Bret Kepner
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
These results reflect the record holders, qualifiers, and final round contestants at each of the
SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series events held each Tuesday at Gateway
International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
Tuesday SCSS Track Records can be set during official qualifying or championship rounds. The
official qualifying period begins at 6:30 PM and concludes at 9:00 PM, barring unforeseen
circumstances. At 9:30 PM, the two quickest qualifers meet in a no-handicap championship round for
trophies. Each of the Top 16 qualifiers receives a "Fastest Street Car Qualifier" decal. The SCSS
trophies and decals are presented by SX Performance Fuel Systems in St. Louis, MO (6
Sunnen Drive, 314-644-3000, http://www.sx-performance.com ). Additionally, the two
quickest Sport Tuner drivers, (open to all passenger cars except Rear-Wheel-Drive vehicles with
engines of six cylinders or more), also meet in a no-handicap championship round for trophies
presented by St. Louis Street Racing.com (http://www.stlsr.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 http://www.GatewayRaceway.com .
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, MADISON, ILLINOIS
2006 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT TRACK RECORDS
Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
RWD Brett Heidgerken, Decatur, IL 67 Chevelle 505 Chevy 8.871 10/11/2005
RWD Sam Moore, East Alton, IL 93 Mustang 352 Ford 161.25 7/18/2006
TRK Kevin Autenrietch, Bethalto, IL 84 S-10 355 Chevy 9.772 9/28/2004
TRK Kevin Autenrietch, Bethalto, IL 84 S-10 355 Chevy 135.39 9/28/2004
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 10.363 9/5/2006
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 136.02 9/5/2006
4CYL Joe Laramee, Decatur, IL 77 Pinto 147 Ford 10.544 4/11/2006
4CYL Joe Laramee, Decatur, IL 77 Pinto 147 Ford 129.87 4/18/2006
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
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 122 Volks 11.473 9/5/2006
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 122 Volks 126.95 5/30/2006
DSL Phillip Blackburn, Springfield, IL 03 2500 HD 403 Chevy 11.835 8/2/2005
DSL Phillip Blackburn, Springfield, IL 03 2500 HD 403 Chevy 114.29 8/2/2005
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 21 9/12/2006
1 Gary Tripp Imperial MO 69 Camaro 406 Chevy 9.954 141.03
2 Tony Huff Collinsville IL 68 Nova 468 Chevy 10.028 132.23
3 Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 331 Ford 10.374 129.87
4 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 427 Chevy 10.892 123.24
5 Rob Angle Bunker Hill IL 67 Barracuda 418 Plym 11.405 114.84
6 Jim Harris O'Fallon MO 03 Corvette 346 Chevy 11.464 126.26
7 Gary Bentley St. Charles MO 69 Camaro 468 Chevy 11.520 115.78
8 Duane Eaton St. Ann MO 67 Chevelle 355 Chevy 11.554 115.31
9 Mark Gantner St. Peters MO 72 Chevelle 454 Chevy 11.656 114.63
10 Adnan Omerovic St. Louis MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 11.757 122.03
11 David Vance Maplewood MO 01 Camaro 346 Chevy 11.952 114.12
12 Paul Rosner Florissant MO 01 Mustang 281 Ford 12.024 116.07
13 Matt Foerster Jacksonville FL 01 Mustang 281 Ford 12.035 112.35
14 Gerald LaPlant Imperial MO 04 Viper 488 Dodge 12.130 118.44
15 Mark Weltig Oakville MO 98 Camaro 346 Chevy 12.170 112.27
16 Matt Bruns Florissant MO 67 Camaro 454 Chevy 12.319 113.54
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT FINAL
ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Tony Huff, Collinsville, IL 1968 468 Nova 0.245 9.415 142.37
RU Gary Tripp, Imperial, MO 1969 406 Camaro 0.182 9.949 140.81
Assistance from a surprising source helped Tony Huff win an unprecedented sixth career event title
to conclude the twenty-first event of the 2006 SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series. The
Collinsville, Illinois, Chevrolet pilot who is currently holding second place is the season point
championship standings made only two quarter-mile runs during the race but still managed a record
fifth win of the year even though he left the racetrack property for more than an hour before the final
round! He returned to defeat Gary Tripp, whose Missouri-based ‘69 Camaro appeared in its third
championship dash in four weeks but was once again denied a victory.
Heavy cloud cover kept the atmospheric conditions virtually unchanged throughout the evening; the
ambient temperature varied no more than three degrees during the event and the corrected elevation
ranged from a worst of 1074 feet above sea level to 765 feet during the finals. The track temperature
remained nearly optimum between 80 and 73 degrees, however, and traction ranked among the best
of any SCSS program this season.
