Bret Kepner
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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
MAY 5th, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 05 05/05/2009
1 Orson Johnson House Springs MO 99 Mustang 281 Ford 8.615 169.17
2 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.615 157.95
3 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy 9.149 147.52
4 Tim Kirkpatrick Troy MO 88 Mustang 393 Ford 9.379 148.12
5 Pat McNeish Granite City IL 86 Silverado 555 Chevy 9.874 138.07
6 Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy 10.058 135.43
7 Van Burgess Jackson MO 01 Camaro 347 Chevy 10.093 118.99
8 John Brawley Granite City IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 10.678 125.37
9 Greg Boschert St. Louis MO 66 Mustang 331 Ford 10.871 127.62
10 Ricky Anthony Winfield MO 88 Mustang 302 Ford 11.411 113.41
11 Andrew Lincoln French Village MO 85 Mustang 347 Ford 11.481 117.55
12 Matt Mingus Florissant MO 62 Nova 355 Chevy 11.584 120.05
13 Vincent Heuer Granite City IL 69 Corvette 468 Chevy 11.694 92.71
14 Larry Dixon Belleville IL 78 Nova 454 Chevy 11.829 117.31
15 Mark Branham Hannibal MO 72 Nova 396 Chevy 11.837 97.58
16 Ian Williams St. Clair MO 69 Camaro 454 Chevy 11.888 115.58
MAY 5th, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Orson Johnson House Springs, MO 99 281 Mustang 0.160 8.268 172.39
RU Tim Mallicoat Collinsville, IL 68 565 Camaro 0.128 8.632 156.97
Forty-eight hours after virtually every professional track record was shattered during the 13th annual NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals, Orson “O.J.“ Johnson and his Lo Pro Race Cars turbocharged ‘99 Mustang made history of his own by scoring his first victory in the Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Not only was Johnson’s win the first for a FoMoCo-powered entry since Steven Gentry’s ‘65 Mercury Comet won the title on September 4th, 2007, it was the first time a 281-cubic inch Ford “modular motor” had earned an SCSS trophy. Johnson and crewchief Paul Schoelich amazed fans and opponents with a final-round performance which came within thirteen thousands of a second from the quickest elapsed time in SCSS history!
Johnson’s pass was only one of several historic efforts during the evening. Fans watched in amazement as Chicago drag racing legend Spiro Pappas unleashed the quickest quarter-mile run on 10.5W tires ever recorded in drag racing with an early shut-off shot of 6.32 seconds at a speed of only 193.18 miles per hour! Pappas’ turbocharged bigblock Chevy-powered 2009 Pontiac GXP reset the GIR eighth-mile track record for Outlaw 10.5 cars on the blast at 4.08/182.03, as well. Pappas’ quarter-mile effort destroyed the 6.42-second record set by Tim Lynch’s ProLine Racing Engines Mustang recorded only four days earlier at Atlanta (GA) Dragway.
"We really have to hand it to the Gateway starting line crew for their track prep", said an ecstatic Don Bailey of DCB Enterprises who tunes the Pappas Pontiac, "The surface was simply incredible and held everything we could throw at it". Likewise, Billy Glidden’s Mickey Thompson Tires Pontiac GTO spent the day testing at Gateway and clocked a career-best quarter-mile of 6.45/214.25 with his single four-barrel carbureted smallblock Ford powerplant. Said Glidden, “The track was the same as it always is here…awesome!”.
In fact, professional testing took place at GIR on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While many fans think the track surface was already in pristine condition because of the NHRA National Event which took place the previous weekend, few realize that, on Monday morning after the event, the track is scraped of all rubber and reprepared by the GIR track crew because the racing surface is simply beaten to death from the weekend’s competition. Of more than a dozen Pro Stock and Pro Modified competitors who tested, most ran quicker and faster during the test session than they had during the NHRA event…in worse atmospheric conditions!
A massive field of more than two hundred entries packed GIR for the fifth 2009 SCSS event and produced the quickest “bump spot” of the season for the Super Sixteen field since the qualifying format has been revised. Several regulars failed to make the cut during what quickly became a long night of competition with one major oildown and another delay when a racer tested GIR’s new $140,000 sandtrap and safety net system. The race included the season’s first corrected elevation above sea level with an encroaching rain front holding the corrected altitude to a best of 999 feet.
The quickest run in early timed trials came from the black 2001 Camaro of Jackson, Missouri’s Van Burgess whose Burgess Performance Chevy clocked an early shut-off 10.46 at only 104.94 mph with a strong 6.45/109.38 eighth-mile. Once qualifying began, the biggest surprise came from past SCSS finalist Tim Kirkpatrick. The Missourian’s familiar green ’88 smallblock Mustang underwent substantial chassis reconfiguration during the winter and opened its 2009 season with a career-best 9.37/148.12 to temporarily qualify on the pole. Ray Arthur’s well-known “Suspicion” ’67 Camaro overtook Kirkpatrick with a solid 9.14/147.52 but it was the winningest SCSS driver ever, Tim “Moose” Mallicoat in his naturally-aspirated 565-inch “Hellraiser“ ‘68 Camaro, who raised the bar late in qualifying with a brutal 1.25-second sixty-feet elapsed time, a 5.51/126.26 eighth-mile clocking and a strong 8.615/157.95 to lead the field with the season‘s quickest run.
