Considering all the trials and tribulations the National Street Car Association underwent in the last 18 months or so, the successful running of the Corteco World Finals in mid-September went a long ways towards validating the efforts of organization president Tony DePillo and the staff of the NSCA.

It’s been tough going, however, beginning with the unanticipated departure of DePillo’s former partner halfway through the 2003 season. The group, then know as the National Muscle Car Association, soldiered on, however, surviving the serious financial backlash created by the questionable accounting practices of the aforementioned partner.

At the conclusion of the 2003 season, a large number of racers and corporate entities rallied around DePillo, offering their support and pledging to help chart the future course of the country’s leading “street-legal” racing association.

Just when the path ahead looked clear, however, a huge roadblock was erected literally overnight. Out of the blue, a handshake agreement that DePillo had with the company that owned the rights to the NMCA name was trashed. It appears that a rival organization had waved a bunch of money in the all the right faces, and literally stolen the name in an effort to cripple their rivals.

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Again, a lot of people came to DePillo’s aid, and prior to the PRI show last December it was announced that Tony was resurrecting the National Street Car Association name from previous years. With overwhelming backing from all involved, everything was back on track once again. With title sponsor Corteco Gaskets now in place, as well as presenting sponsor BFGoodrich, the 2004 season kicked off at No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, Louisiana last March.

Now, seven events later, not counting the rained-out race in Atlanta, the 2004 season drew to a close with the running of the Corteco World Finals at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio. A number of class championships had been locked up previously, but going into the season finale there remained several key battles for supremacy.

Right off the bat anticipation ran high for competition in Comp Cams/TCI Engineering Pro Street, where defending and multi-time champion Pat Musi was gearing up to meet the challenge of Scott Merkel. 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 Merkel then slugged it out down to the wire, where with two events left to go, the title was still up for grabs.

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 through with an impressive pass of 6.547 at 213.32 mph to add to his points lead.

In Columbus, Merkel still had a mathematical chance to grab the gold, 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.

On race day, No. 1 qualifier Musi worked his way through William Brown and Jim Stradner before staging his ’99 Firebird up beside the ’55 Chevy of Carl Rossler in the final. Rossler had dispatched Cody McManama and Vinnie Budano to earn his berth in the big showdown. Rossler grabbed an early advantage, .055 to .104, but Musi powered by at the top end to wrap up another solid year, 6.743, 211.06 to 6.813, 198.67.

Edelbrock Pro Outlaw was once again the domain of Marc Dantoni in 2004, who wrapped up his fifth consecutive championship at the previous event 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.

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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.

In Columbus, Dantoni qualified in the No. 1 spot with a best pass of 6.564, 214.42. On Sunday, He marched past Dave Earhart and David Hance to face NSCA newcomer Chad Morgan, who hauled his supercharged 2001 Camaro all the way from South Dakota for the weekend’s action in Ohio. Morgan had taken out Stanley and Joe Cleary Jr. to advance to the final, but Dantoni was intent on adding a big finish to the season, and he achieved his goal by leaving first, .074 to .118, and leading all the way for the win, 6.717, 213.40 to 7.175, 202.73.

Nitrous Express Nostalgia Pro Street was 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 Connecticut-based hot rod prevailing over Golobo’s car out of Michigan by 34 points, but Golobo hung tough, fighting right down to the final round of competition.

In Columbus, Keven Parent led qualifying, followed by Schroeder, Golobo, Brian Ferrari and Ellen Pavao. Parent took a bye run into the semifinals, while Golobo and Schroeder took wins in their respective matches to advance. Schroeder then had a free pass into the final, leaving Golobo to take on Parent for the opportunity to meet him in the last race of the season. Parent made it easy on the champ. leaving too early and handing the win to Golobo.

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, 7.630, 186.28 to 7.683, 176.07.

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.

During qualifying, Charlie Westcott Jr. paced the field of the NSCA’s quickest Super Stockers, followed by Adams, Mackenzie, Johnny Kelley, Joe Jacob, Harold Letter and Gary Jacob.

He then had the bye run in the first round, as Mackenzie, Kelley and Gary Jacob all advanced to the semifinals. In second round action, Mackenzie’s ’62 Chevrolet took out the ’68 Dodge Dart wheeled by Jacob, 8.913, 150.65 to 9.280, 142.40, while Westcott cruised into the final round behind the wheel of his ’68 Barracuda when Kelley’s own ’68 ‘Cuda experienced transmission problems at the line.