The evening was filled with surprising performances and bizarre stories, both of which first appeared
during early timed trials before the start of the official qualifying period. Gary Bentley’s beautiful
black 469-cubic inch ‘69 Z28 hit a great 11.37/116.56 in the worst air of the race but never ran
quicker than 11.52/115.78 during qualifying. Jeff Longford’s Washington, Missouri-based ‘67 351
Cougar charged to an impressive 11.72 at 121.67 miles per hour during timed trials but broke an
axle on its first official qualifying run and finished the event with a best of 19.998 seconds!
Tripp’s Camaro, which had clocked a best of 9.55/143 in the past month, staged for its first effort
early in the qualifying session but Tripp was forced to get off the throttle when the Camaro again
headed for the wall only a few hundred feet off the starting line. Upon inspection in the pits, Tripp
and his crew discovered damage from the previous week. “Apparently, we ruined the left rear tire
when it made that hard right last Tuesday”, explained Tripp, referring to a wild run in which the
Camaro swapped lanes almost immediately after launching. “As it headed for the wall on this last
run, I felt it wobbling almost like it was out of balance so I’m thinking it may have sidewall damage”.
Tripp and crew began the task of replacing the 10.5-inch slicks with their only spares, a set of
ultra-narrow 8.5-inch wide rubber. “It’s never had a tire this small on it before”, said a wary Tripp, “so
this could be interesting”.
Meanwhile, 2006 SCSS Point Championship leader Tony Buhl rolled his Buhl’s Auto Repair ‘89
Mustang to the line and thundered to a career-best 10.37-second run at 129.87 mph. The
Vortech-blown 331-cubic inch Ford had been struggling for the past two months but Buhl let slip the
secret of the jump in performance. “Our C6 transmission was just about dead”, admitted Buhl, “so we
swapped it for a PowerGlide. It sure did make a difference! The C6 was slipping horribly and the few
times I got a decent launch it would ruin the rest of the run downtrack. Now maybe we can finally run
130 mph and get this thing down in the low tens where it should be”.
Buhl’s qualfying lead didn’t last long. Tony Huff’s first run with his well-known 468-inch ‘68 Nova was
a strong 10.02/132.23 but the run ended in a mushroom cloud of smoke at the finish line. A blown
front main seal coated the car with oil and Huff was concerned enough that he headed for his shop to
effect repairs. Even close friends figured Huff was out for the event. Within thirty minutes, Tripp
made his first run on the small tires and, although the car was all over the track, took the lead and
bumped Buhl out of the final round with a 9.98/137.98. Buhl’s attempt to bump back into the
championship round ended with a loud pop at half track when the smallblock Ford broke a lifter.
Tripp returned to run another terrifying “all-over-the-place” 9.95/141.03 while Buhl thrashed to repair
his Ford under the assumption that Huff was out of the running. Only a few minutes before the end of
the qualifying period, however, Huff cruised back on to the Gateway International Raceway property
ready to race! Even more surprising was the crew which began preparing the Nova for the
championship dash; Sam Moore and Bill Silva, whose “Silva Bullet” Mustang remains the only SCSS
entry to clock over 160 miles per hour, not only helped fix the bigblock Chevy but were tuning it for
the final round!
Both teams received extra time to prepare when Duane Eaton’s primered ‘67 355 Chevelle followed
a best-ever 11.55/115.78 pass with a massive engine explosion which neccessitated a 45-minute
clean-up by the GIR Safety Crew. “We think we have him straightened out”, said Moore of Huff’s
chances in the final, “and I honestly believe we have it tuned to run the quickest pass that Chevy’s
ever made”. Strong words, indeed, but Huff would need all of his best-ever 9.72/135 performances to
hold his ground against Tripp. Moreover, Tripp had lost two final rounds in three weeks and was
more than ready to win his first SCSS title, small tires or not.
When the two Chevys pulled to the line for the final round, most fans knew if Tripp could simply keep
his Camaro in one lane, he could earn his first SCSS trophy. Just as Tripp was about to stage, Huff’s
motor coughed on the starting line and Moore and Silva rushed to extinguish a small carburetor fire.
Tripp, showing exceptional sportsmanship, waited patiently until Huff refired the Nova and the two
staged together. Tripp jumped to a six-hundredths of a second holeshot but Huff made up all of that
and more in the first sixty feet. As Tripp once again steered to save his life while running a
9.94/140.81 on 8.5-inch tires, Huff’s Nova blasted out a phenomenal 9.41-second win at 142.37 mph
to become only the ninth member of the SCSS 140 MPH Club!
