NMRA Grand Slam Event In Joliet, Illinois

While the NMRA racing series has its share of classic iron in the bracket and open comp classes, it was a real treat to see serious Ford iron battle it out from the NMCA side of things in the Nostalgia Super Stock class. This real '64 Thunderbolt, driven by Skip Koester was hitting high 10s at almost 130 mph. The sound of the 'Bolt's big-block was pure muscle coming off the starting line.

While watching heads-up and/or bracket racing or perusing a field of killer show cars of all the same make or model is fun for many die-hard enthusiasts, we'll often hear people comment that they'd rather see their favorite Fords beat up on a Chevy or Mopar for a change. The crew at the National Mustang Racer's Association (NMRA) also holds the keys to the NMCA series (National Muscle Car Association), and they're crazy enough to put on both event series at the same time in the same location. With this in mind, the first-annual Motive Gear NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, presented by Nitto Tire, was born.

Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, is a great facility at which to have such a large event, and it was a treat to see some of Ford's best iron duke it out on the quarter-mile track against Brand X and Brand Y. While there wasn't direct competition on the show field, it was certainly different to see all of the Ford products on one side and everything else on the other. Don't worry, we think everyone got along. Best of all was the vendor area. With so many cars in attendance for NMRA/NMCA series racing and for the Laurel Mountain Mustang Show & Shine, plus the potential gate attendance, the vendor area was jam packed with dozens of vendors hawking their wares and handing out posters. Even more interesting was the end of the event, when NMRA and NMCA classes were pitted against each other.

It was a great event, and if the NMRA and NMCA ever recuperate, we hear they just might do it again in 2007.

Another NSS racer with some rare iron was Geary Bates and his '66 R-Code Fairlane. Running 11-ohs at 120-plus mph, this Fairlane was in its element. Besides Geary's Fairlane and Skip's T-Bolt, there was another R-code Fairlane and two other T-Bolts in this class. Where else can you see that much rare Ford muscle duking it out?	From the NMCA , we spotted Ron Bochenek's early Falcon Ranchero. Ron, from Oswego, Illinois, has a 408 Windsor stuffed underhood and seems to be able to pull the front end almost clear off the tarmac with the power on board.	The vendor midway was packed with all sorts of cool products. One of the most enticing to us was the new bolt-in engine cradle and suspension kit from Anthony Jones Engineering (AJE; (800) 877-7233; www.ajeracing.com). This kit uses late-model SN-95 brake parts, and the engine cradle will allow the installation of any Ford engine, including modular varieties with a simple swap of the engine mount brackets. We'll show you more of this system in an upcoming issue.
The swap-meet area was a great place to find some bargains. Do you want late-model seats for your restomod? Or maybe you're looking for some bargain EFI parts. They were all there waiting to be snatched up for someone else's project.	At the Laurel Mountain Mustang Show & Shine, one of the first entries we spotted was this sano-clean '67 Fairlane Ranchero. Regular readers know yours truly gets weak in the knees for the '66-'67 Fairlane, and seeing one in the Ranchero body style was a real treat. This one, owned by Chuck Munz of DeKalb, Illinois, took home the Best of Show trophy. Powered by a 289 and Holley top end (including a 174 supercharger), the truck is truly inspiring. Chuck performed all the work himself except for the paint and bodywork.	We first spotted this sweet-looking silver fastback in a racer's pit on Friday afternoon. Kevin Sievers, who owns the '67, was helping a friend of his get his race car set up. We bumped into Kevin's car again at the car show on Saturday where it was parked among a row of other show Mustangs.
Right behind Chuck's Ranchero were these killer scooters called the Cruzin' Cooler. Available in gas or electric models, Chuck had them on display and people were taking them for test drives. It's a side business for him, and he received a lot of attention with his matching yellow Cruzin' Cooler.	It isn't often we get a chance to gaze upon a nicely executed Comet project such as this '67 owned by Kerry Rogers from St. Louis, Missouri. We're not the only ones who thought so either, as Kerry took First Place in the Daily Driver category on Saturday.	We've been hearing good things from our late-model friends about the BBK SSI intake for the small-block EFI application, but this is the first time we spotted one under the hood of a classic Mustang. The fit looked great, and the manifold is a welcome change to all of the stock 5.0 H.O. upper and lower intake setups we see on most EFI swaps.