In the final, Westcott overcame Mackenzie’s .080 to .181 starting line advantage to power by for the victory, 8.740, 150.35 to 8.900, 150.78.

ProCharger Super Street was the stomping grounds of rookie sensation Kenny Bennett all year long, and the World Finals at Columbus was no different. The young man from Cincinnati led qualifying on Saturday, followed by Dan Bills, Randy Lambert, Jim Monson, Bill May, Vito Montesano and Joel O’Donnell.

Bennett rode the bye run into the semifinals, while Bills, Lambert, Monson and May all took wins in their respective match-ups to move on. Monson couldn’t make the call for the semis, so it was Lambert taking on Bills and winning while Bennett marched to another final at the expensive of May.

In the one that counted, Bennett overcame a holeshot by Lambert and ripped off an impressive 7.407, 199.29 to handily overshadow Lambert’s 7.720, 185.33. It was a fitting end to a championship season for Bennett and car owner Tony Bischoff.

Jim Huber was out to back up his 2003 Drive Train Specialists Super Modified title, and he capped off a strong season in Columbus to clinch another class championship.

Huber’s closest pursuer for the crown all year was Roland Lursky, who was the low qualifier of the weekend. He was followed by Huber, Emidio Catalano, Jim Robbins, Keith McCoy, John Baio, Phil Plestis, Steve Damianidis, Monty Mikho, Len Cooper, Gary Abbey and Tom Worden.

On Sunday, Huber, Catalano, McCoy, Lursky and Plestis all moved on to the second round, with Catalano then taking a bye into the semifinals. Lursky took out Plestis and Huber dashed McCoy’s hopes for a big weekend to join Catalano in the third round.

The free passes continued, with Lursky on the receiving end this time around, advancing to the final while Huber and Catalano lined up to slug it out. Catalano’s ’69 Camaro suffered problems off the line, however, and Huber took his 2000 Chevy S-10 into the final for yet another time in 2004.

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It was Lursky’s big chance to make a statement and finish off the season on a high note, but it wasn’t to be. His ’86 Firebird broke at the line, and Huber cruised to the win, and another championship.

Heading into the season closer, there were three racers within 5 points for the top spot in Goodyear Limited Street. Frank Mewshaw had the lead with 212, followed by Mike Modeste with 210 and defending champion Phil Hines with 207.

Modeste launched his shot at the title by qualifying in the No 1 spot, followed by Bill Trovato, Jim Widener, Hines, Donny Hastings, Mike Libecap, Bob Curran, Marc Zolnierowicz, David Laurer, Danny Medeiros, Ray Cox, David Hutnick, Andy Mayes and Mewshaw.

After the first round, Medeiros, Curran, Cox, Modeste, Mayes, Widener and Laurer all advanced, leaving Hines and Mewshaw all but out of the 2004 championship chase.

Modeste closed in on the title when he took the bye into the semifinals, leaving Laurer, Mayes and Medeiros to fight their way in the old fashioned way. In the semis, Mayes outlasted Laurer and Modeste earned a berth in the final when he took out Medeiros.

Capping off a great season, Modeste drove his ’93 Mustang to an impressive pass of 8.001, 174.78 to easily overcome the 7.474, 128.42 posted by Mayes at the wheel of his ’70 Challenger.

Class newcomer Larry Perkins, Sr. lead the way for most of the season in Competition Engineering Hot Street competition, but Rick Moroso and defending champion Tim Davis gave him a run for the money all year long. In fact, if Moroso hadn’t had to miss an event due to the injury of team manager Paul Minore, it may have been a lot closer.

Perkins was on his game in the early going in Columbus, leading the qualifying portion of the event with a pass of 8.871, 151.15. He was followed by Moroso, Davis, Al Miller, Paul Suloff, Ed Dobias and Jeff Kaine.

On race day, Perkins moved on to the semifinals automatically on the bye run, leaving Miller, Davis and Moroso to earn their way into the next round.

In the second-to-last round, Perkins marched to the final after taking out Miller in a close race, 8.868, 151.87 to 8.939, 150.18. Davis also won his race against Moroso when the former champion left early and left the red bulb glowing in his wake.

The final round featured another excellent head-to-head match-up, with Davis grabbing the advantage off the line, .049 to .155, and taking the win over a quicker Perkins on the holeshot, 8.887, 150.83 to 8.855, 151.99.

