Bret Kepner
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
These results reflect the record holders, qualifiers, and final round contestants at each of the
Street Car Shootout Series events held each Tuesday at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
All vehicles compete utilizing Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) approved tires. All other modifications are permitted. Tuesday SCSS Track Records can be set during the two official qualifying or championship rounds. The first official Street Car Shootout qualifying period begins at 6:30 PM and the second official qualifying begins at approximately 8:00 PM, (barring unforeseen circumstances). At 10:00 PM, the four quickest qualifiers meet in no-handicap eliminations advancing two winners to the championship final round. Each of the Top 16 qualifiers receives a "Fastest Street Car Qualifier" decal. The SCSS trophies and decals are presented by Gateway Raceway.com. Additionally, the two quickest Sport Tuner drivers, (open to all passenger cars except Rear-Wheel-Drive vehicles with engines of eight cylinders or more), also meet in a no-handicap championship round for trophies presented by St. Louis Street Racers.com and the two quickest Super Truck drivers, (open to all trucks and utility vehicles), meet in a no-handicap championship round for trophies presented by Gateway Raceway.com. All finalists in all categories also receive free digital images from the event courtesy of Bret Kepner Photos.com and one free entry to a future SCSS event.
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, MADISON, ILLINOIS
2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES TRACK RECORDS
Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
RWD Mark Woodruff, Arnold, MO 69 Nova 706 Chevy 8.255 07/01/2008
RWD Mark Woodruff, Arnold, MO 69 Nova 706 Chevy 178.71 07/01/2008
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 9.039 10/14/2008
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 152.16 10/16/2007
TRK Kevin Autenrieth, Bethalto, IL 91 S-10 434 Chevy 9.065 07/01/2008
TRK Larry Richards, Hillsboro, MO 52 3100 427 Chevy 149.07 9/4/2007
6CYL Tony Shoaff, Mechanicsburg, IL 87 Regal 231 Buick 9.848 10/14/2008
6CYL Tony Shoaff, Mechanicsburg, IL 87 Regal 231 Buick 136.69 10/14/2008
DSL Chris Calkins, Union, MO 70 C-10 403 Chevy 9.875 9/25/2007
DSL Chris Calkins, Union, MO 70 C-10 403 Chevy 139.41 9/25/2007
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 10.048 9/26/2006
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 137.95 9/26/2006
AWD Adnan Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 10.234 9/11/2007
AWD Adnan Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 141.50 7/22/2008
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 123 Volks 10.989 05/06/2008
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 123 Volks 134.87 05/06/2008
APRIL 21st, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 04 04/21/2009
1 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.779 154.47
2 Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy 10.096 134.67
3 Kurt Borton Creve Coeur MO 82 Fairmont 325 Ford 10.362 137.05
4 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 10.550 124.96
5 Mark Elmore St. Charles MO 68 Chevelle 572 Chevy 10.977 125.55
6 Phillip Carl Winfield MO 91 Mustang 347 Ford 11.184 94.67
7 Larry Busse St. Clair MO 74 Nova 460 Chevy 11.192 118.72
8 Ralph Dehne Red Bud IL 63 Impala 409 Chevy 11.533 117.99
9 Don Long Belleville IL 92 Firebird 350 Pont 11.544 117.45
10 Kurt Hesselbach St. Charles MO 79 Malibu 383 Chevy 11.717 114.37
11 Eric Boschert Troy MO 98 Camaro 346 Chevy 11.899 113.11
12 Kurt Schmid St. Louis MO 87 Mustang 302 Ford 11.908 121.75
13 Kyle Myers Fenton MO 99 Camaro 346 Chevy 12.063 119.69
14 Matthew Cox Godfrey IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 12.182 108.36
15 Kraig Schinzing High Ridge MO 00 Firebird 346 Pont 12.214 115.36
16 Earl Kennedy Fenton MO 03 Corvette 346 Chevy 12.293 117.98
APRIL 21st, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Tim Mallicoat Collinsville, IL 68 565 Camaro 0.192 8.645 156.43
RU Curtis Paulfrey Brighton, IL 68 502 Camaro 0.024 10.086 135.31
One week after scoring the luckiest event victory of his career, Tim “Moose” Mallicoat returned to his more familiar form of setting new records by becoming the first driver to win the first three event titles of the season in the 2009 Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Six days prior, two-time and defending SCSS season champion Mallicoat had actually become the first competitor to win the first two events in any of the series’ previous five years. While Mallicoat’s infamous black ’68 Camaro has won as many as thirteen SCSS programs in a row, (he went undefeated from April 17th, 2007, through August 21st, 2007), nobody had ever scored the first straight three titles and, in fact, Brian Grote’s 2001 Camaro was the only other machine to have won three straight events at any pojnt in a season, (April 19th through May 10th, 2005). For the record, Mallicoat also earned three straight wins from September 9th through September 23rd last year.
