All of a sudden, the NMCA has announce rule changes where the first four races establish 16 people to race in the last three races. Frankly, I’ll need to hire and interpreter and a team of lawyers to figure out what they’re saying — as I’m lost in my decyphering of what they’re trying to say.

There is a poll up now at NMCA’s site where 87% say they don’t like it, 5% say they do like it, and 8% say they’ll give it a chance. You may want to voice your opinion in that poll.

Also, it appears that they have NSS with a .400 tree. The below are the rules as of 2/21/09. There is a discussion of what this means at the NSS Forums. If you haven’t stopped by for a visit at the new photo/event/video/blog site — check it out as it is updated daily.

NMCA POINT SYSTEM 2009

The NMCA is proud to be announcing the Official 2009 NMCA Edelbrock Championship Race for the Ring Points Challenge, presented by Nitto Tire. The NMCA will be awarding Championships in 2009 in the following classes: Pro Street, Super Street, Nostalgia Pro Street, Xtreme Street, Pro Stock, Street Race, Open Comp, Late-Model EFI, Mean Street, Nostalgia Super Stock, & Nostalgia Muscle Car.

Points will be accumulated from the NMCA events using the best points totals accumulated at 6 of 7 events. At the end of the season the class champion in each of these NMCA classes will be able to proudly display the #1 permanent numbers for the entirety of the 2010 NMCA season. Competitors in each class that finish in positions 2 through 10 in points receive #2 through #10 permanent numbers for the 2010 NMCA season.

RACE FOR THE RING POINTS STRUCTURE:
NMCA has announced modifications to the NMCA Championship Points Challenge, designed to build upon the excitement and success realized by both NHRA as well as NASCAR over the past several years.

The 2009 NMCA/EDELBROCK Drag Racing Series will feature a four race regular season, followed by a three race NMCA Race for the Rings Countdown. The fields for the Race for the Rings will be set following the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal in Joliet IL on July 16-19th. The Race for the Ring will consist of the top 16 points earning racers in each class following the Super Bowl event.

Following the Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing a 100 point bonus will be awarded to every competitor who has officially teched in and earned points at all of the first four races.

After the Super Bowl and following the allocation of the 100 point perfect attendance bonus, the points leader will start the points chase. The number two points earner will be separated from the points leader by no more than150 points. The number 2-16 points earners will be separated by no more than 100 points. (See Example #1).
Example #1

**In the event that the number two points earner has earned enough points to be less than 150 points behind the top point earner the points will not be adjusted.  The same will apply for the 100 point increments for positions 2-16. (see Example #2)
Example #2

*Racer 2 is only 100 points behind Racer 1 after bonus points are awarded so racer 2 will continue to only be 100 points behind racer 1 with the adjusted points.
**Racer 4 is only 50 points behind Racer 3 after bonus points are awarded so Racer 4 will continue to only be 50 points behind racer 3 with the adjusted
The first four events of the regular season in the NMCA Edelbrock Drag Racing Series schedule will now be referred to as the Countdown to 3, with the NMCA Race for the Ring rounds beginning at the NMRA/NMCA ALL-STAR NATIONALS event scheduled for August 6 – 9 in Concord North Carolina.   The rest of the championship Raceoffs will include the NMCA MUSCLE CAR NATIONALS in Milan, Michigan on August 28 & 29 and the season ending Nitto Tire NMCA World Street Car Finals in Memphis Tennessee, October 15 – 18, 2009.  Following the conclusion of the season the remainder of the bonus points will be awarded and each competitor will be required to drop their worst race from the last three events which making it a six out-of seven Race for the Rings.

General Guidelines:
Points are awarded based on elimination rounds lost, qualifying positions for specified classes, and ET records set for specific classes. A competitor will be advanced to the next round of competition once they are declared a winner in the previous round. It will not be necessary for a competitor to participate in a losing round to be awarded points for that round.
•The only way NMCA points will be awarded for eliminations is the following:
1) Driver losses a round of racing in competition.
2) Winning an event

Points Eligibility:
In order to be awarded points in the NMCA organization the driver must be competing in a vehicle which is deemed capable of running within 3 seconds of the ET record for the class by the NMCA Technical Staff. This rule is designed to prevent the “rental car” problem of competitors attempting to gain points by running a non-competitive vehicle.