It seemed like it would be another night of dominance by Mallicoat until only fifteen minutes before qualifying concluded when “O.J.” Johnson pulled into the water box with the red Mustang convertible which, during the April 15th event, had pounded out an incredible 8.66 at an 168.05 mph before losing a semi-final battle to Mallicoat when the Ford launched into a towering wheelstand. The National Mustang Racing Association Drag Radial-legal mount launched with a 1.36-second “sixty”, covered the eighth-mile at 5.68 at a ****ping 131.57 mph and then began a top-end charge which ended with a “first” in SCSS racing. Johnson recorded an 8.615...identical to Mallicoat’s run to the thousandth of a second! However, NHRA rules dictate the better qualifying position is determined by top speed on the run. Mallicoat’s 157.95 clip was obliterated by Johnson’s astounding 169.17mph!
Not only was it the first time the top two qualifiers had recorded identical elapsed times, it was the first time a “modular motor” had claimed the pole in SCSS racing. In fact, the last time a Ford led the field was on August 28th, 2008, when Steven Gentry’s ‘65 Comet paced the Super Sixteen with the quickest Ford-powered SCSS run ever, an 8.30-second blast.
To open the semi-finals, Johnson and crewchief Paul Schoelich elected to make no adjustments to the Mustang in their match with Kirkpatrick’s Ford. Although the green flamed ’88 model gained a two-tenths of a second holeshot, Kirkpatrick ran into immediate mechanical difficulties and was never a factor. Johnson hit an improved 1.35-second “sixty” and blasted out a huge 5.47/136.06 eighth on his way to the team’s quickest effort ever, a fabulous 8.37 during which Johnson shut down just before the finish line slowing to only 161.00 mph. In the other half of the semi-finals, Mallicoat overpowered Arthur’s “Suspicion” Chevy, (which suffered a nitrous oxide malfunction early in the run), and cruised to an 8.63/157.96 win over Arthur’s 10.23/139.33.
Prior to the championship final round, Schoelich again decided to leave the Ford untouched. Remembering their loss to Mallicoat only three weeks earlier, it was a rare chance to simply outrun the two-time and defending SCSS champion. For Mallicoat, it would be the second time this season he would stage against “O.J.” knowing full well the Ford held a decided advantage but, as always, the “Moose” had consistency on his side. When the two staged for the first Ford-versus Chevy title bout since the final event of 2008, it was Mallicoat who gained a four-hundredths of a second holeshot and actually stretched that margin through the first sixty feet. At the 330-feet mark, however, the two machines were dead-even to the thousandth of a second. From there, the Ford pilot never looked back. A 5.41-second eighth-mile was a career-best. The thousand-feet ET of 6.96 seconds was only four hundredths from the quickest in SCSS history. When Johnson crossed the finish line 83.56 feet ahead of Mallicoat, the scoreboard relayed the second quickest and fastest effort in the five-year history of the series, an incredible 8.26 at a blazing 172.39 miles per hour! Mallicoat’s consistency never waivered with another 8.63/156.97 shot. For video of the final round battle courtesy of Holly Kirkpatrick, click HERE.
“I can’t believe we missed the record by only one hundredth!”, exclaimed an elated Johnson referring to “Woody” Woodruff’s still-unsurpassed 8.25-second pass of 2008. “That was the run we were looking for. It was just about perfect. It never spun the tires all night. It never missed a beat. It was perfect! Folks need to remember this is a stock displacement 281-cubic inch engine with a stock block and stock heads. It‘s the real deal”. For Schoelich, whose Lo Pro Race Cars emporium built the red ragtop, it was a matter of making the correct decisions. “We never touched it tonight”, said the past SCSS finalist as rain began to fall on the winner‘s circle ceremonies in front of the main grandstand, “but we changed a lot since the April 15th event. We’ve got it manageable and now we can really start applying power. We plan to go to the next NMRA event in Atco, New Jersey, in a few weeks and I think we’ll have something to throw at the Drag Radial ‘big boys’ now!”.