Also for the third consecutive week, chilly temperatures brought the corrected elevation of GIR, (the starting line of which stands 407 feet above sea level), to negative numbers. Although the “air” actually only fell four feet below sea level during the final rounds, conditions were still fantastic despite a track temperature which dropped to 57 degrees. Ironically, it was the first 2009 SCSS event to be held on a Tuesday. Both previous Tuesday programs were cancelled by weather and, under a new 2009 GIR policy, rescheduled for the next day, (Wednesday).
The first qualifying session found Curtis Paulfrey’s yellow Winner’s Circle Tire and Auto-sponsored ‘68 Camaro clocking a 10.12-second effort at 133.61 miles per hour to take the early lead in the Super Sixteen field. Mallicoat wasted no time in making a qualifying attempt, however; after his April 15th victory in which his Camaro could do nothing right yet its win light continued to light up, the “Moose” appeared with new rear tires after his diagnosis that worn rear rubber was the culprit for the previous week’s nightmares. With a solid 1.30-second sixty-feet elapsed time, the naturally-aspirated “Hellraiser” shot to an 8.77/154.47, a vast improvement over the 8.90s of previous 2009 races.
Mallicoat elected to remain in the pits for the second and final qualifying session. Paulfrey improved to a 10.09/134.67 but the biggest surprise of the final period came from Kurt Borton, whose wild ’82 Ford Fairmont Futura finally came alive after an aborted run during the first session. Along with his father and partner, Gene, the owner/operator of Mid Coast Performance had clocked a 10.98/134.71 during the April 8th SCSS event but the cream-colored Ford, incorrectly described as a turbocharged entry by your reporter when, in fact, the 325-cubic inch FoMoCo smallblock is outfitted with an F1R ProCharger, blasted to a career-best 10.36/137.05 to qualify third.
Fourth position was held by Ray Arthur, who parked his “Suspicion” ‘68 Camaro for the week after earning two runners-up already in 2009, at the wheel of his “S-10 Revenge” Chevy pickup with a best-ever 10.55/124.96. As is customary in the SCSS, Arthur was given the option of racing in the Street Car Shootout and/or competing in the Super Truck Showdown. Arthur elected to run with the trucks, allowing Mark Elmore’s crystal blue 572-inch ‘68 Chevelle into eliminations as an alternate after a best-ever 10.97/125.55.
Paulfrey, competing in eliminations for the third straight week, drew the alternate in the semi-finals and unloaded a two-tenths holeshot on the tire-spinning Chevelle before taking his first elimination round win with a 10.20/133.95 to Elmore’s 11.33/126.25. Mallicoat, meanwhile, exuded his renewed confidence by allowing Borton’s lone Ford more than a tenth of a second advantage off the starting line before reeling in the Fairmont with a strong 8.70/155.81 to Borton’s second straight career-best, a stunning 10.17 at 141.49 mph, which allowed the MCP Ford to become the thirtieth member of the SCSS 140 MPH Club!
While Curtis Paulfrey should have been enjoying his first final round appearance, he was, in fact, in a panic. His Camaro was running fine but, unfortunately, his work shift was scheduled to start only a half-hour after the semi-finals! Paulfrey asked GIR officials if the final round could be run ahead of schedule but the decision was actually left to Mallicoat. In an incredible display of sportsmanship, the reigning SCSS champ agreed to run the championship dash only seven minutes after the semi-final round! When the ’Tree flashed green, Paulfrey again gained a huge holeshot, (0.16 seconds), and headed to his best run of the night, a 10.08/135.31. It wasn’t enough, however, to stop Mallicoat’s strongest pass of the season, a brutal 8.64/156.43. Upon making the turn-off at the end of the track, Paulfrey headed directly to his pit area where he took off his helmet and fire jacket, jumped in his F150 pickup truck and headed off to work…leaving his father to load the car!
“I really felt bad for the kid”, chuckled Mallicoat as he celebrated another record, a twenty-eighth SCSS victory, during winner’s circle festivities. “It had to be horrible to want to race in the final round while knowing you’re probably going to be late for work. That’s a tough call right there! The new tires solved the traction issues we had…the last two runs had 1.27-second sixty-feet ETs…so I was pretty happy, especially with the 8.64 in the final. I made a sparkplug change which seemed to help, too. The car did everything it was supposed to do this week. We had absolutely no problems”.
