The smoke has cleared, competitors have loaded up their high-performance machines, and once again the historical Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) is quiet except for the winds howling through the empty grandstands. The 2022 NMCA World Street Car Finals marked the end of another great season which saw hundreds of racers from all over the country and Canada competing in a myriad of classes at the six NMCA events held all over the United States. These guys and gals were going for the championship and chasing wins for valuable points. For one longtime Mopar® racer and first-time NMCA competitor, AJ Berge, the 2022 season will be one he’ll always remember.
“I had no idea I’d end up finishing third in points in the Holley EFI Factory Super Cars class and I’m so happy because it proves our hard work is paying off and we’re heading in the right direction with our Challenger Drag Pak,” said AJ Berge, who had his second final round appearance in a row during the NMCA Street Car Finals. “The Cobra Jet Mustangs and COPO Camaros have stepped up their game, but we’ve also made great strides in our Whipple Superchargers/Security Dodge Power Brokers sponsored Drag Pak. We’re squeezing more power out of the HEMI® engine while refining the rear suspension of our car, so it hooks even harder when the track surface is marginal.” Berge is running his own racecar but he’s using the data from each pass and will apply that knowledge to the three Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Challenger Drag Paks he and Kevin Helms tune as they’ll be heading to Dallas next month for the Texas NHRA FallNationals.
In the Dodge//Mopar HEMI Shootout, over 40 participants running an assortment of Challenger and Charger Scat Packs, SRT® Hellcats, Redeyes and even SRT Demons filled the massive staging lanes at IRP. Leading the pack was Ed Springstead from Louisiana laying down some impressive 8.79-second runs in his 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat. He faced off with another fast feline driven by Joshua Schwartz, who was just a fraction of a second behind with an 8.80-second average in his 2018 Challenger SRT Hellcat. The next day, Ed Springstead returned to claim his second major win of the weekend in the High Horse Performance HEMI Quick 8. Springstead outran Joshua Schwartz 8.570 to 8.984 in a battle of Challenger SRT Hellcats.
In the Nostalgia Super Stock class, Ricky Newmeyer drove his classic 1963 Max Wedge-powered Plymouth Fury past Jimmy Ray’s ’65 Malibu in the final round. Newmeyer left the starting line first and then finished off the win with a 10.523-second elapsed time against his 10.50 index. It might be six decades old, but the mighty 426 Max Wedge V8 that powered the famous Ramchargers racing team to world championships in the early 1960s is still turning on win lights today for grassroots racers.
In the Stock/Super Stock categories, Indiana native Doug Duell drove his high-flying 1969 Plymouth Barracuda to a win over his opponent’s Cobra Jet Mustang. Powering Duell’s Barracuda is a 440 Super Commando V8 that makes tons of low-end torque, so wheelies are a common sight when he mashes the gas pedal.
So, that’s a wrap on the 2022 NMCA season, but here’s an awesome photo gallery of an assortment of Mopar vehicles doing what they were built for. Check them out and it’ll certainly get you inspired for next year!
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