Mallicoat took his first loss of the season is stride. “Those boys got that car down the track three times so I have to hand it to ‘em”, said the “Moose”. I was banking on them not being able to do that but I still had to make sure I left first. That was my job and I got it done. I couldn’t have asked for more from my car. Heck, my eighth-miles only varied a few thousandths. I did what I could but it wasn’t quite enough this time”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: It was mentioned on April 21st that, in the first three completed SCSS events of the season, no less than thirty-nine different drivers have qualified for the Super Sixteen field. As of the May 5th race, a total of fifty different drivers have earned points in the season championship standings which is certainly a record after only four events…Van Burgess, whose 660Xtreme.com ‘01 347 Camaro ran a shut-off 10. 46 at only 104.94 mph in early timed trials, eventually qualified with another coasting run of 10.09/118.99 and an even stronger 6.37/109.61 eighth-mile…Curtis Paulfrey got a solid 10.05/135.43 from his yellow Winner’s Circle Tire & Auto ‘68 Camaro before he had to leave for work; he qualified sixth and moved into the third spot in the season championship point standings…Greg “Hook-n-Ladder” Boschert produced a 10.87/127.62 from his well-known white ‘66 Mustang coupe, one of his best runs in ages, on eight-inch-wide D.O.T. tires...The list of qualifiers from Dustin Kurz’s Winfield, Missouri-based MD Performance got longer when Ricky Anthony put his 302-powered ’88 Mustang in the field with a best-ever 11.41/113.41...Andrew Lincoln was another of the five Ford qualifiers with a career-best run after an 11.48/117.55 from his ’85 347 Mustang…Vince Heuer’s canary yellow bigblock ’68 Stingray made the field with a shut-off 11.69 at only 92.71 mph but managed an 11.61/111.53 in late timed trials. There’s plenty more left in the car, however, as the ’Vette clocked repeated 1.4-second sixty-feet ETs…The next quickest Corvette was first alternate Mark Yehling’s white ’97 version at 12.02/114.23 but there were no less than fourteen ’Vettes in competition…Ageless Larry Dixon, who competed in the original Wednesday night Pro Street Eliminator program almost thirty years ago at the old St. Louis International Raceway, (then driving an eleven-second turbocharged right-hand-drive U.S. Postal Service Jeep!), qualified for the field in his ‘78 Nova with an 11.82/117.31 best…“O.J.” Johnson became only the second member of the SCSS 170 MPH Club with his final-round blast but is now the quickest and fastest Ford driver in series history. Amazingly, his 8.61 qualifying run was his first pass under nine seconds recorded during an official qualifying period or elimination round, making him the twelfth member of the 8-Second Club…Mark Branham’s ’72 Nova made the Super Sixteen for the first time with an 11.83 at only 97.58 mph but improved slightly to an 11.76/102.26 in late timed trials…Tommy Duelker had never drag raced before but he drove his ’98 Camaro to the track, entered High School Eliminator and won the whole darned thing! After three rounds of win lights which included a victory over Aaron Worstell’s multiple event-winning ’89 Mustang, the Ballwin, Missouri, kid stopped Ashleigh Tepen’s Jerseyville, Illinois, ’95 Camaro in a heads-up final round.
SPECIAL NOTE: It was no secret the huge turnout, two major ontrack delays and several instances of miscommunication among the Gateway staff made for a huge mess in the staging lanes during the May 5th event. While competitors unfamiliar with the new combined format and drivers who used the wrong staging lanes were a small part of the problem, Gateway Drag Racing Manager Rich Schaefer has made it known that steps will be taken to ensure the situation will not be repeated. A crew meeting was held after the event in which the problems were identified and solutions were defined. The GIR staff is aware of the inconvenience experienced by many racers and apologizes for the delays. All necessary changes will be made to avoid the same scenario in the future.
2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (Top 10 of 50 as of MAY 6th, 2009)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (31) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
2 (26) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy
3 (24) Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy
4 (20) 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 (10) Matt Mingus Florissant MO 62 Nova 355 Chevy
8 (6) Tim Kirkpatrick Troy MO 88 Mustang 393 Ford
9 (5) Ryan Dunn O'Fallon MO 72 Nova 454 Chevy
10 (5) David Starns St. Louis MO 91 Mustang 355 Ford
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.
MAY 5th, 2009 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Brian Orsborn Granite City IL 04 122 Neon 0.355 11.933 123.61
RU Dan Harris St. Louis MO 04 232 Mustang 0.063 12.280 108.47
It’s official; Brian Orsborn is back with a vengeance. Racing only sporadically since his domination of the 2006 season, the pilot of the red Dodge Neon SRT-4 which earned the season‘s first victory in the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown made it two out of three in a showdown with the year‘s only other Sport Tuner winner, past Gateway International Raceway High School Eliminator season champion Dan “Iceman” Harris.
