Post by Mike Stark on Jul 12, 2005 20:47:10 GMT -5
The heat didn’t stop them. The price of gas didn’t stop them. The competition definitely drew them. I’m talking about the VFN street car shootout at Wabash Valley Dragway. 34 powerful cars took over the small town of Terre Haute Indiana on July 9th. These cars put on a wild show in front of a capacity crowd. The VFN street shootout is the fastest growing series in the country and the fans all agree, it rocks!
Promax carbs-Fun Street was again the most competitive of the three classes. This cut throat 6.50 index class is as exciting as it gets. It presents side by side racing at it’s best. Many decided by only thousandths of a second. 19 cars signed up for a shot at the glory. Many new faces and several regulars came to do battle. NMCA Open Comp champ Scott Laws brought out his wicked black Mustang and qualified in the number 1 spot. His 6.51 was followed closely by fellow Open Comp racer Kent Lilly’s 6.52. James Landis, Dewey Bastin, and Chuck Burkhart all qualified in the 6.50’s as well. With five rounds of eliminations and many other cars qualified in the 6.60 range, the task of winning would not be an easy one. Round one brought us a couple of broken cars and #1 guy Laws got an odd car bye. Steve Hoch was in attendance with his awesome Corvette. Steve drove the car to the track from his home in Tolino Illinois, a 90 mile one way drive. Hoch took out Chad Marshall in the first round with a 6.59. Dewey Bastin held on to beat bracket racer turned heads-up guy Brett Hendrix. Chuck Burkhart took a close win over Brett Heidgerken using a 6.72 over a 6.73. Heidgerken was not only running Fun Street with his ‘89 Camaro, but also ran in True Street with his ‘67 Chevelle. Other first round wins went to John Doswell, Chuck Ulrich, Bill Frye, James Landis, and Brian Wilson. Round two is where it really started to tighten up. Wilson used a holeshot to beat Landis with a slower 6.69 to Jim’s 6.62. Laws was also quick on the tree using a 6.66 to beat Hoch’s 6.63. Doswell lost a 20 cent nut on his throttle cable and handed the win to Bastin. Frye stumbled out of the gate and let Burkhart streak to the win all alone. Ulrich rolled to victory with a competition bye. With the winners heading to round three the action was just getting hotter. Laws and Bastin got locked in a peddle fest to see who would break out first. In the end it was Laws who stayed just in front with a 6.60 to Dewey’s 6.62. Ulrich hit it hard against Burkhart, but couldn’t hold on. His 6.84 was close, but not enough for Chuck’s 6.70. Wilson moves on with a bye. The semis offered a nail bitter of a race. Burkhart shoved the peddle through the floor to edge out Wilson, 6.53 to a 6.54. He would meet Laws in the final where the Mustangs luck would run out. Scott’s car bumped out of the lights letting Burkhart roll out a hard to beat 6.57. It was Chuck’s day to get the cash and the trophy.
The Small tired action was as hot as the sun in M&M Engines-True Street. An amended set of rules and many new faces brought lots of horsepower to the race. The lone Mopar of Mark Mathews raised the bar in the class with a top qualifying spot of 5.44. Long time drag radial racer Jimmy Byrne followed just behind with a 5.47. Marc Alexander showed he was no slouch with an impressive 5.64. Street racer Bud Fisher decided to put it on the track and laid down a 5.66. Dual class participant Heidgerken was laying down some of his best numbers to date with the Chevelle and showed us a 5.84. OSCA racer Gary Sutter came over to play and lit up a 5.89. The new looser rules allowed Phreak Street racer Rob Keller to come play with little tires on the car. He had a little trouble adjusting, but still managed a 6.32. Regular Jason Rueckert took his VP fuels backed blower car to a traction struggling 6.92. The field was set for a night of record setting performances. Round one gave Heidgerken his best pass ever with a 5.76, but it wasn’t enough for Mathews’ 5.46 jaunt. Keller was still struggling with the smaller tires and got bested by Alexander‘s 5.65. Byrne showed how serious he can be and busted a record pass of 5.41 against a broken Sutter. Rueckert put his head gaskets to the test and they failed at 40 psi. He was unable to face Fisher who cruised to an easy 6.86. Round two pitted Mathews and Alexander together. Alexander got into trouble and had to bail with an 8.86 against an off the pace Mathews’ 5.96. The Mustang of Byrne made the shot heard round Terre Haute when he cracked the record again with a 5.36 to Fishers noble effort of a 5.90. Mathews and Byrne in the final. The race everyone waited to see. It would be a bit of a let down. Byrne’s car rolled in deep and the flash caused Mathews to hesitate a the tree. Jimmy lit up a 5.42 over Mark’s 6.85.
