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SCSS SHOOTOUT RESULTS --
JULY 27, 2004
Faisal Merghelani ended Daryl Jauernig's bid
to become the first driver to score four event
titles by grabbing his first championship in
the 2004 Southside City Speed Shop Street Car
Shootout Series. Although Merghelani was the
decided underdog, his upset of Jauernig's fabled
Mustang allowed the St. Louisan to become the
ninth different winner in the twelve completed
SCSS events.
 The
race was, by far, the largest of the 2004 SCSS
series and no fewer than 245 entries also made
for the quickest 16-car field yet. Nearly perfect
weather conditions not only boosted performances
but attracted the largest spectator crowd of
2004's Tuesday night races. Gateway International
Raceway officials also issued the first four-digit
permanent driver's number in the SCSS series,
which has now attracted over 1,000 different
competitors in only a dozen events!
Dale Starns' St. Louis-based 468-cubic inch
'80 Malibu led qualifying early with an 11.13/122
effort, but Merghelani's 346-inch 2002 Z28 blasted
out a 10.78/128 to lead the field for almost
two hours. Jauernig was afforded only one qualifying
pass due to the long lines in the staging lanes
but, with less than ten minutes remaining for
qualifying, the Mustang Muscle Performance-backed
Ford unleashed a career-best 10.51 at only 124
mph to grab a final-round berth. In the series'
sixth Ford- vs.-Chevy trophy dash, Jauernig's
Mustang left the starting line within two hundredths
of a second of the silver Camaro. However, Merghelani
stretched his lead to 16.11 feet at the 60-feet
mark! By the 330-feet point, the Chevy was in
front by 22.61 feet and by half-track was pulling
away with a 25.93-
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feet
lead. Jauernig's maroon Mustang, notorious for
its 130 mph top-end charge, then began closing
on Merghelani; at the 1000-feet mark, the Mustang
was only 18.66 feet behind. With the Camaro
also moving at almost 130 mph at the finish
line, however, Merghelani crossed the stripe
15.81 feet ahead of the SCSS series' only three-time
winner.
The 16-car qualified field included no less
than three six-cylinder entries, the quickest
of which was series 6CYL ET Record Holder Rob
Nolan's Buick Regal. Among the "sticker winners"
was everything from Bill Scholl's original '66
289 AC Cobra to Mike Ashcroft's smallblock-
powered '87 S-10 pickup. STLCGP club member
Zach Senger recorded the quickest Front-Wheel-Drive
pass of the event with his black '99 Grand Prix
GTP, (while qualifying 52nd out of 245 cars!),
at 13.17/101.51. Granite City's Brian Orsborn
barely beat out fellow STL SRT Club member George
Pocuca for the quickest 4CYL run and also set
Top Speed for FWD cars with a 13.27/108.94 effort
from his red '04 Dodge Neon.
The honor of "Most Prolific Contestant" fell
to Shawn McCauley, who clocked a 10.72/130.91
in his red Dodge Viper and then was disqualified
after the car was found lacking a rollbar. Undaunted,
McCauley returned with a white Dodge Viper and
ran 11.97/132.76 after the conclusion of qualifying!
With Merghelani's win, Chevrolets now lead Fords
7 to 5 for overall wins.
- WIN: Faisal Merghelani,
St. Louis, MO - 2002 346 Camaro, 0.121, 10.581,
129.64
- RU: Daryl Jauernig,
St. Louis, MO - 1989 302 Mustang, 0.141, 10.643,
127.70
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