Kyle Bemount Claims Sick the Mag Drag-And-Drive Shootout Victory at NMCA All-American Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio

The final Sick the Mag Drag-and-Drive Shootout of the 2023 season went in the books yesterday at the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) All-American Nationals, held over the weekend at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

A field was selected from drivers and rides that had completed a drag-and-drive, as well as Tom Bailey and Alan Whitaker bringing out a pair of fresh builds for exhibition passes.

Joining Bailey and Whitaker were Kyle Bemount, Don Foess, Bob Hess, Cole Rymarz, Chuck Stefanski and Rick Trunkett.

Due to rain, Thursday test runs were cancelled, sending the field directly into round one.

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The competitors would get to participate in four rounds of competition, two rounds on Friday and two rounds on Saturday. Each round would have the drivers draw chips for random pairing, giving each competitor a fair shot at the possible match-ups.

The two drivers with the most round wins would move to the final round on Sunday to determine the class winner.

Friday’s first round started with Stefanski against Rymarz, and the Trans Am of Stefanski got the nod over Rymarz. Hess faced Bemount in the second pair, and a good battle had Bemount getting the win in a close 4.93 to 5.00 margin on the eighth-mile standard.

Foess would line up with Trunkett, and the ’67 Camaro of 4.63 from Foess dispatched the 5.18 of Trunkett. Bailey staged up for his first track pass against Whitaker, and a 4.89 from the Monte Carlo of Whitaker got the better of Bailey’s 5.35 pass.

The second saga put Bemount opposite Hess in a rematch of round one, and once again the Firebird of Bemount got the win over the Gen-3 Hemi powered Mustang of Hess. Rymarz lined up his ’96 Mustang against Foess in the next pair, and Foess rolled to the win.

Big 3 Racing teammates Trunkett and Stefanski would stage up in the third battle, and the closest race of the round found Trunkett in front by .009 seconds at the stripe! Whitaker and Bailey lined up for the second time, and a second-straight 4.89 from Whitaker handed Bailey’s troubled 6.61 lap.

Round three on Saturday hit the water box just after noon, and Trunkett would stage up the ‘72 Duster against his third different opponent with Rymarz in the left lane. Trunkett’s best run of the weekend at 5.04 would dispatch the 7.41 from Rymarz. Stefanski faced the tall task of Foess in the next pair on the starting line, but the Trans Am’s 5.32 handed Foess’ 5.53 lap his first loss of the event.

Hess and Bemount would line up for the third time in-a-row, and Bemount once again got the better of Hess. Whittaker and Bailey staged up their third battle, and a 5.33 from the Durango of Bailey finished second to the 4.74 from Whitaker.

The group embarked on a cruise from the track for lunch after the third round, and returned to the staging lanes as the sun started to set for the fourth and final saga. Bemount entered the round with three wins, while Foess, Stefanski and Trunkett had all scored two wins apiece.

The round would begin with an all-purple Mustang match-up, Hess against Rymarz. Rymarz looked like he could upset the turbo ride when Hess had traction troubles off the line, but Hess would recover in time to score his first win of the weekend.

The Big 3 Racing teammates Trunkett and Stefanski would stage a rematch of their round two battle next, and the tables turned as Trunkett smoked the tires while Stefanski clicked off a 5.29 for the win.

Bemount would face Foess with a final round berth hanging in the balance, and Bemount’s best run of the weekend, a 4.79 at 150 mph, got the win and completed a perfect 4-0 round record over Foess.

That left Bailey and Whitaker to face each other once final time, and Bailey’s best run of the weekend at 5.29 fell just short of the 5.06 from Whitaker.

So, the final round on Sunday was set: Bemount would face Stefanski in an all-Pontiac battle for the Sick Shootout title. The signal to do the burnouts was given, and Stefanski completed his burnout and moved towards the starting line.

After some trouble, Bemount was able to complete his burnout and stage up opposite Stefanski, and at the green Bemount got a sizable reaction time advantage. Stefanski turned the wick up for his best pass of the weekend at 5.23, but Bemount would cross the stripe first at 4.92 to complete the sweep and earn the Sick Shootout title.

The remaining six drivers called out each other for some Sunday grudge callout action, with Hess and Trunkett matching up first. Trunkett’s 5.02 got the nod over a traction-limited 6.18 pass from Hess.

Foess would stage against Whitaker, and the quicker 5.09 pass from Foess fell to the holeshot-aided 5.17 from Whitaker.

Rymarz called out Bailey for the final match-up, but the first attempt had Bailey’s Durango having belt issues. Once they got it fixed, Rymarz and Bailey tried to line up again, but this time Rymarz had issues just after the burnout, giving Bailey a single run.