The following is a summary of what happened with the NSS class at the NMCA race in Milan this past weekend. For more details — visit the forum — where a thread for Milan race was created and posted to by some of the people who attended. If you attended and would like to add your comments on the race — please do so.

The track opened at about 10AM on Friday. Time trials started at 3PM — and NSS cars were allowed up to three TT passes before 6PM.

26 NSS cars attended — but one had a wreck. Jack Nelson had “Cracklin Jack” make its fastest ever (since he built the car ten years ago) pass at 10.07 for the first Time Trial. However in the second Time Trial the car got into its own coolant (the cap was found mid track) at the top of the track and turned into the wall tearing up the front right corner including the right side of the steering. Jack tried to take it off the wall but the steering brought it back into the wall — pancaking the entire right side. He rode the wall until the car came to the stop. He hit with such force that the seat was cocked to the center and his shoulder were very sore when the car finally stopped. Sadly Jack was looking to sell the car, truck, trailer, and golf cart (to me) — but wanted to make one last Hurrah in it. The car is pretty well damaged (I’ll post photos on he forum later) and the package might be the right deal for someone. Contact Jack if you’re interested.

The first Qualifying pass for NSS started at about 7:15PM.

Saturday was blue skies and between 75-85. Actually that was the weather for the whole weekend — with it dipping to the 50s at night.

The second qualifying occurred at about 10:30am. Final qualifying was to have been at 3:30, but attendance was light — so the NMCA announced that there would be a bonus 4th Qualifying added at 2:30 — so we all got 4. First time I’ve seen it happen since I started running NMCA in 2007.

Well almost all of us got four qualifying passes. Scotty Jiles did another of his monster wheel stands and pancaked the  oil pan, pickup and round bearings. He was running to Mancinni to get parts for the 3rd and 4th Qualifying.

The below is the 3rd round qualifying — we never saw the 4th.

The tree (below) was established and the first round began at 9AM sharp on Sunday.

Fast Forward — Brian Merrick won the event and it looks like Doug Duell is so far in 1st that he’s got a lock on the 2010 Championship before the St. Louis race is even run.

Speaking of St. Louis, don’t forget to check out the story of the Future of Gateway.

Again — there is more detail and opinions on the forum. Don’t forget to add yours.

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NMCA Points For NSS After Zmax

Click here for free Milan spectator tickets to print for your friends.

Kurt Neighbor’s Yellow Mercury was featured as the promo for the Milan Race.

Look for the Newsletter Registration in the sidebox if you’re interested in receiving a NSS Newsletter 8 times a year.

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It is 5:30PM Friday and we’ve had 2 Time Trials, and the first Qualifying. The next Qualifying is fixin to happen.

Some updates:

We got here at 5PM Wednesday and they parked us at Lowe’s Motor Speedway parking for the night. After a night of moderate drinking (with just my two sons as no one else spent the night) they let us on the track at noon or so Thursday.

We teched the cars and got them in the trailer before the sky opened up.

Scott Sparrow who is the editor of the NMCA/NMRA magazines is a pretty good friend. My youngest son Justin is into photography — and spent $7500 for a camera. That’s about 3 times what his car is worth lol

Anyway, Justin (20 years old) isn’t into racing, but since he is going into the Air Force soon — I wanted him to come with Dallas and I for this race. He was game when I told him it would be a photo opportunity. I asked Scott if he’d acquire Justin a Media apron and give him a 20 minute “how to photo drag race cars” lecture — and let him photo on the line. At first Scott thought I might be looking to have him baby sit — was a little leery — but I convinced him that Justin would be OK and not jump onto the track nakid — and so he was game. Then it looked like they might be short photographers — so Scott was more motivated. I haven’t seen Justin in 8 hours — except to photo cars when I come to the line. It looks like he’ll have a lot of experience when this is over.

Back to cars — Dallas’ car can’t do the 9.75 in the 93 degree heat and bad air so we put a A/NSS on the car. He’s the top qualifyer after the first round — with a 10.01. Doug Duell is right there with him. Actually — not sure which of them is 1 and which is 2.

My car did at 11.029 this morning and then I bumped the timing up and it did a 11.026 in hotter weather. In the first qualifying it did a 11.065 — so I unbolted 50 pounds and added 2.5 gallons of gas. It should be about 5 degrees cooler for the next qualifying — so I might be OK.

There are 17 NSS cars here — but the other classes are real light. I’ll update later.

http://nostalgiadragracers.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nss&thread=259&page=1

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Points Revised

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Joliet NSS Report

Artist Rendition of Me When A Tube Blew In My Slick

By: Dave Schultz ~ July 19, 2010

This particular race is called the Superbowl, because the NMCA and the NMRA both compete at this event — and the winners in NMCA and the winners of NMRA become teams — and are matched up in a NMCA vs. NMRA showdown. The winning team members get a Superbowl ring.