“That was truly fun!”, exclaimed Huff during the trophy presentation in front of the main grandstand.
“It felt like a rocket, it didn’t break, and we won. That’s hard to beat! They told me it would be fast but
I don’t think any of us thought it would run that quick”. Silva hinted at the future of the new
“teammate” adding, “We want to have five cars running in this series next year and that Nova will be
one of them. I promise we’ll have a serious line-up”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: Tony Buhl managed to make a 10.79/125.12 pass in late timed
trials after qualifying had concluded and he still leads the 2006 Season Championship point
standings with his Vortech-blown ‘89 331 Mustang. For the secod consecutive week, Hal Marshall’s
infamous Chevy S-10 failed to qualify for the Super Sixteen field, (his 12.40 best was eighteenth),
and Jim Harris’ ‘03 Z06 Corvette is now moving in on Marshall for third place. The point
championship is determined by the number of Qualifier stickers earned with the date on which the
driver’s point total is earned, followed by each driver’s best ET of the season, used as tie-breakers.
The pressure is still on the Ford pilot, however. If Buhl fails to qualify at any event in which Huff
makes the field, Huff would assume the lead based on his season-best 9.41 elapsed time even
though both would be tied for number of decals earned...One week after becoming the ninety-eighth
member of the SCSS 120 MPH Club, Ray Arthur’s “Suspicion” ‘67 427 Camaro clocked an official
10.89/123.24 to become the forty-seventh member of the SCSS 10-Second Club. Last week, he hit a
10.85/122.82 in late timed trials after the conclusion of the official qualifying period...Jacksonville,
Floridian Matt Foerster’s ‘01 Mustang ran nonstop 12.0s to qualify for the Super Sixteen field...Paul
Rosner’s NMRA Project Car just missed the eleven-second timeslip he has sought all season; a
best-ever 12.02/116.07 made Rosner simultaneously elated and enraged...After two years of
near-misses, Mark Weltig’s show-quality ‘98 Camaro finally earned a “Fastest Street Car Qualifier”
decal; he made the field in the fifteenth slot with a 12.17/112.27 best...Gerald LaPlant’s ‘04 Dodge
Viper also qualified for the first time ever with a 12.13 at a ****ping 118.44 mph...The quickest and fastest six-cylinder entry was Aaron Corn's slick golden "Royal-T" '87 Regal T-Type turbo which managed to squeeze out a 12.99/107.05 on 29-inch wheels! The man behind Acorn Graphix is looking for a set of tires more suitable to the car's eleven-second potential...A total of 144
different drivers have earned “Fastest Street Car Qualifier” decals in 2006 with five events
remaining...The date has changed but the question remains: Who will be the number eight qualifier
on September 26th???
SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT
STANDINGS (as of SEPTEMBER 13th, 2006)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (16) Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 331 Ford
2 (15) Tony Huff Collinsville IL 68 Nova 468 Chevy
3 (13) Hal Marshall Collinsville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy
4 (12) Jim Harris O'Fallon MO 03 Corvette 346 Chevy
5 (8) Joe Williams Maryville IL 68 Nova 468 Chevy
6 (8) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 427 Chevy
7 (4) Matt Crittendon St. Louis MO 89 Mustang 306 Ford
8 (4) Rusty Schneider Owensville MO 99 Mustang 281 Ford
9 (4) Adam Corbitt St. Charles MO 85 Golf 122 Volks
10 (4) Gary Tripp Imperial MO 69 Camaro 406 Chevy
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Adnon Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 1995 122 Talon 0.332 12.515 122.74
RU Patrick Jacobsmeyer, St. Louis, MO 1991 122 Talon 0.098 13.056 116.60
Adnon Omerovic’s first appearance of the season on June 13th resulted in victory in the St. Louis
Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown Series and the St. Louisan followed that performance with
a runner-up at the very next event. In each case, Omerovic proved his black ‘95 Eagle Talon was
among the most powerful Compacts in the series as evidenced by his 11.86/120.81 STSS records for
Al-Wheel-Drive vehicles. Ater several easy opening runs in early timed trials, “Otto” Omerovic
unleashed an 12.02 at an amazing 122.03 mph and returned with an incredible 11.75 at 121.38 mph
to become the fifth quickest and fastest Tuner pilot in series history.
Ironically, the event also marked the return to the final round of the winningest driver in the Sport
Tuner Showdown Series, seven-time event champion Patrick “PJ” Jacobsmeyer, from whose white
‘91 Talon Omerovic had stolen the AWD marks. Although Jacobsmeyer’s mount was running far
slower than expected, PJ still qualified for the trophy dash with a 12.63/107.59 effort. “I’m actually
runnng an engine owned by a friend”, explained Jacobsmeyer, “and we still have some issues with it.