They say the Phreaks come out at night and they aren’t lying. Harland Sharp-Phreak Street had some of the wildest combinations known in the street car lands. We had Bill Lutz and his twin turbo big block, blowing through a carburetor on alcohol. Mike Hupp with a centrifugal chain drive blower on a big block Chevy. Randy Brown with a 632 on the juice. Brian David, Matt Madsen, and Jason Hart all also spraying their big blocks. Then we had Matt Burgess and his small block. Naturally aspirated no less. The M&M bullet makes over 850 HP, but was definitely out of place in this mess of boost and juice. Matt held his own against the monster 600” motors however. Lutz boosted himself to the number one spot with an effortless 4.89 and a record setting 149 MPH. Brown sprayed his way to number two with a 5 flat. Madsen was keeping them honest by kicking out a 5.30. Hupp was working with the new chassis, but still worked out a 5.43. David hit his best times using the sticky Wabash track and showed us a 5.59. Hart had a little tire shake, but still posted a 5.62. Burgess motored to a 6.20 on all horsepower. With the ladder set the stands quickly filled to watch these ground pounding monsters. Lutz got an odd car bye. David met “Goliath” (Hupp) and lost this time with Hupp’s 5.21 beating his 5.55. Brown turned it up to a 4.98 over Burgess and his 6.36. Old friends Madsen and Hart duked it out with Matt besting Jason 5.22 to a 5.50. The semis brought us an upset with Hupp beating Lutz in a tire shake battle. Hupp put up a 5.18 to Bill’s 5.25. Brown again picked up the pace displaying a 4.92 to Madsen’s 5.23. In the final it was blower vs. Nitrous, Malibu vs. Chevelle, old school vs. new school. When the smoke cleared it was old school Randy Brown besting the Malibu of Hupp. Brown had another great pass with a 4.98 to Mike’s 5.39.
The show was a hit with the fans. The stands were packed all night. The new VFN shootout shirts were a huge success. Tyler Clark of Wicked Grafixx did one Hell of a job on them. Dennis Holas had the DVD’s looking better than ever. The VFN Jiggly girls were on location, bouncing from spot to spot. I gotta say this thing is getting bigger and better each go. Once again huge thanks to VFN Fiberglass, Harland Sharp rockers, M&M Engines, Promax Carbs and Performance Parts, CFM-competition cylinder heads, Motorsports Engineering, Wicked Grafixx, and Wabash Valley Dragway. Harry and the crew give us the best facility on the planet to have a heads-up race. See you all August 6th.
Promax carbs-Fun Street was again the most competitive of the three classes. This cut throat 6.50 index class is as exciting as it gets. It presents side by side racing at it’s best. Many decided by only thousandths of a second. 19 cars signed up for a shot at the glory. Many new faces and several regulars came to do battle. NMCA Open Comp champ Scott Laws brought out his wicked black Mustang and qualified in the number 1 spot. His 6.51 was followed closely by fellow Open Comp racer Kent Lilly’s 6.52. James Landis, Dewey Bastin, and Chuck Burkhart all qualified in the 6.50’s as well. With five rounds of eliminations and many other cars qualified in the 6.60 range, the task of winning would not be an easy one. Round one brought us a couple of broken cars and #1 guy Laws got an odd car bye. Steve Hoch was in attendance with his awesome Corvette. Steve drove the car to the track from his home in Tolino Illinois, a 90 mile one way drive. Hoch took out Chad Marshall in the first round with a 6.59. Dewey Bastin held on to beat bracket racer turned heads-up guy Brett Hendrix. Chuck Burkhart took a close win over Brett Heidgerken using a 6.72 over a 6.73. Heidgerken was not only running Fun Street with his ‘89 Camaro, but also ran in True Street with his ‘67 Chevelle. Other first round wins went to John Doswell, Chuck Ulrich, Bill Frye, James Landis, and Brian Wilson. Round two is where it really started to tighten up. Wilson used a holeshot to beat Landis with a slower 6.69 to Jim’s 6.62. Laws was also quick on the tree using a 6.66 to beat Hoch’s 6.63. Doswell lost a 20 cent nut on his throttle cable and handed the win to Bastin. Frye stumbled out of the gate and let Burkhart streak to the win all alone. Ulrich rolled to victory with a competition bye. With the winners heading to round three the action was just getting hotter. Laws and Bastin got locked in a peddle fest to see who would break out first. In the end it was Laws who stayed just in front with a 6.60 to Dewey’s 6.62. Ulrich hit it hard against Burkhart, but couldn’t hold on. His 6.84 was close, but not enough for Chuck’s 6.70. Wilson moves on with a bye. The semis offered a nail bitter of a race. Burkhart shoved the peddle through the floor to edge out Wilson, 6.53 to a 6.54. He would meet Laws in the final where the Mustangs luck would run out. Scott’s car bumped out of the lights letting Burkhart roll out a hard to beat 6.57. It was Chuck’s day to get the cash and the trophy.