The Schultz family left on Tuesday, July 13th at 10:30 AM and arrived at the Staging Area at Chicagoland at 5PM Wednesday — Second in line in back of Barry Camp. After a night of 12oz curls with Barry, DW, and others — we all called it a night at about midnight.

They started shuffling us in at about 1PM on Thursday. It was about 3PM by the time we got set up, registered, and teched in my 63 Savoy and Dallas' 65 Coronet. Doug Duell finally got through the gate at about 5PM, and we kept him company while he got in the hour+ long line to tech his car in. Afterward we put the cars away and grilled up some Italian sausage, and onions/peppers for our little group.

Friday the was two time trials and two qualifying runs — with racing going on until past 11 PM. Saturday had the final qualifying session in the morning and the first round of eliminations in the late afternoon. The tree and round by round  recap can be found here.

In my 1st ron of elimination, a tube in my slick blew about 100' before the finish line. I was able to run the number — but crossed the line 500 RPM higher, 5 MPH lower, and the feeling I was about to loose a wheel at 125MPH. Details here.

Sunday morning had  threat of storm coming in at 11AM — so they rushed everyone to the line earlier than expected — to beat the storm. I and virtually everyone else in NSS using a weather station was made to believe the air was technically better than the previously evening — and most of us lost the 2nd round from bolting in too much weight.

We were packed p and went through the gate Sunday at 11AM — and arrived home (1200 miles later) at 6:30AM Monday. I can tell you that Russ Berens won NSS — and NMRA won the Superbowl. For more of the details — click here.

The NMCA uses a Socialized Points system — and points are to be recalculated after this Joliet race.

Currently (after Maple Grove as it takes a couple of weeks for the NMCA to update) Douglas Poskevich is blowing everyone out — and you can throw a blanket over Kurt Neighbor #2, Barry Camp #3, Doug Duell #4, I #5, and Geary Bates #6. Geary and Barry didn't make it to the second round, and Kurt will get 100 less bonus points than the rest of us for missing Bradenton. So I suspect that Barry and Kurt might move down a rank and Doug and I might move up a rank — but we're all so close that Joliet qualifying will come into play; and I really don't know where everyone qualified. I know I was #10 and Doug was #2  of 26 NSS racers that showed — but I don't know where Barry and Kurt qualified at Joliet. When the NMCA calculates the points after Joliet's rounds and qualifying — and adds the attendance bonus — they put the second place racer 150 points behind the first — and everyone else down the ladder 100 points behind the driver ranked one above them. RULES.

Now while this NMCA/NMRA Superbowl was going on — I know that the Chrysler Classics and Schneider's series had many of the NSS drivers racing. If any other racer ever wants to submit an edited and ready to post recap of NSS racing at an event — please use the Contact form to email me that text, and let me know if you have photos.

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NMCA’s Route 66 2010 Report

Link to Joliet 2010 Report

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Maple Grove NSS Report

By: Dave Schultz ~ June 8, 2010

The Schultz family left on Wednesday, June 2nd at 9:30 AM and arrived at the track at 7PM Thursday. We spent the night in the staging area outside the track. We bought the Vitamin C (63 Savoy) in a single trailer — as the black 65 Coronet that Dallas was going to campaign still won't run — and we'd run out of time.

The gates opened at about 10AM, and we quickly got set up, established driver credentials, and tech'd the car in. At 3PM they opened the track to Time Trials. On my first and only TT pass — the car did  a 11.170 with the same 160 pounds that was bolted in from Bowling Green. The car was running the number at Bowling Green — but the air was horrible (about 4500') at Maple Grove. Both Doug Duell and Barry Camp moved up to C/FX as their cars couldn't do a B/FX number. Many of the cars bumped to one slower number. Worse yet for me was that the car was leaking water badly as I returned to the pits.

The water was coming from the left side of the block — which put a lump in my throat. Closer inspection found it was coming from the left center steel freeze plug of the 413's block. We drained the coolant and filled the plug with blue Permatex –as that's all we could find. We were hosed for any more TT and the first round of qualifying was to start at 7PM. We did unbolt 80 pounds from the left side (I'm a "Full-Figured" guy so we were heavy on the left side as it was).