It won’t hold boost and we think it may be a wastegate problem. It has the same sixty-feet ETs (1.75
seconds) as when it was running in the elevens but it’s really difficult to keep the boost up
downtrack”.
The two Eagles, both members of the Gateway DSM team ( http://www.gatewaydsm.org ),
outqualified a wide variety of hopefuls. Tim Devine’s Eureka, Missouri, ‘81 RX7 joined a very small
group of rotary-powered machines to run under 13.00 seconds, (12.97/114.27), while qualifying third
and was followed by August 1st STSS winner Ryan Mowery’s ‘02 Subaru WRX, (13.37/103.01), Jeff
Shepherd’s impressive supercharged ‘05 Cobalt SS, (13.51/105.88), Glen Johnson’s
rear-wheel-drive four-cylinder ‘95 Nissan 240SX, (13.55/106.09), and Tim Wehmeyer’s ‘04 Neon
SRT-4, (13.59/108.01).
After the two 4G63T-powered Talons staged together for the final round, it was Jacobsmeyer who
gained a sizeable quarter-second holeshot. However, the eleven-time finalist had to settle for his
fourth runner-up when the same boost problems slowed him to a 13.05/116.60. Omerovic,
meanwhile, clocked only a 12.51 but charged to a tremendous 122.74 mph speed to pass Justin
Bondurant as the series’ fourth fastest Tuner driver. “I really think there’s more in it”, said Omerovic
in the winners’ circle, “and I’d really like to spray this thing before the end of the year. This was the
first race of the year for me with the temperature below 95 degrees so I was glad it picked up a bit.
But, I’m tellin’ ya...there’s more in it!”.
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL
ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Hal Marshall, Collinsville, IL 1986 383 S-10 0.435 12.690 111.90
RU Jeremy Lofink, Madison, IL 1997 305 1500 0.109 16.152 83.07
“There’s really nothing left in the truck that I haven’t already broken...except that”. That’s how Hal
Marshall summed up his nineteeth career win which, for the second week in a row, came with a
bushel of nightmares included. For the second straight event, Marshall’s all-conquering 383-inch
S-10 pickup failed to qualify for the Super Sixteen, effectively killing his chances of overtaking Tony
Huff or Tony Buhl for a season point championship.
The reason his 10-second Chevy truck slowed to a 12.40/111.74 best was a slowly disintegrating
Posi-Traction unit which forced Hal to actually pull out of line in the water box on his first qualifying
effort and head for the pits to diagnose the problem. Once Hal realized the rearend was nearly junk,
he planned to load up and watch from the grandstands. “Then”, said Hal, “I figured, what the
heck...let’s just see if it can get down the track at all”.
By barely heating the tires and easing the truck off the line to less-than-spectacular 2.2-second
sixty-feet times, Hal was able to run the 12.40 which, surprisingly, led qualifying for the
GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown. Only Mike Floyed’s bright white ‘00 Ford Lightning
was close with a best-ever 13.22/103.67. After Duane Eaton’s massive oildown and subsequent
clean-up, however, only a handful of Truck qualifiers were still on the property and only tenth
qualifier Jeremy Lofink answered the call for the championship match. Lofink’s clean ‘97 Chevy 1500
had run no quicker than 16.17 but, with Hal’s rearend woes, was still a contender. “It’s a bone-stock
truck”, said Lofink before the last pass of the event, “but I’ll race him if nobody else will! I’ve just got a
stock 305 smallblock in it so I’ll just stage up and see what happens”.
Hal let the big Chevy leave first to avoid redlighting and then walked the S-10 through the first sixty
feet in 2.39 seconds. Once it appeared the rearend would hold for one more run, Hal eased into the
throttle for a 12.69/111.90 win. Lofink was happy with his trophy and Hal was happy with his
ninetenth win out of twenty-two final rounds in just over sixteen months. “It just goes to show you
what I’ve said before is true”, added Hal, “If you just stick around, you’ve got a pretty good chance in
this class!”.