Orsborn’s turbocharged four-cylinder led qualifying with a 12.02/114.23 effort ahead of Harris’ unique 232-cubic inch “SixBangStang” at 12.25/108.62. The rest of the field included Craig Powell’s gun-metal grey turbocharged 231-inch V6 ’87 Buick Regal, (a best-ever 12.33/109.67), April 8th runner-up Jim Hoffman’s ‘93 Saturn SC-1, (13.74/102.28), and Chris Whitmore’s 122-inch Acura-powered ‘90 CRX, (13.89/103.28). Mention should be made of the attempt by April 21st runner-up John Kessler’s attempt to break into the thirteen-second zone with his bone-stock 2002 Maxima which fell just short at 14.01/99.77.
Orsborn actually made a second qualifying attempt which ended in the thirteen-second zone while Harris’ Rear-Wheel-Drive six-cylinder had clocked multiple 12.20s. With the final round pitting the season’s only two winners, the four-cylinder versus six-cylinder, FWD versus RWD, turbocharged versus nitrous oxide battle had more than a few interested fans. The trophy dash became even more interesting when Harris strapped a massive holeshot of more than a quarter-second on Orsborn. The Ford was ahead at every point on the track to the thousand-feet mark where the Mustang was outrunning the Neon by 21.93 feet. It was in the final 320 feet of the battle that the top end of the turbo Dodge reeled in the Ford and passed Harris to win by all of 10.13 feet in a tremendous 11.93/123.41 to 12.28/108.47 match.
“That was closer than it should’ve been”, said a relieved Orsborn during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstands. “I saw him all the way and was just hoping I’d hit the gears right and nip him. That’s all I did, too…I nipped him. The second qualifying run was wasted because I spun the tires and I was actually concerned about that in the final round. It hooked, though, and I need to thank Justin Bondurant from JMB Performance for helping get this thing back in the elevens because I needed every bit of it to win”.
MAY 5th, 2009 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Pat McNeish Granite City IL 86 555 Silverado 0.068 9.809 138.98
RU John Brawley Granite City IL 93 355 S-10 0.394 10.602 125.12
When Pat McNeish debuted his new 555-cubic inch ‘86 Silverado on September 23rd, 2008, he took the truck straight to the winner’s circle. The owner of Performance Parts Plus in Granite City, Illinois, made two more final round appearances in the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown before the end of the season and his first outing of 2009 proved, if nothing else, he’s stronger than ever.
Leading qualifying with a 9.87 at a career-best 138.07 mph, McNeish barely missed making the Top Four spots in the SCSS. His closest opponent, however, was returning John Brawley, who was back behind the wheel of the “S-10 Revenge” pickup taken to the April 21st title by owner Ray Arthur. The driver who won four titles in six final rounds in his 2008 rookie season was thrilled to be able to “spray” the 355-inch smallblock in Arthur’s ‘93 S-10 for the first time, dropping his personal bests from 11.41/117.30 to 10.67/125.37 on his very first pass!
The rest of the field included Jared Doyle’s fairly astonishing 2006 6.1L Hemi-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee which recorded an amazing 12.23/110.33, April 15th champion Matt Cox’s ‘93 S-10, (12.35/107.30), and past Super Truck finalist Matt Hamilton’s 2004 Ford Lightning, (12.97/105.73). It should be noted that the renowned orange ‘70 Chevy C-10 of Chris Calkins, the SCSS Diesel Truck Record Holder at 9.87/139.41, was in attendance but struggled with turbocharger boost problems throughout qualifying.
Ironically, McNeish and Brawley had never faced each other but the big Silverado was not to be denied in its 2009 debut. A three-tenths of a second holeshot and a career-best 9.80/138.98 quickly handled Brawley’s best run yet, a 10.60/125.12. “I’m happier about my reaction times more than the way the track ran”, said a smiling McNeish with crewchief Jesse Byrd in the winner’s circle. “I’ve been using my practice Tree all winter and my RTs were pretty decent all night. As for the truck, we were trying a new fuel which was supposed to be worth a lot more than it seems to be but it’s nice to get a win right off the bat”. Brawley, with truck owner Arthur, explained his early season absence. “I had to wait until my new work schedule took effect before I could get out here. That’s why Ray drove the truck himself back on April 21st. Now, I’m off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I’ll be here for sure. Using the nitrous was a whole new world. It definitely pulls a bunch harder and really sets you back in the seat off the line. I think it’ll be a whole lot more fun this year running in the tens. Maybe I can talk Ray into even tweaking it a bit harder!”.
Photos of the May 5th Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Orson “O.J.“ Johnson, House Springs, MO 1999 281 Mustang
Tim “Moose” Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro
Brian Orsborn, Granite City, IL 2004 122 Neon SRT-4
Dan Harris, St. Louis, MO 2004 232 Mustang
Pat McNeish, Granite City, IL 1986 555 Silverado
John Brawley, Granite City, IL 1993 355 S-10
Spiro Pappas, Glenview, IL 2009 526 GXP
New World Record Elapsed Time on 10.5W Tires at 6.32 seconds!
