All Ford Fun: The 2020 NMRA Season Preview

The 2020 NMRA season is upon us and racers and fans are ready to show off their blue oval pride once again at events across the country. With a wide range of activities on tap at every event, there’s plenty to check out at each of the six NMRA tour stops this year. All roads ultimately lead to Bowling Green, Kentucky once again, where champions will be crowned at the 22nd Annual All-Ford World Finals & Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival.

After a long winter, the NMRA has awakened and is headed back to Bradenton Motorsports Park to kick off its season with the 26th Annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout. This event is the longest-running on the NMRA tour and always has a large turnout of racers in every class. It will also be the first event where the NMRA series shows off its new title sponsor Holley.

Mike Galimi from the NMRA explains what you can expect to see at the Spring Break Shootout this year.

“Our Spring Break Shootout will contain the special shootout of the same name, the quickest 16 cars from QA1 True Street’s final results that are entered in a heads-up race. We are also rolling forward with the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout at this event. This race pulls the quickest eight cars from QA1 True Street that use a clutch and they will run off a staggered start under a no break-out type of format. Other classes that will be contested at the event include the Hellion Turbo Battle and Mickey Thompson Cobra/Terminator vs. GT500 Shootout. Also returning for Spring Break Shootout is NMRA After-Hours, which will feature a Florida N/T 28/275 class, a Street Car Shootout, plus BoostedGT returns to the NMRA with an appearance at the event.”

When all of the smoke has cleared from the Spring Break Shootout, the NMRA will be ready to settle into its season-long routine of traveling to the best venues in the country to put on events. The NMRA will be visiting the same tracks again in 2020, however, there will be some tweaks to several events.

“The NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals will not only combine the two sanctioning bodies under one roof, but also feature our special inter-series competitions, like the Sealed Stock Shootout, Open Comp Rivalry Race, Street Outlaw Rivalry Race, and some other highlights. The NMRA Gateway Rumble and NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals are both three-day events with move-in/testing on Thursday, and Friday/Saturday for qualifying followed by eliminations, with no racing on Sunday. The shorter schedule will make it easier for racers when it comes to travel, time away from family, and work. The NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing continues in its same format,” Galimi explains.

Beech Bend Raceway Park will once again hose the NMRA All-Ford World Finals & Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival October 1-4. The finals will be about more than drag racing: the NMRA is going to pack tons of Ford fun all into one weekend at Bowling Green.

“We anticipate even more growth this year with the return of the usual NMRA line-up plus the Ford Fest activities, with Vaughn Gittin Jr, Chelsea DeNofa, BigFoot, amateur drifting, and the massive auto-cross competition. Additionally, we expect an even larger turnout in the car show area and the same great championship drag racing that NMRA has brought there for the last two decades,” Galimi states.