The elder Paulfrey, who subbed for Curtis during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstand, added, “We really want to thank Moose for being such a sport by running the final with so little cooldown time. The Gateway crew was very helpful, as well. It was important to us because our sponsor, Dan Mitchell, who owns Winner’s Circle Tire & Auto was here watching tonight and he was as excited as we were. We did what we could but it’s hard to beat that black Camaro!”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: In a fairly remarkable statistic, no less than thirty-nine different drivers have qualified for the Super Sixteen field in only three events; there have only been forty-eight available positions!…Among the new faces was the aforementioned Mark Elmore, whose 572-inch ‘68 Chevelle became the 117th member of the SCSS 10-Second Club…Philip Carl, at the helm of chassis builder Dustin Kurz’s Winfield, Missouri-based MD Performance ‘91 Mustang, qualified with an 11.18 at only 94.67 mph but recorded a 6.81 eighth-mile at a surprising 114.10 mph on the pass. Carl came back in late timed trials and recorded a 6.67/114.68 eighth and drove it all the way to a 10.11/132.83! However, nobody was ready for the team’s final blast when the gun-metal grey Ford shot to a 6.14/125.63 eighth and an incredible 9.30 at 153.28 mph!…Kurt Hesselbach’s smallblock ‘81 Malibu qualified at 11.71/114.37 and improved to an 11.60/114.87 in late timed trials…Even “bump spot” qualifier Earle Kennedy’s ‘03 Z06 Corvette improved in the cooler air, qualifying with a 12.29/117.98 and later running 12.26/118.24...One of the most popular cars in the SCSS, Ralph Denne’s phenomenal original ‘63 Z11 Impala, was faced with adding a rollbar after hitting a best-ever 11.39 late last season. No way was the Red Bud, Illinois, racer going to cut up a car worth more than most homes so he simply “fattened it up” to stay within NHRA’s mandate of running slower than 11.49 seconds. The result? Two runs of 11.50/118.03 and 11.53/117.99! The man definitely knows his way around a pair of four-barrel carburetors….Kurt Schmid’s immaculate maroon ‘87 302 Mustang GT became the 208th member of the SCSS 120 MPH Club with his 11.90/121.75 qualifier…Curtis Paulfrey is rapidly gaining a reputation as a ‘leaver’. So far this season, he has strapped a holeshot on all four of his opponents in eliminations…Fans got a rare treat in watching one the original Street Car superstars, Chicagoan Spiro Pappas, as he tested his American Drag Racing League Xtreme 10.5 2009 Pontiac GXP. The new ride, fresh from a runner-up to Billy Glidden in Valdosta, GA, carried its famous gold-on-black paint scheme to both ends of GIR’s eighth-mile 10.5W record. With the track marks held by Glidden’s smallblock Ford-powered nitrous oxide-aided 2007 Pontiac GTO at 4.23 seconds and Tim Lynch‘s turbocharged 2002 Mustang at 176.28 mph, Pappas took his turbo’d 522-inch bigblock-motivated Poncho to a stunning 4.11 at 177.37 mph while clocking the first sixty feet in 0.990 seconds, a first for any bigblock V8 on 10.5 tires. It was actually the quickest turbocharged doorslammer run of any kind at GIR……Derek Allen, racing for Waterloo (IL) High School, scored for the second straight week in High School Eliminator at the wheel his Gator Gumbo-sponsored ‘84 350 Cutlass to defeating Tim Rall’s Southside City Speed Shop ‘95 Grand Prix in the final round.
SPECIAL NOTE: Due to facility reconfiguration for the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals on May 1st through May 3rd, Gateway International Raceway will be closed from Monday, April 27th through Thursday, April 30th. The Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway will resume on Tuesday, May 5th.
2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL POINT STANDINGS (as of APRIL 22nd, 2009)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (16) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
1 (24) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
2 (20) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy
3 (19) Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy
4 (12) Orson Johnson House Springs MO 99 Mustang 281 Ford
5 (11) Kurt Borton Creve Coeur MO 82 Fairmont 325 Ford
6 (10) Gary Tadlock Granite City IL 03 Corvette 346 Chevy
7 (5) Ryan Dunn O'Fallon MO 72 Nova 454 Chevy
8 (5) David Starns St. Louis MO 91 Mustang 355 Ford
9 (5) Brian Orsborn Granite City IL 04 Neon 146 Dodge
10 (5) Mark Yehling Granite City IL 97 Corvette 346 Chevy
NOTE: Points toward the 2009 Street Car Shootout Series Season Championship are awarded on the basis of five (5) points for qualifying in the Super Sixteen field with one (1) bonus point awarded for qualifying in the top four positions. One (1) additional point is earned for each round win during eliminations. Ties are broken by (1) the earliest date upon which the final point total is earned, (2) quickest elapsed time recorded during the current SCSS season and (3) fastest speed recorded during the current SCSS season.
