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 Steven Gentry, Festus, MO 65 Comet 557 Ford 8.413 9/4/2007
RWD Steven Gentry, Festus, MO 65 Comet 557 Ford 162.41 9/4/2007

TRK Larry Richards, Hillsboro, MO 52 3100 427 Chevy 9.278 9/4/2007
TRK Larry Richards, Hillsboro, MO 52 3100 427 Chevy 149.07 9/4/2007

4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 9.637 8/21/2007
4CYL Jon Huber, St. Louis, MO 79 Mustang 178 Ford 143.22 8/21/2007

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

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 123 Volks 11.198 6/19/2007
FWD Adam Corbitt, St. Charles, MO 85 Golf 123 Volks 130.10 6/19/2007

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 4th, 2007 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date

EVENT 21 09/04/2007

1 Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy 8.649 156.99
2 Steven Gentry Festus MO 65 Comet 557 Ford 8.892 151.66
3 Larry Richards Hillsboro MO 52 3100 Pickup 427 Chevy 9.278 149.07
4 Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy 9.510 126.66
5 Kevin Autenrieth Bethalto IL 91 S-10 434 Chevy 10.318 131.02
6 Mickey Boyer Imperial MO 69 Nova 406 Chevy 10.797 127.58
7 Tony Huff Collinsville IL 66 Chevelle 510 Chevy 10.820 130.67
8 Allen Hannel Caseyville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy 10.860 123.54
9 Vernon Holliday Barnhart MO 70 Camaro 355 Chevy 10.957 127.29
10 Adnan Omerovic St. Louis MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle 11.261 134.74
11 Matthew Meyers Wood River IL 79 Malibu Wag 355 Chevy 11.371 118.16
12 Nathan Grant Edwardsville IL 00 Camaro 346 Chevy 11.766 115.97
13 Jason Moore St. Louis MO 88 Camaro 355 Chevy 11.920 118.33
14 Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 306 Ford 11.937 112.47
15 Nick Hartwig Moscow Mills MO 93 Mustang 302 Ford 11.975 120.08
16 Gary Bates O'Fallon MO 04 GTO 346 Pont 12.119 114.05


SEPTEMBER 4th, 2007 SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT FINAL ROUND

Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH

W Steven Gentry, Festus, MO 1965 557 Comet 0.288 8.413 162.41
RU Tim Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro 0.187 8.714 156.05

Steven Gentry, a five-time finalist in the SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series, stunned racers and spectators alike at Gateway International Raceway by ending the five-month reign of Tim “Moose“ Mallicoat in a Ford-versus-Chevy showdown which will have fans talking for months. In what was easily the quickest, fastest and most spectacular evening of SCSS eliminations yet contested, Gentry‘s outrageous 1965 Mercury Comet unleashed three new SCSS Track Records while scoring an incredible come-from-behind final-round victory to end the longest win streak in the eleven-year history of the facility.

Mallicoat’s now-legendary ‘68 Camaro had remained undefeated through thirteen events and had won an astounding twenty-seven consecutive rounds of SCSS competition, (not counting his June 12th victory in the Super Truck Showdown). Since the beginning of his dominance on April 17th, the Collinsville, Illinois, campaigner had beaten eight different drivers in championship rounds, (and an incredible eighteen different opponents overall!), before his reign of terror ended, ironically, on the one-year anniversary of his entry into SCSS competition.

The twenty-first event of the 2007 season signaled the beginning of what is, historically, the start of a brutally quick six-week fall season. True to form, the race featured record-shattering performances in several divisions and the equally-traditional parts attrition which marks any season‘s end. Although the meet was held in hot, muggy conditions and the corrected elevation ranged from over 2500 feet above sea level to a best of 1628 feet, (which is still above the season’s average), numerous best-ever runs were recorded despite an extremely tricky starting line surface. Luckily, a fast-moving rainstorm missed the GIR property and provided cloud cover to cool the track. After hosting a day-long event for Rankin Technical College, during which scores of street tire-equipped machines running on a 120-degree surface had created oversized “bald spots” on the starting line, the lack of adhesion was aggravated by the required D.O.T. rubber of the SCSS program. Only those drivers attentive enough to stage away from the bald spots found traction even though the GIR track crew spent a fair amount of time maintaining the “groove”.

