The 2022 NMRA season is well underway with last weekend being the third installment of the race season. Joining forces with the NMRA was the NMCA who combined efforts to celebrate the 17th annual Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, located on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri. The event was nothing short of amazing with new personal bests being set, records shattered, and a chance for racers to take home some critical points for the series.

The Mickey Thompson X275 class saw previous winner Earl Stanley out a few rounds earlier than the finals. This left Eric Moore and Frank Mewshaw duking it out during eliminations. Texas-based Moore cut a .050 light in his 1992 Mustang and managed to keep Mewshaw from regaining a lead on the big end. The Texan went on to cruise to the finish line running a 4.328 at 171.55 mph.

In the JDM Engineering Limited Street class a pair of 2014 Mustangs went on to compete in the finals after Stacey Roby beat Del Holbrook and Larry Starost lost to Samantha Moore. In the finals it was Moore that dominated over Roby with a 8.157 at 168.98 to Roby’s blown pass of 9.680. This sent Moore to the winners circle once again this year.

The G-Force Racing Transmission Coyote Stock saw some serious time dropping as Charlie Booze Jr. dipped down in the 9.7-second range. This would result in Booze getting the top spot in qualifying. In the final round, Booze met Shane Stymiest where they both cut identical .077-second reaction times. However, it would be Booze running away with the win by a margin of .02-second finish.

Last year’s winner, Mark Anderson, was the quickest qualifier in Richmond Gear Factory Stock, but unfortunately for Anderson, Mike Bowen edged him out at the 2022 race. Bowen took his Maverick to the final round of competition, where he went on to defeat Chris Niebauer with a 10.17 to a 10.29 pass.

Mike Bowen Factory Stock class car catching a little air under the front tires.

Jon Pickering earned the top spot in the ARP Open Comp qualifying after nailing a .000 reaction time in his 1974 Maverick. Pickering then lucked out at the tree after Charlie Atkinson lit up the red bulb.

Matthew Brown attempted to duplicate the success Pickering had at the tree, however, ended up just shy with a .001 light to take the Exedy racing Clutch Modular Muscle qualifying top spot. After five rounds of competition, Shane Williams was shy off the line, but managed to stay close enough to his dial in to take the win against Andy Russell in the final round.

HP Tuners Super Stang class had some series reaction time action as Rodney Ward cut a .003 reaction to .004 by Dale Aldridge. Ward would proceed to lay a smackdown on the competition driving his Mustang to the finals where he defeated multi-time NMRA champ Marvin Knack for the win.

The SCT Ford Muscle class saw round after round of action until the finals rolled around when Jason Phillips ran against David Mormann. After Phillips chopped down the tree with a .002 he ran a 14.883 on a 14.75 index to beat Mormann’s 10.851 on his 10.75.

Gregory Collins Truck and Lightning class Ranger launching off the line.

The TorqStorm Superchargers True Street class made sure all cars were streetable with 15 laps around the World Wide Technology oval track and then three hot laps down the dragstrip. Randy Thomas and his Shelby GT500 took the win with an average of 8.728-seconds. The 9-second group stayed on the lower end with a 9.316 average from Matt Caldwell. Jason Wagoner took the 10-second class, and Keith Lankheet won the 11-second group.

Joel Greathouse took on the combined VP Racing Madditives Renegade and NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street class with vengeance. The 18-car field was on Greathouse’s tail, but could never drive around his 1993 Mustang. After a hole shot win over Clements, Greathouse ran against Keith Ciborowski. Once the tree dropped, Ciborowski spun and Greathouse walked away with the win.

The NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing was a great one once again. Thankfully the weather held off and the race could continue on through the weekend. So, if you’re looking to see some fantastic action then check out the rest of the NMRA schedule here.