With the news that the NMRA had decided to resurrect the high-winding naturally-aspirated Pure Street class, while the NMCA had decided to do away with the Mean Street class, Brandon Alsept knew it was time to make a move. The Ohio-based racer has been champion of both classes in the past, but his roots were on the Ford side, where he competed for a number of years before Pure Street went away at the end of the 2012 season. 

Enter former Pure Street competitor “Farmer” Steve Gifford and his Four-Valve Modular, Bischoff Engine Service-built powerplant, which won the Mean Street title between the framerails of Brian Campbell’s machine in 2013. Alsept’s own Mean Street-winning Two-Valve powerplant was hurt, and Gifford’s piece was just hanging around as Campbell is headed in a different direction this year, so the decision was made for Alsept and Gifford to team up and head back to Pure Street for the 2014 season. 

“With NMRA bringing the class back it felt like the right move. The NMRA has always been home, and I’ve never raced anywhere else that I get the same feeling as I do while at NMRA,” says Alsept. With sponsorship on board from ACT Clutch, Dynojet, and Mod Motor Mustangs, he’ll be taking his best shot at the revived class with plenty of help.

Not only will Alsept be driving in Pure Street and gunning for the championship, he’s also the crew chief on Derek Kernodle’s NMRA Coyote Stock entry at the same time. “I will be stepping into more of a consultation/Crew Chief role for the Coyote Stock car. We have great hopes of getting plenty of laps with Derek behind the wheel to get him going rounds this season.”

In addition, Brandon and wife Danielle welcomed their first child (and future NMRA hotshoe) Jackson Lee Alsept to the world in the beginning of January, so he expects the season to be a busy one. “I am learning more and more every day that time is a very precious thing, and there is never enough of it. I expect some challenges to present themselves throughout the year,” he says.