The first oil down of the race came only four minutes into the first timed trial session. The ensuing clean-up decimated the session but one driver made a substantial statement. Larry Richards, whose beautiful red 1952 Chevy pickup had only recently completed its licensing runs, made his first foray into SCSS competition against the longstanding Super Truck Showdown Records of 9.61/140.44 and blasted to a 9.31-second clocking at an amazing 149.60 miles per hour!

It was Gentry who first tested the waters when the official qualifying session got underway. Although he had not entered an SCSS event since June 26th, the Festus, Missouri, racer had been testing extensively during GIR’s Wednesday program in an attempt to rid the Comet of a nagging nitrous oxide delivery problem. After an off-pace launch, the Mercury stumbled and coughed to a sub-par 10.50/138.78 which took the provisional pole. “This is what we’ve gone through most of the year”, said a frustrated Gentry after the run. “The motor just isn’t getting the nitrous after it leaves the line. We purge it over and over but we just can’t keep air out of the system. We don’t know why”.

Two minutes later, Mallicoat made his first qualifying shot and found the track still lacking; the 565-cubic inch Camaro headed for the centerline and forced “Moose” to feather the throttle to a 9.21/151.94. Said Moose, “I’ll just have to wait out the heat in the track again”, referring to his decision to run after dusk during the August 21st event in order to allow the track to cool. Twelve minutes later, however, Ray Arthur proved that traction was available to those who could find it. The pilot of the “Suspicion” 496-inch ‘67 Camaro launched with a career-best 1.39-second sixty-feet elapsed time and stormed to an incredible 6.00/116.45 eight-mile pass, (quicker than the eighth on Mallicoat’s 9.27 pass), before the Chevy made swerved violently at 1000 feet, forcing Arthur off the throttle. Still, the red Chevy coasted to a mindboggling 9.51 at only 126.66 mph! Instantly, it became obvious why the Camaro darted around in the right lane when the GIR Safety Crew was called out to pick up the shattered remnants of Arthur’s driver’s side window!. “It was absolutely thundering down there”, recalled Arthur, “and all of a sudden it sounded like a bomb went off in the car. I didn’t know what was going on until I felt the wind. The decompression literally shot me across the lane. We finally get our new MSD ignition figured out and now this happens!“.

Bret Kepner

Surprisingly, Mallicoat returned within twenty minutes of his first run and made a second attempt in the daylight. Despite a fantastic 1.27-second sixty-feet ET, the black Camaro headed for the retaining wall only a few hundred feet off the line in the left lane and Mallicoat again gave up the chase with a coasting 9.43/111.98. Five pairs later, Gentry’s massive silver Comet pulled to the line. After a great 1.36-second sixty-feet ET, the Comet charged to a 5.69/124.01 eighth-mile and, with nary a stutter, stayed clean all the way to the finish line while taking the pole qualifying spot with a tremendous 8.89 at 151.66 mph! The pass was Gentry’s best in SCSS competition since his 8.81/153.30 on the opening night of the 2007 season!

It was exactly an hour later when Mallicoat finally returned in the cooler night air. With another exceptional 1.27-second sixty-feet ET, the black “Hellraiser” came within five thousandths of a second of its best eighth-mile ever (5.529/126.13) and missed clocking its best quarter by only six thousandths with a brilliant 8.649/156.99 to reclaim the top qualifying spot. “There wasn’t much out there earlier”, said Mallicoat of the traction, “but it’s a whole lot better now. That’s about the best the car could’ve run in these conditions”. Big numbers were still in store for the fans during qualifying; Richards’ supercharged classic pickup truck made its first run since early timed trials and made official the new Truck Records at a phenomenal 9.27/149.07!