APRIL 21st, 2009 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Dan Harris St. Louis MO 04 232 Mustang 0.237 12.480 107.81
RU John Kessler Chesterfield MO 02 214 Maxima 0.429 14.821 96.58
Past Gateway International Raceway High School Eliminator season champion Dan “Iceman” Harris got a taste of heads-up racing on September 18th, 2008, when he appeared in his first final round for the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown. Although he lost that battle with Mike Bobelak’s Polk Audio Volkswagen Golf, Harris gained a measure of revenge by winning his first title at the wheel of his unique 232-inch V6-powered 2004 Mustang.
The “SixBangStang” led qualifying from the start with a 12.31/107.20 best which just missed qualifying for the SCSS Super Sixteen field by nineteen thousandths of a second. Last week’s polesitter, Jim Garrison’s silver turbocharged ‘04 Dodge Neon SRT-4 ran a best-ever 13.27/114.82 for the second slot followed by John Kessler’s 2002 Maxima, (14.26/98.42), and Jeremy Lackey’s blue ‘05 Neon, (14.35/98.59).
Unfortunately, Garrison‘s night ended early with a broken halfshaft and Kessler got the call to report for the championship round as the first alternate. Harris left first and drove away to a 12.48/107.81 while the Nissan trailed at 14.82/96.58. “We have a bunch of new sponsors this year”, said Harris during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstands, “but one person I really need to thank
Is Mike Rodery of MAC Tools for helping us this season. He has really gotten behind us. We actually got the car to run in the 12.20s at the Icebreaker this year so the 12.31 was only surprising because it spun the tires a bit on that run. We’re just hoping to get it into the elevens this year”. Meanwhile, Kessler was just happy to be in the final round. “This is an absolutely bone-stock Maxima”, he said, “so I don’t have any sponsors to thank. I do want to give a shout out to the gang at Maxima.org, though. They’re great bunch of guys who are really into these cars”.
APRIL 21st, 2009 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 93 355 S-10 0.642 10.582 126.65
RU Matthew Cox Godfrey IL 93 355 S-10 -0.041 (foul) 12.369 105.12
It had to happen sooner or later but the most overdue driver in the five-year history of Tuesday night competition finally did it. Ray Arthur won a first-place trophy.
The owner of R&R Towing is best known for his “Suspicion” ‘67 Camaro which had amassed eight runner-up titles in the SCSS, including the first two events of 2009. His “S-10 Revenge” pickup debuted in 2008 with John Brawley in the seat but, on a few occasions, Arthur hopped in the ‘93 S-10 and actually scored his ninth career second-place finish on September 16th. On his tenth final round visit, Ray finally saw the win light in his lane…and he was a happy guy.
Arthur’s immaculate S-10 actually shocked a few folks with a 10.59/123.69 in early timed trials before the first qualifying session; the pass was remarkable considering its quickest previous run was a 10.67 carded last season. He improved on that pass with a best of 10.55/124.96 during the official qualifying periods and went to the final the decided favorite over last week’s winner in the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown, Matt Cox’s red-on-white 355-inch ‘93 S-10. After qualifying for the final round at every event this year, Cox took his Premier Auto/Lowe Performance pickup to career-best 12.18/108.36 while also qualifying for the SCSS Super Sixteen field.
In the title bout, Cox pushed for the holeshot but drew a redlight by forty-one thousandths of a second and, suddenly, Ray Arthur was a winner. It didn’t happen a moment too soon. “I parked the Camaro this week so we could get the truck ready for John (Brawley) this season”, said a stunned Arthur while holding the “big trophy” for once. “The truth is that, last year, the truck ran 10.67 on nitrous. This is a brand-new 355 smallblock and we haven’t ‘sprayed it’ yet. I wanted to get it sorted out before John starts driving again so I could concentrate on getting the Camaro in the eights. Wouldn’t you know it? I come out here and finally win one. Any win is a win and I’ll take this one. Lord knows I waited long enough for it!“.
