There’s a reason that we don’t run cars on paper, and that’s because an infinite numbers of variables come into play on a racetrack.

Jason Lee, the perennial favorite and dominating force in the NMRA Drag Radial category, had qualified No. 1 with a new series and personal best 7.37 that was more then two tenths ahead of the next closest qualifier and, by all measures, has the race in the bag.

But apparently, someone forgot to tell that to Brian Tuten.

The Lexington, S.C. racer, whose ’91 Ford Mustang was built by Dave Zimmerman and company at Team Z Motorsports, qualified No. 4 at a respectable 7.74 and used consistency rather than the ‘wow’ factor to press through eliminations. Tuten recorded a 7.69 in round one to turn away Keith McLaughlin and a 7.70 to defeat Andrew Willingham in round two to advance his way into the final.

Lee, meanwhile, had only stepped up his game, recording new national record laps of 7.369 and 7.361 during the first two rounds. This seemed to be Lee’s race, but once again, someone forgot to tell Brian Tuten.

In the final round runoff, Tuten grabbed a slight advantage out of the gate in his burgandy-colored Fox body and kept a nose out on Lee all the way to the strip, clicking off his best run of the weekend at 7.65 to Lee’s right-there 7.66. Running them on paper wouldn’t be near as exciting,

Tuten’s potent Mustang features a Team Z Motorsports 25.5 chassis, with a Team Z chromoly K-member, A-arms, upper and lower control arms and anti-roll bar, along with a Team Z-fabbed 8.8 rear housing with IC lower brackets.

To browse the Team Z Motorsports catalog or to learn more about the services that they offer, log on to teamzmotorsports.net.