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
MAY 5th, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 05 05/05/2009
1 Orson Johnson House Springs MO 99 Mustang 281 Ford 8.615 169.17
2 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.615 157.95
3 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy 9.149 147.52
4 Tim Kirkpatrick Troy MO 88 Mustang 393 Ford 9.379 148.12
5 Pat McNeish Granite City IL 86 Silverado 555 Chevy 9.874 138.07
6 Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy 10.058 135.43
7 Van Burgess Jackson MO 01 Camaro 347 Chevy 10.093 118.99
8 John Brawley Granite City IL 93 S-10 355 Chevy 10.678 125.37
9 Greg Boschert St. Louis MO 66 Mustang 331 Ford 10.871 127.62
10 Ricky Anthony Winfield MO 88 Mustang 302 Ford 11.411 113.41
11 Andrew Lincoln French Village MO 85 Mustang 347 Ford 11.481 117.55
12 Matt Mingus Florissant MO 62 Nova 355 Chevy 11.584 120.05
13 Vincent Heuer Granite City IL 69 Corvette 468 Chevy 11.694 92.71
14 Larry Dixon Belleville IL 78 Nova 454 Chevy 11.829 117.31
15 Mark Branham Hannibal MO 72 Nova 396 Chevy 11.837 97.58
16 Ian Williams St. Clair MO 69 Camaro 454 Chevy 11.888 115.58
MAY 5th, 2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Orson Johnson House Springs, MO 99 281 Mustang 0.160 8.268 172.39
RU Tim Mallicoat Collinsville, IL 68 565 Camaro 0.128 8.632 156.97
Forty-eight hours after virtually every professional track record was shattered during the 13th annual NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals, Orson “O.J.“ Johnson and his Lo Pro Race Cars turbocharged ‘99 Mustang made history of his own by scoring his first victory in the Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Not only was Johnson’s win the first for a FoMoCo-powered entry since Steven Gentry’s ‘65 Mercury Comet won the title on September 4th, 2007, it was the first time a 281-cubic inch Ford “modular motor” had earned an SCSS trophy. Johnson and crewchief Paul Schoelich amazed fans and opponents with a final-round performance which came within thirteen thousands of a second from the quickest elapsed time in SCSS history!
Johnson’s pass was only one of several historic efforts during the evening. Fans watched in amazement as Chicago drag racing legend Spiro Pappas unleashed the quickest quarter-mile run on 10.5W tires ever recorded in drag racing with an early shut-off shot of 6.32 seconds at a speed of only 193.18 miles per hour! Pappas’ turbocharged bigblock Chevy-powered 2009 Pontiac GXP reset the GIR eighth-mile track record for Outlaw 10.5 cars on the blast at 4.08/182.03, as well. Pappas’ quarter-mile effort destroyed the 6.42-second record set by Tim Lynch’s ProLine Racing Engines Mustang recorded only four days earlier at Atlanta (GA) Dragway.
"We really have to hand it to the Gateway starting line crew for their track prep", said an ecstatic Don Bailey of DCB Enterprises who tunes the Pappas Pontiac, "The surface was simply incredible and held everything we could throw at it". Likewise, Billy Glidden’s Mickey Thompson Tires Pontiac GTO spent the day testing at Gateway and clocked a career-best quarter-mile of 6.45/214.25 with his single four-barrel carbureted smallblock Ford powerplant. Said Glidden, “The track was the same as it always is here…awesome!”.
In fact, professional testing took place at GIR on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While many fans think the track surface was already in pristine condition because of the NHRA National Event which took place the previous weekend, few realize that, on Monday morning after the event, the track is scraped of all rubber and reprepared by the GIR track crew because the racing surface is simply beaten to death from the weekend’s competition. Of more than a dozen Pro Stock and Pro Modified competitors who tested, most ran quicker and faster during the test session than they had during the NHRA event…in worse atmospheric conditions!
A massive field of more than two hundred entries packed GIR for the fifth 2009 SCSS event and produced the quickest “bump spot” of the season for the Super Sixteen field since the qualifying format has been revised. Several regulars failed to make the cut during what quickly became a long night of competition with one major oildown and another delay when a racer tested GIR’s new $140,000 sandtrap and safety net system. The race included the season’s first corrected elevation above sea level with an encroaching rain front holding the corrected altitude to a best of 999 feet.
The quickest run in early timed trials came from the black 2001 Camaro of Jackson, Missouri’s Van Burgess whose Burgess Performance Chevy clocked an early shut-off 10.46 at only 104.94 mph with a strong 6.45/109.38 eighth-mile. Once qualifying began, the biggest surprise came from past SCSS finalist Tim Kirkpatrick. The Missourian’s familiar green ’88 smallblock Mustang underwent substantial chassis reconfiguration during the winter and opened its 2009 season with a career-best 9.37/148.12 to temporarily qualify on the pole. Ray Arthur’s well-known “Suspicion” ’67 Camaro overtook Kirkpatrick with a solid 9.14/147.52 but it was the winningest SCSS driver ever, Tim “Moose” Mallicoat in his naturally-aspirated 565-inch “Hellraiser“ ‘68 Camaro, who raised the bar late in qualifying with a brutal 1.25-second sixty-feet elapsed time, a 5.51/126.26 eighth-mile clocking and a strong 8.615/157.95 to lead the field with the season‘s quickest run.
