Oh, we're neighbors then. I attend NES almost every week and I am very familiar with the Outlaw Stock rules. I know of at least one racer there who runs a marine manifold and claims it passes tech. Problem is that the rules say the OEM manifold must be one "that was used on an assembly line vehicle." So the rule says one thing but tech allows another. NES no longer allows OEM 4 barrels, all cars must run a 4412. I don't think anyone is running true box stock either, at least not competitively. If I were building an engine for NES, I would go Vortec/Performer just to avoid hunting down the right heads and iron manifolds. But both combos are competitive. For example, on 5-29-2010, the winning car was running old style heads (perimeter valve covers), and the 2nd place car was likely running Vortecs (center bolt valve covers). I suspect the 2nd place car was not running the Performer manifold, which means he may have drilled the Vortec to work with an iron manifold. Not sure, but keep your eyes peeled if you decide to walk through the pits.
NES has a pretty competitive class with a car count of about 18 or so. It used to be much higher. I went to Bridgeport once last year, had about 12 street stocks. There are a few cars at NES that are borderline late models in my opinion. Instead of starting with a Monte or Camaro and converting it into a race car, they start with a race car and add stock parts in the right places to get it to pass tech.
Also, be careful about building a car for 2012 based on the 2011 rules today. They seem to change every year. Also, NJ is very strict on safety, so things like cages, fuel cells, safety equipment need to be top notch. NES also requires one way radios and transponders. Not sure about Bridgeport.
If you want to see some video of NES, look here. These are my videos: One is an Outlaw stock heat race, and the other is a big block modified heat race:
http://youtu.be/m_QpZPVtXy4
http://youtu.be/Zzu_IlBcQJ0
