Bret Kepner
09-13-2006, 09:04 AM
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.
(CONTINUED IN REPLY...)
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.
(CONTINUED IN REPLY...)