Prior to the Columbus race, Eric Holliday's Factory Stock program really turned around. He told us of 11.50s in testing back home in Maryland, thanks to a Rich Groh Racing-built Two-Valve modular with Fox Lake Power Products-prepped heads, but we chalked those times up to the usual in-testing heroics that no one's able to back up at an event. Eric shut us up with an 11.59 to qualify number one. He has struggled with his Cobra's clutch setup and its electrical system, but at Columbus, "it was like a walk in the park." Before you pass off Eric as being cocky, he prefaced his comments by saying the only reason it seemed easy was because several top-tier Factory Stock racers broke on Sunday, making it easier for him to get the win.
Two modulars in the final of Real Street, and a pushrod car in the Factory Stock final-stop the presses! The NMRA updated the rules in Factory Stock with a camshaft revision for pushrod cars allowing more performance-oriented cams. Even so, the pushrod cars were stuck in the 11.80s at Columbus, including John Leslie Jr., but he made it the final, thanks to wins against Louis Sylvester, Steve Gifford, and a semi-final bye run. However, Leslie didn't have enough for Eric Holliday in the final.
Sean Hill is a Columbus local who came out to National Trail Raceway to race in Wild Street with his Fox hatch'. The Windsor-powered LX boasts a judicious amount of nitrous, and gear selection is via a C4, resulting in quarter-mile times in the 10.0 flat range. Sean won Wild Street due to a 10.32 average, but each pass was slower than the one prior. Sean says something is amiss with the nitrous system, so we hope to see single digit passes out of this car soon.
We don't think anyone's ever debated this in an open forum, but we wonder who is the winningest driver in Ford sportsman drag racing? We don't know who for sure, but one would have to think Robert Hindman would be close to the top. Combined with his heads-up wins back in the day and his index-format wins, Robert is one of the few racers to almost make a living off of sportsman drag racing. Against Pete Espeut in round two, Robert cut a perfect light and ran right on his 11.46 dial with an 11.467 pass. He continued that magic into the later rounds, and took the final round win against Don Bowles' '06 Roush.
Being the new owner of a '94 Cobra, we have to send a big shout out to Open Comp winner Randy Conway. The Rockwood, Michigan, resident took his own '94 Cobra to victory using deft reaction times with his spot-on index runs, if not for a couple that were a bit too quick. Fortunately for him, Randy's competitors made worse mistakes to keep him in. In the final, Mr. Open Comp Larry Geddes came calling, but the usually quick-reacting Larry pulled the trigger a hair too soon with a heartbreakingly close 0.497 light, handing Randy the win.
In Truck and Lightning, it seems a Ford Ranger is the way to go. Of the nine trucks in competition, three were Rangers. Guess which three trucks made it to the semi-finals? All three Rangers-driven by Scott Sexton, Dave Cole, and Captain Keith Kohlmann. The Captain sat at the top of the qualifying ladder with a 0.501 reaction time, combined with a 10.54 index. With a small-block on the spray, Keith squeezed his way past Robert Cosgrove and fellow Ranger driver Dave Cole before taking on Scott in the final. With Keith's 10.54 index compared to Scott 9.22, the Captain had the move, and he made the best of it with a 0.531 light. Scott's answer was a 0.560 reaction time, giving Keith the advantage right out of the gate. The Captain held on with a 10.56 to stay out in front of Scott for the win.