It seemed like it would be another night of dominance by Mallicoat until only fifteen minutes before qualifying concluded when “O.J.” Johnson pulled into the water box with the red Mustang convertible which, during the April 15th event, had pounded out an incredible 8.66 at an 168.05 mph before losing a semi-final battle to Mallicoat when the Ford launched into a towering wheelstand. The National Mustang Racing Association Drag Radial-legal mount launched with a 1.36-second “sixty”, covered the eighth-mile at 5.68 at a ****ping 131.57 mph and then began a top-end charge which ended with a “first” in SCSS racing. Johnson recorded an 8.615...identical to Mallicoat’s run to the thousandth of a second! However, NHRA rules dictate the better qualifying position is determined by top speed on the run. Mallicoat’s 157.95 clip was obliterated by Johnson’s astounding 169.17mph!
Not only was it the first time the top two qualifiers had recorded identical elapsed times, it was the first time a “modular motor” had claimed the pole in SCSS racing. In fact, the last time a Ford led the field was on August 28th, 2008, when Steven Gentry’s ‘65 Comet paced the Super Sixteen with the quickest Ford-powered SCSS run ever, an 8.30-second blast.
To open the semi-finals, Johnson and crewchief Paul Schoelich elected to make no adjustments to the Mustang in their match with Kirkpatrick’s Ford. Although the green flamed ’88 model gained a two-tenths of a second holeshot, Kirkpatrick ran into immediate mechanical difficulties and was never a factor. Johnson hit an improved 1.35-second “sixty” and blasted out a huge 5.47/136.06 eighth on his way to the team’s quickest effort ever, a fabulous 8.37 during which Johnson shut down just before the finish line slowing to only 161.00 mph. In the other half of the semi-finals, Mallicoat overpowered Arthur’s “Suspicion” Chevy, (which suffered a nitrous oxide malfunction early in the run), and cruised to an 8.63/157.96 win over Arthur’s 10.23/139.33.
Prior to the championship final round, Schoelich again decided to leave the Ford untouched. Remembering their loss to Mallicoat only three weeks earlier, it was a rare chance to simply outrun the two-time and defending SCSS champion. For Mallicoat, it would be the second time this season he would stage against “O.J.” knowing full well the Ford held a decided advantage but, as always, the “Moose” had consistency on his side. When the two staged for the first Ford-versus Chevy title bout since the final event of 2008, it was Mallicoat who gained a four-hundredths of a second holeshot and actually stretched that margin through the first sixty feet. At the 330-feet mark, however, the two machines were dead-even to the thousandth of a second. From there, the Ford pilot never looked back. A 5.41-second eighth-mile was a career-best. The thousand-feet ET of 6.96 seconds was only four hundredths from the quickest in SCSS history. When Johnson crossed the finish line 83.56 feet ahead of Mallicoat, the scoreboard relayed the second quickest and fastest effort in the five-year history of the series, an incredible 8.26 at a blazing 172.39 miles per hour! Mallicoat’s consistency never waivered with another 8.63/156.97 shot. For video of the final round battle courtesy of Holly Kirkpatrick, click HERE.
“I can’t believe we missed the record by only one hundredth!”, exclaimed an elated Johnson referring to “Woody” Woodruff’s still-unsurpassed 8.25-second pass of 2008. “That was the run we were looking for. It was just about perfect. It never spun the tires all night. It never missed a beat. It was perfect! Folks need to remember this is a stock displacement 281-cubic inch engine with a stock block and stock heads. It‘s the real deal”. For Schoelich, whose Lo Pro Race Cars emporium built the red ragtop, it was a matter of making the correct decisions. “We never touched it tonight”, said the past SCSS finalist as rain began to fall on the winner‘s circle ceremonies in front of the main grandstand, “but we changed a lot since the April 15th event. We’ve got it manageable and now we can really start applying power. We plan to go to the next NMRA event in Atco, New Jersey, in a few weeks and I think we’ll have something to throw at the Drag Radial ‘big boys’ now!”.
Mallicoat took his first loss of the season is stride. “Those boys got that car down the track three times so I have to hand it to ‘em”, said the “Moose”. I was banking on them not being able to do that but I still had to make sure I left first. That was my job and I got it done. I couldn’t have asked for more from my car. Heck, my eighth-miles only varied a few thousandths. I did what I could but it wasn’t quite enough this time”.
