While we'd love to put a complete race report in the magazine, letting you know the names of each winner and second-place finisher at  the 9th Annual NMRA Ford Nationals presented by Downs Ford, Mother Nature apparently feels it's best that we all just wait on learning the outcome of the event held at Atco Raceway--if there even is an outcome at some point later this season.

Torrential rain forced the cancellation of this year's event, and right now there hasn't been any official word on how NMRA plans to settle things. Stay tuned to the sanction's official Web site (www.nmradigital.com) for details, and in the meantime, check out some of the on-track and pitside images from the Mustang race that almost was...

Atco is the East Coast dragstrip that's widely known for its sea-level air and killer traction, and both variables definitely were present and accounted for, as unseasonably low (and very comfortable for Atco in August) temperatures and plently of "bite" had Mustangs hookin' and bookin' to record-breaking elapsed times during the qualifying sessions.

Drag Radial's Joey Bridge was the talk of the track and had competitors and fans alike sensing that the mythical, magical and official "7-second drag radial pass" was going to happen at some point during eliminations, given the track's mineshaft conditions (pre-rainstorm) on race day. In qualifying, Joey's mod-powered 'Stang put down back-to-back 8.02 passes, snatching the e.t. record away from 2007 class champion John Kolivas. In our own Real Street class, Bruce Hemminger and Brian McCormick excited everyone with the class' first side-by-side 9.50 pass (remember when Editor Turner thought/hoped that Real Street cars would run in the low 10s and maybe high 9s?). Bruce's 9.58 was good enough to earn him top-qualifier honors. John Urist's new notchback remains consistent as ever. Once again, John sat on the pole in Super Street Outlaw and definitely would have been tough to beat had the race been run, as he carried nearly 15 mph over the second qualifier and the rest of the field. Tommy Godfrey's 11.20 in Factory Stock was good enough to earn his JPC-backed 'Stang the first position on the ladder...and a new class e.t. record as well, and his stablemate, Ryan Hecox's 10.24 low-qualifying pass showed all that his quest for an NMRA champion's ring in Pure Street continues. Hot Street duel between Charlie Booze Jr and the rest of the field continues. At Atco, Charlie blasted to an 8.77 to take the top spot on the ladder. In Renegade, '07 champ has apparently found his groove again. Brian took his new 'Stang to the top of the ladder with an 8.54 in qualifying. Pro Outlaw 10.5 drivers Dan Millen and Conrad Scarry put on a spectacular show in qualifying. Both teams worked into the wee hours of Saturday morning to repair major engine damage to their race cars, and then proceeded to pull off one of the most-exciting side-by-side races the class has seen thus far. Dan's 6.78 proved to be enough to put him in the Number One qualifying position, but Conrad's mind-bending 217 mph left everyone on the property totally astonished.

Yes, had there been an actual race (four full rounds of eliminations on Sunday), we're pretty sure it would have been a classic.

Many of you may have heard about the speculation and suspicion that Jarrett Halfacre may have used nitrous oxide or some other agent to further enhance his Mustang's performance. While we can tell you that a protest was lodged with NMRA's Tech department, we are not aware of exactly what (if anything) was found on Jarrett's car when it was inspected.

While NMRA will let us all know the outcome of the situation in due time, those of you who are deeply intrigued by what may or may not be the real deal should check out some of the message threads on various drag racing Web sites. The "theories" and comments are amazing.