When qualifying concluded, several revisions were made to the pairings in the opening round of eliminations. Larry Richards elected to concentrate on the Super Truck Showdown and declined the option to race in both categories. Ray Arthur was unable to repair his shattered window and was unable to compete. The first alternate, Kevin Autenrieth, also decided to run his ’91 S-10 in the Super Truck program. Therefore, the call went out for the sixth and seventh qualifiers. Mickey Boyer, whose red ’69 small block Nova had run 10.79/127.58 with assistance from June 19th SCSS runner-up Jack Nungester, was inserted into the field as was the all-time winningest SCSS driver, Tony Huff, who returned to the wheel of brother Dale’s show-quality ’66 Chevelle after recent shoulder surgery. “It feels pretty good”, said Huff of his right shoulder, “but I still don’t have full use of it. I’m getting by, though. The car is starved for fuel off the line and that’s giving me more problems than my arm”.

Thus began the greatest single round of eliminations in the eighty-one event history of the Street Car Shootout Series. Although it was only two pairs of cars, the semi-final round received the loudest ovation ever and nearly caused announcer “Radical Rich” Tivitt to lose his voice prior to the finals. The first pair seemed to be no contest with Mallicoat paired against Boyer’s 10.7-second Nova. When Boyer’s small-tire Deuce launched with the front wheels in the air and with a quarter-second holeshot, however, all bets were off; nobody, especially Mallicoat, expected a 9.18 at 146.75 mph from the stock-appearing Chevy! Luckily for Mallicoat, a brutal 1.268 sixty-feet ET and an 8.67/156.34 stayed ahead of the Nova from the first sixty feet. In the next battle, few fans held any hope for Huff’s 510-inch Chevelle against the eight-second Comet of Gentry. When Huff executed the same wheels-up launch as Boyer with a third of a second holeshot, the crowd rose to its collective feet. At the sixty-feet mark, Huff was ahead by 19.91 feet; at the 330 feet mark, the flamed purple Chevelle was still in front by 9.42 feet. Finally, nearing half-track, Gentry’s Comet again managed to avoid its nitrous delivery dilemma and pulled into the lead. Incredibly, Huff crossed the stripe behind the Comet while clocking an amazing 9.26, (nearly as quick as his own fabled silver Nova), at a whopping 145.91 miles per hour…the fastest pass of Tony’s life!

Nobody, however, was ready for the numbers which popped onto the scoreboards in the right-hand lane. After a tremendous 1.301 sixty-feet ET, Gentry clocked the quickest 330-feet ET in SCSS history at 3.568 seconds, the quickest eighth-mile ever at 5.487 (at 127.97 mph), and the quickest 1000-feet ET ever at 7.150. Reaching the stripe 83.43 feet ahead of Huff, Gentry rocketed to the quickest quarter-mile in SCSS history with an astonishing 8.569 at 158.22 miles per hour!

The run eclipsed Sam Moore’s infamous 8.584-second record set fifty-three weeks earlier in Bill Silva’s ProCharger-equipped 352-inch small block ‘93 Mustang but, as he pulled up in front of the main grandstands after the pass, Gentry‘s first words upon exiting the car had nothing to do with the record-setting run. “That WASN’T the impressive run!”, said an obviously stoked Gentry. “The really impressive run is going to be the NEXT pass!”. While the crowd gave him yet another huge ovation, Gentry and partner Robbie Chandler began discussing their options for the championship final round. “We’ve finally fixed the nitrous problem”, said an excited Gentry, “and we weren’t even sure after the 8.89 run if it really was fixed. Purging the system through the external lines wasn‘t getting rid of the air bubbles like it should. When I saw that purging it externally wasn’t working after the burnout before the 8.89 run, I decided to purge it like a Pro Modified driver would; I used the button to purge it through the motor which is why you heard the engine RPM go up before I staged. I ’revved’ it with the button and it seemed to work. This time, I purged it through the motor without even trying it externally and, on the third hit, I could tell the lines were full. I just knew it was gonna make a big difference and I was ready for it to pull like it never had before. Now, we know what to do and the next run is gonna be the one where we can really get after it!”.

For the first time since he appeared in his first championship round on October 17th, 2006, Mallicoat was going into the trophy dash without lane choice and without a performance advantage. However, the “Moose” knew the battle wasn‘t over. The cooling air would work more to the benefit of the naturally-aspirated 565-inch Chevy. The tenth-of-a-second cushion owned by Gentry was not too big to be overcome by a holeshot. Moreover, Gentry had a history of redlighting away the quicker run in two of his four previous final rounds beginning with his first on May 10th, 2005. In fact, Gentry fouled in the semi-final of the opening event on 2007 on March 27th when, against a wounded Tony Huff, Gentry went red after qualifying on the pole!