NOTES FROM THE SCSS: It was mentioned on April 21st that, in the first three completed SCSS events of the season, no less than thirty-nine different drivers have qualified for the Super Sixteen field. As of the May 5th race, a total of fifty different drivers have earned points in the season championship standings which is certainly a record after only four events…Van Burgess, whose 660Xtreme.com ‘01 347 Camaro ran a shut-off 10. 46 at only 104.94 mph in early timed trials, eventually qualified with another coasting run of 10.09/118.99 and an even stronger 6.37/109.61 eighth-mile…Curtis Paulfrey got a solid 10.05/135.43 from his yellow Winner’s Circle Tire & Auto ‘68 Camaro before he had to leave for work; he qualified sixth and moved into the third spot in the season championship point standings…Greg “Hook-n-Ladder” Boschert produced a 10.87/127.62 from his well-known white ‘66 Mustang coupe, one of his best runs in ages, on eight-inch-wide D.O.T. tires...The list of qualifiers from Dustin Kurz’s Winfield, Missouri-based MD Performance got longer when Ricky Anthony put his 302-powered ’88 Mustang in the field with a best-ever 11.41/113.41...Andrew Lincoln was another of the five Ford qualifiers with a career-best run after an 11.48/117.55 from his ’85 347 Mustang…Vince Heuer’s canary yellow bigblock ’68 Stingray made the field with a shut-off 11.69 at only 92.71 mph but managed an 11.61/111.53 in late timed trials. There’s plenty more left in the car, however, as the ’Vette clocked repeated 1.4-second sixty-feet ETs…The next quickest Corvette was first alternate Mark Yehling’s white ’97 version at 12.02/114.23 but there were no less than fourteen ’Vettes in competition…Ageless Larry Dixon, who competed in the original Wednesday night Pro Street Eliminator program almost thirty years ago at the old St. Louis International Raceway, (then driving an eleven-second turbocharged right-hand-drive U.S. Postal Service Jeep!), qualified for the field in his ‘78 Nova with an 11.82/117.31 best…“O.J.” Johnson became only the second member of the SCSS 170 MPH Club with his final-round blast but is now the quickest and fastest Ford driver in series history. Amazingly, his 8.61 qualifying run was his first pass under nine seconds recorded during an official qualifying period or elimination round, making him the twelfth member of the 8-Second Club…Mark Branham’s ’72 Nova made the Super Sixteen for the first time with an 11.83 at only 97.58 mph but improved slightly to an 11.76/102.26 in late timed trials…Tommy Duelker had never drag raced before but he drove his ’98 Camaro to the track, entered High School Eliminator and won the whole darned thing! After three rounds of win lights which included a victory over Aaron Worstell’s multiple event-winning ’89 Mustang, the Ballwin, Missouri, kid stopped Ashleigh Tepen’s Jerseyville, Illinois, ’95 Camaro in a heads-up final round.
SPECIAL NOTE: It was no secret the huge turnout, two major ontrack delays and several instances of miscommunication among the Gateway staff made for a huge mess in the staging lanes during the May 5th event. While competitors unfamiliar with the new combined format and drivers who used the wrong staging lanes were a small part of the problem, Gateway Drag Racing Manager Rich Schaefer has made it known that steps will be taken to ensure the situation will not be repeated. A crew meeting was held after the event in which the problems were identified and solutions were defined. The GIR staff is aware of the inconvenience experienced by many racers and apologizes for the delays. All necessary changes will be made to avoid the same scenario in the future.
2009 STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (Top 10 of 50 as of MAY 6th, 2009)
Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine
1 (31) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
2 (26) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy
3 (24) Curtis Paulfrey Brighton IL 68 Camaro 502 Chevy
4 (20) 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 (10) Matt Mingus Florissant MO 62 Nova 355 Chevy
8 (6) Tim Kirkpatrick Troy MO 88 Mustang 393 Ford
9 (5) Ryan Dunn O'Fallon MO 72 Nova 454 Chevy
10 (5) David Starns St. Louis MO 91 Mustang 355 Ford
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.
MAY 5th, 2009 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Brian Orsborn Granite City IL 04 122 Neon 0.355 11.933 123.61
RU Dan Harris St. Louis MO 04 232 Mustang 0.063 12.280 108.47
It’s official; Brian Orsborn is back with a vengeance. Racing only sporadically since his domination of the 2006 season, the pilot of the red Dodge Neon SRT-4 which earned the season‘s first victory in the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown made it two out of three in a showdown with the year‘s only other Sport Tuner winner, past Gateway International Raceway High School Eliminator season champion Dan “Iceman” Harris.
