Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 90

The Champions of 2019
ANDY WARREN
SHAWN PEVLOR
JESSIE COULTER
Georgia, Illinois and Indiana. His hard work and
hustle helped him haul to his third champion-
ship in the class.
NHRA Factory Stock standout Bill Skillman
knew that the competition in Factory Super Cars
was going to be as tough as ever, but he was up to
the task in his Mustang Cobra Jet packing a 327ci
Holbrook Racing Engines powerplant topped
with a Whipple supercharger. He led qualifying
in Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois and Ohio, and won
in Florida, Illinois and Indiana.
All eyes were on Jesse Wilson after he earned
Stock championships in 2017 and 2018, and for
good reason. In his father-in-law Kelly Pierce’s
Camaro featuring a DR525 engine and Turbo
400, he led qualifying in Florida, Georgia, Il-
linois and Ohio, and won in Florida, Georgia,
Tennessee and Ohio.
Stock/Super Stock Combo driver Jeff Frees
hasn’t had his DragPak Challenger for long,
DON WALSH JR.
but he’s already flying in the car with a 392ci
Hemi built by Jeff Taylor. After going rounds
and winning in Georgia and Illinois, Frees, who
also competes in Nostalgia Super Stock in his
Barracuda, earned his first title in the Stock/
Super Stock Combo.
As the defending Nostalgia Super Stock cham-
pion, Kevin Gass had every intention of backing it
up in his Chevelle with a big-block Chevy under
its hood. He got off to a good start by winning
in Tennessee, followed by Illinois, where he also
won his race against an NMRA competitor in the
NMCA/NMRA run-off portion of the event. He
also led qualifying by running right on his 9.75
index in Illinois, and that all added up to another
Nostalgia Super Stock championship.
As the NMCA’s winningest driver, Andy War-
ren had already earned seven championships in
Nostalgia Muscle Car when he rolled into 2019,
and he was determined to earn another one. In
his Carpice powered by a small-block Chevy built
by Tim Knieriem, he won in Tennessee, where he
also won the Muscle Car Madness, which featured
the top ten qualifiers in Nostalgia Muscle Car,
Nostalgia Super Stock and Stock/Super Stock,
plus two wild cards, in a 32-car shootout. He also
won in Illinois, and by the end of the season, he
had wrapped up his eighth Nostalgia Muscle Car
championship.
Soon after Cameron Bowles climbed into the
driver’s seat of his grandfather Don Bowles’ Mav-
erick, “Little Coal Digger VII,” he showed that he
had what it would take to earn a championship in
the car with a Roush small-block Ford freshened
by Phillip Oakley. He joined his father and fellow
racer, Donnie Bowles, at events on this year’s
NMCA tour, and in Open Comp competition,
he led qualifying in Georgia, won in Florida and
Tennessee and secured the Open Comp cham-
pionship.
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 152
JEFF FREES