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 official qualifying or championship rounds. The Official Street Car Shootout qualifying period begins at 6:30 PM and concludes at 9:00 PM, (barring unforeseen circumstances). At 9:20 PM, the four quickest qualifiers meet in no-handicap eliminations with the championship final round held at 9:45 PM. 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
2008 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES TRACK RECORDS
Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
RWD Mark Woodruff, Arnold, MO 69 Nova 706 Chevy8.255 07/01/2007
RWD Mark Woodruff, Arnold, MO 69 Nova 706 Chevy178.71 07/01/2007
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 9.147 4/15/2008
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
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
6CYL Rob Nolan, Granite City, IL 87 Regal 231 Buick 11.041 10/11/2005
6CYL Rob Nolan, Granite City, IL 87 Regal 231 Buick 124.56 4/11/2006
AUGUST 12th, 2008 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 16 08/12/2008
1 Matt Giblin Festus MO 69 Nova 600 Chevy 8.316 168.24
2 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.620 158.56
3 Jon Huber St. Louis MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 9.251 150.87
4 Tom Bantle, Jr. House Springs MO 92 Mustang 427 Ford 9.675 144.06
5 Tim Kirkpatrick Troy MO 88 Mustang 393 Ford 10.092 135.32
6 Charles Bewen Wildwood MO 67 Firebird 383 Pont 10.597 132.92
7 Steve Decker Ballwin MO 89 Mustang 302 Ford 10.686 125.79
8 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy 10.727 136.39
9 Mark Long, Sr. Caseyville IL 75 Firebird 505 Chevy 10.746 109.28
10 Tony Huff Collinsville IL 57 Bel-Air 510 Chevy 11.004 128.42
11 Nathan Grant Edwardsville IL 02 Camaro 346 Chevy 11.068 124.52
12 Greg Boschert St. Louis MO 66 Mustang 331 Ford 11.380 121.10
13 Phillip Hoback Melbourne FL 93 RX7 79 Mazda 11.448 129.93
14 John Brawley Granite City IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 11.571 115.70
15 Zach Sarver Herrick IL 06 Mustang 330 Ford 11.683 125.51
16 Nick Burch Farmington MO 06 Mustang 281 Ford 11.816 117.67
AUGUST 12th, 2008 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Tim Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro 0.182 8.682 157.43
RU Tom Bantle, Jr. House Springs, MO 1992 427 Mustang -0.144 (foul) 9.746 141.92
After the cancellation of the most recent event only seven days prior due to excessive heat warnings, Tim “Moose” Mallicoat took advantage of incredible mid-summer conditions to score his twenty-first career victory in the 2008 Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The pilot of the renowned “Hellraiser” 1968 Camaro wasn’t the quickest car in the Super Sixteen field but he survived a crazy night of competition in which virtually every top qualifier experienced some type of problem.
After the August 5th SCSS program was scrapped when the forecasted high temperature of 101 degrees exceeded GIR’s new 99-degree maximum for competition, racers expected more of the same throughout the traditionally blazing Midwestern summer. However, amazingly low temperatures, (a high of 81 degrees and a low of 69 during the event), and exceptionally low humidity greeted fans for the sixteenth event of the 2008 season. Track surfaces temperatures also stayed relatively low, ranging from a high of 99 degrees to a low of 87, and substantial grooming by the GIR track crew kept traction plentiful resulting in a huge number of career-best performances for an August race. Of course, the gorgeous weather brought with it one of the largest fields of the season with an equally large mob of spectators.
The grandstands were buzzing in anticipation of new SCSS records when the Giblin Brothers unloaded their gold ‘69 Yenko Nova in the pits. Regulars at Outlaw Street events throughout the Midwest, their 600 cubic inch, nitrous oxide-aided beast had produced strong numbers during recent test sessions. While early timed trials proved the track could handle horsepower, many of the more powerful entries waited until the official qualifying session began to make their first runs.