BES Real Street featured some great racing in Columbus, as it had all season long. With the championship already in the bag, Delaware’s Bruce Maichle wanted to cap his big year off in style, and he started on his quest by topping all qualifiers with a mark of 8.698, 155.24.

Following him on the list were Bruce Lagory, defending champion Jamie Stanton, Frank Lupi, Bob Shahan, Brad Holsapple, Kenny Dewaal and Jeremy Harris.

Shahan, Maichle, Lagory and Stanton all advanced to the semifinals, where Maichle took out Shahan, 8.763, 156.37 to 9.151, 149.90 and Lagory dispatched Stanton, who had mechanical problems at the line.

In the final, Maichle’s ’79 Firebird left first, and Lagory’s best attempt to reel him in behind the wheel of his ’69 Barracuda feel short, 8.735, 155.70 to 9.174, 124.78.

BFGoodrich Drag Radial Eliminator has been an exciting class of NSCA competition all year long, with some of the widest wheelstands ever seen in drag racing coming in 2004. Chris Singleton had wrapped up the championship one race earlier, but there were plenty of drivers anxious to finish on a strong note in Columbus.

Jim Filipowski was the top qualifier on Saturday, keeping all four wheels pretty close to the ground to notch a mark of 8.538, 170.34. The rest of the line-up included Jimmy Byrne, Michael Fratena, defending champ Dave Rudisell, Singleton, John Balinsky, James Kursay and Steve Thompson.

Surprisingly, newly-crowned champion Singleton lost his first round match with Rudisell, while Byrne, Fratena and Filipowski also advanced. In the semifinals, Byrne took out Fratena, 8.449, 167.03 to an off-pace 15.926, 49.28 and Rudisell was victorious over Filipowski, 8.686, 158.61 to 8.622, 152.19.

In an all-Mustang final, Byrne piloted his ’90 model to a close final round win over the ’84 version wheeled by Rudisell, 8.695, 165.72 to 8.705, 158.50.

There are always a large number of classic Super Stock and A/FX cars on hand at NSCA events, and the competition in the Mr. Gasket Nostalgia Super Stock index class is some of the best in the show.

Heading into Columbus, 22-year-old Stephanie DiMino was leading in the championship points chase, but Joe Cochran and Gary Richmond were both still within striking distance.

Stephanie’s brother Johnny led all qualifiers on Saturday, running a 9.502 on his 9.50 index to top the list. He was followed by Richmond, Brian Merrick, Skip Koester, Jim Clay, Jeff Millward, John Comstock, Jack Nelson, Mike Dechicco, Cochran, Jim Netherland, Stephanie DiMino, Joe Ewing, William Murphy, Verne Griffith, Jr., Ed Youmans, Bill White, defending champion Scotty Jiles, Steve Heill and Jim Guy.

After the first of five rounds, Netherland, Griffith, Comstock, Jiles, Stephanie DiMino, Murphy, Dechicco, Guy, Millward and Ewing moved on, but most importantly, the “Princess of Horsepower” had earned her new crown.

After two weeks of nervous anticipation, Stephanie claimed the title in what was literally the blink on an eye. In the first round she took a clean win over Richmond to advance to the second round. In the next pair of cars to the line, however, was Cochran, who uncharacteristically left too soon, lighting the red bulb, and just like that Stephanie was the 2004 Mr. Gasket Nostalgia Super Stock champion.

In round two, Guy, Netherland, Comstock, Jiles and Murphy moved on, and the field was further whittled down to Murphy and Jiles, with Netherland taking a bye run into the semifinals after the third stanza. In the second-to-last round, Murphy took the next bye into the final, with Netherland earning his berth in the big race when Jiles fouled at the line.

Murphy claimed the first win of his career when he ran 10.028 on his 10.00 index, relegating Netherland to the runner-up spot with his 11.120 on an index of 11.00.

Ramchargers American Muscle had the largest car count in Columbus, and NSCA Chaplain Mark Walter fittingly took top qualifier honors with a pass of 12.002 on his 12.00 index. Walter had earlier earned the 2004 championship, and he was really on a roll.

