SCSS SHOOTOUT RESULTS -- 9/28/2004

WIN:	Kevin Autenrieth Bethalto, IL 1984 355 S-10 0.471 9.858 133.61
RU:	Laurence Bass Lebanon, IL 1988 302 Mustang 0.339 14.230 89.30

Kevin Autenrieth unleashed some of the quickest and fastest runs of the season to become the fifteenth different winner of the twenty completed events in the 2004 Southside City Speed Shop Street Car Shootout Series. Another large turnout took full advantage of more great atmospheric conditions to reset several series records. A corrected elevation of 85 feet above sea level helped many racers to career-best performances and, even with a starting line temperature of 65 degrees,
the "full moon effect" took its toll on several rearends and halfshafts.

George Wahby, whose Chevy LS1-powered Pinto won the SCSS trophy on September 14th, led early qualifying with an 11.19 at 118 miles per hour. The top five qualifiers were within a quarter-second until an unfamiliar orange 1984 S-10 pickup pulled into the waterbox. Kevin Autenrieth, making his first appearance in the SCSS series, stunned the crowd with a 9.77 at a tremendous 135.39 mph speed, becoming the second quickest and fastest vehicle in the 2004 SCSS season.

The Lowe's Performance/Nitrous Works pickup returned later for a 9.79/134 effort, and nobody came close to the 355-cubic inch truck for the remainder of qualifying. Laurence Bass, the undisputed King of SCSS Qualifiers, earned his 16th qualifier decal but could not

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knock the Pinto from the number two spot. Likewise, Rob Nolan's awesome turbo V6 '87 Regal was unable to better its 11.30 series record, (set last week), to make a second consecutive final round.

Wahby had pounded out an 11.18/118 on a second attempt, but his third run found the Pinto on a scary run with obvious rear end problems. When the final round was called to the staging lanes, Wahby was nowhere to be found, having loaded up when no solutions could be found. That allowed Bass, as the number three qualifier, to line up with Autenrieth's outrageous truck. However, as Bass prepared to stage for his third SCSS final round of the year, the supercharged Mustang spit out a rear-end mount bushing on the five-speed driver's last "chirp" and Bass knew he was done.

"I felt it go away just before I got to the beams," recalled Bass after the final, "and I staged anyway, but I knew I couldn't even get on the throttle or I'd just do more damage."

Autenrieth made sure he didn't foul away his chance at the trophy and marched to another great 9.85/133 pass.

One of the most impressive runs of the event came from current SCSS Rotary ET Record Holder Eric Cheatham, whose wild blue '93 RX7 from Belleville, IL, uncorked the first 11-second rotary pass of the series with an exceptional 11.95/114, topping his previous mark by a quarter second. Past SCSS Rotary record holder Eric Francosky took his '94 RX7 to a best of 13.04 at 113 mph. Brian Shoffner's well-known '94 Supra was the second 6-cylinder qualifier, (behind Nolan), with a 12.24 at a whopping 119.12 mph.