The NMRA Returns Pure Street To Its Class Lineup For 2014

After the 2012 season, the NMRA did away with one of its fan-favorite classes, the naturally-aspirated Pure Street eliminator, due to declining participation. At that time, they rolled the rules for the Pure Street class into the Mean Street class over in the NMCA, allowing the competitors to make a simple series change under the same rules.

The move had unintended effects – it increased participation from competitors running Pure Street combinations, so much so that the NMRA took another look at what the class had to offer and decided to move those competitors back to the NMRA series for 2014, albeit with a few, very notable changes.

NMRA event Director Rollie Miller explains, “two years ago the organization felt it was best to roll Pure Street into the NMCA ranks and combine it with a similar performing naturally aspirated class over there. The competition base running Pure Street combinations has increased significantly this past season and we felt it was a good move to bring them back to their roots in the NMRA due to the increased car counts.”

The class is based on small-block Ford combinations using street-type induction equipment capped off with a .500-inch camshaft limitation, and elapsed times hover in the 10.0 and slightly quicker range. One change for 2014 includes the allowance of any hydraulic roller lifter as the OEM lifter has become a liability for engine longevity.

More importantly, the competitors are now permitted to use any four-speed clutch-assisted transmission like those offered by Jerico and G-Force. This is a huge change as in years past the racers all howled for the use of a better transmission, as the street-style transmissions previously offered for use in the class were susceptible to failure when used with the high pressure plate forces required to get the high-RPM combinations down the track efficiently. 

We look forward to seeing what the Pure Street racers bring to the table in 2014 – this is one of our favorite classes, as there’s nothing like a high-winding small block screaming towards 10,000 RPM.