Martin Connelley kept his foot planted on the pedal to a 4.49 in his Mustang to pick up the win over Bill Trovato, who trapped a close 4.51.
Dart NA 10.5: Robbie Blankenship made it to the final round and flew to a 7.79 and the winner's circle after Joe Clemente, who led qualifying with a 7.80, ran into trouble and couldn't complete his pass.
Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin Dickey Parts Center: Kevin Lumsden led qualifying with a 5.77 in his Camaro, and later landed the win with a 9.62 over Keith Vaughn in his Corvette.
Micro Strategies Stock Eliminator: Bruce Boyle and George Cox were close on the tree, and Boyle earned another win in the double-breakout bout with an 11.50 on an 11.51 in his Camaro IROC Z.
Micro Strategies Super Stock Eliminator: Joe Ewing defeated Mark Nowicki, who was close to Ewing on the tree but slightly dipped under his dial.
Quick Fuel Technology Nostalgia Super Stock: Doug Duell parked his father’s former Fury wagon right on his 9.00 index to defeat Jim Netherland.
Erson Cams Nostalgia Muscle presented by World Products: Michael Tagg trampled the tree to the tune of .000 in his Fairlane, and won with a 10.01 on a 10.00 index over reigning class champion Danny Towe.
MagnaFuel Open Comp: Scott Williams hung the tires to a perfect .000 reaction time on the bottom end, followed by an 8.52 on an 8.66 dial on the big end, to upset Steve Satchell, who broke out by a little more.
LME Street King presented by Chevrolet Performance: Cody Poston went to the winner’s circle with an 8.67 over Bryan Williams, who was also on a breakout run.
Proform LSX Rumble presented by Chevrolet Performance: Keith Vaughn earned the easy win when Nicholas Massengale couldn't complete his pass.
TorqStorm Superchargers True Street: Jeff Smith took the overall win with a 9.38 average in a Mustang Cobra, while Deneen Segura was the runner-up with a 9.73 average in a Mustang. Robert Reilly raced to the 10-second win in a Challenger, Alan Hill arrived at the 11-second win in a Mustang GT, Michael Vanzile motored to the 12-second win in an F-150, Brett Veneman buckled in for the 13-second win, Mary Ann Mammen made it to the 14-second win in a Mustang Mach 1 and Ken Mason collected the 15-second win in a Mustang.
Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout: Thomas Falk flew to the win with a nice 8.79 average in his Challenger, while Scott Roegter took the runner-up with a 9.54 average in his Durango Hellcat. Others deserving recognition were Matt Martens (9-second winner in a Challenger), Bryce Rohrs (10-second winner in a Challenger), Joe Gomez (11-second winner in a Challenger) and Homero Lloro (12-second winner in a Challenger). Also standing out were Cindie Scott (13-second winner in a Durango SRT), Josie McClenaghan (14-second winner in a Challenger) and Brandon Barrett (15-second winner in a RAM 3500).
The eight quickest drivers in the Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout earned entry into the HHP Racing HEMI Quick 8 on the final day of the season opener, and Mike Clark and Zachan Davis lined up for the final round. They were close on the tree, but on the top end, Clark scored the win with a 9.38 on a 9.40 when Davis ran an off-pace pass.
In Bracket 1, Rick Perry paired a .006 reaction time with a 5.68 on a 5.67 to claim the victory over Shane Williams. Bracket 2 saw Cole Knieriem, who piloted a Liberscher Racing COPO Camaro for the first time this weekend, pull off the win with a 6.18 on a 6.19 over Jeff Ross, who dipped under his dial by more.
The second stop on the tour, the Innovation Performance Technologies NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals Presented by MAHLE Motorsport, will be held April 14–16 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.
Cindric, George Comprise Class of 2023 for IMS Hall of Fame
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has announced Tim Cindric and Tony George as the 2023 inductees for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. Cindric and George will be formally celebrated at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner presented by Shell and supported by National Bank of Indianapolis on Friday evening, May 26 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. The two were chosen from a ballot of 14 nominees by a national panel of more than 150 journalists, participants and historians. In addition to honoring the inductees, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum will celebrate Marlyne Sexton, a philanthropist and community leader who has contributed to the success of the Museum, supported the racing community, and the 500 Festival organization.
Tickets for the event are available for purchase at imsmuseum.org. Pricing is $2,000 for a table of eight and $250 for individual tickets. All proceeds benefit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that aims to celebrate the cultural and historical significance of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway through storytelling and educational programs.
More Details Revealed for the Future of Auto Club Speedway
More details have been revealed about the recent sale of NASCAR’s Auto Club Speedway—the two-mile, low-banked D-shaped oval superspeedway near Fontana, California. It was previously reported that NASCAR had sold 433 acres of the 522-acre site. Now, officials are stating the famed track was purchased for an estimated $559 million by Hillwood Development, owned by real estate mogul Ross Perot Jr. He plans to build a 6.6-million-sq.-ft. logistics hub called “Speedway Commerce Center,” according to the published reports. Plans still currently involve NASCAR building a new short track on the remaining acreage, better suited for the Next Gen cars, according to the new reports.
IMSA Hall of Fame Unveils Inaugural Class
The inaugural class for the IMSA Hall of Fame has been selected and includes four drivers, three IMSA founders and four iconic race cars from throughout the sanctioning body’s 54-year history. The inductees will be honored as part of October’s WeatherTech Night of Champions held following the Motul Petit Le Mans season finale to celebrate the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and crown series champions.
The four drivers selected for induction into the inaugural IMSA Hall of Fame class—Peter Gregg, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert and Scott Pruett—all were multiple-time IMSA champions and multi-time winners. Joining the inaugural IMSA Hall of Fame class are the three founders of the International Motor Sports Association: John and Peggy Bishop and Bill France Sr.
In addition to the seven people selected to the first IMSA Hall of Fame class, four iconic race cars—the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Ferrari 333 SP, Mazda RX-7 GTU and Porsche 962—also have been selected for enshrinement.
The inductees were selected from a larger group determined by a nominating committee comprised of past and present IMSA executives and an esteemed group of media members. BDO, which was introduced as a corporate partner of IMSA earlier this year, validated the accuracy of the 2023 IMSA Hall of Fame voting results. Plans call for a mix of influential people and race cars to be inducted into the IMSA Hall of Fame each year. The IMSA Hall of Fame will live in an online environment. A standalone website will launch later this year.
For more racing news, visit Performance Racing Industry’s (PRI) website.