2013 NMRA Street Outlaw champion Phil Hines

In just a few short weeks, we’ll be heading to Bradenton, Florida, to check out the 20th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout held each year at Bradenton Motorsports Park, one of the most active dragstrips in the world.

As the first event in the NMRA season, the Spring Break Shootout is traditionally where we get to see all of the cars that have been revamped in the off-season, plus the new players that are making their first attempt at running the national Ford-only drag racing series.

This year, the NMRA will show off six heads-up racing classes – one of which, Coyote Modified, is brand-new, and another, Pure Street, that is making its return to the series after a one-season layoff. The chase for the Nitto Tire Diamond Tree rings kicks off March 6-9 and is expected to see a solid turnout in all of the NMRA’s classes.

Street Outlaw

The crown jewel in the NMRA’s cap, the Afco Racing Street Outlaw class, saw a new champion last year – longtime player Phil Hines took home his first-ever title after a fantastic season that saw him set the class record and run super-consistent all year long. Other players sure to be on the property are John Urist and Sean Ashe, two racers that gave Hines a run for his money in 2013. In fact, Ashe won the Street Outlaw championship in the NMRA’s sister series, the NMCA.

2013 NMCA Street Outlaw champion Sean Ashe

Dwayne Barbaree and Jason Lee will also be there, Lee with a brand-new car sporting the same Vortech supercharger he ran last season. And who can forget The ModFather, Ronnie Diaz? Diaz is making an all-out push to win the championship in Street Outlaw this season after an off-season regimen that found his familiar black New Edge car getting a complete revamp at the hands of noted chassis builder Chris Acors. Will the weather be conducive to 7-flat passes? Ashe turned one in at the MIR stop on the tour last season, and we have to believe with another off-season of time in the program there will be plenty of other racers chasing that mark as well.

Renegade

Brian Mitchell (near lane/Alton Clements (far lane)

Although Brian Mitchell put his multi-time championship-winning Edelbrock Renegade machine up for sale over the winter, our reports are that he’ll be back in NMRA action in 2014 trying to secure yet another class championship. But Adam Arndt might have something to say about that – the relative newcomer to the class made a strong push for the title last season with a number of solid performances in his GT.

Familiar racers Tim Matherly and Jim Breese will also be in attendance, as will the Clements family with Alton’s blue notch and Valerie’s ’05 machine. We’ve also heard that Massachusetts math teacher and dark horse candidate Jim Coger has been working hard with the Dez Racing boys to get his machine lined out for Renegade competition. The Renegade class has always been one of our favorites, as these guys (and gal) have made the most of street-oriented parts over the years and always put on a great show.

Coyote Modified Debuts

New for the 2014 season is the Diablosport Coyote Modified class presented by 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, which is also based around street-style superchargers, small-frame turbochargers, and up to two stages of nitrous oxide. Coyote Modified has a cubic-inch limit of 305 using Ford’s Coyote engine, forcing these competitors to try to get the most out of the least in terms of parts. Nitrous competitors are permitted up to two stages of nitrous, roots-supercharged competitors can use up to a 2.3L supercharger like the RoushCharger, VMP Superchargers piece, Edelbrock E-Force, and more. Twin-screw competitors are permitted a 2.9L supercharger, and we’re expecting to see elapsed times drop into the mid-eight-second range over the course of the season if not at the first event.

Pure Street Returns

Back for its second go-round with the NMRA is the naturally-aspirated ACT Pure Street class, which has a number of changes instituted for the season. The cubic-inch-limited class features both pushrod power and Modular Ford power, with the 2V, 3V, and 4V Modular engine securing different weight breaks.

Pure Street player Brandon Alsept

In terms of changes, the competitors are now permitted the use of real drag-race style transmissions like the G-Force G101A and GF4A along with the Liberty LCS5000 and Jerico DR4. In years past, the transmission was always the weak link in Pure Street, and we’re expecting to see elapsed times solidly in the 9’s by most competitors now that the weak link has been addressed. With the NMCA’s Mean Street class going away, we expect to see all of those class-legal competitors like Brandon Alsept, Jimmy Wilson, and Teddy Weaver making their triumphant return to the NMRA in the high-winding, wheelstanding class.

Factory Hot Rods

Factory Stock champ Matt Amrine

Last year, Matt Amrine took home his first Nitto Tire Factory Stock championship, and had a pretty solid grip on the class by the end of the season, but Will John Leslie, Jr. finally take home the Factory Stock ring he’s been chasing since the NMRA’s inception?

Or will his sister Sondra step up to knock him off his game? And we can’t forget Matt Williams, who took home the runner-up cash at two events last year. Factory Stock also received a few rules changes designed to make the class more competitive, and it’s anyone’s game in 2014 by our count. The Mickey Thompson ET Street’s inclusion into the rules will make a big difference in performance.

Coyote Stock Keeps Growing

The list of racers coming to Strange Engineering Coyote Stock includes a long and distinguished list of past NMRA champions and heavy hitters – Carlos Sobrino, Darin Hendricks, Mark Anderson, Doug Johnson, Chalie Rankin, and many more have all decided to take the leap into Ford drag racing’s hottest heads-up eliminator. Joe Charles spent the off-season completely rebuilding his 2012 championship car from top to bottom, with nearly every item on the car replaced save for the engine.

Coyote Stock champ Shane Stymiest

And we’re sure that 2013 class champ Shiftin’ Shane Stymiest and number-two Jacob Lamb haven’t been sitting around all winter on their thumbs. We’ve even heard rumors of four-time Factory Stock champ Tommy Godfrey throwing his hat in the ring. Whoever shows up in Florida, it’s going to be a hell of an event. StangTV.com will be there – will you?