8th Annual Nitto Tire Shootout - NMRA Bradenton

Of course anything Ford powered can run Open Comp and that includes late-model Mustangs. When the dust settled after six rounds of finals Bruce Parker and his '82 Capri took the win over Dach Anderson and his '88 Mustang GT (shown here) with a 9.46 on a 9.30 dial to Dach's 12.54 on a 12.13 dial.

The Modular Muscle class is a popular destination for those who like to race Ford's overhead cam engine technology. While most entrants are factory modular installs ('96 and up Mustangs, Lincoln Mark VIII, and so on) there are some entries with modular conversions (Fox Mustang for instance). Two of the class favorites, Paul Svinicki and Susan Roush-McClenaghan, met up in the finals. Both are extremely precise behind the wheel of their race cars, but there can only be one winner and that was Paul, as Susan went -0.056 red.

While cruising the vendor midway we had a chance to visit with our old friend Harvey Baker at Performance Automatic. Somehow we missed PA's booth while running ragged at the PRI show last December, but nonetheless we were impressed to hear from Harvey that PA is now building the 5R55S five-speed automatic. Even better still, is that PA offers the trick electronic trans with a small-block bellhousing and a standalone electronics package to control the trans (image this baby in your classic Mustang or Fox Mustang with two overdrives!).

The season opener in Bradenton is always a great opportunity to pick up parts for your next project. The swap meet area is one of the biggest in the event series and we always see plenty of engines, transmissions, body parts, performance parts, and more.

As we mentioned in the opening text, our Project Snake Charmer made the trek down from Modified Mustangs & Fords World Headquarters for the weekend and was on display with our subscription agent's tent. Funny, our sister magazine's project Mustang didn't seem to get as much attention with our Tungsten Grey Roadster parked next to it. Sorry guys.

We've always liked Thunderbirds, classic or modern, and one of our favorites from the latter is the MN-12 based 'Bird. Of those years, the most popular performance model has got to be the Thunderbird SC (Super Coupe) and Bryan Kaeser's modified SC is a great example.

Early Comets have a great history on the dragstrip, and Mike Penick's '65 Comet looks like it's ready for a track attack, but don't let the stance and the wheels fool you, the Comet can just as easily cruise with a decked-out small-block running a serpentine belt drive and a five-speed in the tunnel. Mike grabbed a Top 20 award, too

When we first walked by Steve Marks' Mustang we thought "that's a clean Terminator," but then we spied the Shaker on the blown modular and we had to stop for a closer look. Steve's car is actually a Mach 1 (which answers our question about the Shaker) with an '03/'04 Cobra nose on it and the requisite deep dish hypercoat FR500s.

Walter Ledda trailered his eat-off-it clean '93 notch to the show and it was full of great details. Check out the 18-inch Bullitts out back with widened wheel arches and modified body side moldings. The coupe also was decked out with black interior, custom gauge cluster, big brakes, and a carbed small-block between the smoothed inner fenders. Walter took home a Top 20 award for his efforts.

Just because it's called a car show doesn't mean trucks aren't invited. Besides seeing some nice classic Ford trucks, a Ranchero, and more, the Gen 2 Lightnings are still as popular as ever and this trio all featured some great mods.

One of our favorite classes in the NMRA is Open Comp. Why? Because you just never know what's going to come through the burnout box. Check out these great Ford classics we spotted during first round qualifying.