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The Ford drag racing world eagerly awaited one Street Outlaw breaking into the 6-second zone. Well, no one really expected that two racers—Dwayne Barbaree and John Urist would do it side-by-side. It was the kind of moment that only happens so often, and we were stoked to witness it.
The NMRA rolls into Maryland International Raceway and sets records under the night sky
By Steve Turner
Photos by Steve Turner and Stacy Reynolds
The sun had set. Most of the NMRA’s classes had already made their final qualifying hits. The crew at Maryland International Raceway continued its top-notch effort in preparing the surface for the forthcoming onslaught from the series’ bad boys—Street Outlaw!
After a couple of passes, the pairing that everyone had been waiting for rumbled to the starting line. It could have been the cold air or it might have been the excitement, but I think goose bumps stood up on my arms. I flashed back to the storied days of Pro 5.0 when anything could happen and records would fall at every event.
The pair entered the burnout box. Dwayne Barbaree—who had already become the first man in Street Outlaw to drop into the 6-second zone during Friday’s qualifying session—lit up the tires. John Urist, the most decorated racer in Super Street Outlaw history, smoked the tires. As the two entered the beams, the tension was at its peak.
Dwayne got the jump, but both racers dug into the sticky MIR surface and catapulted toward the stripe. Though it was only qualifying, Dwayne notched the “win,” but both he and John had carved their names into drag racing lore by clicking off identical 6.98-second runs in Street Outlaw.
The excitement didn’t stop there, as Bad Bart Tobener didn’t even need to the cool night air to put his Renegade right into the 7-second zone. That was just the kind of event it was: great weather, great track, and great racing.
While the crazy e.t.’s in the top classes stole the headlines, the event was great from top to bottom. Near and dear to the hearts of SVTPers was a great turnout of SVT rides for the various True Street classes and the headlining VMP Superchargers GT500 vs. Terminator shootout. We’ll have more coverage of the shootout soon, but for now let’s see how it went down on the MIR 1,320.
Street Outlaw
Quite simply, Phil Hines was lying in wait. It's not that he isn't a successful racer. After all, his ’01 Mustang wears a #1 on the window for a reason. He is the defending champ. However, at MIR, Phil only qualified in the fourth spot. That qualifier was a 7.05/199 blast, so he wasn’t far off the pace. Still, he laid low under the 6-second hype and just ran his race. The path was easy till the end, as Tony Alm faltered in Round 1 and Dwayne Barbaree spun the tires in Round 2. That set the stage for a clash with John Urist. Phil won the battle at the tree and the stripe to take the win.
John Urist had his mind on the ever-changing rulebook. He emblazoned his Hellion Power Systems-turbocharged coupe with the cover of Merciful Fate’s ‘Don’t Break the Oath’ album, saying it was symbolic of not changing the rules. After basking in the 6-second glory of qualifying, John also had an easy run into the finals. He eased past Daniel Pachar and Sean Ashe before running slightly off pace with a 7.17/200 pass in the final, which wasn’t enough to best Phil Hines’ 7.10/200 blast.
Though he didn’t win the race, we have to give major kudos to Dwayne Barbaree (driving Russell Stone’s 419-cube ’90 Mustang) for rocking the record books with the first 6-second pass in NMRA Street Outlaw history. A longtime NMRA warrior who has climbed his way up from the naturally aspirated gear-banging of Pure Street to the series’ top class, Dwayne and company are still refining the car’s combo, so we’ll see if the flat-black coupe can stay in the sixes as the season rages on and the weather warms.
Renegade
They don’t call him Bad Bart Tobener for no reason. The performance of his ’90 Mustang proves he’s a bad man. He teased the crowds in qualifying by putting a 7.90 on the boards, but an error on the 60-foot clocks delivered that false number. Many suspected Bart’s combo had a 7 in it, and they were right. It wasn’t much of a stretch, as he topped the qualifying sheet with an 8.02/167pass. Bart didn’t see a real challenge until the finals, when he met up with Number 2 qualifier Johnny Lightning. However, Bart followed up his 7.94 pass in Round 3 by taking the finals with an 8.02/173 pass.
Nipping right on Bart Tobener’s heels was Johnny Lightning’s 2013 Super Cobra Jet. Packing a blown Coyote underhood, this SCJ was Johnny’s birthday present to himself, and that present is paying dividends. He was hot on Bart’s trail thanks to an 8.16/168 qualifying hit that put him in the second spot. Only Tim Matherly put up a fight in the second round (8.56 vs. 8.45), so Johnny took a direct route to clash with Bart in the finals. His JLP machine got the jump, but an off-pace 8.62 wasn’t enough to take down Bad Bart.
Coyote Modified
You can’t assume the outcome of the race by looking at the qualifying sheets. That’s why they run the races. Terry ‘Beefcake’ Reeves seemed to have a steep hill to climb despite his 8.89/154 qualifying pass. That’s because the top qualifier, Frank Varela put over four tenths on him to take the top spot. The die was cast for a one-two matchup as Terry essentially had two byes into the final. There Beefcake ran consistent and true, while Frank faltered giving the win to the Vortech-blown ’11 GT.
Since this class fired up at Bradenton, Florida, Frank Varela has been the man to beat. Despite his ride being assembled just weeks before the season opener the Hellion Power Systems-turbocharged 1989 Mustang been on a tear ever since, winning both the season opener and Commerce, Georgia, events. He looked to continue that streak at MIR, as he topped the qualifying sheet with an 8.43/163 pass. After coasting by Dyno Joe Cram in the second round, he finally met his match in the finals. Frank chopped down the tree, but lost traction as Beefcake kept his foot in it for the win.