Photos of the April 21st Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Tim “Moose” Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro
Curtis Paulfrey, Brighton, IL 1968 502 Camaro
Dan Harris, St. Louis, MO 2004 232 Mustang
John Kessler, Chesterfield, MO 2002 214 Maxima
Ray Arthur, Edwardsville, IL 1993 355 S-10
Matt Cox, Godfey, IL 1993 350 S-10
Street Car Shootout Series events held each Tuesday at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
All vehicles compete utilizing Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) approved tires. All other modifications are permitted. Tuesday SCSS Track Records can be set during the two official qualifying or championship rounds. The first official Street Car Shootout qualifying period begins at 6:30 PM and the second official qualifying begins at approximately 8:00 PM, (barring unforeseen circumstances). At 10:00 PM, the four quickest qualifiers meet in no-handicap eliminations advancing two winners to the championship final round. Each of the Top 16 qualifiers receives a "Fastest Street Car Qualifier" decal. The SCSS trophies and decals are presented by Gateway Raceway.com. Additionally, the two quickest Sport Tuner drivers, (open to all passenger cars except Rear-Wheel-Drive vehicles with engines of eight cylinders or more), also meet in a no-handicap championship round for trophies presented by St. Louis Street Racers.com and the two quickest Super Truck drivers, (open to all trucks and utility vehicles), meet in a no-handicap championship round for trophies presented by Gateway Raceway.com. All finalists in all categories also receive free digital images from the event courtesy of Bret Kepner Photos.com and one free entry to a future SCSS event.
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, MADISON, ILLINOIS
2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES TRACK RECORDS
Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
RWD Mark Woodruff, Arnold, MO 69 Nova 706 Chevy 8.255 07/01/2008
RWD Mark Woodruff, Arnold, MO 69 Nova 706 Chevy 178.71 07/01/2008
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 9.039 10/14/2008
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 152.16 10/16/2007
TRK Kevin Autenrieth, Bethalto, IL 91 S-10 434 Chevy 9.065 07/01/2008
TRK Larry Richards, Hillsboro, MO 52 3100 427 Chevy 149.07 9/4/2007
6CYL Tony Shoaff, Mechanicsburg, IL 87 Regal 231 Buick 9.848 10/14/2008
6CYL Tony Shoaff, Mechanicsburg, IL 87 Regal 231 Buick 136.69 10/14/2008
DSL Chris Calkins, Union, MO 70 C-10 403 Chevy 9.875 9/25/2007
DSL Chris Calkins, Union, MO 70 C-10 403 Chevy 139.41 9/25/2007
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 10.048 9/26/2006
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 137.95 9/26/2006
AWD Adnan Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 10.234 9/11/2007
AWD Adnan Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 141.50 7/22/2008
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 123 Volks 10.989 05/06/2008
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 123 Volks 134.87 05/06/2008
APRIL 21st, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 04 04/21/2009
1 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.779 154.47
2 Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy 10.096 134.67
3 Kurt Borton Creve Coeur MO 82 Fairmont 325 Ford 10.362 137.05
4 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 10.550 124.96
5 Mark Elmore St. Charles MO 68 Chevelle 572 Chevy 10.977 125.55
6 Phillip Carl Winfield MO 91 Mustang 347 Ford 11.184 94.67
7 Larry Busse St. Clair MO 74 Nova 460 Chevy 11.192 118.72
8 Ralph Dehne Red Bud IL 63 Impala 409 Chevy 11.533 117.99
9 Don Long Belleville IL 92 Firebird 350 Pont 11.544 117.45
10 Kurt Hesselbach St. Charles MO 79 Malibu 383 Chevy 11.717 114.37
11 Eric Boschert Troy MO 98 Camaro 346 Chevy 11.899 113.11
12 Kurt Schmid St. Louis MO 87 Mustang 302 Ford 11.908 121.75
13 Kyle Myers Fenton MO 99 Camaro 346 Chevy 12.063 119.69
14 Matthew Cox Godfrey IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 12.182 108.36
15 Kraig Schinzing High Ridge MO 00 Firebird 346 Pont 12.214 115.36
16 Earl Kennedy Fenton MO 03 Corvette 346 Chevy 12.293 117.98
APRIL 21st, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Tim Mallicoat Collinsville, IL 68 565 Camaro 0.192 8.645 156.43
RU Curtis Paulfrey Brighton, IL 68 502 Camaro 0.024 10.086 135.31
One week after scoring the luckiest event victory of his career, Tim “Moose” Mallicoat returned to his more familiar form of setting new records by becoming the first driver to win the first three event titles of the season in the 2009 Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Six days prior, two-time and defending SCSS season champion Mallicoat had actually become the first competitor to win the first two events in any of the series’ previous five years. While Mallicoat’s infamous black ’68 Camaro has won as many as thirteen SCSS programs in a row, (he went undefeated from April 17th, 2007, through August 21st, 2007), nobody had ever scored the first straight three titles and, in fact, Brian Grote’s 2001 Camaro was the only other machine to have won three straight events at any pojnt in a season, (April 19th through May 10th, 2005). For the record, Mallicoat also earned three straight wins from September 9th through September 23rd last year.
