Finals Countdown
Championship battles and special classes highlight the NMRA grand finalé
By Steve Turner
Photos by Steve Turner and courtesy of the NMRA
We are mere weeks away from one of our favorite races of the year—the NMRA World Finals! Held at scenic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the last race of the Ford Drag Racing season not only serves to settle the class championships, but this year it is the site of numerous specialty classes, which have heightened the excitement.
“Going into its 17th year, the Nitto Tire NMRA World Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is the largest all-Ford event on the planet and the mecca for Blue Oval fans craving high-energy, high-horsepower action!†says the NMRA.
For a little preview of what to expect on October 1-4 at Beech Bend, check out this video…
One of the new wrinkles creating excitement is an after-hours grudge race, dubbed Grudge Night, highlighted by appearances from Discovery Channel’s Street Outlaws star, Chris “BoostedGT†Hamilton and MAVTV’s House of Grudge host, Mike Murillo. It will take place after the traditional classes wrap up on Saturday, and this event will allow the smack talk to get settled on the track, with racers challenging competitors to settle scores under the lights, and we can’t wait to see what match-ups this event spawns.
Adding something fresh to the 2015 edition is the EcoBoost Battle, brought to you by Livernois Motorsports and your favorite Ford performance site, SVTP. This class looks to highlight the performance potential of Ford’s EcoBoost family of engines, and it should see some of the quickest gas-direct-injection-turbocharged Fords around battling for cash, prizes, and bragging rights.
These new events join popular mainstays like the GT500 vs. Terminator Shootout and the Turbo Coyote Shootout. The former is a popular battle between the two supercharged SVT stallions, which has been a contentious sibling rivalry since the GT500 succeeded the Cobra in 2007. The latter class highlights the happy marriage of turbo boost and Coyote engines, and sees some of the quickest 5.0-liter Mustangs around doing battle.
That’s not all, there are event specialty classes for naturally aspirated and stick-shift Fords, and all these classes are in addition to the full-season classes and massive car show that are the foundation of the Bowling Green event. We are counting down the days till the event arrives, and we hope to see you there.