Mallicoat’s naturally-aspirated 565-inch Camaro was the first of the “hitters” to make a pass. The black Chevy launched with a 1.28-second sixty-feet elapsed time and surprised even “Moose” with an 8.620-second run at a career-best 158.56 miles per hour! The Giblin Brothers’ Nova soon followed, however. After a wild sideways burnout, driver Matt Giblin launched with a cautious 1.47-second “sixty” and then hit the nitrous oxide system for all it was worth. The Nova broke the tires loose eighty feet off the starting line but Giblin performed a masterful “pedaling job”, recovering to a 9.09 at a ****ping 163.73 mph!
Jon Huber’s astounding turbocharged four-cylinder ‘79 Mustang went into an outrageous powerstand and danced along the track’s center line but still unleashed a 9.25/150.87, (with 5.97/119.24 eighth-mile numbers), but the first big surprise of the event came when Tony Huff, the winningest driver of the 2008 SCSS season, staged his Dale Huff Motorsports ‘57 Chevy Bel-Air and then stumbled to an 11.99/107.50 with obvious problems.
Huber soon returned for a second attempt and the Huber Performance 178-inch four-banger jumped into another towering wheelstand and landed within inches of the center line but the St. Louisan stayed in the throttle to a 9.28/149.73. Only four minutes later, the Giblins returned with their 700-inch behemoth with a change in their game plan. Launching with a slightly stronger 1.39-second “sixty”, Matt Giblin eased into the nitrous oxide and thundered to a 5.40/134.66 eighth-mile and then began to really unleash the Nova’s power. At the thousand-feet mark, Giblin clocked 6.97 seconds to shatter Tony Tobnick’s 6.99-second series record set on October 16th, 2007. The crowd erupted when the scoreboards rang up a quarter-mile effort of 8.31 seconds at 168.24 mph, the second quickest and fastest pass in SCSS history!
Tom Bantle, who has competed in the SCSS since its inception, clocked an impressive 9.67/144.06 in his single four barrel-carbureted 427-inch smallblock ‘92 Mustang. Huff returned for what was expected to be an easy qualifying shot but the five-time 2008 event winner suffered the same sluggish performance; the black ‘57 Chevy, a proven 8.3-second ride, could muster no better than an 11.00/128.42. Giblin returned for a third attempt but the gold Nova’s numbers proved slower than the previous 8.31 jaw-dropper at every point on the track resulting in an 8.85/156.99. Mallicoat was the last of the semi-final hopefuls to run in the official qualifying session, running within three thousandths of a second of his first run with a brutally consistent 8.623/157.87.
When the top four qualifiers were called to the staging lanes in front of the main grandstands, word began filtering back to race control that several teams were unable to report. Giblin found a broken intake manifold gasket and simply had no time to change it before eliminations began. Huber elected to park his four-cylinder monster since its preoccupation with the centerline was an unsolved mystery. Mallicoat and Bantle were ready to race but, to fill the field, fifth qualifier Tim “Kirko” Kirkpatrick’s bright green ‘88 Mustang got the nod as first alternate to report for eliminations. The 393-inch small block clocked it quickest run ever, 10.09 at over 134 mph, in naturally-aspirated trim but Kirkpatrick planned to use his untested nitrous oxide system for his second appearance in SCSS eliminations. A replacement for Huber was more difficult to locate; Charlie Bewen’s ‘67 Firebird, Steve Decker’s new orange ‘89 302 Mustang, and Ray Arthur’s “Suspicion” ‘67 Camaro were all parked with problems. Mark Long’s wild new 505-inch ‘75 Firebird stayed in the pits, as well. The tenth qualifier had pulled into the staging lanes for a test run in late timed trials but was called in front of the main grandstands with a chance to race. The tenth qualifier was none other than Tony Huff!