When they called NMC (NSS Generally follows next) to the lanes, we filled the radiator with water — and it leaked just as bad. I made the quick decision that I needed to be counted as being there (after 3200 miles travel to/from the race) and that I should be counted Friday night — as there was a 40% chance of rain Saturday and Sunday. I drained the water, started the car cold and coasted to the top of the lanes. I waited towards the end of NSS to let the car be as cold as possible and then coasted downhill to the burnout box and started the car up there. I did a quick and light burnout, made an easy 11.09 pass, and it shut down at the top. Dallas towed me back to the pits in Barry Camp's (who is dogging me for $100 to use it) ATC. The car is an iron head car and I felt sure I didn't hurt anything as the car was stone cold when I did the burnout, and the temp gauge (albeit there was no water to measure) didn't exceed 200 degrees. The .09 had me 9 of 17 cars.

Kurt Neighbor had some emery paper, and "Mr. 4-Speed" Marty had some JB Weld. Dallas sanded the inside of the freeze plug and found a pinhole right at the edge of the sides and bottom, and pushed in some JB into it, then a thick smear in that area of the plug — before putting the car away for the night. Andy Warren and his father tried to find a rubber adjustable plug on the way to the motel — but all auto parts stores were closed.

In the morning we pushed the car out of the trailer and filled with water while crossing fingers. No Leak. Dallas took the car for its morning warm up and got the water to 170 before returning — no leaks. I borrowed a 6 pound cap from Fred Rager. Two hours later (all of which I spent in a lawn chair staring at the ground under the engine) we were called to the line for Q2 — still no leaks. I did a 11.05 — which had me in 8th of 17. No leaks when I returned to the pits from Q2. The 3rd Qualifying occurred at about 7PM Saturday — and I managed a 11.02, putting me 8th of 17.

On the above Qualifying, Kurt and Barry swapped — with Barry being the actual top qualifier on the sheet revised in the AM. Barry had his .003 first, but the computer initially put Kurt in the Top position for a faster MPH. MPH doesn't count in NSS — the first with the same low number does. In the First Round of Eliminations.

• I was paired with Scott Griffith for the first round, and he couldn't make the call — so I got the BYE. Still no leak!

• Doug Duell won over "Mr. 4-Speed" Marty

• Rager over the "Princess of Speed"

• Bates over DiMino Sr.

• Scotty Jiles over DiMino Jr.

• Kurt over his bud Skippy

• Poskovitch over Louis Popp (don't know him) in a red black Coronet

• Gary Beemer over Hoblick

• Barry Camp with the bye

In the second round:

• Schultz over Jiles

• Poskovitch over Duell

• Bates over Camp

• Rager over Beemer

• Neighbors had the Bye

In the third round, the winner of Bates and I would get a Bye to the final. I choked! For the entire event I had very good RTs (.070 the worse) — but I red lit (first time in this car, and first time in almost a year) after staging too deep. I had been staging deep because this car reacts slower than my 4-speed car — and I want to leave at the same time on the lights as I normally do. The "All Ford" Semis had Neighbor over Posovitch and Bates with the Bye.

Neighbors' Mercury took the win over Bate's 67 Failaine.

This race had a very light turnout for all classes. Despite 422 again scheduling an event the same time NMCA is in the area (many say this isn't an accident – but I'm so far away from the NE that it doesn't affect me) NSS and OC were the only two classes to come up with more than ten cars. Speculation in the pits reasoned that the track is too long of a haul for most; the forecasted weather (although we were only down for a couple of hours — a recent NMCA record) had many stay home; the combination of Bradenton going to Monday, Bowling Green cancelled (along with the forecast) have many throwing in the towel for 2010; or that the first four races mean nothing for the points chase — or a combination or two/more.

For NSS, Chicago is scheduled the same time as the Chrysler Classics — so you can expect even fewer Mopars. Then one of Schneider's races (Cordova?) is scheduled the same time as Milan — and last year that siphoned off quite a few Mopars. NSS is getting to be a Ford thing with NMCA lately. We (Mopar guys) were outnumbered again this race.

This race report is obviously through my eyes. I am more than willing to post any of the reports of others on a Nostalgia Drag Racing class. The best thing to do it to document the chain of events to the race on the appropriate forum by creating a new thread like I did in the NSS Forum: http://nostalgiadragracers.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nss&action=display&thread=188 that anyone can post to — and then post a summary after event has ended. I'll then cut and paste it to the Nostalgia Drag Racers site.

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Today it was announced on the NMCA site that the Bowling Green race canceled last weekend will not be rescheduled for 2010. Severe damage to the track and scheduling conflicts were given as the reason. The Point’s championship will now be the best 6 of 6 races.

Visit the NMCA web site at http://www.nmcadigital.com/ for other details.

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The following is a recap of the event from my perspective. Please feel free to post yours.