The Small tired action was as hot as the sun in M&M Engines-True Street. An amended set of rules and many new faces brought lots of horsepower to the race. The lone Mopar of Mark Mathews raised the bar in the class with a top qualifying spot of 5.44. Long time drag radial racer Jimmy Byrne followed just behind with a 5.47. Marc Alexander showed he was no slouch with an impressive 5.64. Street racer Bud Fisher decided to put it on the track and laid down a 5.66. Dual class participant Heidgerken was laying down some of his best numbers to date with the Chevelle and showed us a 5.84. OSCA racer Gary Sutter came over to play and lit up a 5.89. The new looser rules allowed Phreak Street racer Rob Keller to come play with little tires on the car. He had a little trouble adjusting, but still managed a 6.32. Regular Jason Rueckert took his VP fuels backed blower car to a traction struggling 6.92. The field was set for a night of record setting performances. Round one gave Heidgerken his best pass ever with a 5.76, but it wasn’t enough for Mathews’ 5.46 jaunt. Keller was still struggling with the smaller tires and got bested by Alexander‘s 5.65. Byrne showed how serious he can be and busted a record pass of 5.41 against a broken Sutter. Rueckert put his head gaskets to the test and they failed at 40 psi. He was unable to face Fisher who cruised to an easy 6.86. Round two pitted Mathews and Alexander together. Alexander got into trouble and had to bail with an 8.86 against an off the pace Mathews’ 5.96. The Mustang of Byrne made the shot heard round Terre Haute when he cracked the record again with a 5.36 to Fishers noble effort of a 5.90. Mathews and Byrne in the final. The race everyone waited to see. It would be a bit of a let down. Byrne’s car rolled in deep and the flash caused Mathews to hesitate a the tree. Jimmy lit up a 5.42 over Mark’s 6.85.
They say the Phreaks come out at night and they aren’t lying. Harland Sharp-Phreak Street had some of the wildest combinations known in the street car lands. We had Bill Lutz and his twin turbo big block, blowing through a carburetor on alcohol. Mike Hupp with a centrifugal chain drive blower on a big block Chevy. Randy Brown with a 632 on the juice. Brian David, Matt Madsen, and Jason Hart all also spraying their big blocks. Then we had Matt Burgess and his small block. Naturally aspirated no less. The M&M bullet makes over 850 HP, but was definitely out of place in this mess of boost and juice. Matt held his own against the monster 600” motors however. Lutz boosted himself to the number one spot with an effortless 4.89 and a record setting 149 MPH. Brown sprayed his way to number two with a 5 flat. Madsen was keeping them honest by kicking out a 5.30. Hupp was working with the new chassis, but still worked out a 5.43. David hit his best times using the sticky Wabash track and showed us a 5.59. Hart had a little tire shake, but still posted a 5.62. Burgess motored to a 6.20 on all horsepower. With the ladder set the stands quickly filled to watch these ground pounding monsters. Lutz got an odd car bye. David met “Goliath” (Hupp) and lost this time with Hupp’s 5.21 beating his 5.55. Brown turned it up to a 4.98 over Burgess and his 6.36. Old friends Madsen and Hart duked it out with Matt besting Jason 5.22 to a 5.50. The semis brought us an upset with Hupp beating Lutz in a tire shake battle. Hupp put up a 5.18 to Bill’s 5.25. Brown again picked up the pace displaying a 4.92 to Madsen’s 5.23. In the final it was blower vs. Nitrous, Malibu vs. Chevelle, old school vs. new school. When the smoke cleared it was old school Randy Brown besting the Malibu of Hupp. Brown had another great pass with a 4.98 to Mike’s 5.39.
The show was a hit with the fans. The stands were packed all night. The new VFN shootout shirts were a huge success. Tyler Clark of Wicked Grafixx did one Hell of a job on them. Dennis Holas had the DVD’s looking better than ever. The VFN Jiggly girls were on location, bouncing from spot to spot. I gotta say this thing is getting bigger and better each go. Once again huge thanks to VFN Fiberglass, Harland Sharp rockers, M&M Engines, Promax Carbs and Performance Parts, CFM-competition cylinder heads, Motorsports Engineering, Wicked Grafixx, and Wabash Valley Dragway. Harry and the crew give us the best facility on the planet to have a heads-up race. See you all August 6th.