Bret Kepner

Unknown to Mallicoat, the prospects of a redlight start were actually being increased by Gentry and Chandler, whose plan to “get after it” included a huge increase in starting line launch RPM for the final round. If it hooked, the Mercury would most certainly come out the beams quicker than usual especially since, as Gentry hinted, the launch would be “on the far side of four grand”. It seemed ironic, but a surprising number of onlookers honestly believed Mallicoat would somehow pull it off and maintain his season-long stranglehold on the class. After thirteen consecutive SCSS wins, few were willing to quickly accept that the black Camaro could lose….least of all, Mallicoat himself.

The most anticipated of all final rounds was initiated by two incredible smoky burnouts and, as both pilots flapped their driver’s doors on the starting line to clear the smoke in the perfectly-still air, every pair of eyes on the property were focused squarely on the ultimate Ford-versus-Chevy battle. Both drivers staged courteously and quickly but, when the green light flashed, Mallicoat’s Camaro jumped to a noticeable lead with exactly what it needed…a tenth-of-second holeshot.

At the sixty feet mark, Mallicoat was 8.89 feet ahead and increasing the margin. By 330 feet, the black Camaro was a full car length in front of the Comet, (18.98 feet), and it suddenly seemed there was no way Gentry was going to get back around Mallicoat. In fact, the Mercury’s higher RPM launch in the final caused a slight amount of tire spin; the 1.32-second sixty-feet ET and 3.572 330-feet ET were both a bit slower than on the previous pass. By 400 feet, however, the tide began to turn. “He was definitely out on front for a long time”, Gentry would later recall, “and I didn’t begin to catch him until I hit the second stage (of nitrous oxide)”. Just before the eighth-mile, the Comet pulled alongside the Camaro and made “a move” the strength of which was previously unseen in SCSS competition. With an ungodly eighth-mile time of 5.425 seconds at an incredible 132.55 miles per hour, (surpassing Moore’s 130.24 mph for another new record), The Comet was already running six hundredths quicker than on the 8.56 pass. However, Gentry’s 1000-feet ET of 7.034 seconds was a ridiculous twelve hundredths of a second quicker than before and, when Gentry crossed the finish line 48.11 feet ahead of Mallicoat, the 557-inch Ford was still pulling hard. When the win light illuminated in Gentry’s lane and the numbers flashed on the scoreboard, the crowd erupted in one of the greatest ovations yet heard during a Street Car Shoootout event. Steven Gentry had not only stopped Tim Mallicoat, he did it with an insane 8.413-second blast at the fastest SCSS speed ever, an astounding 162.41 miles per hour! Mallicoat’s valiant 8.71/156.05 effort was, by far, the quickest and fastest losing pass in the history of the series.

Gentry’s elation was evident during trophy presentations in front of the main grandstand where a surprising number of fans stayed to greet the new record holder. “This is what we’ve worked for”, Gentry said with huge grin as he accepted his second SCSS winner‘s trophy. “We’ve stuck with this combination for a long time but we really felt we could make it work to run like this. We had some problems the past year and we were lost for a while but it sure feels good to realize that we got it all together. Even though I built the car and motor with the help of Robbie Chandler and the guys, we had a few people who stuck with us like the guys at Phine Designs”. As one of the first to congratulate Gentry, Mallicoat was gracious in defeat, adding, “There’s not much I can say except ‘He got me’. It was a great race; we both gave our best and we both ran it all the way to the finish line. After the holeshot, I kept waiting for him to come alongside and I didn’t see him for the whole first half of the run. I did what I could. That’s all I could do!”.