Neither my or my son’s 65 Coronets were ready in time for the Bradenton race, so we came in a pick up and enclosed trailer with the backup car — and I was the driver.

We left for the 1100 mile trip on Wednesday before noon, and spent the night between Tallahassee and Lake City at around midnight. Back on the road at 8AM Thursday morning — arriving at the track at about 1PM to drop the trailer. Stuck around for a couple of beers — and then off to the hotel at about 8PM.

Up early, made a cereal run for Doug Duell and at the track at about 10AM. Teched the car in and after I sat in the car for the first time — I found that the seat belts were too small and the seat too high. I was able to buy a set of belts from Barry Camp — and had to slide down the seat anf have a "Gansta Lean" for the weekend — until I can cut down the seat mount a couple of inches.

There were 10 NSS racers. Doug Duell (Drag’n Wag’n), Doug Poskevich (66 blue-green Fairlaine), Barry Camp (Pig – 66 Chevy), the High Voltage 63 Plymouth, Steve Wilson’s 65 Chevelle, a tan 64 Chevy, a blue-green 66 Chevy, DW Hopkins and his Thunderbolt, a maroon Thunderbolt, and my Vitamin C 63 Plymouth. Unexpectedly missing was Skip Koester, Kurt Neighbor, and the three Dark Horse cars.

This was the first time I’d even sat in the backup car. I was told by the person I bought it from to launch it at 4500 and shift at 6800. In my first TT pass I did that and had a 10.89 on my 11-second index. I decided to short shift it at 6500 and I got a time ticket saying 10.81. Puzzled, I decided I’d soft launch at 2000 and shift at 6000. That got me my best 60′ (so much for the launching at 4500) and the time slip said 10.7! TT was done for the day.

Doug Duell had a new motor in the wagon — and was trying different sets of carbs. One set would give a monster wheelstand and 9.4s and the other set would bog on the launch — but give faster time slips. He went back to the monster wheelstand set.

Saturday we got up at 6AM and was at the track at 7:30. There was no way to legally put weight in the car — so I decided I’d have to lift. I launched at 2000, shifted at 6000 and lifted at about 1200′. I got a 10.83 slip (air was better). DW had problems with his car in the first round and found he either has a wiped cam — or bad lifters.

For the second qualifying pass a black 69 Dart GTS showed, pulled off the open trailer and ran a 11.000 on his 11.0 index. He’d obviously be the top qualifier. I took a bunch out of my throttle cable, launched at 2000, shifted at 6000, lifted at 1200 and got a 10.89.

Really starting to get annoyed, I took a bunch more out of the throttle cable — making it far from WOT. For the final qualifying I was determined I’d not breakout! I launched at 2000, shifted at 6000, and lifted at 1100′. I would have guessed a 11.4 slip — but it said 10.91!

That made me the worst of the 11 in qualifying — giving me Doug Duell for Round One.

Sunday morning up early and at the track at 7:30. It looked like rain and I was hoping to get the first round out of the way — as I knew all odds were against me, so I might as well get on the road early. It was too late to try to jack with timing — so I would just have to tree Doug and lift earlier (I was already deep staging). Doug and I agreed we’d pull out immediately when called — to be the first pair, trying to beat the rain. I was starting to feel good as there was a good head wind that would slow me down enough and hopefully Doug too much. We get in the staging lanes — and the clocks screwed up. By the time they got it fixed — it started raining. We put the cars in the trailers and waited for announcements. at noon they said they’d announce something at 3:30. At 2:30 they announced that we were done for the day — but they’d carry over on Monday.

Back to town to try to find a room, then back to get Doug and Mr. Aruba for dinner — and for them to get supplies from Wally World.

Monday the weather is great — but the pits were swamps. We line up and I figured Doug would figure I’d break out. I was able to get a better tree by .030 — and I went like Hell and then hit the brakes at the 1100′ (Doug was a second and half faster). Doug saw my front dive too soon and he lifted in time. He did a 9.52 and I did a 11.19.

I’m on the trailer and heading north and west. The GTS had a bye, as did Barry as he was lined up against DW who couldn’t make the call. The other winners were the green Chevy, Poskevich, and I don’t know who the 6th car was (but it wasn’t Wilson or High Voltage). The green Chevy took out Doug, and Poskevich took out Camp. The three remaining cars were the GTS, the Green Chevy and the 66 Fairlaine. I don’t know who had the Bye — but the finals had the GTS on the trailer and Poskevich winning in a double breakout over the Chevy.

I drove all night, got to the shop at 3AM, and then to my lake house at 5:30AM. No sleep as I can’t sleep in daylight.

