Front Page Articles

News: NMRA Season Opener

Photo of author

By EditorTurner

News: NMRA Season Opener

Launch Break

Ready to lift the front wheels as the NMRA racing season kicks off next month?

By Steve Turner

If you live outside of the Sunshine State, we would venture to guess that you are about ready to thaw out your race car and head south for some Spring Break action. Well, the bad news is that 2015 is flying by, but the good news is that we are just inside of a month to go before the NMRA drag racing season kicks off in Bradenton, Florida, from March 5-8, 2015.

It’s been too long since we’ve seen a Mustang hanging the hoops like this at the drag strip, but it won’t be much longer before we see it again at the NMRA’s season opener at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
It’s been too long since we’ve seen a Mustang hanging the hoops like this at the drag strip, but it won’t be much longer before we see it again at the NMRA’s season opener at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

“This exciting four-day event features the original turbocharged 200-plus-mph Street Outlaws plus a whole lot more! Ford fans will be treated to wild, wheels up all-Ford drag racing on the quarter-mile and total Blue Oval Ford madness on the manufacturer’s midway plus an all-Ford car show on Saturday and Sunday,” says the NMRA. “It’s the best Spring Break party of the year for Ford fans of all ages and the first race of the year for the NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals drag racing season!”

You can almost hear the engines and smell the tire smoke! Of course, we will be on hand to cover the whole event, but what makes this year’s season opener even more exciting is the wealth of the specialty classes that the NMRA is hosting. Included in these bonus festivities are the following events:

Now that the 2015 Mustangs are in the wild, we expect to see several 2015 Mustangs—like Evolution Performance’s 900rwhp GT—running down the drag strip in Bradenton.
Now that the 2015 Mustangs are in the wild, we expect to see several S550s—like Evolution Performance’s 900rwhp GT—running down the drag strip in Bradenton.

• Spring Break Shootout Class presented by Blow-By Racing: Any racer with a street-legal vehicle can compete and have a crack at cash and prizes. The winner will drive home in their street car with $1,300!

• VMP Superchargers Terminator/GT500 Shootout Class: This battle of SVT brethren pits the storied 2003-2004 Cobras versus the 2007-2014 Shelby GT500s. These aren’t stockers, though. The class will see some of the quickest SVT Mustangs in the world squaring off to settle this rivalry. This class is also a nice preview of the action happening in May at the SVT Shootout at Maryland International Speedway, which is sponsored by your favorite site, SVTPerformance.com!

Our friends at VMP Tuning sponsor the class where Cobras and Shelbys battle for SVT supremacy on the drag strip.
Our friends at VMP Tuning sponsor the class where Cobras and Shelbys battle for SVT supremacy on the drag strip.

• Ford Racing Cobra Jet Showdown presented by Watson Racing: If you don’t get out to the NHRA drag races, you been missing out on some of the quickest factory-built Mustangs running as quick as 8-second quarter-mile e.t.’s. In Bradenton, they will battle for $1,000.

• Tremec Stick-Shift Shootout: Nothing is more exciting than watching stick-shift drag racing. It requires a combination of speed and finesse that is the driver mod. For the third year, the manual masters will square off to see who is the sultan of shifting.

• Fluid Turbo Concepts Turbo Coyote Class: After its introduction last season, this unique class narrows its focus down to just race cars running turbochargers and Coyote 5.0 engines. This is a potent powertrain combo, and the e.t.’s should be ridiculous.

Of course, all these classes are simply additions to the already robust list of regularly schedule classes, including Street Outlaw, Renegade, Coyote Modified, Pure Street, Coyote Stock, Factory Stock, Modular Muscle, Super ’Stang, Truck & Lightning, Open Comp, and True Street.

Officially kicking off the weekend of fun will be the annual Hooters party on Friday March 6. This gathering brings out many of the street and show cars from the event, as well as a who’s who of racers and members of the performance industry.

If you love Ford performance, drag racing, and Florida sunshine, this event is not to be missed. Of course, the opener also sets the stage for the full season of NMRA Ford Drag Racing, and the schedule looks like this:

2015 NMRA Schedule

If you have yet to see the spectacle that is an 8-second factory drag car, the Ford Racing Cobra Jet Showdown brings that performance to the masses. It should be fun seeing who has the quickest CJ in the land.
If you have yet to see the spectacle that is an 8-second factory drag car, the Ford Racing Cobra Jet Showdown brings that performance to the masses. It should be fun seeing who has the quickest CJ in the land.

March 5-8, 2015
21st Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout
Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida

April 9-12, 2015
7th Annual NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by Miller Welders
Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia

May 1-3, 2015
15th Annual NMRA Ford Nationals featuring the 3rd Annual SVT Shootout presented by SVTPerformance.com
Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, Maryland

June 11-14, 2015
12th Annual McLeod Racing NMRA Ford SUPER Nationals featuring the All-Female Shootout
Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio

One of the newest specialty classes is the Turbo Coyote Shootout sponsored by the crew at Fluid Turbo Concepts. Turbochargers and modern 5.0-liter engines are a match made in horsepower heaven, and look for some crazy e.t.’s from this class.
One of the newest specialty classes is the Turbo Coyote Shootout sponsored by the crew at Fluid Turbo Concepts. Turbochargers and modern 5.0-liter engines are a match made in horsepower heaven, so look for some crazy e.t.’s from this class.

July 30-Aug. 2, 2015
10th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing
Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois

October 1-4, 2015
17th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA All-Ford World Finals
Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky

So, mark your calendars, put in for time off, and finish your race car because racing season is upon us. It should be an exciting season, and we can hardly wait to get out there and start covering all the fast Fords.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on ProCharger’s Coyote Modified class this season. The rules have opened up a bit, and we expect these cars, like Frank Varella’s Fox, to fly in the new season.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on ProCharger’s Coyote Modified class this season. The rules have opened up a bit, and we expect these cars, like Frank Varella’s Fox, to fly in the new season.
Likewise, it should be interesting to see what racers learned over the off-season that can push these sealed-crate-engine race cars to lower e.t.’s.
Likewise, it should be interesting to see what Coyote Stock racers learned over the off-season that can push these sealed-crate-engine race cars to lower e.t.’s.

Comments

comments

New Product: BMR Shelby GT500 Springs

News: 315hp 2015 Edge Sport

Leave a Comment