Annual NMRA Ford Nationals

The 6th Annual NMRA Ford Nationals, sponsored by Downs Ford Motorsports, kicked off last August at Atco Raceway in Atco, New Jersey. The beautiful weather held out for the entire weekend, giving the record crowd plenty of action both on the track and at the Laurel Mountain Mustang All-Ford Auto Show. While Atco's NMRA event is usually known for sweltering heat, this year's event was a pleasant change for racers, show attendees, and spectators.

We were lucky to have freelancer Paul Rosner cover our bases with his trusty digital SLR. So check out the coverage and come back for the final two events of the series in upcoming issues.

The Laurel Mountain Mustang All-Ford Auto Show featured a ton of cars from just about every decade over the past 60 years. Two clean examples of '60s Ford (and Mercury) power included James Clour's '67 Fairlane GT hardtop and his friend David Garron's '67 Cougar GT hardtop. James' Fairlane sports FE power with 390 ci under the hood, backed by a trusty Top Loader four-speed. With the help of some Edelbrock goodies (cam, intake, and carb) and worked iron heads, James' Fairlane has seen 12.50s at 105 mph on the quarter-mile. David's Cat shares a similar driveline with another 390 FE, though he uses a Comp Cam, an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, and a 780-cfm Demon carb. His trans is a C6, and he's right at James' back door with his own 12.55 at 107 mph.

Check this out-a super-rare Mercury Marauder X-100. You just have to love the vintage-look mags on it as well. Talk about your "day two" looks.	A big thanks to the host car club-the Central Jersey Mustangs & Fords Club-that helped run the car show. These guys and gals did a great job handling the parking, judging, awards, and more.	Carmen Ambrosia's '74 Maverick garnered attention with its deep-blue finish and old-school-yet still cool-Cragar mags. Underhood, the Mav' runs a freshened 302 with a nice little Comp Cam topped by an Edelbrock RPM intake and a 600-cfm Holley. The 3.00 gears in the 8-inch rear are just right for cruising with the C4 and its 3,000-rpm stall converter.
Nothing stops gearheads in their tracks faster than an exotic induction setup. In this case, it's Art Saul's '64 Fairlane Sport Coupe (something that would get our attention regardless with its purple topcoat) and its Inglese Induction setup using four Weber 44 IDF carbs feeding into a set of Trick Flow Twisted Wedge aluminum heads. Just about anything on the 302 that could be removed is either polished or plated.	We like the clean and mean looks of this '66 hardtop, powered by a built 289 breathing through dual fours and an oval air cleaner. The "cry baby" doll in the back seat looks like it's ready to go home, though.	We expect to see NMRA T-shirts on the attendees at an NMRA event, but we were impressed by this young lady's enthusiasm for the Mustang with a tattoo of the running horse logo on her lower back. We even saw a tattoo on a guy with his Mustang's VIN. How's that for being "Ford Blue?" Anyone else have a Ford tattoo? Let's see 'em!