Photos of the September 12th SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series event are now available
for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Tony Huff, Collinsville, IL 1968 468 Nova
Gary Tripp, Imperial, MO 1969 406 Camaro
Adnon Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 1995 122 Talon
Patrick Jacobsmeyer, St. Louis, MO 1991 122 Talon
Hal Marshall, Collinsville, IL 1986 350 S-10
Jeremy Lofink, Madison, IL 1997 305 1500
SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series events held each Tuesday at Gateway
International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
Tuesday SCSS Track Records can be set during official qualifying or championship rounds. The
official qualifying period begins at 6:30 PM and concludes at 9:00 PM, barring unforeseen
circumstances. At 9:30 PM, the two quickest qualifers meet in a no-handicap championship round for
trophies. Each of the Top 16 qualifiers receives a "Fastest Street Car Qualifier" decal. The SCSS
trophies and decals are presented by SX Performance Fuel Systems in St. Louis, MO (6
Sunnen Drive, 314-644-3000, http://www.sx-performance.com ). Additionally, the two
quickest Sport Tuner drivers, (open to all passenger cars except Rear-Wheel-Drive vehicles with
engines of six cylinders or more), also meet in a no-handicap championship round for trophies
presented by St. Louis Street Racing.com (http://www.stlsr.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 http://www.GatewayRaceway.com .
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, MADISON, ILLINOIS
2006 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT TRACK RECORDS
Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
RWD Brett Heidgerken, Decatur, IL 67 Chevelle 505 Chevy 8.871 10/11/2005
RWD Sam Moore, East Alton, IL 93 Mustang 352 Ford 161.25 7/18/2006
TRK Kevin Autenrietch, Bethalto, IL 84 S-10 355 Chevy 9.772 9/28/2004
TRK Kevin Autenrietch, Bethalto, IL 84 S-10 355 Chevy 135.39 9/28/2004
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 10.363 9/5/2006
RTY Eric Cheatham, Belleville, IL 93 RX-7 79 Mazda 136.02 9/5/2006
4CYL Joe Laramee, Decatur, IL 77 Pinto 147 Ford 10.544 4/11/2006
4CYL Joe Laramee, Decatur, IL 77 Pinto 147 Ford 129.87 4/18/2006
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
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 122 Volks 11.473 9/5/2006
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 122 Volks 126.95 5/30/2006
DSL Phillip Blackburn, Springfield, IL 03 2500 HD 403 Chevy 11.835 8/2/2005
DSL Phillip Blackburn, Springfield, IL 03 2500 HD 403 Chevy 114.29 8/2/2005
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 21 9/12/2006
1 Gary Tripp Imperial MO 69 Camaro 406 Chevy 9.954 141.03
2 Tony Huff Collinsville IL 68 Nova 468 Chevy 10.028 132.23
3 Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 331 Ford 10.374 129.87
4 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 427 Chevy 10.892 123.24
5 Rob Angle Bunker Hill IL 67 Barracuda 418 Plym 11.405 114.84
6 Jim Harris O'Fallon MO 03 Corvette 346 Chevy 11.464 126.26
7 Gary Bentley St. Charles MO 69 Camaro 468 Chevy 11.520 115.78
8 Duane Eaton St. Ann MO 67 Chevelle 355 Chevy 11.554 115.31
9 Mark Gantner St. Peters MO 72 Chevelle 454 Chevy 11.656 114.63
10 Adnan Omerovic St. Louis MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 11.757 122.03
11 David Vance Maplewood MO 01 Camaro 346 Chevy 11.952 114.12
12 Paul Rosner Florissant MO 01 Mustang 281 Ford 12.024 116.07
13 Matt Foerster Jacksonville FL 01 Mustang 281 Ford 12.035 112.35
14 Gerald LaPlant Imperial MO 04 Viper 488 Dodge 12.130 118.44
15 Mark Weltig Oakville MO 98 Camaro 346 Chevy 12.170 112.27
16 Matt Bruns Florissant MO 67 Camaro 454 Chevy 12.319 113.54
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT FINAL
ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Tony Huff, Collinsville, IL 1968 468 Nova 0.245 9.415 142.37
RU Gary Tripp, Imperial, MO 1969 406 Camaro 0.182 9.949 140.81
Assistance from a surprising source helped Tony Huff win an unprecedented sixth career event title
to conclude the twenty-first event of the 2006 SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series. The
Collinsville, Illinois, Chevrolet pilot who is currently holding second place is the season point
championship standings made only two quarter-mile runs during the race but still managed a record
fifth win of the year even though he left the racetrack property for more than an hour before the final
round! He returned to defeat Gary Tripp, whose Missouri-based ‘69 Camaro appeared in its third
championship dash in four weeks but was once again denied a victory.
Heavy cloud cover kept the atmospheric conditions virtually unchanged throughout the evening; the
ambient temperature varied no more than three degrees during the event and the corrected elevation
ranged from a worst of 1074 feet above sea level to 765 feet during the finals. The track temperature
remained nearly optimum between 80 and 73 degrees, however, and traction ranked among the best
of any SCSS program this season.
