Welcome To The Jungle with the NMCA Super Series

NMCA Super Series Action From Salem, Ohio

By Rod Short

When Guns n' Roses sang, "Welcome to the Jungle," there's little doubt that they could have been talking about the gridlock that affects almost every American municipality. With stalled traffic, rude drivers and sorry roads, it's no wonder that road rage is running out of control. Maybe that's one reason why the NMCA Super Series was has been such a hit, with performance enthusiasts looking for an opportunity to hang it all out.

Series points leader Todd Merkel was the quickest qualifier in EFI with a 10.02 from his 383ci '86 Firebird, but fell in round two when his off-the-pace 10.83 was not enough to hold back Andy Thompson's '89 Mustang. Thompson then fell in the semifinals to Clarence Harding, who was the defending champ from the previous season. Harding saw this as an opportunity to get back into the point's race in a big way, but broke out with a 10.91 on an 11.00 index in a losing effort to Jim Breese who ran closer to his index to win the event.

Street Eliminator saw a wide variety of entries at Salem with everything from a Boss 429 Mustang worth about $60 grand to the NMCA Chaplain in a low budget '85 Camaro. Laurie Claeys was the class of the field, however, despite her paltry 16.21 second qualifying time. That didn't seem to hold her back, though, as she came on during eliminations in her 307-powered Hurst Olds to win it all over Keith Seymore in a double breakout final round.

Nostalgia Muscle Car eliminator saw a strong field of 21 cars at Salem with Scott Wright's '73 Duster being the newest car of the bunch. In the semifinals, Ryan Bush ran a great 15.01 on a 15.00 dial-in at 90.73 mph to defeat John King. Mike Walker, from nearby Akron, advanced into the finals with a bye run. Walker went on to win the event title with an 11.03 on an 11.00 dial-in, but Bush was the big winner as he made a huge jump up to third in NMCA points.

In turned out to be the pivotal race of the year for Dan Forcucci, who laid claim to his second consecutive BFGoodrich Traction Advantage title with a win at Salem. Forcucci grabbed a huge come from behind win over his closest rival when he beat Jim Filipowski in the first round of eliminations. Forcucci then went on to defeat another contender in Dave Rudisell in the final round when Rudisell redlighted. With that win, Forcucci essentially wrapped up the season title (if he makes the final two races of the season).

In other action, Bruce Lagory continued his perfect season in Real Street with another payday winning over Bruce Maichle. Brian Merrick extended his point's lead in Nostalgia Super Stock over John Gifford when he took his 427-powered T-Bolt to the final round. Hometown rival Jeff Day won the race at Salem, however, with an 11.02 on an 11.00 class index. EZ Street saw Bob Curran break a deadlock in the season-long title race with Phil Hines when Hines was upset in the first round by Dave Laurer. Curran went on to win the event title over Laurer with an 8.56 at 160.73 mph.

Kurt Urban continued his rebound from a crash earlier in the season, at Atlanta, by qualifying number one at Salem with an 8.40 at 156.81 mph but lost in the semifinals to Jim Widener. That victory sent Widener on to the finals where he met Mike Libecap. While Libecap had been to several final rounds in 2002, Widener made his first appearance one to remember by winning the event. In Hot Street, Tim Davis completed a comeback of his own when he won. Davis had been one of the biggest stars in this class prior to a serious two-car crash suffered at Rockingham early in 2001. In Super Mod, Jim Huber continued to add to his legacy and win totals with another victory over upstart Joel O'Donnell while Charlie Booze, Jr. won the Pro Nostalgia title over brother Brian Booze.

In the quicker and faster classes, Super Street saw one of its strongest fields of the season. Elias Dellatorre continued his quest to win dual championships in NMCA and Fun Ford by qualifying first again with a 7.67 at 185.79. Doug Smith, Randy Lambert, Jason Enos and Sandro Sementelli left better known names such as Nick Scavo, Mike Yedgarian, Bobby Bamman and Mark Enwia further down the ladder. By the time the finals rolled around, Doug Smith was the sole survivor left to face Dellatorre. While there's little doubt that all money was on Dellatorre to win, few had noticed that Smith had been cutting the best reaction times all day. That continued on into the final round and it proved to be the margin of victory as Smith won with a 7.70 to Dellatorre's quicker 7.66 elapsed time.

Nostalgia Pro Street saw a dramatic turn of events as title challenger Darrell Thomas was upset in the first round by Tony Butts, which left the door open to the championship for Dale Pittman who went on to win the event. Pittman left Salem with a 38-point lead in the title race. In Pro Outlaw Street, Marc Dantoni overcame a crash suffered, the week before, in match race action to win over Atlanta winner Lawrence Conley. Pat Musi won in Pro Street over Tony Gentile to complete a sweep for Team New Jersey.