NMCA Class Racers (P/S, S/S, NPS, X/S, S/R, M/S, P/STK, NMC, NSS, EFI, & O/C) will all earn points through qualifying, eliminations, and bonus point opportunities. In all cases NMCA points will be awarded to the driver only, and cannot be transferred in any manner or form. In the event of a disqualification of either a driver or a vehicle for misconduct or non-compliance of class rules, the NMCA Director may penalize the driver by removing their points from either that event or any and all points accumulated throughout the season if necessary.

•Points will be calculated in the following manner:
Series & Event & Bonus Points
(NMCA Points Series Classes)
Racers that compete in all of the first 4 events-100 bonus points following Joliet, IL.

Racers that compete in 5 of 7 NMCA events -100 bonus points
Racers that compete in 6 of 7 NMCA events -100 additional points;
Total of 200 bonus points.
Racers that compete in 7 of 7 NMCA events -100 additional points;
Total of 300 bonus points.
The total bonus points a racer can receive will not exceed 400 points.
Establishing an official ET class record – 50 points

Points Awarded for Tech-In50 points are awarded when the driver successfully completes the tech-in process on a racecar, which complies with all class regulations, general regulations, and points regulations.

Points Awarded for Qualifying:
1st       90 points
2nd     80 points
3rd      75 points
4th      70 points
5th      65 points
6th      60 points
7th      55 points
8th      50 points
9th      45 points
10th    40 points
11th    35 points
12th    30 points
13th    25 points
14th    20 points
15th    15 points
16th    10 points
17th & more  5 points
Qualifying points will be calculated and awarded following the final round of qualifying.

Points Awarded for Eliminations
Each round loss is awarded 100 points. Winner in each class are awarded 100 points.
Example of 8 car field:
1st round loser         100 points
2nd round loser        200 points
3rd round loser         300 points
Winner                      400 points

Official NMCA ET records:
(Heads-Up Classes Only):
Points will be awarded to the “holder” of the new ET record at the conclusion of all rounds of qualifying and eliminations, only once per event. Current record holders are eligible for points for re-setting their official ET record.
If an ET record is established at an event that is dropped from the top six scoring events, the ET Record points will be dropped as well.

All ET and MPH Records will be recorded out to the third decimal (i.e. 0.000).

Rain Out/Race Cancellation Points Policy
In the event of a rain-out and/or race cancellation, any racer that has successfully completed the registration and tech-in process PRIOR to the formal announcement of race cancellation will be eligible to receive tech-in points, and will be eligible to count the race as “attended” for bonus points calculations. This “time frame” for tech-in may be adjusted, as deemed necessary, by the Competition Director depending on specific weather conditions and scheduling. In the event that one full round of qualifying is complete, qualifying points and tech points will be awarded to the racer that claims the race. In the event of race cancellation, those racers choosing to retain points from tech-in & for bonus will not be eligible for credit on their race entry/credential.

NMCA Points System:
Any contestant disqualified for mechanical non-compliance (during either an official protest or a contestant protest, commonly known as teardown) automatically loses all points for that particular event. The race will be charged to the contestant’s overall quota of races attended and the contestant will be charged with a non-replaceable “zero grade” event that will be used as one of the scored events in calculating national standings. Additional penalties may be imposed by the NMCA organization. Contestants will be notified if additional penalties are forthcoming.

Competitor Obligations:
The NMCA points will be posted following each event. It will be the responsibility of each competitor to verify the posted points following each event. Should a competitor wish to contest the posted points they shall have no more than ten days following the postings to officially contest the postings. This must be done in writing and provided to the Event Coordinator. The deadline to contest official NMCA points for the 2009 season is November 10, 2009, unless specified otherwise by NMCA.

Tie Breaker Procedures:
In the event that two competitors tie for points at the end of the racing season, the tie-breaker will be awarded to the racer who participated in the most events. If a tie still exists it will be awarded the racer that achieved the higher points total in his last event. If a tie still exists it will be awarded the racer that achieved the higher finishing position in their last event, (ex: winner, runner-up, semi-finals). If the tie still exists it will be awarded the racer that qualified in the higher position at their last event. If the tie still exists it will be decided by coin toss.