Pure Street
Sadly there were only two racers running in the storied Pure Street class, but Teddy Weaver was there to put on a show nonetheless. His ’01 Bullitt was hanging the hoops high all weekend, making it fun for all the photographers. Teddy had fun qualifying Number 1 with a stout 9.67 at 138.84 mph. He ran it like a bracket car in the finals with a 9.68/138 run, but he would get the win no matter how quickly he ran.
When there aren’t many cars in a class, you want the few competitors to field competitive efforts. That’s just what Tommy Godfrey of the JPC Racing team did. He was right on Teddy Weaver’s trail after running a 9.78/138 pass. We know Tommy can drive, so we were ready for anything to go in the inevitable final matchup. Unfortunately, Tommy knew that he needed to get the jump, and he did so a little early. The little red bulb handed the easy win to Teddy Weaver.
Coyote Stock
Coyote Stock is straight blowing up! Born to bring affordable heads-up racing to the NMRA by utilizing a sealed version of Ford Racing Performance Parts’ Coyote crate engine, the class seems to grow with each successive event. Joe Marini tore onto the Coyote scene with a turbo combo, but he has obviously adapted to the sealed-engine class. Though he qualified mid-pack, Joe drove his way past Frank Brancaccio and Charlie Rankin Jr before riding a bye-run into the final. There he chopped down the tree and woke Darin Hendricks up with it to take the win over a quicker opponent.
Another longtime NMRA racer, Darin Hendricks is running sealed Coyote power in a legit 1993 Mustang. That might offend some purists, but your author is a big fan of modern power in a vintage Fox. It appeared Darin was in the mix from the get-go, as he qualified in the Number 3 spot with a 10.61/126 pass. After a relatively easy run through the first three rounds thanks to his competitors’ troubles, Darin had his own problem in the final. He slept at the tree and let the slower Joe Marini win the race right from the jump.
Now I know I said that the qualifying rankings don’t determine the race. However, they can be a good indicator of what might happen. When Matt Amrine and Jay Dold qualified in the first and second slots, it showed us what the final round could look like. Ultimately that’s how it turned out. Matt had qualified Number 1 thanks to a 10.71/123 hit. In the final, Matt stayed in the 10.70s, running a 10.77 to edge Jay Dold for the win.
Having qualified right behind Matt Amrine with a 10.77/123, Jay Dold appeared in great shape to challenge for the victory. Before he could get there, he had to take down John Leslie Jr. and fellow 2003 Mach 1 owner, James Meredith. In the final, both Matt and Jay were a little slow on the tree, but Jay was slower and he didn’t have the beans to reel Matt in before the stripe.
Modular Muscle
As consistent as a Swiss watch, Susan McClenaghan is also deadly on the tree. She put her 9-second, propane-powered pony atop the qualifying list in the Open Comp-style Modular Muscle class with a perfect light. In eliminations, she kept throwing darts right next to the dial-in bull’s-eye, and took down Gary Windsor and Gary Parker before clashing with teammate Donnie Bowles in the final.
OK. Maybe there is something to the qualifying order after all. Just a heartbeat behind Susan McClenaghan, Donnie Bowles qualified Number 2. He too ran consistently through the competition before facing Susan in the final. There she was yet again quicker off the tree and more consistent.
Open Comp
Contrary to most of the other classes, it was the 14th qualifier that took the Open Comp class. In this class you have to run close to your dial-in like bracket racing, but you can break out by up to two tenths. Qualifying is determined by reaction time. Dennis Corn was quick on the tree and ran right on top of his 9.55 dial-in to slice his way through the field for the win in his 427ci 1988 Thunderbird.
Truck
Sure there was a lot of hubbub about the quick times in the heads-up classes, but there was other history being made at MIR. Yes, Nina Gusler became the first lady to win the truck class, and she did so in her street truck—a 2003 Lightning. Nina’s ProCharged F-150 race truck just received an Aluminator transplant and needed more fuel, so she turned to her Lightning. Sadly for her husband, Brad, she got on a roll by taking him down in the first round. She got past Jim Roberts before clashing with Randy Conway in the final. Randy nailed his dial-in, but Nina won the race just as it started with her .058 reaction time.
Randy Conway loves Open Comp-style racing. The Truck was where he had his best luck at MIR. He qualified in the sixth spot thanks to his reaction time, but ironically it was his reaction that cost him the win in the finals. Before he got there. Randy was nailing his dial-in and leaving ’em at the tree. In the finals, he nailed his dial again, but Nina Gusler grabbed the advantage at the tree and held on for the win.
Super Stang
Going against the trend of the better qualifier eventually winning the race, Miles Magoner clocked in right behind Allan Miller with a 10.75/127 run. After a first-round bye, Miles had a close call against Kent Nine before moving on to the finals to face Allan Miller. Miles left first and held his advantage till the end to take the win.
Rockin’ Allan Miller is a Super Stang stalwart. He is also the main man at BMR Suspension and he puts his product to the test in this class with a VMP TVS-supercharged 2011 Mustang GT. He qualified second with a 10.54 at 130 mph, and he took out Lloyd Mikeska and Marvin Knack on his way to face eventual champ Miles Magoner.