Orsborn’s turbocharged four-cylinder led qualifying with a 12.02/114.23 effort ahead of Harris’ unique 232-cubic inch “SixBangStang” at 12.25/108.62. The rest of the field included Craig Powell’s gun-metal grey turbocharged 231-inch V6 ’87 Buick Regal, (a best-ever 12.33/109.67), April 8th runner-up Jim Hoffman’s ‘93 Saturn SC-1, (13.74/102.28), and Chris Whitmore’s 122-inch Acura-powered ‘90 CRX, (13.89/103.28). Mention should be made of the attempt by April 21st runner-up John Kessler’s attempt to break into the thirteen-second zone with his bone-stock 2002 Maxima which fell just short at 14.01/99.77.
Orsborn actually made a second qualifying attempt which ended in the thirteen-second zone while Harris’ Rear-Wheel-Drive six-cylinder had clocked multiple 12.20s. With the final round pitting the season’s only two winners, the four-cylinder versus six-cylinder, FWD versus RWD, turbocharged versus nitrous oxide battle had more than a few interested fans. The trophy dash became even more interesting when Harris strapped a massive holeshot of more than a quarter-second on Orsborn. The Ford was ahead at every point on the track to the thousand-feet mark where the Mustang was outrunning the Neon by 21.93 feet. It was in the final 320 feet of the battle that the top end of the turbo Dodge reeled in the Ford and passed Harris to win by all of 10.13 feet in a tremendous 11.93/123.41 to 12.28/108.47 match.
“That was closer than it should’ve been”, said a relieved Orsborn during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstands. “I saw him all the way and was just hoping I’d hit the gears right and nip him. That’s all I did, too…I nipped him. The second qualifying run was wasted because I spun the tires and I was actually concerned about that in the final round. It hooked, though, and I need to thank Justin Bondurant from JMB Performance for helping get this thing back in the elevens because I needed every bit of it to win”.
MAY 5th, 2009 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
W Pat McNeish Granite City IL 86 555 Silverado 0.068 9.809 138.98
RU John Brawley Granite City IL 93 355 S-10 0.394 10.602 125.12
When Pat McNeish debuted his new 555-cubic inch ‘86 Silverado on September 23rd, 2008, he took the truck straight to the winner’s circle. The owner of Performance Parts Plus in Granite City, Illinois, made two more final round appearances in the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown before the end of the season and his first outing of 2009 proved, if nothing else, he’s stronger than ever.
Leading qualifying with a 9.87 at a career-best 138.07 mph, McNeish barely missed making the Top Four spots in the SCSS. His closest opponent, however, was returning John Brawley, who was back behind the wheel of the “S-10 Revenge” pickup taken to the April 21st title by owner Ray Arthur. The driver who won four titles in six final rounds in his 2008 rookie season was thrilled to be able to “spray” the 355-inch smallblock in Arthur’s ‘93 S-10 for the first time, dropping his personal bests from 11.41/117.30 to 10.67/125.37 on his very first pass!
The rest of the field included Jared Doyle’s fairly astonishing 2006 6.1L Hemi-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee which recorded an amazing 12.23/110.33, April 15th champion Matt Cox’s ‘93 S-10, (12.35/107.30), and past Super Truck finalist Matt Hamilton’s 2004 Ford Lightning, (12.97/105.73). It should be noted that the renowned orange ‘70 Chevy C-10 of Chris Calkins, the SCSS Diesel Truck Record Holder at 9.87/139.41, was in attendance but struggled with turbocharger boost problems throughout qualifying.
Ironically, McNeish and Brawley had never faced each other but the big Silverado was not to be denied in its 2009 debut. A three-tenths of a second holeshot and a career-best 9.80/138.98 quickly handled Brawley’s best run yet, a 10.60/125.12. “I’m happier about my reaction times more than the way the track ran”, said a smiling McNeish with crewchief Jesse Byrd in the winner’s circle. “I’ve been using my practice Tree all winter and my RTs were pretty decent all night. As for the truck, we were trying a new fuel which was supposed to be worth a lot more than it seems to be but it’s nice to get a win right off the bat”. Brawley, with truck owner Arthur, explained his early season absence. “I had to wait until my new work schedule took effect before I could get out here. That’s why Ray drove the truck himself back on April 21st. Now, I’m off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I’ll be here for sure. Using the nitrous was a whole new world. It definitely pulls a bunch harder and really sets you back in the seat off the line. I think it’ll be a whole lot more fun this year running in the tens. Maybe I can talk Ray into even tweaking it a bit harder!”.
Photos of the May 5th Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Orson “O.J.“ Johnson, House Springs, MO 1999 281 Mustang
Tim “Moose” Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro
Brian Orsborn, Granite City, IL 2004 122 Neon SRT-4
Dan Harris, St. Louis, MO 2004 232 Mustang
Pat McNeish, Granite City, IL 1986 555 Silverado
John Brawley, Granite City, IL 1993 355 S-10
Spiro Pappas, Glenview, IL 2009 526 GXP
New World Record Elapsed Time on 10.5W Tires at 6.32 seconds!