The evening was filled with surprising performances and bizarre stories, both of which first appeared
during early timed trials before the start of the official qualifying period. Gary Bentley’s beautiful
black 469-cubic inch ‘69 Z28 hit a great 11.37/116.56 in the worst air of the race but never ran
quicker than 11.52/115.78 during qualifying. Jeff Longford’s Washington, Missouri-based ‘67 351
Cougar charged to an impressive 11.72 at 121.67 miles per hour during timed trials but broke an
axle on its first official qualifying run and finished the event with a best of 19.998 seconds!
Tripp’s Camaro, which had clocked a best of 9.55/143 in the past month, staged for its first effort
early in the qualifying session but Tripp was forced to get off the throttle when the Camaro again
headed for the wall only a few hundred feet off the starting line. Upon inspection in the pits, Tripp
and his crew discovered damage from the previous week. “Apparently, we ruined the left rear tire
when it made that hard right last Tuesday”, explained Tripp, referring to a wild run in which the
Camaro swapped lanes almost immediately after launching. “As it headed for the wall on this last
run, I felt it wobbling almost like it was out of balance so I’m thinking it may have sidewall damage”.
Tripp and crew began the task of replacing the 10.5-inch slicks with their only spares, a set of
ultra-narrow 8.5-inch wide rubber. “It’s never had a tire this small on it before”, said a wary Tripp, “so
this could be interesting”.
Meanwhile, 2006 SCSS Point Championship leader Tony Buhl rolled his Buhl’s Auto Repair ‘89
Mustang to the line and thundered to a career-best 10.37-second run at 129.87 mph. The
Vortech-blown 331-cubic inch Ford had been struggling for the past two months but Buhl let slip the
secret of the jump in performance. “Our C6 transmission was just about dead”, admitted Buhl, “so we
swapped it for a PowerGlide. It sure did make a difference! The C6 was slipping horribly and the few
times I got a decent launch it would ruin the rest of the run downtrack. Now maybe we can finally run
130 mph and get this thing down in the low tens where it should be”.
Buhl’s qualfying lead didn’t last long. Tony Huff’s first run with his well-known 468-inch ‘68 Nova was
a strong 10.02/132.23 but the run ended in a mushroom cloud of smoke at the finish line. A blown
front main seal coated the car with oil and Huff was concerned enough that he headed for his shop to
effect repairs. Even close friends figured Huff was out for the event. Within thirty minutes, Tripp
made his first run on the small tires and, although the car was all over the track, took the lead and
bumped Buhl out of the final round with a 9.98/137.98. Buhl’s attempt to bump back into the
championship round ended with a loud pop at half track when the smallblock Ford broke a lifter.
Tripp returned to run another terrifying “all-over-the-place” 9.95/141.03 while Buhl thrashed to repair
his Ford under the assumption that Huff was out of the running. Only a few minutes before the end of
the qualifying period, however, Huff cruised back on to the Gateway International Raceway property
ready to race! Even more surprising was the crew which began preparing the Nova for the
championship dash; Sam Moore and Bill Silva, whose “Silva Bullet” Mustang remains the only SCSS
entry to clock over 160 miles per hour, not only helped fix the bigblock Chevy but were tuning it for
the final round!
Both teams received extra time to prepare when Duane Eaton’s primered ‘67 355 Chevelle followed
a best-ever 11.55/115.78 pass with a massive engine explosion which neccessitated a 45-minute
clean-up by the GIR Safety Crew. “We think we have him straightened out”, said Moore of Huff’s
chances in the final, “and I honestly believe we have it tuned to run the quickest pass that Chevy’s
ever made”. Strong words, indeed, but Huff would need all of his best-ever 9.72/135 performances to
hold his ground against Tripp. Moreover, Tripp had lost two final rounds in three weeks and was
more than ready to win his first SCSS title, small tires or not.
When the two Chevys pulled to the line for the final round, most fans knew if Tripp could simply keep
his Camaro in one lane, he could earn his first SCSS trophy. Just as Tripp was about to stage, Huff’s
motor coughed on the starting line and Moore and Silva rushed to extinguish a small carburetor fire.
Tripp, showing exceptional sportsmanship, waited patiently until Huff refired the Nova and the two
staged together. Tripp jumped to a six-hundredths of a second holeshot but Huff made up all of that
and more in the first sixty feet. As Tripp once again steered to save his life while running a
9.94/140.81 on 8.5-inch tires, Huff’s Nova blasted out a phenomenal 9.41-second win at 142.37 mph
to become only the ninth member of the SCSS 140 MPH Club!
