By the time the 2004 National Street Car Association’s schedule came to a close at the Corteco World Finals at Ohio’s National Trail Raceway in mid-September, many of the championship battles in the organization’s 15 heads-up and index classes had been resolved. There were some that went right down to the wire, however, and one of those was in Comp Cams/TCI Engineering Pro Street, where defending and multi-time champ Pat Musi had a real fight on his if he was to hold on to his title.

Musi, who struggled through the first half of the schedule, actually pulled into contention for the title when a short-lived association with Tony Christian fell apart at mid-season. He and Todd Merkel then slugged it out for class supremacy, and with two events left to go, the gold was still up for grabs.

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At the second-to-last race in Stanton, Michigan, Merkel and Musi faced off in the final, which at first it looked like it was going to be a fight to the finish, the two leaving the line just .004-seconds apart, but Merkel suffered problems down track and clicked it off as Musi charged to the win. More importantly, he gained an advantage in the war to accumulate championship points.

At the World Finals In Columbus, Merkel still had a mathematical chance to grab the top spot, but during the third qualifying session on Saturday night, the front of his Chevy S-10 was ripped apart by a thundering engine explosion just off the line, and his weekend, and hopes for a championship, went up in a shower of smoke, aluminum and carbon fiber.

Edelbrock Pro Outlaw was once again the domain of Marc Dantoni in 2004, who wrapped up his fifth consecutive championship in Stanton. Despite switching from his ’68 Camaro to a ’41 Willys at mid-season, Dantoni never missed a step, cruising to another title on the strength of his ability to coax maximum performance from his nitrous-injected Pat Musi-built powerplants.

In the wake of James Clark’s early departure from the class this season, John Stanley stepped up to offer the most serious competition for Dantoni throughout the back half of the schedule, and with dad Camp calling the shots along with Funny Car veteran John Vouros, look for the “Appalachia on Steroids” Camaro to be a real player in 2005.

Nitrous Express Nostalgia Pro Street featured a season-long battle between the beautiful 2002 Camaros of defending title holder Rob Golobo and John Schroeder. In the end, it was Schroeder’s blue Connecticut-based hot rod, built by Leo Barnaby and powered by Pat Musi, prevailing over Golobo’s orange Steve Grebeck-built machine with Mike Moran power under the hood. Golobo, from Michigan, eventually fell short in his bid for a second championship by just 34 points, but he hung tough, fighting right down to the final round of competition in Columbus.

The final lived up to all expectations, with Golobo taking an .015-second advantage off the line and then holding off a charging Schroeder for the victory.

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NSCA’s crown prince Paul Adams had the Pro Nostalgia points battle locked up heading into Columbus, but that didn’t stop defending class champ Jim Mackenzie from putting on a great show to take the runner-up spot in the year-end standings.

Adams, of West Virginia, drives one of the quickest and fastest nostalgia Super Stock cars in the country, a high-flying 429-powered 1966 Ford Fairlane that has held both elapsed time and speed records many times in the NSCA. He came out of the box flying this season, and showed steady performance improvement all year long. For his part, “Mac” spent much of the year getting a handle on the new Pat Musi combination under the hood of his ’62 Chevy “Ol’ Reliable 2.”

Other hard-won NSCA championships went to: Kenny Bennett, ProCharger Super Street; Jim Huber, Drive Train Specialist Super Modified; Mike Modeste, Goodyear Limited Street; Larry Perkins, Jr., Competition Engineering Hot Street; Bruce maichle, BES Real Street; Chris Singleton, BFGoodrich Drag Radial Eliminator; Stephanie DiMino, Mr. Gasket Nostalgia Super Stock; Mark Walter, Ramchargers American Muscle; Todd Merkel, Comp/FA.S.T. EFI Eliminator; Mike Pustelny, Factory Modified Sportsman; Randy Jewell, Pro-Filer Performance Products Top Street.

It was a long wait in the rain at Memphis Motorsports Park at the Nitto PRO World Finals, but after the race was extended two extra days, the final race of the season was complete and champions were crowned.

In Pro Street, Tim O’Hare finished up 2004 where he began - on top of the class. Despite a mid-season slump, O’Hare was able to hold off a late charge by 2003 champ Steve Miller and Steve King to claim his first title in only his first season of racing in the PRO Edelbrock Drag Racing Series.

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Dan Millen had on goal for his team in 2004 and that was to win the Super Street title. Despite missing the first event of the year, Millen came out of the box strong, winning the second event of the year at Atco, N.J. He went on to win four more events this year as he all but dominated the second half of the season, reaching his goal and winning his first ever PRO driving title.

After wining Rookie of the Year honors in 2002, Tony Nesbitt needed to add a championship to his resume in Nostalgia Pro Street. He won this year’s first thee events, establishing a huge lead in the points, but several miscues near the end of the year allowed 2003 champ, Ross Stomp to close the gap and put a title repeat within his grasp. At the season finale in Memphis, the two raced in the semifinals where Nesbitt snuffed Stomp’s chances, earning Nesbitt his first championship crown.

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As expected, Xtreme Street was a see-saw battle all year with several drivers vying for the championship, but by the time the season was nearly complete, the championship was to be decided between three drivers; Tony Orts, Bob Curran and Cameron Coble.

At Memphis, Orts, who had a strong lead entering the final event, had major engine problems he had to overcome before the car even reached the first round of qualifying. Those problems eventually ended his weekend before the first round of eliminations leaving the door open for Curran and Coble who met in the second round of eliminations. Curran went on to win that round and the event. He also established a new E.T. record for the class in the final when he ran 8.22. The bonus points attached to the record were enough to push him past Orts for the season championship.

Pro Stock was a two-way battle all year between Jamie Stanton and Charlie Booze Jr. so it was only fitting the two met in the final at the last race of the season to determine the championship. Booze won the race, but like Curran in Xtreme Street the win itself wasn’t enough to push Booze past Stanton for the title, but a record run was. And a record run is exactly what he and crew chief and brother Brian did by running 8.849 earning them just enough points to squeeze by Stanton for the title.

Other 2004 championship winners were: Tim Hendricks; Cheap Street, Andy Legg; Mean Street, Joe Ewing; Nostalgia Muscle Car, Heath Shemwell; Nostalgia Muscle Car, Scott Laws; Open Comp and Bobby Barrick; SuperTruck.