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The Great 2010 NMCA Rule Controversy

It all started on the evening of January 12th — when I'd noticed a post on the NMCA forum about rule changes. This had caught me by surprise as I'd thought the rules had been announced finalized once already — and so I clicked the link.

To my surprise, I noted four changes of note:

First – 59-64 Chevys now allowed to run the 396-427 Rat Motors. I felt that to be a pretty major deal that not only would change history of the ratio of older Chevys running now that they had the least expensive horse power in NSS — but that it opened up a can of worms like Thunderbolts running 460s pulled from Lincolns. Once there — what's next? Rat motors in Olds/Pontiac/Buicks because they all are GMs?

While I favor Mopar, I do appreciate Ford and GM and I am not a hater. It's just that as I've spent more an more time in NSS, I've become more and more wanting to not reform any existing rules considered imperfect — but to also not make the changes that continue to lead up to yet more changes. This year to year evolution to make an allowance for a friend with clout, will sooner or later have NSS like NASCAR having a NSS Toyota Car of Tomorrow — looking nothing like NSS did when first envisioned!

Second – 61 Tempests added to the 62-67 Tempests/LeMans. Again, I'm not a hater — one of my favorite cars was my 63 Pontiac with a 326. However, my understanding was that NSS was going to stay with the engine family available to the car the year it was built. Frankly the 62 Tempest was a mistake — because it wasn't until 1963 that the tempest had a Pontiac V8 engine. In 1961 and 1962, most all of the Tempests/LeMans had a 195 ci (half of a 389) "Trophy 4" I-4. The only optional V8 offered in the 62 and 63 was the rarely installed (I think 56 total) 215ci, borrowed from Buick. Look it up. So in my opinion, one mistake (allowing a 62), opened the door for another mistake. I know this is not a big deal to most people — and since the 61-63s all look alike to me, I've not lost sleep over it. However, the bigger deal is the can of worms it opens by being the basis of justifications for yet more deviations from the original intentions.

Personally, I think the correct think to do is to call all of them (since they look the same and no one checks VINs) 63's, make the small trim change if there is one — and remove the reference to 61-62. It shouldn't be too had to disguise a 61 as a 63. I've never seen VIN checks or requirements to present a title.

As hard as it might be for most to believe, I spent most of my life as a business executive — and the wording of a contract or agreement either preserved the intention — or opened a big can of worms. It is always the best move to get it correct — instead of leaving it for multiple interpretations or conflicts of intentions. If we're to want to stay with the tradition and intention of correct engine families — then you can't feel like it is acceptable for a Tempest that should have a Buick small block to have a Pontiac 389/421 — but not acceptable for a 63 Ford to have a Lincoln 460. You just can't have it both ways and say you're for stopping the evolution from the original spirit of the class.

Third – AMX's allowed to run a single 4bbl. I wasn't losing sleep over this one — but I do happen to know that this is a thorn in the side of some of the people who been around longer than I. My understanding was that when someone wanted to have an AMC Pony car in NSS (the Hemi Darts and Barracudas were Compacts), a lot of people felt like this going to open the doors to Camaros and Mustangs. Technically, the AMX was a Sports Car — and there wasn't any of those in NSS either. Politics as usual prevailed — and it was agreed to allow the AMX (but not the Javelin), provided they used the Group 16 2X4 Drag Racing Intake and a pair of Carters.

For the last couple of years NMCA has allowed an AMX with a single 4bbl to run — and this has been a thorn in the side of many drivers, especially when that "Overlooked Car" won the Championship. I'll be honest with you, I knew nothing about this history until a few months ago — and didn't understand what the problem was when drivers were complaining about the car. However, it again appears that one bad move (as many of the old timers in NSS feel) led to not only another bad move — but a broken promise.

Lastly – Sticker Placement. NMCA wants the stickers on the side and rear windows, because they're trying to go for the clean "Street Car" look in the Fastest Street Car classes. That said — NSS has never had a clean look, and to the contrary track promoters initially complained about the lack of period correct graphics and stickers when the NSS class started. Virtually every other sanctioning body that had contingency stickers accepts them being on the sides of NSS cars. There was a big movement to "Standardize" the NSS rules, and the standard was to be the sides of cars to be acceptable. NMCA's rules never reflected that — and there was inconsistent opinions and rulings when it came time for those stickers to be approved or paid off. I'd submitted a request through the proper channels (as requested) of the rules committee, with the justifications (the fact that we're also not a "Heads Up" class — and need our side and back windows). I read the rules as being that the stickers had be on the rear quarter windows or back windows only — which frankly pissed me off. I felt this was one bone NMCA could have rolled to NSS.