“That was truly fun!”, exclaimed Huff during the trophy presentation in front of the main grandstand.
“It felt like a rocket, it didn’t break, and we won. That’s hard to beat! They told me it would be fast but
I don’t think any of us thought it would run that quick”. Silva hinted at the future of the new
“teammate” adding, “We want to have five cars running in this series next year and that Nova will be
one of them. I promise we’ll have a serious line-up”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: Tony Buhl managed to make a 10.79/125.12 pass in late timed
trials after qualifying had concluded and he still leads the 2006 Season Championship point
standings with his Vortech-blown ‘89 331 Mustang. For the secod consecutive week, Hal Marshall’s
infamous Chevy S-10 failed to qualify for the Super Sixteen field, (his 12.40 best was eighteenth),
and Jim Harris’ ‘03 Z06 Corvette is now moving in on Marshall for third place. The point
championship is determined by the number of Qualifier stickers earned with the date on which the
driver’s point total is earned, followed by each driver’s best ET of the season, used as tie-breakers.
The pressure is still on the Ford pilot, however. If Buhl fails to qualify at any event in which Huff
makes the field, Huff would assume the lead based on his season-best 9.41 elapsed time even
though both would be tied for number of decals earned...One week after becoming the ninety-eighth
member of the SCSS 120 MPH Club, Ray Arthur’s “Suspicion” ‘67 427 Camaro clocked an official
10.89/123.24 to become the forty-seventh member of the SCSS 10-Second Club. Last week, he hit a
10.85/122.82 in late timed trials after the conclusion of the official qualifying period...Jacksonville,
Floridian Matt Foerster’s ‘01 Mustang ran nonstop 12.0s to qualify for the Super Sixteen field...Paul
Rosner’s NMRA Project Car just missed the eleven-second timeslip he has sought all season; a
best-ever 12.02/116.07 made Rosner simultaneously elated and enraged...After two years of
near-misses, Mark Weltig’s show-quality ‘98 Camaro finally earned a “Fastest Street Car Qualifier”
decal; he made the field in the fifteenth slot with a 12.17/112.27 best...Gerald LaPlant’s ‘04 Dodge
Viper also qualified for the first time ever with a 12.13 at a ****ping 118.44 mph...The quickest and fastest six-cylinder entry was Aaron Corn's slick golden "Royal-T" '87 Regal T-Type turbo which managed to squeeze out a 12.99/107.05 on 29-inch wheels! The man behind Acorn Graphix is looking for a set of tires more suitable to the car's eleven-second potential...A total of 144
different drivers have earned “Fastest Street Car Qualifier” decals in 2006 with five events
remaining...The date has changed but the question remains: Who will be the number eight qualifier
on September 26th???
SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT
STANDINGS (as of SEPTEMBER 13th, 2006)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (16) Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 331 Ford
2 (15) Tony Huff Collinsville IL 68 Nova 468 Chevy
3 (13) Hal Marshall Collinsville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy
4 (12) Jim Harris O'Fallon MO 03 Corvette 346 Chevy
5 (8) Joe Williams Maryville IL 68 Nova 468 Chevy
6 (8) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 427 Chevy
7 (4) Matt Crittendon St. Louis MO 89 Mustang 306 Ford
8 (4) Rusty Schneider Owensville MO 99 Mustang 281 Ford
9 (4) Adam Corbitt St. Charles MO 85 Golf 122 Volks
10 (4) Gary Tripp Imperial MO 69 Camaro 406 Chevy
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Adnon Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 1995 122 Talon 0.332 12.515 122.74
RU Patrick Jacobsmeyer, St. Louis, MO 1991 122 Talon 0.098 13.056 116.60
Adnon Omerovic’s first appearance of the season on June 13th resulted in victory in the St. Louis
Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown Series and the St. Louisan followed that performance with
a runner-up at the very next event. In each case, Omerovic proved his black ‘95 Eagle Talon was
among the most powerful Compacts in the series as evidenced by his 11.86/120.81 STSS records for
Al-Wheel-Drive vehicles. Ater several easy opening runs in early timed trials, “Otto” Omerovic
unleashed an 12.02 at an amazing 122.03 mph and returned with an incredible 11.75 at 121.38 mph
to become the fifth quickest and fastest Tuner pilot in series history.
Ironically, the event also marked the return to the final round of the winningest driver in the Sport
Tuner Showdown Series, seven-time event champion Patrick “PJ” Jacobsmeyer, from whose white
‘91 Talon Omerovic had stolen the AWD marks. Although Jacobsmeyer’s mount was running far
slower than expected, PJ still qualified for the trophy dash with a 12.63/107.59 effort. “I’m actually
runnng an engine owned by a friend”, explained Jacobsmeyer, “and we still have some issues with it.