With that last-minute reprieve, Huff pulled his ’57 Bel-Air to the line against Bantle’s black Mustang in the first of two Ford-versus-Chevy matches. “It was a nitrous relay the whole time”, said Huff before the battle, “and we fixed it and hoped we could get it sorted out with a timed run”. Huff got his wish; as Bantle’s Ford stumbled just off the starting line, Huff charged to an 8.61/155.92 to prove all was well with the classic Chevy. Unfortunately for Tony, he left the redlight glowing on the starting line! “I must’ve been looking at the wrong bulb”, said a bewildered Huff after the run. “I’m not usually that close on the ’Tree and to go red by sixty-six thousandths was kind of a shock”. Interestingly, Bantle received no elapsed time or speed during the race even though his eighth-mile numbers indicated a 10.71/123.01 pace.
In the other half of the semi-finals, Kirkpatrick jumped to a huge three-tenths of a second holeshot against Mallicoat and, as “Moose” took off in pursuit, a plume of smoke followed the black Camaro as it passed Kirkpartick just before the finish line for a shut-off 8.69 win at only 147.01 mph. Again, no ET or speed was recorded at the finish line for Kirkpatrick although, using conventional conversion formulas, his eighth-mile numbers indicated a probable 9.41/144.71 for his first full pass using the “spray”! After checking the infrared beams at the top end of the track, GIR chief starter Chuck Westcoat found a reflector knocked slightly askew by debris and fixed the timers for the final round.
“I got lucky”, said Bantle about his semi-final win as he prepared for his first SCSS championship battle since August 3rd, 2004. “I never expected Huff to redlight and my nitrous system went crazy on that run. We can fix it but I don’t know how much good it’ll do against the Moose”. Meanwhile, Mallicoat was thrashing in front of the fans to determine the cause of the smoke. “It’s had a really weird vibration down at the finish line all night. I thought maybe the motor was finally gonna give up the ghost but it had sixty-five pounds of oil pressure on that run so it must be something else”. Minutes later, Mallicoat noticed a missing oil dipstick and an oily mess near the back of the engine. After plugging the dipstick hole, Mallicoat laughed and noted, “Well, at least it wasn’t something expensive!”.
In the title bout, Bantle knew his hopes for a win had to begin with a holeshot; he pushed a bit hard and left the starting line fourteen hundredths of a second before the green light illuminated, tossing a 9.74/141.92 behind Mallicoat’s “business as usual” 8.68/157.43. During winner’s circle ceremonies in front of the main grandstands after the race, Bantle was being goodnatured as friends harassed him about his seemingly endless number of Ford and Chevy cars and trucks with which he has competed in the SCSS series every year it has been contested. “I’ve never been able to make up my mind whether I want to run a Ford or a Chevy”, joked Bantle. “This car seems to be responding well to what we are trying to accomplish, though, and I‘ve good a good group of friends who help out. The guys at Mustang Muscle have really helped us make this car competitive, too”. Mallicoat, enjoying his first SCSS victory since June 17th, knew he had work to do. “I fixed my transbrake problem from two weeks ago”, said Mallicoat, “but now we’ve got to look for that vibration problem. Tony not qualifying in the top four helped me a bit in the points tonight, though, so that could help us if we’re gonna be the first two-time season champion. We still have a lot of racing to go!”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: What drew as much attention as Matt Giblin’s 8.31/168.24 blast? It was the dragstrip debut of the two brand-new orange 2008 Dodge Challengers of Keith Biesel of Ste. Genevieve, MO, and Jerry LaPlant of Fenton, MO. The 372-inch Hemi-powered 425-horsepower Dodges had no trouble dipping into the 13-second zone; Beisel ran a best of 13.87/103.00 while LaPlant hit 13.93/102.57. At times, it was impossible to even get near the Challengers in the pits...Matt Giblin became the sixth member of the SCSS 160 MPH Club and the ninth member of the 8-Second Club…One would expect a ton of drivers to have recorded their best runs in late timed trials after qualifying concluded but that wasn’t the case. Only a handful of racers ran quicker after qualifying was over including Clayton Renth’s