Bret Kepner

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.

All vehicles compete utilizing Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) approved tires. All other modifications are permitted. Tuesday SCSS Track Records can be set during official qualifying or championship rounds. The Official Street Car Shootout qualifying period begins at 6:30 PM and concludes at 9:00 PM, (barring unforeseen circumstances). At 9:20 PM, the four quickest qualifiers meet in no-handicap eliminations with the championship final round held at 9:45 PM. Each of the Top 16 qualifiers receives a "Fastest Street Car Qualifier" decal. The SCSS trophies and decals are presented by SX Performance Fuel Systems. 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 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

2007 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT TRACK RECORDS

Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
RWD Sam Moore, East Alton, IL 93 Mustang 352 Ford 8.584 9/26/2006
RWD Sam Moore, East Alton, IL 93 Mustang 352 Ford 161.25 7/18/2006

4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 9.714 10/3/2006
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 143.17 10/3/2006

TRK Sam Moore, East Alton, IL 92 S-10 406 Chevy 9.613 10/17/2006
TRK Steven Gleghorn, Alton, IL 94 S-10 434 Chevy 140.44 9/26/2006

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

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




MAY 29th, 2007 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date

EVENT 09 05/29/2007

1 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.858 156.19
2 Tony Huff Collinsville IL 69 Nova 540 Chevy 9.486 139.78
3 James Landis Oreana IL 80 AMX 420 AMC 9.909 140.12
4 Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 306 Ford 9.929 139.37
5 Gary Tripp Imperial MO 69 Camaro 496 Chevy 10.384 123.32
6 George Wahby Fenton MO 74 Pinto 350 Chevy 10.475 128.41
7 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 427 Chevy 10.657 126.82
8 Dan Schell High Ridge MO 02 Camaro 346 Chevy 10.745 129.38
9 Robert Obermoeller Imperial MO 87 Camaro 350 Chevy 11.160 122.09
10 Jack Nungester Arnold MO 71 Camaro 454 Chevy 11.293 120.11
11 James Barrow Troy MO 80 Malibu 383 Chevy 11.378 118.73
12 Shane Sawyers Mount Vernon IL 91 Mustang 302 Ford 11.378 102.26
13 Mark Jarves Arnold MO 94 Supra 189 Toyo 11.519 120.60
14 Mark Corneglio O'Fallon MO 03 Lightning 330 Ford 11.629 115.03
15 Dave Davis O'Fallon MO 04 Mustang 281 Ford 11.810 116.54
16 Rick Howie O'Fallon IL 94 Civic 112 Acura 11.864 118.92


MAY 29th, 2007 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT FINAL ROUND

Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH

W Tim Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro 0.240 8.914 154.47
RU Tony Huff, Collinsville, IL 1969 468 Nova 0.217 10.992 122.14

Tim “Moose” Mallicoat produced a virtual duplicate of his May 22nd victory to become the first driver in the seventy-one event history of the SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series to win four consecutive titles and, in fact, is undefeated in 2007. Eclipsing the standard set by Brian Grote, whose 2001 Camaro won three straight events in 2005 between April 19th and May 10th, Mallicoat earned his fifth career SCSS trophy while setting his sights squarely on the record of seven career titles held by the man whom he defeated in the final round, nineteen-time finalist Tony Huff.

Although atmospheric conditions were far from perfect, (the corrected elevation ranged from a high of 2150 feet above sea level to a low of 1530 feet), traction was plentiful as evidenced by NHRA Pro Stock campaigner Tom Hammonds. Recently returning to professional drag racing after twelve seasons playing in the National Basketball Association, Hammonds wheeled his ’07 Cobalt to a 6.78-second pass at 205.94 miles per hour to open the event, a surprisingly quick effort considering the weather conditions.