This was after midnight, and although I hadn't been drinking — it was most likely the wrong time for me to respond. My response was:

OooooWeeee. NSS rules now allow Rat motors in 59-64 Chevys, single 4bbl carbs on AMXs, and the only rules to force NSS cars to run their stickers on the windows. I wonder who y'all consulted in NSS for this? This ought to be the final nail in the coffin for quite a few of the NSS guys that were sitting on the fence.

Looks like it will be less competition for me this year — and against Chevys with the wrong motors. It also would appear that the Universal NSS rule thing is no longer going to be a reality — as I can't imagine any of the guys on the rule committee agreeing to that crap.

Hell let's go to tunnel rams, Dominators, Pro-stock hood scoops, transbrakes, NOS, and electronics too. How about mufflers — you guys forgot that one.

Maybe we can call the class SNSS for Semi-Nostalgia Super Stock.

OK — while maybe the most intelligent response — NMCA's policy has always been "Book Closed on Rules for this year".

I then created a thread about the changes, and emailed a link to the rules to the few NSS email addresses I have. By 6AM, I had a PM from a Tech Representative from the NMCA justifying the 396-427 engine, telling to stop my complaining, and making some crack about the the legality of the Hemi in a AA/SA car I'd just bought. By 10AM, the NMCA posted that the 396-427 was a "typographical error". An hour or two later, they'd removed a post of mine from the thread — leaving the posts afterward, causing some confusion. A post from another NMCA official told me that I shouldn't post my complaints in public — but instead should use the phone. I never answered, as I think I'm done will visiting that board, but I've had face to face conversations with many NMCA people, have talked on the phone with many, and have emailed through channels — and yet never had anything resolved. I have been told that NSS is considered to have too many grumpy old men, and that Charlie Harmon doesn't care at all about NSS. In Charlie's defense, he's always been nice to me, and bent over backward to accommodate me — so I don't know if that is the opinion of one NMCA person, or if if Charlie has indeed said indicated he could careless about NSS.

Next, was a post from the 6-Member Rule Committee of the NSNSSA stating that they were consulted and agreed to the AMX and Tempest changes, was not consulted about the stickers, and was informed that the Rat Motor change was a "Typo".

UPDATE: I have now clicked on the rules, and while there is no change for the AMX or Pontiacs — the 396-427 "Typographical Error" disappeared, and in its place is the Z-11 427. For those who don't know — the Z-11 Chevrolet was built in 1963 only — and had a 409 W Motor that displaced 427CI. I'm a little confused as to why it was mentioned. Unless I'm missing something, that motor was already covered because it was a 409 and cubic inch displacement isn't a tech item. It is sort of like giving special mention to the Max-Wedge engines — when they're covered as a Wedge engine already. Not being a Chevy expert — so if the engine is actually so radically different from the 409 to require special mention — shouldn't it be a 63 only motor, as the Hemi Darts and Hemi Barracudas are 68/69? I don't know — I just ask as I'm confused over the point needing to be made.

The updated rules also now allows for the contingency stickers to be placed on the lower rear quarters of the sides of the cars.

For the Future: I'm really not so sure how much I'll be updating on NMCA events, as I appear to have worn out my welcome with them. Dallas has actually taken this more personal than I — and says he doesn't want to run the series, so may take one or more years off — depending on other options.

Speaking of other options: The NSS Racing Event site, currently list 18 NSS events for 2010. I know of two others that will happen in Texas that are not yet announced — and I was led to believe that there was going to be a mid-west series that included Kansas City, maybe Bowling Green, and possibly include the Monster in the points. If you have knowledge of these events and dates — please list them at http://nssracing.ning.com/events. If properly used — this can be the one-stop place to go to for planning your 2010 racing calendar.

Finally: I've been doing some heavy lobbying with the newly reformed AHRA to include NSS. I've been conversing with the President of the AHRA via email — and posting to their forums — and on the 12^th the AHRA posted on their forum "OldHippie, You are quite the lobbyist. Your class is in the works. " I'll share what I know, when I know it.

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The Great 2010 NMCA Rule Controversy

It all started on the evening of January 12th — when I'd noticed a post on the NMCA forum about rule changes. This had caught me by surprise as I'd thought the rules had been announced finalized once already — and so I clicked the link.

To my surprise, I noted four changes of note:

First – 59-64 Chevys now allowed to run the 396-427 Rat Motors. I felt that to be a pretty major deal that not only would change history of the ratio of older Chevys running now that they had the least expensive horse power in NSS — but that it opened up a can of worms like Thunderbolts running 460s pulled from Lincolns. Once there — what's next? Rat motors in Olds/Pontiac/Buicks because they all are GMs?

