Bondurant was consoled by the 12.02 personal best and the fact that, since Orsborn had regained the speed mark, Neons from the St Louis SRT Club (http://www.stlsrt.com ) now hold all four FWD and 4-Cylinder records. "I really thought I could get the 11-second money, but I guess it'll have to wait," noted Bondurant, "Still, I had my four best sixty-foot ETs tonight and that proves the car is finally hooking up." Of note is the fact that both Jacobsmeyer and Bondurant once again earned "Fastest Street Car" qualifier stickers in the SCSS "Super Sixteen".

Eric Cheatham, the Belleville, IL driver who bombed the SCSS Rotary ET Record to 11.95 seconds in 2004, unveiled his rebuilt '93 Mazda RX-7 but, despite a tremendous sixty-foot ET of 1.67 seconds, was unable to produce a representative run.

Carl's 4WD SUPER TRUCK SHOWDOWN RESULTS -- 5/17/2005

WINNER: Jeff Fritz, Florissant, MO, 2001 330 Lightning, 0.240, 12.942, 106.75 mph

RUNNER-UP: Sam Kerley, Barnhart, MO, 2004 366 F-350, -0.457, 14.926, 93.34 mph

The battle for the second title in the new Carl's 4WD SuperTruck Showdown Series was as surprising for the drivers who were in the final round as for those who weren't able to appear for the match. Randy Christy, who recently sold his all-time SCSS record-holding '74 Vega, debuted his new yellow Chevy S-10 pick-up with a blistering 11.05/121.32 time trial but a leaking head gasket forced the Granite City, IL veteran to park the truck. Hal Marshall, whose white S-10 was runner-up in the first Carl's 4WD event, ran an 11.93/104 in timed trials and later qualified on the pole for the second week in a row with a 12.16/102.55. However, massive electrical problems prevented a final round appearance.

That left second qualifier Jeff Fritz's silver Ford Lightning as the favorite after a best of 12.95/107.00 in qualifying. However, third qualifier Terry Lane's Granite City S-10 was unable to appear for the final after a best of 13.53/102. That brought one of the most popular vehicles of the event to the line for the final round; Sam Kerley's massive 2004 Ford F-350 diesel had clocked a phenomenal best of 14.39 at 93.20 mph and the "smoker" was capable of 2.1-second sixty-foot ETs and had an eighth-mile best of 9.15!

Kerley knew the odds were against the diesel in the final, however; a blatant redlight and tons of tire spin spelled defeat against Fritz's best effort of the event, a 12.94/106.75.

SCSS STREET CAR SHOOTOUT RESULTS -- 5/10/2005

WINNER: Brian Grote, St. Peters, MO, 2001 427 Camaro, 0.132, 9.885, 138.77 mph

RUNNER-UP: Steven Gentry, Festus, MO, 1965 557 Comet, -0.099, 9.600, 117.49 mph

Brian Grote (shown) became the first driver to win three consecutive event titles in the 26-event history of the SCSS Street Car Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway, taking his popular "Doc Otis" 2001 Camaro SS to another victory in what was most likely the wildest edition of the SCSS program yet contested. Despite atmospheric conditions which started off poorly at over 2100 feet corrected elevation and never noticeably improved, the sixteen-car field was the fourth quickest ever and included easily the quickest "Top Eight" in series history.

Qualifying for the "Super Sixteen" featured a revision for the 2005 season in which the opportunity to gain a position in the field, (or to become one of the finalists in the three divisions), now cease at 9:00 p.m. Although timed trials continue until 10:00 p.m., the official qualifying deadline has been moved ahead thirty minutes to permit finalists in all three categories (or alternates, if needed) to be assembled prior to 10:00 p.m. Even with the change, the qualifying show was the most thrilling ever, with the number one position being swapped seven times among five different drivers!

The battle began thirty minutes before qualifying started with Steven Gentry, driving the same 557-cubic inch Ford-powered 1965 Mercury Comet which attempted to compete on May 3rd, beginning his official NHRA licensing procedure with an early shut-off 10.67 at only 93 mph. Jeff Bowman, whose immaculate black 1970 440 Charger was runner-up in the March 29th SCSS event, followed with a 10.44/134.89. Gentry returned with his second required half-pass at 10.50/96, improving to an impressive 6.29/111 eighth-mile clocking.