Mallicoat still has a fourteen-event streak of consecutive number one qualifying positions. From his first event on September 6th, 2006, in which he qualified thirteenth, the Collinsville, Illinois racer has taken the M&M Automotive/Dale Huff Motorsports “Hellraiser” Camaro to third, fourth, and second place qualifiers before grabbing his first pole position at the last event of 2006. With his first victory at that same October 17th event, he has gone on to win a total of fourteen SCSS titles in sixteen completed events and also became the third driver ever to “double up” in a Tuesday event when, after a flat tire sidelined his Camaro, Mallicoat accepted the offer to drive Hal Marshall’s S-10 pickup and won both the SCSS and Super Truck Showdown titles on June 12th. Several fans were quick to point out that it took an engine of similar size with the addition of nitrous oxide injection to finally stop the reign of the black Camaro while others insisted that Gentry’s Comet, which is believed to be substantially heavier than Mallicoat’s Chevy, is an even match. While debates will rage, all involved can agree the race was one of the greats in series history. “We achieved just about everything we could’ve hoped to achieve tonight”, said Gentry, “but we’ll be back next week to see if we can do it again!”.






NOTES FROM THE SCSS: Bill Silva, whose Team Silva Bullet ‘93 Mustang held both ends of the SCSS Record at 8.58/161.25 until Steven Gentry reset them, was on hand to see his marks fall. Stating early in the season that he wouldn‘t bring the ProCharged Mustang back to the track until the records were broken, he was immediately asked when he would be returning. “We just finished switching to a new EFI system and we‘ve converted the car to alcohol. We still have to do some mapping and a few other things but we‘re going to try to be out in the next six weeks“. Silva‘s ET mark held for fifty-three weeks while his speed record went unbroken for sixty-two weeks!…Sam Moore, who drove Silva’s Mustangs to the records and two event wins, displayed the ultimate in sportsmanship after he lost three records in one night. Along with the SCSS standards, Moore also held the Super Truck Showdown ET Record with a 9.61 in Silva’s ‘92 S-10. All three marks were destroyed in a span of one hour yet Moore was the first to congratulate the new record holders within minutes of their accomplishments via InterNet Message Boards…Vernon Holliday’s absolutely magnificent orange smallblock ‘70 Camaro made its first SCSS appearance and became the one hundred thirty-sixth member of the 120 MPH Club and the seventy-fourth member of the 10-Second Club with a 10.95/127.29 best…Matt Meyer’s wild 355-inch ‘79 Malibu Station Wagon qualified with a best-ever 11.37/118.16!…Nathan Grant also improved in the late-night air; his silver ‘00 Camaro SS ran an official best of 11.76/115.97 but hit an 11.51/119.00 after qualifying ended…Defending SCSS Season Champion Tony Buhl had a frustrating night. After being sent off the track on his first qualifier when his passenger window refused to roll up, the electrical gremlin which has all but ruined Buhl’s 2007 season returned and kept the maroon 9.7-second Vortech-blown Mustang to an 11.93/112.47 best which barely qualified…Longtime SCSS competitor Nick Hartwig qualified for the first time in the ‘07 season by pushing his ‘93 302 Mustang to an 11.97/120.08 best…Gary Bates qualified on the bump spot with a 12.11/114.05 from his infamous yellow ‘04 Pontiac GTO but the Bates Brothers 11.7-second “Goat” was sporting an ominous “For Sale” sign in the front window. What could be next for the Bates Boys?…Jason Moore’s ‘88 355 Camaro made the field for the first time ever with a career-best 11.92/118.33...”Old School“ fans had a blast watching the immaculate ‘51 Chevrolet Coupe “lead sled“ custom rod of Greg Beishir making laps. The heavyweight smallblock-powered ride ran a surprisingly quick best of 14.53/95.72...Greg “Hook-n-Ladder” Boschert returned from his Florida vacation just in time to continue the nightmare of trying to get his 10.7-second ‘66 Mustang to the finish line under full power. After a dismal best of 14.02/100.81 during qualifying, the white Ford unleashed an 11.15 at 126.06 mph in late timed trials which would‘ve easily qualified in the Super Sixteen! Boschert says he has REALLY found the problem this time. We’ll see.