While James Barrow’s always-strong ’80 Malibu was the quickest of early timed trials with an 11.58/118.62, George Wahby’s unique LT1-powered ’74 Pinto quickly led the official qualifying period with a 10.54/126.00. However, Mallicoat was one of the first to test the track and the power of his new 565-cubic inch, carbureted gas-burning Chevy powerplant proved as potent as on the May 22nd event; an 8.88 at a best-ever 156.19 mph, (the second fastest speed ever recorded in SCSS competition), definitely drew a response from the fans.

Mallicoat’s close friend and rival, Tony Huff, opened with a safe 9.48/137.53 only minutes later while reigning SCSS season champ Tony Buhl, back from a family vacation in Jamaica, opened with a tire-spinning 9.92 while narrowly missing is own career-best speed at 139.37 mph. Buhl’s familiar maroon ‘89 Mustang, now equipped with a Vortech YS-Trim supercharger and a new suspension setting, was overpowering its tires from the moment it moved necessitating some quick pit work for the next pass.

Minutes later, George Wahby escaped one of the scariest moments in SCSS history with pure driving talent. The Fenton, Missouri, racer yanked the wheels of his Chevy-powered Pinto and charged to his quickest and fastest run ever, a 10.47 at 128.41 mph, only to have the left front tire explode right at the finish line! The little Pinto made a hard left turn just past the quarter-mile stripe but Wahby reigned in the horse and kept it in his lane and off the wall…while throwing a rooster-tail of sparks as the car slid to a stop on the bare rim!

Buhl returned quickly but the next shot produced even more tire spin and a disappointing 10.24/134.42. However, the second effort by Mallicoat’s black ‘68 Camaro resulted in a redlight by a mere two thousandths of a second and a brutal 8.85 at 155.38 mph! Huff’s silver ‘68 Nova, still relying on its back-up 468-inch engine, returned with a rough-sounding 9.57/139.72 and a redlight by only twenty thousandths of a second! The trio was joined in the nine-second zone by a rare appearance by northern Illinois ace Jim Landis at the helm of what is generally accepted as the World’s Quickest and Fastest street-legal American Motors product, his lime green 1980 AMX. The beast, powered by 420-inch AMC engine created by the King of Rambler horsepower, West Virginia‘s Barry Allen, spun the tires hard enough to initiate some “pedaling” but still shot to a 9.95 at a blazing 139.72 mph.

Tony Buhl’s third attempt appeared to have been aborted by the driver but the SCSS champ explained it differently. “We’ve developed some kind of electrical problem”, said Buhl after the run. “I didn’t shut it off. It shut itself off. Then, it came back to life and then died again. We don’t know what’s wrong but we’re going to have to pull out of the field and allow an alternate into the program“. Things got more interesting from that point. After another coughing 9.54/139.78, Tony Huff pulled into his pit area believing a broken spark plug wire to be the culprit. “I was thinking that I needed to change the wires”, said Huff, “but all of sudden I realized the car was filling up with smoke! I was just pulling up to our pit area and I looked down to see the wiring box lighting up; I rolled out the door yelling ‘FIRE!’. Tim Mallicoat was pitted right next to us and he was the guy who ran over and flipped the kill switch on the back of the car right away. ‘Moose’ saved us a whole bunch of trouble on that one. It would’ve fried everything if he hadn’t shut it off”. At that point, however, it was uncertain if Huff could even make the call for the first round of eliminations.

(CONTINUED IN REPLY...)

Bret Kepner

Landis made a second tire-spinning shot late in qualifying which moved the Rambler from fourth to third, hitting 9.90 at its best-ever speed on DOT tires, 140.12 mph. Buhl having withdrawn, the first alternate would be Gary Tripp, whose bigblock-powered ‘69 Camaro had clocked a 10.38 at only 123 mph on its only pass. However, Tripp informed the GIR officials before the semi-finals that he, too, was unable to make the call. “We’ve got water in the oil”, reported a dejected Tripp, “and it doesn’t look good. I’m afraid we may have to put our back-up smallblock in it for next week”. The second alternate was George Wahby whose Pinto was clearly in no condition to race. The third alternate was Ray Arthur, whose “Suspicion” ’67 427 Camaro had qualified seventh at 10.65/126.82; Arthur, who was runner-up to Mallicoat on May 8th in his first SCSS final, was happy to oblige.