While I favor Mopar, I do appreciate Ford and GM and I am not a hater. It's just that as I've spent more and more time in NSS, I've become more and more wanting to not reform any existing rules considered imperfect — but to also not make the changes that continue to lead up to yet more changes. This year to year evolution to make an allowance for a friend with clout, will sooner or later have NSS like NASCAR having a NSS Toyota Car of Tomorrow — looking nothing like NSS did when first envisioned!

Second – 61 Tempests added to the 62-67 Tempests/LeMans. Again, I'm not a hater — one of my favorite cars was my 63 Pontiac with a 326. However, my understanding was that NSS was going to stay with the engine family available to the car the year it was built. Frankly the 62 Tempest was a mistake — because it wasn't until 1963 that the tempest had a Pontiac V8 engine. In 1961 and 1962, most all of the Tempests/LeMans had a 195 ci (half of a 389) "Trophy 4" I-4. The only optional V8 offered in the 61 and 62 was the rarely installed (I think 56 total) 215ci, borrowed from Buick. Look it up. So in my opinion, one mistake (allowing a 62), opened the door for another mistake. I know this is not a big deal to most people — and since the 61-63s all look alike to me, I've not lost sleep over it. However, the bigger deal is the can of worms it opens by being the basis of justifications for yet more deviations from the original intentions.

Personally, I think the correct thing to do is to call all of them (since they look the same and no one checks VINs) 63's, make the small trim change if there is one — and remove the reference to 61-62. It shouldn't be too had to disguise a 61 as a 63. I've never seen VIN checks or requirements to present a title.

As hard as it might be for most to believe, I spent most of my life as a business executive — and the wording of a contract or agreement either preserved the intention — or opened a big can of worms. It is always the best move to get it correct — instead of leaving it for multiple interpretations or conflicts of intentions. If we're to want to stay with the tradition and intention of correct engine families — then you can't feel like it is acceptable for a Tempest that should have a Buick small block to have a Pontiac 389/421 — but not acceptable for a 63 Ford to have a Lincoln 460. You just can't have it both ways and say you're for stopping the evolution from the original spirit of the class.

Third – AMX's allowed to run a single 4bbl. I wasn't losing sleep over this one — but I do happen to know that this is a thorn in the side of some of the people who been around longer than I. My understanding was that when someone wanted to have an AMC Pony car in NSS (the Hemi Darts and Barracudas were Compacts), a lot of people felt like this going to open the doors to Camaros and Mustangs. Technically, the AMX was a Sports Car — and there wasn't any of those in NSS either. Politics as usual prevailed — and it was agreed to allow the AMX (but not the Javelin), provided they used the Group 16 2X4 Drag Racing Intake and a pair of Carters.

For the last couple of years NMCA has allowed an AMX with a single 4bbl to run — and this has been a thorn in the side of many drivers, especially when that "Overlooked Car" won the Championship. I'll be honest with you, I knew nothing about this history until a few months ago — and didn't understand what the problem was when drivers were complaining about the car. However, it again appears that one bad move (as many of the old timers in NSS feel) led to not only another bad move — but a broken promise.

Lastly – Sticker Placement. NMCA wants the stickers on the side and rear windows, because they're trying to go for the clean "Street Car" look in the Fastest Street Car classes. That said — NSS has never had a clean look, and to the contrary track promoters initially complained about the lack of period correct graphics and stickers when the NSS class started. Virtually every other sanctioning body that had contingency stickers accepts them being on the sides of NSS cars. There was a big movement to "Standardize" the NSS rules, and the standard was to be the sides of cars to be acceptable. NMCA's rules never reflected that — and there was inconsistent opinions and rulings when it came time for those stickers to be approved or paid off. I'd submitted a request through the proper channels (as requested) of the rules committee, with the justifications (the fact that we're also not a "Heads Up" class — and need our side and back windows). I read the rules as being that the stickers had be on the rear quarter windows or back windows only — which frankly pissed me off. I felt this was one bone NMCA could have rolled to NSS.

This was after midnight, and although I hadn't been drinking — it was most likely the wrong time for me to respond. My response was:

OooooWeeee. NSS rules now allow Rat motors in 59-64 Chevys, single 4bbl carbs on AMXs, and the only rules to force NSS cars to run their stickers on the windows. I wonder who y'all consulted in NSS for this? This ought to be the final nail in the coffin for quite a few of the NSS guys that were sitting on the fence.

Looks like it will be less competition for me this year — and against Chevys with the wrong motors. It also would appear that the Universal NSS rule thing is no longer going to be a reality — as I can't imagine any of the guys on the rule committee agreeing to that crap.