silver ‘92 302 Mustang, (a best-ever 11.73/117.29 which would’ve qualified for the Super Sixteen field), and Nick Burch’s ‘06 Mustang, (a best-ever 11.79)…Tim Kirkpatrick’s “Flaming Frog” Mustang became the sixty-first member of the 130 MPH Club…Charlie Bewen’s blue ‘67 Firebird hit a best of 10.59/132.92 to become the sixty-second member of the 130 Club…Zach Sarver’s 11.68/125.51 best in his ‘06 Mustang earned his first “Fastest Street Car” qualifier decal and made him the one hundred eighty-first member of the 120 MPH Club…Steve Decker’s brand-new orange ‘89 302 Mustang produced some of the largest wheelstands of the night and his 10.68/125.79 best put him in the 120 MPH Club (180th) and the 10-Second Club (96th)…The brand-new 505-inch blue 1975 Firebird Trans Am of Mark Long made its first effort with an early shut-off 10.74 at only 109.28 mph. The eighth-mile numbers showed low ten-second capability and the pass got him the ninety-seventh slot in the 10 Second Club…There were several surprising nonqualifiers who could’ve made the field much quicker than the 11.81 “bump spot”. The magnificent F1 Procharger-equipped 540-cubic inch ‘71 Olds Cutlass of Tim Roberts was unable to apply its massive amounts of power without annihilating the tires three hundred feet down track and coasted to a best of 13.01 at only 73.21 mph. David Starns’ ten-second silver ‘91 Mustang hurt a transmission on its only run, a coasting 14.03/58.48...Matt Gosch drove his wild twelve-second 455 Buick-powered ’83 Regal Wagon from Bunker Hill (IL) High School to the High School Eliminator title over the ‘01 Olds Alero of Waterloo (IL) High School’s Derek Allen. The High School racers have only one points-earning event remaining in the 2008 season. Currently, Rockwood Summit (MO) H.S. racer Aaron Hagen holds the lead for the track championship followed by Drew Skyles of Melville (MO) and Gosch.
STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (as of AUGUST 13th, 2008)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (21) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
2 (19) Tony Huff Collinsville IL 57 Bel-Air 510 Chevy
3 (11) Kevin Autenrieth Bethalto IL 91 S-10 434 Chevy
4 (10) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy
5 (8) Brett Marshall Collinsville IL 86 S-10 406 Chevy
6 (7) Hal Marshall Collinsville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy
7 (7) John Brawley Granite City IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy
8 (6) Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 468 Chevy
9 (6) Jon Huber St. Louis MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford
10 (6) Nathan Grant Edwardsville IL 02 Camaro 346 Chevy
NOTE: Points toward the 2008 Street Car Shootout Series Season Championship are awarded on the basis of one (1) point for qualifying in the Super Sixteen field with one (1) bonus point awarded for qualifying in the top four positions. 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.
AUGUST 12th, 2008 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Phillip Hoback, Melbourne, FL 1993 79 RX7 0.311 12.077 126.16
RU Jeff Smith, Ballwin, MO 1995 97 Del Sol -0.432 (foul) 13.428 111.93
As noted, Jon Huber’s simply indescribable turbocharged 178-cubic inch ‘79 Mustang was again the class of the field in the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown. The flagship of the Huber Performance team hit a best of 9.25/150.87 and returned with a 9.28/149.73 but the launch on both runs was so violent the car was nearly uncontrollable. Fresh off back-to-back 8.99/151 and 8.97/151 runs in True Street Eliminator at the recent NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing at Joliet, IL, Huber decided it would be in the best interest of the car to remain in the trailer after two harrowing runs in which the car barely stayed in its own lane.
That opened the door for the second qualifier, Phil Hoback, whose annual summer vacation allowed only his second visit to his home track in 2008. The Collinsville, IL, native now attends college in Florida and had only competed in the May 6th when he returned home for a week during spring break. Although his black ’93 Mazda RX7, the second quickest rotary-powered machine in the history of the SCSS, sits at home in the garage awaiting his return, it didn’t let him down. A flurry of twelve-second, 120 mph runs despite a balky transmission eventually gave way to an 11.44 at a booming 129.93 mph.