Also for the third consecutive week, chilly temperatures brought the corrected elevation of GIR, (the starting line of which stands 407 feet above sea level), to negative numbers. Although the “air” actually only fell four feet below sea level during the final rounds, conditions were still fantastic despite a track temperature which dropped to 57 degrees. Ironically, it was the first 2009 SCSS event to be held on a Tuesday. Both previous Tuesday programs were cancelled by weather and, under a new 2009 GIR policy, rescheduled for the next day, (Wednesday).
The first qualifying session found Curtis Paulfrey’s yellow Winner’s Circle Tire and Auto-sponsored ‘68 Camaro clocking a 10.12-second effort at 133.61 miles per hour to take the early lead in the Super Sixteen field. Mallicoat wasted no time in making a qualifying attempt, however; after his April 15th victory in which his Camaro could do nothing right yet its win light continued to light up, the “Moose” appeared with new rear tires after his diagnosis that worn rear rubber was the culprit for the previous week’s nightmares. With a solid 1.30-second sixty-feet elapsed time, the naturally-aspirated “Hellraiser” shot to an 8.77/154.47, a vast improvement over the 8.90s of previous 2009 races.
Mallicoat elected to remain in the pits for the second and final qualifying session. Paulfrey improved to a 10.09/134.67 but the biggest surprise of the final period came from Kurt Borton, whose wild ’82 Ford Fairmont Futura finally came alive after an aborted run during the first session. Along with his father and partner, Gene, the owner/operator of Mid Coast Performance had clocked a 10.98/134.71 during the April 8th SCSS event but the cream-colored Ford, incorrectly described as a turbocharged entry by your reporter when, in fact, the 325-cubic inch FoMoCo smallblock is outfitted with an F1R ProCharger, blasted to a career-best 10.36/137.05 to qualify third.
Fourth position was held by Ray Arthur, who parked his “Suspicion” ‘68 Camaro for the week after earning two runners-up already in 2009, at the wheel of his “S-10 Revenge” Chevy pickup with a best-ever 10.55/124.96. As is customary in the SCSS, Arthur was given the option of racing in the Street Car Shootout and/or competing in the Super Truck Showdown. Arthur elected to run with the trucks, allowing Mark Elmore’s crystal blue 572-inch ‘68 Chevelle into eliminations as an alternate after a best-ever 10.97/125.55.
Paulfrey, competing in eliminations for the third straight week, drew the alternate in the semi-finals and unloaded a two-tenths holeshot on the tire-spinning Chevelle before taking his first elimination round win with a 10.20/133.95 to Elmore’s 11.33/126.25. Mallicoat, meanwhile, exuded his renewed confidence by allowing Borton’s lone Ford more than a tenth of a second advantage off the starting line before reeling in the Fairmont with a strong 8.70/155.81 to Borton’s second straight career-best, a stunning 10.17 at 141.49 mph, which allowed the MCP Ford to become the thirtieth member of the SCSS 140 MPH Club!
While Curtis Paulfrey should have been enjoying his first final round appearance, he was, in fact, in a panic. His Camaro was running fine but, unfortunately, his work shift was scheduled to start only a half-hour after the semi-finals! Paulfrey asked GIR officials if the final round could be run ahead of schedule but the decision was actually left to Mallicoat. In an incredible display of sportsmanship, the reigning SCSS champ agreed to run the championship dash only seven minutes after the semi-final round! When the ’Tree flashed green, Paulfrey again gained a huge holeshot, (0.16 seconds), and headed to his best run of the night, a 10.08/135.31. It wasn’t enough, however, to stop Mallicoat’s strongest pass of the season, a brutal 8.64/156.43. Upon making the turn-off at the end of the track, Paulfrey headed directly to his pit area where he took off his helmet and fire jacket, jumped in his F150 pickup truck and headed off to work…leaving his father to load the car!
“I really felt bad for the kid”, chuckled Mallicoat as he celebrated another record, a twenty-eighth SCSS victory, during winner’s circle festivities. “It had to be horrible to want to race in the final round while knowing you’re probably going to be late for work. That’s a tough call right there! The new tires solved the traction issues we had…the last two runs had 1.27-second sixty-feet ETs…so I was pretty happy, especially with the 8.64 in the final. I made a sparkplug change which seemed to help, too. The car did everything it was supposed to do this week. We had absolutely no problems”.
