2018 NMCA Radial Wars Championship

We had a great year, running the fastest ever E.T. in Radial Wars history (3.84 @ 196 mph), and reeling off four race wins, while racing some of the best radial racers in the world like Dwayne Mills, Marty Stinnett, and Mark Woodruff.

The 2017 Corvette performed flawlessly all season — showing consistency in running in the 3 second range on almost any track surface. Anchored by a ProLine Engines 548 Hemi utilizing AJPE components, powered by a ProCharger F3-136 and FuelTech FT600 EFI system, the combination proved itself to be reliable and spot-on all year.

The championship run, too, had its challenging moments. A full season of drag racing at this level means that you are going to have to stay on your toes.

The team won NMCA Bradenton on a holeshot, and then went out in the first round at NMCA Atlanta with a transmission issue. At NMCA Bowling Green, a parts failure resulted in a hole in the #7 cylinder piston, requiring an engine swap between rounds. Never the less, the team clinched the victory. At NMCA Route 66 and NMCA Norwalk, the team won every round. Finally, at the NMCA finals in Indy, the team in the second round of qualifying ran the fastest e.t. in class history (3.84), but then had a driveline failure which required pretty big thrash to get the car ready for eliminations on Sunday. By that time, they had clinched the 2018 Championship.

This was the second NMCA Championship in three years, with the team having won the NMCA Limited Street championship in 2016. At the Street Car Supernationals 2018 in Las Vegas, the team closed out the season, announcing a partnership with Eric Kvilhaug, who will be driving the Corvette in 2019. At SCSN, the Corvette went four rounds in the “Big Tire No Time” category with Eric behind the wheel and James Lawrence tuning. 2019 will prove exciting, as the team plans a combination of radial and No Time/Big Tire events.

No car runs well without the support of a killer crew. The crew in 2018 consisted of Dean Jigamain, Joe Truiljo, Chase Driskell, Dave Lukason, and J-Money who all helped bring home each round victory. With the team based in Southern California, the added challenge of racing cross country added some complexity to the 2018 championship.