Meanwhile, Huff thrashed to replace the broken plug wire and the burned wiring in the cockpit and barely arrived in front of the main grandstands in time for the semi-finals. Eliminations opened with Landis and his AMX squaring off against Mallicoat with the Camaro holding a full one second advantage on paper. Landis paid no heed, however; a brilliant 0.020 Reaction Time strapped more than three-tenths of a second on “Moose” and, even more incredibly, the AMX hooked! As Landis powered away, Mallicoat’s Chevy drifted toward the centerline and, just as the Camaro moved alongside the Rambler at the 330-feet mark, Mallicoat was forced to get of the throttle. Each time Mallicoat pulled ahead, he had to lift off the gas to get the Chevy to hook up; there was never more than a few hundredths of a second between the two all the way down the track until Mallicoat finally squeezed out a win by 36.98 feet when his 9.21/149.12 barely beat Landis’ exceptional 9.69 at 140.61.

Next, Huff’s still-wounded mount left the starting line more than a quarter-second behind Arthur’s Camaro and struggled to make it to the finish line. However, in one of the few times Arthur could’ve outrun Huff’s Nova, the “Suspicion” Chevy ran the nitrous oxide canister dry and stumbled to an 11.22/115.84 against Huff’s coughing…but winning…10.67/119.63.

“I have no idea what’s wrong with it”, said team leader Bill Silva of Huff’s obviously ill-running Chevy, “but we don‘t have time to fix it so we‘ll just have to run it as it is“. Mallicoat was equally concerned after losing traction, adding “I had to pedal it a bunch against that AMC car. I guess it went far enough out of the groove to spin the tires but it sure was hard to get it to recover”. Both drivers staged up for the trophy dash more than a bit hesitant. Huff’s Nova immediately stumbled and Mallicoat launched with an awesome1.30-second sixty-feet ET en route to an 8.91/154.47 victory. “Four in a row is pretty hard to believe” said an ecstatic Mallicoat in front of the grandstands, “but it’s been a great year so far. I don’t think it’s gonna get any easier from here on out, though”.





NOTES FROM THE SCSS: The “bump spot” for the Super Sixteen field was a 12.06 for most of the final hour of qualifying until Shane Sawyers pulled to the line with eight minutes left. At the wheel of John Nolen’s Performance Welding turbocharged smallblock ‘91 Mustang, Sawyers had struggled to find the “groove” throughout the event but finally got the car to stay in the sticky stuff to the thousand-feet mark where Sawyers lifted and coasted into the program with an 11.37 at only 102 mph. In late timed trials, Sawyers tried it again. Even with a horrific 2.30-second sixty-feet ET, the Mt. Vernon, Illinois racer stayed on the throttle all the way to the stripe and clocked an 11.01 at 142.03 miles per hour!…Talk about consistency! Last week, Tim Mallicoat qualified on the pole at 8.85 and won the final with an 8.91. This week? Same numbers!….After last week’s 10.53/128.80 during early timed trials, chassis builder Dan Schell drove Charlie Vincel’s 408-inch 2002 Camaro to a 10.74/129.38 this week during qualifying to officially become the sixty-second member of the 10-Second Club and the one hundred twenty-second member (!) of the 120 MPH Club…Aaron Worstell took the first High School Eliminator win of the season for Union (MO) High School over the $45,000 ‘05 BMW 530 of former Mustang pilot Dan Freeman. Worstell was brilliant in his four-speed ‘94 302 Mustang with Reaction Times of 0.057, 0.031 and 0.016. Freeman was racing for DeSmet High…Mark Jarves wheeled the infamous Speed & Sound turbocharged ‘94 Toyota Supra to the quickest and fastest six-cylinder run of the season at 11.51/120.60. Michele Corneglio was the next quickest six-banger with her supercharged ‘04 Nissan 350Z at 13.00/105.78...William Barnes ran a best of 12.31/115.90 in his ‘04 Mustang during qualifying but, like quite a few other drivers, really stepped up when the air cooled off in late timed trials. Barnes improved to an 11.87/118.35!





SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (as of MAY 30th, 2007)

Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine

1 (10) Tony Huff Collinsville IL 69 Nova 540 Chevy
2 (8) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
3 (8) Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 306 Ford
4 (5) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 427 Chevy
5 (4) Rick Cardinale Florissant IL 66 Nova 421 Chevy
6 (4) Hal Marshall Collinsville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy
7 (3) Chris Gosch Bunker Hill IL 06 Corvette 346 Chevy
8 (3) George Wahby Fenton MO 74 Pinto 350 Chevy
9 (3) Robert Obermoeller Imperial MO 87 Camaro 350 Chevy
10 (3) Jack Nungester Arnold MO 71 Camaro 454 Chevy

NOTE: Points toward the 2007 Street Car Shootout Series Season Championship are awarded on the basis of one (1) point for qualifying in the Super Sixteen field with one (1) bonus point awarded for qualifying in the top four positions.


(CONTINUED IN REPLY...)

Bret Kepner

MAY 29th, 2007 STLSR.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND

Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH

W Rick Howie, O'Fallon, IL 1992 112 Civic 0.254 12.072 118.12
W Chris Hanley, Bridgeton, MO 1989 97 Civic 0.289 15.232 92.78

Like Tim Mallicoat, Rick Howie is enjoying his best season of racing ever. The O’Fallon, Illinois driver’s turbocharged, Acura-powered ‘94 Honda Civic has been in the final round of the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown for the past four straight events and shows no sign of slowing from its eleven-second performance. Although Adnan Omerovic’s 136 mph Eagle Talon was a no-show, the ninth event of the 2007 season saw the return on Brian Orsborn’s amazing red Dodge Neon SRT-4 which was originally slated to meet Howie’s white Honda in a much-anticipated championship final. However, finding an opponent for Howie proved to be the event’s greatest challenge.

Howie quickly reeled off an 11.86/118.92 effort in qualifying which eventually proved to be good enough to not only lead the Sport Tuner qualifyiers but also qualify on the bump spot of the Super Sixteen SCSS program. Orsborn‘s first runs of the season yielded a 12.15 at a whopping 122.33 mph, not far from his Neon’s 11.79/124.51 career-best numbers. However, each of the Granite City Dodge’s runs became progressively slower until the car was stuck in the high twelve-second zone. Near the end of qualifying, Orsborn finally threw in the towel out of frustration with the car’s obvious problems. The first alternate to face Howie was one of the Bi-State area’s original twelve second Sport Tuner hitters, George Pocuca’s black Neon, (13.09/106.82), but Pocuca’s work schedule usually forces the Caseyville, Illinois racer to leave the GIR property well before the final round. Officials then called for Neal Merritt’s ‘02 Subaru WRX, (13.38/108.93), past STSS finalist Steve Sweet’s ‘05 SRT-4 Neon, (13.51/106.15), Donnie Howie’s ‘92 B16A-powered ‘94 Civic, (13.57/108.36), Nick Kettler’s ‘03 Neon, (13.63/101.74), and Tom Rockholm’s 2000 Pontiac GTP Grand Prix, (13.64/99.48). Nobody showed up.

Finally, after numerous pleas from announcer “Radical Rich” Tivitt, the twelfth Sport Tuner qualifier, (ninety-ninth overall!), drove into the staging area in front of the main grandstands ready to face the challenge of Rick Howie. Although not a record for alternates, (Dennis Pape’s Olds Quad4-powered Beretta made the August 30th, 2005, final as the number twenty qualifier!), Chris Hanley and his ‘89 Civic from Bridgeton, Missouri, made up the second half of the first all-Honda final round in STSS racing. “He’s just going to blow right by me”, chuckled Hanley about his chances against the eleven-second version of his hatch, “but this is my daily driver and I’m happy just to get to race alongside him. This is a B16A engine swap so it’s one of the smallest engines here at 1.6 liters and it’s naturally aspirated. I did all the body and interior work myself but I’m getting ready to build a hatch just for racing that‘s going to be very similar to Rick’s”.