SX PERFORMANCE STREET CAR SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (as of SEPTEMBER 5th, 2007)

Pos Points Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine

1 (28) Tim Mallicoat Collinsville IL 68 Camaro 565 Chevy
2 (22) Raymond Arthur Edwardsville IL 67 Camaro 496 Chevy
3 (17) Tony Buhl Lebanon IL 89 Mustang 306 Ford
4 (16) Tony Huff Collinsville IL 66 Chevelle 510 Chevy
5 (10) Allen Hannel Caseyville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy
6 (8) Joe Williams Maryville IL 72 Nova 454 Chevy
7 (6) Hal Marshall Collinsville IL 86 S-10 383 Chevy
8 (6) Ben Nungester Arnold MO 69 Camaro 400 Chevy
9 (6) Steven Gentry Festus MO 65 Comet 557 Ford
10 (5) Jack Nungester Arnold MO 71 Camaro 454 Chevy
11 (5) Greg Boschert St. Louis MO 66 Mustang 331 Ford
12 (5) Rick Howie O'Fallon IL 94 Civic 112 Acura
13 (5) Adnan Omerovic St. Louis MO 95 Talon 122 Eagle

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.

Bret Kepner

SEPTEMBER 4th, 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 0.215 12.420 116.44
RU Adam Crader, O’Fallon, IL 2006 122 Civic 0.206 15.658 91.25

The parts destruction which traditionally begins after Labor Day weekend was more than evident in the St. Louis Street Racing.com Sport Tuner Showdown. Not only were several of the quickest cars parked after major mechanical failures but finding two finalists proved to be a chore for GIR officials! Rick Howie’s ultra-dependable two-litre Acura-powered ‘94 Civic eventually claimed its sixth STSS victory of the year in his eighth final round appearance to continue its domination of the 2007 Tuner Season.

Adnan “Otto” Omerovic returned for the first time since the July 31st STSS event with his All-Wheel-Drive ‘95 Talon and quickly announced an attempt to better his incredible 10.83-second, 138.05 mph best from that event. “We’ve stepped up the boost quite a bit”, said Omerovic before his first pass in early timed trials, “but we really don’t know how it’s going to respond”. The turbo’d two-litre left the line at a much higher RPM and opened with an 11.81 at a booming 136.52 mph in the worst atmospheric conditions of the event. He quickly returned for an official qualifying run and clocked another 11.81 at 130.99 mph and then stepped up to an exceptional 11.26/134.74 blast midway through the qualifying session. That run, however, resulted in a wild ride through the shutdown area when the car got loose just past the finish line. The damage incurred on the run put the black Talon out of the program for the duration.

The door seemed wide open for the Corbitt Brothers and their turbocharged ‘86 VW Golf GTi which had been testing extensively during GIR’s Wednesday programs. The only 130 mph FWD car in the series destroyed a transmission on the second of its two off-pace runs, however, and the Gateway Motorsports/Polk Audio record holder was also sidelined for the event.

Howie, the defending weekly champ, appeared with new shorter front tires while attempting to avert the shifting problems which had kept the 11.7-second white Honda hatch from engaging fourth gear during the most recent event. “For some reason, these tires have helped”, said a surprised Howie after a string of low twelve-second runs. “I’m not sure why they helped, though. It may just be the height of the tires in relation to the wheel speed I‘ve been getting but it’s going into gear now so I’m not complaining”. Howie’s best of 12.12/119.77 actually qualified second behind Omerovic but assumed the top spot when the Talon was unable to return. Behind Howie was returning veteran Andy Lemons, now in a slick silver B16-powered ‘96 Civic which clocked an impressive 12.88/106.93. The rest of the top five qualifiers included Chadlen Patrick’s ‘92 240SX RWD two-litre, (a best-ever 13.63/103.91), and the ‘03 Subaru Impreza WRX of Douglas Voss, (14.18/97.62).

When word was sent for the finalists to report in front of the main grandstands, however, only Howie appeared. Repeated calls for alternates yielded no results until Adam Crader pulled in front of the crowd with his sleek black ‘06 Civic Si. As the eleventh qualifier, Crader’s best of 15.75/90.10 was no threat to Howie but the Rankin Technical School student was more than happy to compete in the final round. “It‘s just a bone-stock K2023 I-VTEC Civic with a short shifter”, laughed Crader, “I don’t think it’s going to be much of a race but I’ll stage up against him”.

