07-22-2008 - The NMCA superbowl for 2008 was one to remember for Team BBNova. The 2 months that followed the NMCA Bowling Green race were both long and short. We were itching to get out yet trying to be as prepared as we could. This race brought back a special person back to the crew, my crew chief Brian Mullaney.

This made a full crew of Colleen Chris and Brian, Uncle Alex and Duane.

After a long day of work on Wednesday for all of us we decided to get on the road late Wednesday to try and avoid the construction season here in Michigan. We arrived in Joliet around 4am and got a few hours of sleep before we headed to the track early Thursday morning. We got the track and unloaded and fired up the car to get some heat in her and seal it up as the motor was fresh and ready to go. With the changes we made since Bowling Green, we weren't sure what to expect so we made a couple motor passes. Satisfied with the results, we headed up for our last test pass of the day with a full bottle. After a long burnout

I backed the car up and got her staged. The lights came down and the car pulled fairly hard. I got her stopped and got on my phone and got the news. She ran a 7.67 @ 182mph. After reading the plugs and looking over the passes on the data logger, it looked like she had some left in her. I was very happy with the mph, but the ET needed to match it. We made some changes and went to load the car. As we were pushing the car back, it stopped moving. Seems I broke the trans. I really need to stop down shifting before the car slows down. I called Hutch of Hutchs trans service and explained to him about my dilemma. He made a call and next thing I know Andy Vogt of Andy's transmission in the Chicago area

showed up asking who Kevin Parent is? He asked if the trans was out and that he would fix it and return with it in the morning. Brian, Chris and I proceeded to get the trans out of the car and Andy was off with it. Andy stayed up fixing our trans and got very little sleep. We on the other hand were able to get more than the 4 hours we got the previous night and it was well needed. We got the track and there was Andy 5 minutes behind us with our rebuilt trans ready to go in. We installed the trans and got ready for 1st round of qualifying. Actually I think there may have been an extra 5 minutes. We towed up the lanes with our rebuilt trans in the car and the tuneup changes that were made the night before. We pulled into the burnout box and I looked over to see Andy in the other lane, turns out we were paired up for qualifying. We both did our burnout and staged the cars. I let go of the button and the car left hard. I got the car stopped and made the phone call. We improved some with a 7.63 @182.5. Looks like it liked the tuning changes we had made. We towed the car back to our pit spot after going through tech. Again we looked over all the data and it seemed there was still room for improvement. We made the changes and got ready for the car for our second qualifier. They made the call for our class but the skies were really starting to darken. I made the call to hold off and made my way around the pit area to get everything inside the trailer. Just as I finished, it came

It took a couple hours but Route 66 did a fantastic job of getting the track dry. Once again the NMCA made the call for us so we towed up to the lanes. Feeling pretty good about the tuneup I staged the car and it left fairly hard but pulled very hard the rest of the way down the track. After getting the car stopped once again I made the phone call to Colleen. I was nearly knocked over by news. We were finally back in the 50's with a 7.56@ 182.5. Well that was it for qualifying for the day so we collected all the data and headed back to the hotel. We discussed our game plan for tomorrow and got some sleep. We woke up Saturday morning to rain. Looks like the schedule was going to be cut short as we got the track and waited it out there was news that there was to be no 3rd qualifier for the NPS class. The ladder was set and were sitting 3rd out of like 22 cars. The following is the NMCA's list of the top 16.

Compulink StarTrak ARP Nostalgia Pro Street Qualifying for 16 entries

3999 NPS '69 Chevette Chev 528 Justin Furnace Colgate WI 7.536 182.72 182.72
10 NPS '86 Mustang Chev 525 Jim Widener Batesville IN 7.547 183.67 183.67
3000 NPS '69 Nova Chev 632 Kevin Parent Rochtester Hills Mi 7.56 182.3 182.43
1 NPS '00 Camaro Chev 632 Jeff Colletta Walker LA 7.568 181.2 184.55
3059 NPS '82 Firebird Chev 522 Shawn Baker Mundelein IL 7.64 180.24 180.24
5 NPS '67 Camaro Chev 638 Barbara Nesbitt Lombard IL 7.722 176.81 177.44
3300 NPS '69 Nova Chev 440 Robin Lawrence Galsburg IL 7.819 179.37 179.37
3918 NPS '81 Camaro Chev 498 Steve Summers Utica IL 7.822 176.65 176.65
3067 NPS '67 Nova Chev 527 Rob Vanderwood Homer Glen IL 7.997 176.19 176.19
3919 NPS '90 Trans Am Chev 496 Andrew Vogt Des Plaines IL 8.192 179.88 179.88
3007 NPS '07 Mustang Ford 565 Scotty Kegg Naperville iL 8.232 168.66 168.66
3426 NPS '68 Dart Hemi 426 Tim Radnis Burbank IL 8.927 151.46 151.46
3165 NPS '84 Cutlass Chev 515 Michael Mackey Algonquin IL 9.787 144.94 144.94
4 NPS '79 Trans Am BES 523 Keith McCoy Washington IL 11.491 118.62 118.62
3008 NPS '69 Camaro Chev 522 David McCorkle New Lenox IL 12.269 96.58 96.58
3060 NPS '72 AMC Gremlin Chev 638 Don Rayburn Indianapolis IN 13.084 58.51 58.51