It won’t hold boost and we think it may be a wastegate problem. It has the same sixty-feet ETs (1.75
seconds) as when it was running in the elevens but it’s really difficult to keep the boost up
downtrack”.
The two Eagles, both members of the Gateway DSM team ( http://www.gatewaydsm.org ),
outqualified a wide variety of hopefuls. Tim Devine’s Eureka, Missouri, ‘81 RX7 joined a very small
group of rotary-powered machines to run under 13.00 seconds, (12.97/114.27), while qualifying third
and was followed by August 1st STSS winner Ryan Mowery’s ‘02 Subaru WRX, (13.37/103.01), Jeff
Shepherd’s impressive supercharged ‘05 Cobalt SS, (13.51/105.88), Glen Johnson’s
rear-wheel-drive four-cylinder ‘95 Nissan 240SX, (13.55/106.09), and Tim Wehmeyer’s ‘04 Neon
SRT-4, (13.59/108.01).
After the two 4G63T-powered Talons staged together for the final round, it was Jacobsmeyer who
gained a sizeable quarter-second holeshot. However, the eleven-time finalist had to settle for his
fourth runner-up when the same boost problems slowed him to a 13.05/116.60. Omerovic,
meanwhile, clocked only a 12.51 but charged to a tremendous 122.74 mph speed to pass Justin
Bondurant as the series’ fourth fastest Tuner driver. “I really think there’s more in it”, said Omerovic
in the winners’ circle, “and I’d really like to spray this thing before the end of the year. This was the
first race of the year for me with the temperature below 95 degrees so I was glad it picked up a bit.
But, I’m tellin’ ya...there’s more in it!”.
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL
ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Hal Marshall, Collinsville, IL 1986 383 S-10 0.435 12.690 111.90
RU Jeremy Lofink, Madison, IL 1997 305 1500 0.109 16.152 83.07
“There’s really nothing left in the truck that I haven’t already broken...except that”. That’s how Hal
Marshall summed up his nineteeth career win which, for the second week in a row, came with a
bushel of nightmares included. For the second straight event, Marshall’s all-conquering 383-inch
S-10 pickup failed to qualify for the Super Sixteen, effectively killing his chances of overtaking Tony
Huff or Tony Buhl for a season point championship.
The reason his 10-second Chevy truck slowed to a 12.40/111.74 best was a slowly disintegrating
Posi-Traction unit which forced Hal to actually pull out of line in the water box on his first qualifying
effort and head for the pits to diagnose the problem. Once Hal realized the rearend was nearly junk,
he planned to load up and watch from the grandstands. “Then”, said Hal, “I figured, what the
heck...let’s just see if it can get down the track at all”.
By barely heating the tires and easing the truck off the line to less-than-spectacular 2.2-second
sixty-feet times, Hal was able to run the 12.40 which, surprisingly, led qualifying for the
GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown. Only Mike Floyed’s bright white ‘00 Ford Lightning
was close with a best-ever 13.22/103.67. After Duane Eaton’s massive oildown and subsequent
clean-up, however, only a handful of Truck qualifiers were still on the property and only tenth
qualifier Jeremy Lofink answered the call for the championship match. Lofink’s clean ‘97 Chevy 1500
had run no quicker than 16.17 but, with Hal’s rearend woes, was still a contender. “It’s a bone-stock
truck”, said Lofink before the last pass of the event, “but I’ll race him if nobody else will! I’ve just got a
stock 305 smallblock in it so I’ll just stage up and see what happens”.
Hal let the big Chevy leave first to avoid redlighting and then walked the S-10 through the first sixty
feet in 2.39 seconds. Once it appeared the rearend would hold for one more run, Hal eased into the
throttle for a 12.69/111.90 win. Lofink was happy with his trophy and Hal was happy with his
ninetenth win out of twenty-two final rounds in just over sixteen months. “It just goes to show you
what I’ve said before is true”, added Hal, “If you just stick around, you’ve got a pretty good chance in
this class!”.
Photos of the September 12th SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series event are now available
for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Tony Huff, Collinsville, IL 1968 468 Nova
Gary Tripp, Imperial, MO 1969 406 Camaro
Adnon Omerovic, St. Louis, MO 1995 122 Talon
Patrick Jacobsmeyer, St. Louis, MO 1991 122 Talon
Hal Marshall, Collinsville, IL 1986 350 S-10
Jeremy Lofink, Madison, IL 1997 305 1500