Super Bowl Shoot-Out:
2009 – SUPER BOWL PAIRINGS

NMRA            NMCA            TREE             HANDICAP
PRO               P\S                  .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

SSO                SS 10.5W      .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

REN               NPS                .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

DR                  XS                   .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

HS                  PS                   .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

RS                  SR                  .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

PS                   MS                  .4 PRO           Handicapped according to Individual competitors low elapsed time Fri. – Sun. Heads-up, NO breakout

FS                   NSS                .4 PRO           Handicapped by dial your own E.T. for F/S.Index used in NSS with breakout applying to both categories/ .5 FULL

MM                  EFI                  .5 PRO          Handicapped based on personal index used during eliminations with breakout applying

OC                  OC                  .5 PRO           Handicapped based on personal index used during eliminations with breakout applying

T & L               NMC               .5 PRO           Handicapped based on personal index used during eliminations with breakout applying
SST               TS              .5 PRO                 Handicapped by dial your own E.T.

Texas Black Magic

My Back Up Car

Texas Black Magic has been up in Frisco visiting Mark at Texas Thunder for the finishing touches with converting to be NSS legal. Pat Artis took some photos — and man the car looks good to me.

Official Texas Thunder Hood prop



New Seats and shifter plates for the footbrake automatic (I hope I can remember how to drive one) transmission




New hood and scoop




Fuel System plumbed




Cable operated linkage



The view we will want to show at the line — the nuts even got a Texas Thunder Checker job



Waiting to go to the track next Friday



The photos have my watermark because they’re on my site and there’s a bug in the program when I ask to not watermark. They were taken by Pat Artis and are her copyrighted property.

Mark — the car looks great and I’m stoked. That car has never looked as good as it does now.

Remember to check out the NSS-Racin photo/video/event/blog site at www.nssracing.ning.com

2009 NSS Events

The site listing all of the NSS events for 2009 is at www.nssracing.ning.com. Anyone who is registered (and all NSS Racers should be) can list a NSS Event — along with their track photos and videos. The events don’t even have to be races — if you have a club dinner, awards dinner or any other type of NSS Event — please list it.

I’ve gotten the ball rolling by listing the 7 NMCA events plus the Mopars at the Strip. However, I know that there are people with an interest in the Monster Mopar, and NSS/NMC race in Dallas in April, a NSS Race in Alabama that was scheduled the same day as the Monster, all of the Classics, the 422 races, the Goodguys Races, and the two Nostalgia races in Kansas City.

I set up the site up for all to participate in the uploading of the events, videos, and track photos — and not for me to have to do it all. I encourage those who might have a stake in a particular NSS event to quickly list that event so you lose less in a date conflict — and for all racers to use this site to see all of the NSS Events listed in chronological order — as there are a few date conflicts again this year.

I’ve gone to great lengths to promote this site with magazines and the NMCA — who have promised to feature the site; and with Google. Do a search for “Nostalgia Super Stock” and you will see that the sites I’ve set up are steadily climbing to the top. This site will be the one-stop place to see the entire year’s NSS Racing Events, track photos and videos. In the last couple of days, another 100 photos have been uploaded as a dozen or so videos. Some new racer adds a new photo, event, or video (or a comment to another driver’s page) — so you ought to consider regular visits.

Also, the 100 photos with the most stars votes are the photos used in the photo show. Anyone (not just members) can embed the photo show on their web site — and many have so far. I suggest you vote on your ten to 25 favorite photos — to ensure they’re included in the photo show.

Again, there are three parts to the NSS-Racing.com Community:

• The News site
• The Forum and the
• Event, Photo, and Video site

If you haven’t yet registered with the forum and Event/Photo/Video site — I encourage you to do so, and to invite those NSS racers you don’t yet see in the membership.

I was up to Texas Thunder last week to pick up the Big Red Ram — after having some year end upgrades done to it, and to drop off the Black Coronet as a back up car for the events I’m running this year. It was also a good time for my new Crew Chief/Shop Rat to be introduced to the guys up in Frisco.

While there, I shot a couple of photos of the 60 Plymouth wagon that I’ll be racing in 2010 — and discussed with Mark fiberglass fenders, hood, deck and bumpers; paint; and the engine going into the car. The transmission/shifter is the one that just came out of the Red Coronet. Below are a couple of photos.