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It’s Sunday at the NMRA World Finals in Bowling Green, KY. What that means is it’s time for eliminations. Last night we saw temperatures fall into the 40s and with that drop, we also saw records fall in multiple classes. You can check out the ladders in our Saturday coverage. We are at the track waiting for eliminations to begin. Keep checking back here for the latest updates.
We’ve talked a great deal about Hines and Urist this weekend. Number 5 in qualifying and third in points, Andy Manson, has the potential to steal the championship depending on how the next two rounds go for him, Hines, and Urist.
Val Clements went out in round one of Renegade to number one qualifier Bad Bart Tobener.
Bart Tobener looks to have the Renegade championship clinched after Brian Mitchell failed to make the first round call.
Brandon Alsept was one of three Coyote Stock cars to run a 10.3x in round one. Joe Charles, and Drew Lyons also ran these numbers, Coyote Stock could come down to these three this weekend.
Terry Beefcake Reeves continues to dominate Coyote Modified in round one, taking a single run, Reeves, made a full pass running an 8.27 at 164.51
With his car back together after last night’s tear down, John Leslie Jr. points his Factory Stocker towards the sky in round one. Unfortunately Leslie’s efforts weren’t enough as he went out in round one.
In round two Frank Varela had to face off against Terry Beefcake Reeves. After a showdown in Joliet that ended with Varela timing out at the lights, the Hellion team was looking for some payback. In a side-by-side match that would decide the Coyote Modified points championship, Varela managed to pull Beefcake at the top end, going to the next round and clinching the points championship.
The drama for the Street Outlaw championship continues to ratchet up the tension. Phil Hines took a competition single in round one and two, just tripping the lights and shutting the car off. John Urist out drove Shane Fisher to advance to the semi-finals, where he and Hines will face off. Andy Manson also advanced in a dramatic pedal fest against Dwayne Barbaree.
Justin Burcham is on a tear in the Turbo Coyote shootout, running deep in the 7-second zone.
Finals
It has been a weekend filled with awesome racing at the NMRA World Finals. The performances put on by the racers in attendance have been nothing short of astounding. Fantastic temperatures, a sticky track surface, and racers fighting for championships have contributed to this high-energy weekend.
Factory Stock
James Meredith has owned Factory Stock this weekend, and the final was no different. Facing off for the event win against Fogelsonger, Meredith took an easy win running a 10.79 after Fogelsonger lit the red bulb.
Coyote Stock
Records have fallen and the close parity of Coyote Stock has brought out some awesome racing this weekend. Steve Gifford took out top qualifier Hi-Po Joe Charles in the semi-finals, while Darin Hendricks took a competition single, and Drew Lyons pointed the front tires to the sky in the far lane grabbing second with the front end hanging way out there to take out Jacob Lamb. Gifford proceeded to take out Hendricks in the semi-final while Lyons took the competition single.
Steve Gifford faced off against Drew Lyons in the Coyote Stock final, it was a repeat of a race at Thornhill months ago, with the two competitors side by side the whole trip down the trap. At the stripe it was Gifford, who had tree’d Lyons. Gifford’s 10.43/124 beats out Lyons’s 10.43/127
Pure Street
Teddy Weaver was working on a perfect season in Pure Street (This photo is from qualifying) In the final it was Weaver vs Jimmy Wilson. In the end Weaver made it magic, capping an undefeated season with the win over Wilson. Weaver ran a 9.66/138 to Wilson’s close 9.72/138
Coyote Modified
Dyno Joe Cram made his way to Bowling Green all the way from Texas. After qualifying it looked like Cram could be the underdog in eliminations. After running the fastest pass in the semi-finals, he went on to face Frank Varela in the final.
Cram got the hole-shot on Varela in the final, cutting .058 light to Varela's .061. Dyno Joe rode the back tires several hundred feet. The crowd cheered, but it wasn't enough to get Cram the event win he was looking for. Varela had caught him by the 60-foot mark and took the event win and the points championship with a 8.30/166 to Cram's 8.56/165
Renegade
Left; Bad Bart Tobener faced off against last year's Renegade points runner up Adam Arndt in the Renegade final. With the points championship wrapped up for Tobener, this was for the event win. Arndt pushed through the beams at the starting line tripping the red bulb. Tobener made a full blast and closed out his season with a very nice 8.02 at 170 MPH.
Street Outlaw
The big matchup in Street Outlaw was Phil Hines vs John Urist. Unfortunately Hines's car got loose after lifting the tires around 100 feet. Hines went into the wall around the 330 mark but coasted off the track and was ok. Urist came to the starting line where he should have faced Manson. When Manson was unable to make the final round, Urist took the beams and became the 2014 Street Outlaw Champion.
