Sick Summer Class Champion Continues His Winning Ways with NMRA 8.60 Street Race Win at US 131 Motorsports Park
The majority of drag-and-drive competitors, when asked, say they compete in another form of racing. Some even use their rides for daily driving activities.
In the case of Tim Flanders, he uses the data and experience he has running drag-and-drive to be successful at the National Mustang Racer Association (NMRA) series 8.60-index Street Race class.
The NMRA’s 8.60-index Street Race class revolves around Ford-powered cars and trucks that are tagged, registered and insured with stock-type front and rear suspension, and no bigger than a DOT-legal 275/60/15 rear tire or a 28-inch-tall x 10.6-inch bias-ply tire.
This fits perfectly with Flanders’ ride, as the 1986 Ford Mustang packs a turbocharged Coyote, tailpipes and most importantly, he had already tasted victory in the class in 2022.
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Following this year’s Sick Summer, Flanders decide to head for the NMRA’s third event of the 2023 and enter the 8.60-index Street Race class. “I went straight from Cordova, drove all night, slept for about 45 minutes at my house, and ran the 8.60 class at Norwalk,” he said. Flanders lost in round two of eliminations, but vowed to be back for another event later in the year.
At this past weekend’s National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) and National Mustang Racer Association (NMRA) series Power Festival at US 131 Motorsport Park, Flanders returned to try his hand once again in the 8.60-index Street Race class.
After two days of qualifying and even jumping into the series’ True Street class, Flanders reward was the car being either too fast for the 8.60 index, or too slow, as well as breaking an alternator. Thankfully he found a spare from Coyote Stock racer Drew Lyons, went home and thought about what route to take for eliminations.
“I race at US 131 Motorsport Park a lot, and after struggling on Friday and Saturday, I went back to what I know for Sunday,” said Flanders. After waiting out a nearly four-hour rain delay, round one pitted Flanders against one of the fastest cars in the class, Terry Reeves. Flanders got the better reaction time, and held on for an 8.66 pass to deny Reeves’ 9.20 run.
Round two gave Flanders a closer pairing against Greg Phillips, but Flanders got the win with an 8.60 narrowly holding off the 8.61 of Phillips. The semifinal round pitted Flanders opposite Kevin Ciborowski, and Flanders used a better reaction time to hold off the 8.57 from Coborowski with an 8.57 of his own.
That moved Flanders to the final round against fellow Michigan racer Paul Sienkiewicz, and as the Christmas tree dropped, Sienkiewicz got the better reaction time. But Flanders pulled out an 8.61 to deny the 8.69 from Sienkiewicz by about half a fender length.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Tim Flanders.
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