Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 89

Champions
The Champions of 2019
By Mary
lendzion
Ja n u a r y 2 0 2 0
TRICIA MUSI
E
verything from close com-
petition to close calls combined
to make 2019 one of the most in-
tense and intoxicating years in the
NMCA’s long history.
The six events on the series’ tour included
the NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem at Bradenton
Motorsports Park in Florida, NMRA/NMCA
All-Star Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, NMCA
Memphis Homecoming at Memphis Interna-
tional Raceway, NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of
Street Legal Drag Racing at Route 66 Raceway
in Illinois, NMCA All-American Nationals at
Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio and the
fierce finale, the NMCA World Street Finals,
at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indiana.
In the series’ Xtreme Pro Mod category, Don
Walsh Jr. is always one to watch when he’s be-
hind the wheel of his wicked Corvette with a
BAE Hemi massaged by D&D Performance
and Precision 94mm turbos. He showed that
by setting the pace in qualifying with a 3.70,
3.74 and 3.66 in Tennessee, Illinois and Ohio,
sailing to the winner’s circle in Georgia, Illinois
and Ohio, and setting elapsed time and top
speed records with a 3.665 and 214.66 mph on
his way to capturing the championship in the
very competitive category.
Shawn Pevlor, a standout in Ultra Street and
Nitrous X in his Mustang, climbed into Tony
Bischoff ’s Mustang motivated by a nitrous-sip-
ping 700ci Cadillac engine with cast heads
and intake built by BES Racing Engines, and
masterfully maneuvered Street Outlaw. He led
qualifying with a 4.35 in Ohio and a 4.33 in In-
diana, won in Tennessee and secured the cham-
pionship in the highly entertaining category.
Tricia Musi tenaciously tackled Nitrous Pro
Street in her father Pat Musi’s former Trans
Am known as Popeye II and powered by a Mu-
si-built, nitrous-enhanced 632ci Chevy engine.
She set the pace in qualifying with a 4.48 in
Georgia and a 4.35 in Ohio, and she won in
Florida, Tennessee — that time in her fiancé
Mike Bankston’s Camaro because her Trans
Am was temporarily down — and in Ohio, and
with that, she wrapped up the championship
in the nitrous-huffing category.
Jessie Coulter is commanding when it comes
to competing in Xtreme Street in his Camaro
with a Brian Tooley-built 388ci engine and
a Borg Warner turbo massaged by Midwest
Turbo/CRT. He led qualifying with a 4.67 in
Georgia and won in Georgia and Ohio before
scoring his third consecutive championship.
For more than 50 years, Leonard Long has
held his own behind the wheel of a race car,
and that includes the Mustang he campaigns
in NA 10.5. It’s powered by a small-block
Ford topped with Visner-massaged Ford D3
heads and a GF2000 5-speed from his com-
pany, G-Force Racing Transmissions, and in
it, Long led qualifying in Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, Ohio and Indiana, and won in Florida,
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