Hanley’s prediction was accurate; Howie blasted out a 12.07/118.12 as Hanley clocked his best numbers of the event at 15.32/92.78. However, Hanley also collected a trophy, got to pose for winner’s circle photos with Race Queen Paige Huff, received a free pass for a future STSS event and grabbed a disc full of photos from the evening…all just for hangin‘ around!







MAY 29th, 2007 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND

Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH

W Mark Corneglio, O’Fallon, MO 2003 330 Lightning 0.277 11.441 116.34
RU Justin Bondurant, Festus, MO 2005 505 Ram SRT-10 0.159 12.753 119.77

Last week, Mark Corneglio faced the grim task of battling Hal Marshall’s all-conquering Chevy S-10 pickup for the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown trophy but what a difference seven days can make. This week, the driver of the MMC Racing ‘03 Ford Lightning literally owned the place.

With a new pair of rear tires, Corneglio was looking to improve on the 11.5-second test passes produced by his grey Ford pickup in the fall of 2006. His solid 11.60s, even with tire spin, from the May 22nd event gave credence to the truck‘s potential. Like everyone else, Corneglio was shocked to hear that recent neck surgery would keep Marshall from attending the event. A best of 11.62/115.03 in qualifying led the Truck Showdown by almost a half-second over an immaculate and surprisingly strong Viper V10-powered Dodge Ram which clocked an exceptional 12.06 at a huge 119.71 mph speed.

It came as no surprise to most fans to find out the driver, owner, and builder of the sleek silver SRT-10 was none other than Justin Bondurant, the Bi-State‘s own MoPar guru who became the first Sport Tuner racer under twelve seconds back in 2005 with his infamous blue Neon SRT-4. The owner of JMB Performance, who has created everything from storming four-cylinders to his outrageous ProCharger-equipped ‘77 440 Charger, decided a nitrous-aided 505-cubic inch V10 would be a fun project. “I bought it last fall”, said Bondurant before the final round, “and we’ve done an awful lot of work to it but it has actually impressed me tonight”. Accompanied by his wife, Rebecca, (who raced her Chrysler 300 during the event, as well), Bondurant managed to out qualify another SRT-10, Tim Hamilton’s silver rig which clocked a strong 12.57/111.88 best. Yet another MoPar, Randy Christy, Junior’s yellow ‘99 360 Dakota, (12.89/106.15), and Nick Langley’s white ‘03 Lightning, (13.88/100.72), rounded out the top five qualifiers.

Although he gained a twelve hundredths of a second holeshot in the title bout, Bondurant’s chance to add a Super Truck trophy to his collection of nine Sport Tuner awards evaporated instantly. Corneglio’s first victory in his third final round came with a stunning 1.57-second sixty-feet ET and a brutal 11.44/116.34 career-best which annihilated Bondurant’s tire-blazing 12.75/119.77 when the Chrysler driver decided it might be prudent to use the nitrous oxide off the starting line. “Hey! I was going for a win, you know?” laughed Bondurant. Meanwhile a beaming Corneglio was soaking it in. “It was the tires all along!”, he noted while celebrating with wife and racing partner, Michele. “I actually had a little timing out of it, too. It feels good to finally win one of these things!”.





Photos of the May 29th SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.






Tim Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro



Tony Huff, Collinsville, IL 1969 468 Nova



Rick Howie, O’Fallon, IL 1994 112 Civic



Chris Hanley, Bridgeton, MO 1989 97 Civic



Mark Corneglio, O’Fallon, MO 2003 330 Lightning



Justin Bondurant, Festus, MO 2005 505 Ram SRT-10