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Winter is finally gone, and with the coming of spring brings the first race of the season, the 21st annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout held in Bradenton, Florida. The weather is warm and sunny, and it’s time to see if all the winter thrashing paid off for many racers. We’ll be here all weekend long to bring you the latest coverage and photos. So whether you made it to the track and didn’t catch all the action, or you’re snowbound somewhere and couldn’t get here, just keep checking back, and we’ll have all the racing action right here.
John Leslie Jr was chatting with Joe Charles and crew in the lanes before a test and tune pass. Leslie is loving his Factory Stock ride’s new Coyote powerplant.
Matthew Laszaic brought his Cobra to run in True Street. The Cobra has a ton of miles, and it seems Laszaic is trying to shorten the engine’s life span by sprayin’ it with a good dose of nitrous. So far we’ve seen Laszaic run a few low-13s, but he was able to coax a 12.85 out of the car after a bit of coaching.
Shiftin’ Shane Stymiest has gone Hollywood on us. He sits in the car while his girlfriend Bobbi Jo Rector checks air pressure.
Haley James is making a big splash in Coyote Modified at Bradenton. She started out with an 8.30 pass, but during today’s hot test and tune she blew the tires off. The crew had to make some rear suspension adjustments to the car before that pass, but the track wasn’t holding it.
The 2014 Tremec Stick Shift Shootout champion Anthony Heard is back to defend his title. Heard had to do some work to the car leading up to the race, and though he made a 9.96 pass earlier in the day, he spun out of the hole during the heat of the day.
Round 1 Qualifying Results
Street Outlaw
In Street Outlaw we had a side-by-side 6-second pass in round 1 between Phil Hines and John Urist. Hines was the quicker of the two, and is sitting in the top spot.
Renegade
Alton Clements made a strong statement in round 1 of qualifying with a 7.981 at 174 mph, but Renegade newcomer Frank Varela is right there with a 7.989 at 175 mph.
Coyote Modified
Michael Harris in his Cobra Jet sits atop Coyote Modified after round 1, but Joe Guertin had a couple solid passes, and sits second with an 8.55 at 161 mph. This is a new combo for Guertin, and it’s showing promise so far.
Pure Street
In Pure Street, Teddy Weaver wasn’t sure what his car was going to do since he hadn’t been able to test since getting his engine back from Roush Performance. However, it’s looking pretty good so far with a 9.67 pass in round 1. Jimmy Wilson is in the second spot after a rowdy pass in his newly-painted ride.
Turbo Coyote
In Fluid Turbo Concepts’ Turbo Coyote, Justin Burcham is showing the way with an 8.44 at 158 mph. Burcham came close to the wall down track, but was able to stay in it. No doubt he’s looking for a 7-second pass this weekend. Burcham runs a single 85mm turbo with a ‘Glide transmission. The biggest challenge for Burcham is keeping the front end down.