Hell let's go to tunnel rams, Dominators, Pro-stock hood scoops, transbrakes, NOS, and electronics too. How about mufflers — you guys forgot that one.

Maybe we can call the class SNSS for Semi-Nostalgia Super Stock.

OK — while maybe not the most intelligent response — NMCA's policy has always been "Book Closed on Rules for this year".

I then created a thread about the changes, and emailed a link to the rules to the few NSS email addresses I have. By 6AM, I had a PM from a Tech Representative from the NMCA justifying the 396-427 engine, telling to stop my complaining, and making some crack about the the legality of the Hemi in a AA/SA car I'd just bought. By 10AM, the NMCA posted that the 396-427 was a "typographical error". An hour or two later, they'd removed a post of mine from the thread — leaving the posts afterward, causing some confusion. A post from another NMCA official told me that I shouldn't post my complaints in public — but instead should use the phone. I never answered, as I think I'm done will visiting that board, but I've had face to face conversations with many NMCA people, have talked on the phone with many, and have emailed through channels — and yet never had anything resolved. I have been told that NSS is considered to have too many grumpy old men, and that Charlie Harmon doesn't care at all about NSS. In Charlie's defense, he's always been nice to me, and bent over backward to accommodate me — so I don't know if that is the opinion of one NMCA person, or if if Charlie has indeed said indicated he could careless about NSS.

Next, was a post from the 6-Member Rule Committee of the NSNSSA stating that they were consulted and agreed to the AMX and Tempest changes, was not consulted about the stickers, and was informed that the Rat Motor change was a "Typo".

UPDATE: I have now clicked on the rules, and while there is no change for the AMX or Pontiacs — the 396-427 "Typographical Error" disappeared, and in its place is the Z-11 427. For those who don't know — the Z-11 Chevrolet was built in 1963 only — and had a 409 W Motor that displaced 427CI. I'm a little confused as to why it was mentioned. Unless I'm missing something, that motor was already covered because it was a 409 and cubic inch displacement isn't a tech item. It is sort of like giving special mention to the Max-Wedge engines — when they're covered as a Wedge engine already. I'm not a Chevy expert — so if the engine is actually so radically different from the 409 to require special mention — shouldn't it be a 63 only motor, as the Hemi Darts and Hemi Barracudas are 68/69? I don't know — I just ask as I'm confused over the point needing to be made.

The "revised" updated rules also now allows for the contingency stickers to be placed on the lower rear quarters of the sides of the cars.

For the Future: I'm really not so sure how much I'll be updating on NMCA events, as I appear to have worn out my welcome with them. Dallas has actually taken this more personal than I — and says he doesn't want to run the series, so we may take one or more years off — depending on other options.

Speaking of other options: The NSS Racing Event site, currently list 18 NSS events for 2010. I know of two others that will happen in Texas that are not yet announced — and I was led to believe that there was going to be a mid-west series that included Kansas City, maybe Bowling Green, and possibly include the Monster in the points. If you have knowledge of these events and dates — please list them at http://nssracing.ning.com/events. If properly used — this can be the one-stop place to go to for planning your 2010 racing calendar.

Finally: I've been doing some heavy lobbying with the newly reformed AHRA to include NSS. I've been conversing with the President of the AHRA via email — and posting to their forums — and on the 12^th the AHRA posted on their forum "OldHippie, You are quite the lobbyist. Your class is in the works. " I'll share what I know, when I know it.

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I took this with a cheap camera that does videos. It isn't a great video — but in it you will see the 2009 Champions of each class called up and awarded their Super Bowl sized ring that uses diamonds, rubies, and emeralds to make a stage tree.

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NMCA 2009 Recap and 2010 Event Schedule

Pretty funny video of the 2009 season recap at NMCA

* The Houston race is a non-points race that has yet to have the classes announced — but I would think that NSS should be a given. This is a race combined with NMRA. A few weeks ago NMRA ran a non-points race in Houston to test the waters, and it was a success. In as much as the closest NMCA race to Houston is 800+ miles away — I’m hoping that we can prove that Texans will attend (contrary to NMCA’s current belief) these races and NMCA will replace one of the loser tracks with blowing sand or Nazi staff and mentally handicapped track preparers with a quality track like HRP.

I jut returned from PRI and the NMCA Awards banquet. I’ve asked for a couple of photos and videos related to NSS and NMC — and will report on the event as soon as (if) I receive those photos and videos.

You sill have time to order and receive NSS calendars and other memorabilia in time to give as Christmas gifts. Click Here to view.

Cafe Press sells these exact same calendars on their site for $20 — but you can still get them from my shop for $17.99. Check them out if you haven’t already — they’re top shelf.

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