The schedule called for 1st round of elimination on Saturday. Team BBNova was to run Michael Mackey in the first round. Unfortunately for Mike, he did not make the call so left us with a broke bye run. We ran the car hard and the fruits of our labor showed once more. The ET was exactly the same as our 2nd qualifier, 7.560 but we managed a very stout 183.05 mph!!!!! 183mph out of our brick???  I thought no way. We went through tech and got the car back to our pit. We went through all the data and made the changes we thought necessary to make the car run better. We loaded up and got some more well needed rest. We woke up Sunday morning to the sun cracking through our window. We gathered our things and headed to the track. We unloaded the car and got ready for second round of eliminations. We had Steve Summers and his beautiful '81 Camaro. Steve got a .020 advantage on the tree. As I left I saw his car or what appeared to be the underside of his car.......

As we passed him I never saw the car touch down and that was like 300' out. We got the win light and I got the car stopped and again made my phone call. I nearly dropped the phone as Colleen was screaming in the phone. 54..........54.............54. I reaped 7.54? She said yes, 7.54. After getting the ticket and with wide eyes, we finally got a pass I was proud off. the car went 7.544 @ 183.32. The other good news was we were headed to the 3rd round.. The bad news was we were going to have to run Barb and her "old school" '67 Chevy Camaro.

If we got by Barb that would give us a bye into the finals for the 2008 NMCA superbowl of drag racing. Barb and I did our burnouts and I backed up as she did a shorter burnout than us. Barb bumped in first and lit her first bulb. I then inched forward with the help Of Brian and found my prestage bulb. Barb bumped forward and she was final staged. I waited a second and found my bottom bulb and set the trans brake. All of a sudden Barb's car left. The light had not come down. I waited for the tree to come down and left. I ran it out the back door to a 7.59 @ 183mph. That round win put us in the finals with a single in the semi's.

There were only 3 cars left in the field. Team BBNova, Weidner, and Colletta. We had the bye. That left a battle of Weidner against Colletta. The call was made for our class once again. This was the 4th round for the NPS class. Weidner and Colleta were the first ones out and Colletta came out with the victory. We made a 300' shot to get some info.

Here we were, Joliet 2008. We were in the finals for the superbowl and against Colletta. I had been waiting a while for this race and was looking forward to it. I knew we had something for him as the car was making enough power to get around him. The NMCA made the call for all final round contestants. We towed up for the finals and met up with team Colletta. Jeff and I got in our cars and towed up the front of the lanes. We unhooked the golf carts and waited for the Renagade class to make their pass. It was time. I fired the engine and pulled up to the burnout box. I did my burnout and backed up for the final time. Chris reached in the passanger door and cracked open the bottle. I burged the line and Chris closed up the passanger door. Brian was waiting at the line to guide me forward. I bumped in first and Colletta followed. I lit my bottom bulb, set the trans brake and waited for Colletta to do the same. His bottom light lit and I mashed the gas peddle. The lights came down. we left almost at the same time. Our .036 to Colletta's .034 light. The race was over just 60' out. Colletta's outstanding 1.14 60' put him way out front of our 1.20 60'. I got back .01 by the stripe but that was not enough. Colletta had beaten us. Turns out we didn't have enough time on the new combo and killed the power too much causing the 1.20 60'

All in all it was a great weekend. Myself, Colleen, Chris and Brian had a great time. Team BBNova has been out to 2 of the 4 NMCA races this season with both of those races having us in the final round.

With the great showing in Joliet and Bowling Green, Team BBNova is now in 3rd place in points with the NMCA and looks forward to the next event August the 23 in Milan, Michigan. This is our home track. We will be out testing and will have something for team Colletta. We hope for a rematch then!!!!!!!