Behind him on the qualifying sheet were Larry Santucci, Mike Tritle, Shawn Gilbert, Ken Weilbrenner, Jack Eppley, Michael Tischler, defending champ Mike Davis, Steve Jones, Scott Williams, Allen Adam, Larry Fleming, Keith Seymour, Bob Darlington, Geary bates, James Gorski, Rick Bess, Kevin Fournier, Ernie Dreher, Mike Walker and Bret Blankmeyer.

With Walter earning a first round bye for being top qualifier, Seymore, Williams, Fournier, Fleming, Blankmeyer, Gilbert, Dreher, Eppley, Tischler, Weilbrenner, Williams and Tritle all moved on. Second round survivors were Eppley, Weilbrenner, Walter, Fournier, Gilbert and Fleming, who had the bye run.

Weilbrenner took out Walter in the semifinals, while Fournier moved into the final on a bye run. When the smoke cleared, it was Weilbrenner and Fournier facing off in the final round. Weilbrenner’s ’70 Chevelle emerged victorious, his perfect .000 reaction time combined with a mark of 10.911 on his 11.00 index. He ran under, but Fournier’s ’66 Chevelle ran even quicker under, his 10.043 not close to the 10.25 index.

Comp/FA.S.T. EFI Eliminator was pretty well dominated by Todd Merkel in 2004, but the action in the class consistently drew a large number of competitors, and the World Finals in Columbus saw 19 cars passing through tech.

Larry Russell, Jr. led the qualifying sessions on Saturday, followed by Jeff Hall, Roxanne Shepard, Ian Schmitt, Todd Merkel, Ray Tumbay, Wes Stevens, Jason Glelman, John King, Dale Knapke, David Lanman, Larry Golobish, Jeff Litzinger, Ted Rudie, Jay Trisel, Elie Nahad, Jenni Merrick, Joey Wilkes and Bryan Merkle.

Russell Jr. took the bye run into the second round, and King, Tumbay, Glelman, Lanman, Hall, Schmitt, Todd Merkel, Rudie and Shepard all joined him there. Moving on from there were Tumbay, Schmitt, Lanman, Glelman and Hall.

Hall moved on with the bye, leaving Schmitt and Lanman to fight for a shot at the next stanza. In the semifinals, Schmitt took the single while Lanman took out Hall, setting up the big final round.

Unfortunately, Schmitt jumped the gun, lighting the red bulb as Lanman cruised to the most important event win of the season.

Factory Modified Sportsman is one of two new NSCA classes for 2004, featuring high-flying IHRA and NHRA Super Stock class cars in heads-up competition.

Top qualifier was Charlie Westcott, who paced the field by laying down a mark of 9.570, 137.53 behind the wheel of his ’98 Pontiac. He was followed by Joey Wilkes, Mike Pustelny, Jeff Niceswanger, Chuck Bohannon and George Wright.

Westcott, Wilkes and Pustelny all moved on to the semifinals, with Wilkes winning his round to face Westcott, who advanced to the finals on a single pass.

Completing a father-son sweep, Westcott joined his son Charlie Jr. in the winner’s circle when Wilkes pulled the trigger .004-seconds too soon.

Pro-Filer Performance Products Top Street is the second of the new NSCA classes for 2004, featuring IHRA Top Sportsman-type cars. Randy Jewell had already been crowned class champion previous to the Columbus event, but the competition was still top notch at the Corteco World Finals.

Jewell confirmed his championship status by taking the top qualifying spot, his 2000 Corvette laying down a best pass of 6.931, 198.09 to claim the honor. Behind him were Mike Ghiraldi, Brian Tiffe, Danny Blankenship, Phillip Stevens, Jerry Albright and Larry Higginbottam. Unfortunately, Albert suffered a scary nitrous fire during Saturday’s last session, and although he was unhurt, he was unable to make the eliminations.

Jewell took the single into the second round, while Ghiraldi, Stephens and Tiffe all fought for the right to join him there. In the semifinals, Ghiraldi took out Tiffe, 7.045, 199.76 to 10.538, 97.79, while Jewell moved on with his defeat of Stephens, 7.008, 192.14 to 7.117, 192.47.

Jewell capped off a great first season of Top Street competition by going to the winner’s circle one more time, his 6.965, 198.38 too much for Ghiraldi’s 7.086, 196.24.

A special class of competition at the Corteco World Finals was the Jeg’s High Performance Stock and Super Stock Challenge, and there were 16 cars on hand to fight for the titles in each category. When all was said and done, Zack Running was the Super Stock winner, with Paul Marcum garnering Stock honors.