The elder Paulfrey, who subbed for Curtis during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstand, added, “We really want to thank Moose for being such a sport by running the final with so little cooldown time. The Gateway crew was very helpful, as well. It was important to us because our sponsor, Dan Mitchell, who owns Winner’s Circle Tire & Auto was here watching tonight and he was as excited as we were. We did what we could but it’s hard to beat that black Camaro!”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: In a fairly remarkable statistic, no less than thirty-nine different drivers have qualified for the Super Sixteen field in only three events; there have only been forty-eight available positions!…Among the new faces was the aforementioned Mark Elmore, whose 572-inch ‘68 Chevelle became the 117th member of the SCSS 10-Second Club…Philip Carl, at the helm of chassis builder Dustin Kurz’s Winfield, Missouri-based MD Performance ‘91 Mustang, qualified with an 11.18 at only 94.67 mph but recorded a 6.81 eighth-mile at a surprising 114.10 mph on the pass. Carl came back in late timed trials and recorded a 6.67/114.68 eighth and drove it all the way to a 10.11/132.83! However, nobody was ready for the team’s final blast when the gun-metal grey Ford shot to a 6.14/125.63 eighth and an incredible 9.30 at 153.28 mph!…Kurt Hesselbach’s smallblock ‘81 Malibu qualified at 11.71/114.37 and improved to an 11.60/114.87 in late timed trials…Even “bump spot” qualifier Earle Kennedy’s ‘03 Z06 Corvette improved in the cooler air, qualifying with a 12.29/117.98 and later running 12.26/118.24...One of the most popular cars in the SCSS, Ralph Denne’s phenomenal original ‘63 Z11 Impala, was faced with adding a rollbar after hitting a best-ever 11.39 late last season. No way was the Red Bud, Illinois, racer going to cut up a car worth more than most homes so he simply “fattened it up” to stay within NHRA’s mandate of running slower than 11.49 seconds. The result? Two runs of 11.50/118.03 and 11.53/117.99! The man definitely knows his way around a pair of four-barrel carburetors….Kurt Schmid’s immaculate maroon ‘87 302 Mustang GT became the 208th member of the SCSS 120 MPH Club with his 11.90/121.75 qualifier…Curtis Paulfrey is rapidly gaining a reputation as a ‘leaver’. So far this season, he has strapped a holeshot on all four of his opponents in eliminations…Fans got a rare treat in watching one the original Street Car superstars, Chicagoan Spiro Pappas, as he tested his American Drag Racing League Xtreme 10.5 2009 Pontiac GXP. The new ride, fresh from a runner-up to Billy Glidden in Valdosta, GA, carried its famous gold-on-black paint scheme to both ends of GIR’s eighth-mile 10.5W record. With the track marks held by Glidden’s smallblock Ford-powered nitrous oxide-aided 2007 Pontiac GTO at 4.23 seconds and Tim Lynch‘s turbocharged 2002 Mustang at 176.28 mph, Pappas took his turbo’d 522-inch bigblock-motivated Poncho to a stunning 4.11 at 177.37 mph while clocking the first sixty feet in 0.990 seconds, a first for any bigblock V8 on 10.5 tires. It was actually the quickest turbocharged doorslammer run of any kind at GIR……Derek Allen, racing for Waterloo (IL) High School, scored for the second straight week in High School Eliminator at the wheel his Gator Gumbo-sponsored ‘84 350 Cutlass to defeating Tim Rall’s Southside City Speed Shop ‘95 Grand Prix in the final round.
SPECIAL NOTE: Due to facility reconfiguration for the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals on May 1st through May 3rd, Gateway International Raceway will be closed from Monday, April 27th through Thursday, April 30th. The Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway will resume on Tuesday, May 5th.
2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL POINT STANDINGS (as of APRIL 22nd, 2009)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (16) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
1 (24) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
2 (20) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy
3 (19) Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy
4 (12) Orson Johnson House Springs MO 99 Mustang 281 Ford
5 (11) Kurt Borton Creve Coeur MO 82 Fairmont 325 Ford
6 (10) Gary Tadlock Granite City IL 03 Corvette 346 Chevy
7 (5) Ryan Dunn O'Fallon MO 72 Nova 454 Chevy
8 (5) David Starns St. Louis MO 91 Mustang 355 Ford
9 (5) Brian Orsborn Granite City IL 04 Neon 146 Dodge
10 (5) Mark Yehling Granite City IL 97 Corvette 346 Chevy
NOTE: Points toward the 2009 Street Car Shootout Series Season Championship are awarded on the basis of five (5) points for qualifying in the Super Sixteen field with one (1) bonus point awarded for qualifying in the top four positions. One (1) additional point is earned for each round win during eliminations. Ties are broken by (1) the earliest date upon which the final point total is earned, (2) quickest elapsed time recorded during the current SCSS season and (3) fastest speed recorded during the current SCSS season.
