Brian Grote (shown) became the first two-time winner in the 2005 Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway, scoring his second straight title over a new Ford star in an amazingly quick and truly bizarre event. Atmospheric conditions were the best of the '05 Southside City Speed Shop Tuesday night series, as well, with the corrected elevation beginning at 250 feet above sea level and plummeting to 330 feet below by the final round.

Grote's "Doc Otis" '01 Camaro was not the early favorite, however. A variety of cars took advantage of the 84-degree track surface before qualifying began, including April 5th SCSS runner-up William Eberhart, Jr.'s '64 357 Nova (a best-ever 11.09/121.07), St. Louis area bracket racing legend Ricky Thomas' '70 454 Monte Carlo (11.10/121.27), Derrick

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Roslein's silver '02 Z28 (11.30/119.53), and James Hadley's silver '63 350 Nova (11.30/116.96). Regardless, much attention was focused on the new turbocharged 334-cubic inch '91 Mustang of Dan Shipley which, while making the required runs for an NHRA Competition License, clocked an 11.33 at only 91 mph during timed trials.

Shipley's maroon Mustang really opened eyes in the first fifteen minutes of qualifying when it again coasted across the finish line but, this time, with a 10.58 at only 107.94 mph! In fact, no driver came within a half-second of the Missouri Ford until Grote's 427-inch SS made its first run at 8:00 p.m., hitting a 10.71/127.14. Tony Buhl, whose supercharged '89 306 Mustang won the first SCSS title of the year on March 29th, clocked a 10.92/122.51, but was overshadowed by Shipley's second run. Spinning furiously off the line with suspension problems, Shipley recorded a 2.00-second sixty-foot ET on his way to a 10.89 at the second fastest speed in SCSS history, 144.30 mph!

Eventually, Grote resorted to nitrous oxide on top of his new EFI system to unload a 9.942/137.27 to steal the pole position from the Ford and later blasted out a 9.817/137.72. Despite those runs, it was the silver 1965 Mercury Comet of Festus, MO's Robert Chandler which rocked the field. Using a 557-cubic inch Ford wedge engine, Chandler had made a early run during which transmission fluid covered the tires at half-track and made for a wild ride which still rang up an 11.46 at only 75.66 mph. With less than twenty minutes remaining in qualifying, Chandler made a clean, straight run to hit a wild 9.675 at 135.08 mph. Unfortunately, neither the car nor the driver were certified to run quicker than 10.00 seconds, resulting in the disqualification of the radical entry.

Unaware that he was still qualified second, Shipley made a phenomenal 9.95/144.10 blast after qualifying had concluded and was in the process of loading up when he was informed that he was still eligible for the championship dash. In a rush to meet Grote's Camaro in the staging lanes, the battery in the Ford lost its charge and Shipley frantically tried to fire the turbo car while his father, Dan Shipley, Sr., quickly hooked up a charger. Grote proved his sportsmanship by waiting for the Mustang to get a spark, and the two eventually staged for the final match. In the rush, Shipley was unable to build boost before staging and, when Grote launched off the line, Shipley realized the lost cause in pursuing the amazing Chevy's second 9.817 of the event. After two full seconds of spooling up the turbo, Shipley launched to a wild 9.90 at an incredible 145.27 mph for the loss.

"The car had been pretty loose in the midrange all night, and that was on my mind when we staged up for the final," Shipley admitted. "I didn't want to mess up Brian and I also wanted to get a decent run from our car since it's pretty new." Grote was still less than satisfied with his brutally consistent runs, adding, "If we can just get a handle on the fuel system on this thing, it's really going to step up." Incredibly, Shipley will be heading to Memphis (TN) Motorsports Park with Grote on May 13th since the Ford driver has also received an invitation to compete in HOT ROD Magazine's Pump Gas Drags. "We both really want to do well down there for the St. Louis folks," said Shipley.

Of note was the lack of Lebanon, IL, Ford entries; 2004 SCSS Season Champion Laurence Bass and his teammate, Robert Buhl, had both destroyed engines in the past two weeks and neither competed in the fifth event. Bass is now tied for the lead in the '05 Season Championship standings

with the Mustangs of Asmir Catic and Tony Buhl and the Camaro of Kevin Kolkmeyer. Grote's win has allowed Chevrolet to tie Ford's two wins in the 2005 Manufacturers' Championship.