Car Craft Street Racers Converge In FloridaThe street racers are actually members of the NMCA Hot Rod & Muscle Car Nationals series, and the event was the 3rd Annual Detroit Locker NMCA Hot Rod & Muscle Car Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. This was the first event for the Car Craft Street Race, a heads-up class for simple bolt-together cars with off-the-shelf heads running up to 28x11.50-15 DOT-approved drag tires or 275/60-15 drag radials. It replaces the doomed Cheap Street class from last season.
The first two victors were class-winner Mike Dezotell and runner-up John Baessell, a couple of Fox-body Mustang guys who run low 10s and took the class after last year's dominant Cheap Street champion Tim Hendricks had troubles with his new radial tire setup.
The top qualifier was Jay Canella in his '62 Chevy II with a brutal 9.90 at 127.91 mph, but he was put away by Dezotell in his '88 Mustang with a 10.32 at 125.47 after Canella slowed in the finals to 10.37 at 128.36. Baessell's '93 Mustang squeaked past Hendricks with a 10.37 at 128.77 after Hendricks posted a tire spinning 10.56 at 122.56 in his '94 Firebird. Follow all the action at www.fasteststreetcar.com or better yet, check out the rules and come racing with us!
NMCA Street Race TiresWith the introduction of drag radials, we've been caught guessing when trying to equate street-tire nomenclature to established drag racing meats. Here's a quick chart that converts metric sizing to popular M/T ET Street sizes.
| Metric Size | Rim | Size Equivalent | Tread Width |
| P235/60R15 | 8.0 | 26x9.50R15 | 8.0 |
| P275/50R15 | 10.0 | 26x11.50R15 | 10.0 |
| P275/60R15 | 8.0 | 28x11.50R15 | 9.2 |
| P325/50R15 | 10.0 | 28x13.50R15 | 11.0 |
| P295/65R15 | 10.0 | 30x12.50R15 | 10.0 |
| P315/60R15 | 10.0 | 30x13.50R15 | 11.0 |
| P255/50R16 | 10.0 | 26x10.50R16 | 9.7 |
| P275/40R17 | 9.0 | 26x11.50R17 | 10.2 |
| Chart Courtesy of Mickey Thompson |
Also From The Bradenton Race . . . Dial-In For Dollars!We were so impressed by the simplicity of this activity that we had to mention it. On Saturday afternoon, any bracket or True Street racer can scribble a dial-in time on their window and make a single pass. The car that nails the dial-in without breaking out wins 50 percent of the Dial-In for Dollars entry fee in cash. Since these are single-lane passes, you can stink up the reaction time and red light and still win the loot. It's like getting paid for a time-trial run, and it's a lot better than our idea of rocket-powered creeper races.
Cruisin' USAHave you caught up with the Cruisin' USA series yet? After we announced that we would be on the road to see all the local hangs we could in one summer, we've since invaded sleepy towns with every local street machine in the area. Make plans now to catch us at the last three events of the season at the following locations and get your car out on the street.
Baker's: On Sunday, July 10, we will be at Baker's of Milford, 2055 South Milford Rd., in Milford, Michigan. The event is usually 3-8 p.m., but we plan on using the whole day.