Since the first alternate would be a final-round contestant, the battle for the remaining position came down to Aaron Corn’s beautiful “Royal T” 231 V6-powered ‘87 Regal, (a career-best 12.41/111.67), Bill Page’s black ’87 Buick Grand National Regal, (12.60/105.71), and past STSS winner Jeff Smith’s outrageous turbocharged ’95 Honda Del Sol, (one hundredth of a second from its best-ever at 13.40/108.24). Surprisingly, neither of the Buicks responded to the call for alternates and Smith found himself in his first final round since his September 18th, 2007, victory.
In the trophy dash, Smith made a bid for a holeshot but left the line four tenths of a second early. Hoback took his Izzy’s Custom Cages Mazda to a winning 12.07/126.16 for his third career event victory against the Honda’s 13.42/111.93. Ironically, Hoback’s last win came exactly one year ago on August 7th, 2007...the last time he was home on summer break! “The transmission was really a problem tonight”, said Hoback, adding, “I know it looked like I just couldn’t drive but I really was having a tough time getting it in gear. It seemed to work decent on the 11.44 run but every other pass was a mess. I haven’t touched the car in the past year so maybe that’s the problem!”. Smith, the largest human to ever step out of a Honda Del Sol, was pleased with his turbocharged mini-motored front-wheel-drive effort. “We have a pretty tight group which keeps this car running. If it wasn’t for the crew at Garagement Racing, the car wouldn’t even be here!”.
AUGUST 12th, 2008 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W John Brawley, Granite City, IL 1993 355 S-10 0.335 11.598 116.49
RU Sean Cobb, Alton, IL 1986 350 S-15 Could Not Start
In just his first season driving for partner Ray Arthur’s “S-10 Revenge”, John Brawley has amassed three event titles in the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown. The Illinois racer had no problems with his pump gas-burning smallblock pickup and led the qualified field with an 11.57/115.70 achieved on just one pass. Interestingly, the truck contingent recorded only a handful of career-bests in the exceptional conditions. Don Moore’s 468-inch ‘90 S-10 was far from its 11.2-second norm with an 11.86/113.54 best for second followed by Sean Cobb’s ‘86 GMC S-15, (12.43/107.39). The most popular of all the utility vehicles, however, was Doug Cossidosi’s amazing 359-inch Cummings-powered 2006 Dodge Ram 2500. Spewing world-class diesel smoke on every run, Cossidosi became the fourth quickest diesel rig operator in the division with seven runs between a 12.71/109.96 and a 12.75/108.90! Cossidosi then came back during late timed trials to run 12.68/109.53 and 12.67/108.09! The event also marked the return of Harry Bone and his 1960 F-150 pickup which qualified fifth at an off-pace 13.30/103.99.
Moore’s problems forced him to retire and allowed Cobb into the final round as an alternate. After experiencing starting problems throughout the event, Cobb arrived in front of the main grandstands with a generator and a battery charger in the bed of his S-15. He charged the battery and even test-started the truck before the trophy battle but, when the call came to fire ‘em up, Cobb couldn’t. “It turned out to be just the ground cable”, said a dejected Cobb after the race”, and if could’ve just gotten out of the truck and wiggled the ground a bit, it probably would’ve started”. Brawley made a single run for the victory at a consistent 11.59/116.49.
Photos of the August 12th Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Tim “Moose” Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro
Tom Bantle, Jr., House Springs, MO 1992 427 Mustang
Phillip Hoback, Melbourne, FL 1993 79 RX7
Jeff Smith, Ballwin, MO 1995 97 Del Sol
John Brawley, Granite City, IL 1993 355 S-10
Sean Cobb, Alton, IL 1986 350 S-15
Matt Giblin, Festus, MO 1969 600 Nova
Second Quickest and Fastest Run In SCSS History at 8.31 seconds, 168.24 mph!