APRIL 21st, 2009 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Dan Harris St. Louis MO 04 232 Mustang 0.237 12.480 107.81
RU John Kessler Chesterfield MO 02 214 Maxima 0.429 14.821 96.58
Past Gateway International Raceway High School Eliminator season champion Dan “Iceman” Harris got a taste of heads-up racing on September 18th, 2008, when he appeared in his first final round for the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown. Although he lost that battle with Mike Bobelak’s Polk Audio Volkswagen Golf, Harris gained a measure of revenge by winning his first title at the wheel of his unique 232-inch V6-powered 2004 Mustang.
The “SixBangStang” led qualifying from the start with a 12.31/107.20 best which just missed qualifying for the SCSS Super Sixteen field by nineteen thousandths of a second. Last week’s polesitter, Jim Garrison’s silver turbocharged ‘04 Dodge Neon SRT-4 ran a best-ever 13.27/114.82 for the second slot followed by John Kessler’s 2002 Maxima, (14.26/98.42), and Jeremy Lackey’s blue ‘05 Neon, (14.35/98.59).
Unfortunately, Garrison‘s night ended early with a broken halfshaft and Kessler got the call to report for the championship round as the first alternate. Harris left first and drove away to a 12.48/107.81 while the Nissan trailed at 14.82/96.58. “We have a bunch of new sponsors this year”, said Harris during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstands, “but one person I really need to thank
Is Mike Rodery of MAC Tools for helping us this season. He has really gotten behind us. We actually got the car to run in the 12.20s at the Icebreaker this year so the 12.31 was only surprising because it spun the tires a bit on that run. We’re just hoping to get it into the elevens this year”. Meanwhile, Kessler was just happy to be in the final round. “This is an absolutely bone-stock Maxima”, he said, “so I don’t have any sponsors to thank. I do want to give a shout out to the gang at Maxima.org, though. They’re great bunch of guys who are really into these cars”.
APRIL 21st, 2009 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 93 355 S-10 0.642 10.582 126.65
RU Matthew Cox Godfrey IL 93 355 S-10 -0.041 (foul) 12.369 105.12
It had to happen sooner or later but the most overdue driver in the five-year history of Tuesday night competition finally did it. Ray Arthur won a first-place trophy.
The owner of R&R Towing is best known for his “Suspicion” ‘67 Camaro which had amassed eight runner-up titles in the SCSS, including the first two events of 2009. His “S-10 Revenge” pickup debuted in 2008 with John Brawley in the seat but, on a few occasions, Arthur hopped in the ‘93 S-10 and actually scored his ninth career second-place finish on September 16th. On his tenth final round visit, Ray finally saw the win light in his lane…and he was a happy guy.
Arthur’s immaculate S-10 actually shocked a few folks with a 10.59/123.69 in early timed trials before the first qualifying session; the pass was remarkable considering its quickest previous run was a 10.67 carded last season. He improved on that pass with a best of 10.55/124.96 during the official qualifying periods and went to the final the decided favorite over last week’s winner in the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown, Matt Cox’s red-on-white 355-inch ‘93 S-10. After qualifying for the final round at every event this year, Cox took his Premier Auto/Lowe Performance pickup to career-best 12.18/108.36 while also qualifying for the SCSS Super Sixteen field.
In the title bout, Cox pushed for the holeshot but drew a redlight by forty-one thousandths of a second and, suddenly, Ray Arthur was a winner. It didn’t happen a moment too soon. “I parked the Camaro this week so we could get the truck ready for John (Brawley) this season”, said a stunned Arthur while holding the “big trophy” for once. “The truth is that, last year, the truck ran 10.67 on nitrous. This is a brand-new 355 smallblock and we haven’t ‘sprayed it’ yet. I wanted to get it sorted out before John starts driving again so I could concentrate on getting the Camaro in the eights. Wouldn’t you know it? I come out here and finally win one. Any win is a win and I’ll take this one. Lord knows I waited long enough for it!“.
Photos of the April 21st Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Tim “Moose” Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro
Curtis Paulfrey, Brighton, IL 1968 502 Camaro
Dan Harris, St. Louis, MO 2004 232 Mustang
John Kessler, Chesterfield, MO 2002 214 Maxima
Ray Arthur, Edwardsville, IL 1993 355 S-10
Matt Cox, Godfey, IL 1993 350 S-10