Crader was right; Howie took it easy on the starting line and allowed Crader the holeshot but motored past the new Civic on its way to a 12.42/116.44 victory. For his effort, Crader improved to his best run of the event, a 15.65/91.25. Howie is now fourth on the All-Time Winners list for the STSS series and is only two victories away from Omerovic in total wins for the season and two final rounds away from the Patrick Jacobsmeyer for the most championship round appearances.





SEPTEMBER 4th, 2007 GATEWAYRACEWAY.COM SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND

Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH

W Larry Richards, Hillsboro, MO 1952 427 3100 0.318 9.372 148.72
RU Kevin Autenrieth, Bethalto, IL 1991 434 S-10 0.289 10.243 131.52

Steven Gentry may have bombed the Street Car Shootout Series records, but it was Larry Richards who, en route to his first event win, absolutely annihilated the long-standing performance marks in the GatewayRaceway.com Super Truck Showdown. Having completed his licensing runs during GIR’s Wednesday program only a few weeks before, Richards’ amazing red 1952 3100-series Chevy pickup made short work of Sam Moore’s 9.61-second ET mark set during the final event of 2006 and totally obliterated Steve Gleghorn’s 140.44 mph speed standard set forty-nine weeks ago…by almost ten miles per hour!

Richards’ behemoth, which uses a mild 427 Chevy powerplant equipped with a Roots-style 6-71 GMC supercharger, shocked onlookers during early timed trials with a brutal 9.31 at a whopping 149.60 miles per hour on its very first run. The eerily quiet, fully-muffled truck quickly became a fan favorite even though its second pass wasn’t made until the final thirty minutes of the official qualifying period. On its first official record-setting pass, Richards’ Chevy launched with a 1.42-second sixty-feet ET and then unloaded an incredible 5.976/119.01 eighth-mile on its way to an even quicker 9.27 at 149.07 mph!

Kevin Autenreith returned for his first event since his July 31st victory with his Lowe’s Performance ‘91 S-10. Although he recently finished the body work on the revamped STS ex-record holder, he hadn’t yet managed to assemble a nitrous oxide system for the 434-inch smallblock truck. “It’s still naturally-aspirated”, said Autenreith, “so it’s not going to suddenly dip into the nines tonight”. With a respectable 10.31/131.02 qualifying best, Autenreith was able to hold off Allen “Crabby” Hannel for the finalist position. Although a 10.31 would normally be within reach of Hannel‘s infamous white ‘86 S-10, he was still struggling with a piecemeal powerplant after exploding truck owner Hal Marshall’s “good” 383-inch small block Chevy during the August 7th STS event. A best of 10.86/123.54 kept Hannel third followed by Jeremy Guijosa’s red ‘01 Lightning, (13.44/104.23), and August 7th runner-up Tony Cimino’s magnificent ’04 Lightning, (13.57/103.34). If nothing else, the event marked the first time since August 1st, 2006, in which three trucks qualified for the SCSS Super Sixteen field, (a record four trucks qualified on September 14th, 2005!).

In the championship dash, Autenrieth gained a slight holeshot advantage but was quickly passed by the big red classic Chevy in a 9.37/148.72 to 10.24/131.52 battle. During trophy presentations, Richards admitted that the twin four-barrel blown ‘52 is setup as soft as possible for the time being. “I built the truck myself and we really got after it when we were licensing”, said Richards. “It ran 5.70s in the eighth then but we bent some valves so we backed it down to run only seven pounds of boost on the blower tonight. It’s a pretty heavy piece; the only fiberglass is the hood and front fenders. It didn’t hurt anything tonight, though, so I think we have a combination that we can use pretty much every week. It’s fun just to be able to race it heads-up!”.





Photos of the September 4th SX Performance Street Car Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.






Steven Gentry, Festus, MO 1965 557 Comet



Tim “Moose” Mallicoat, Collinsville, IL 1968 565 Camaro



Rick Howie, O’Fallon, IL 1994 112 Civic



Adam Crader, O’Fallon, IL 2006 122 Civic Si



Larry Richards, Hillsboro, MO 1952 427 Chevrolet 3100



Kevin Autenrieth, Bethalto, IL 1991 434 S-10



New SCSS Record Holder Steven Gentry (far right) and the team members who made it happen!