Asmir Catic continued his romp in the 2005 SCSS Championship points battle, qualifying his "Z-Eater" 2003 Mustang for the eighth time. Kolkmeyer and Tony Huff earned their sixth qualifier decals and remain in second place behind "The World's Fastest Bosnian." With Wrinkles' victory, Chevrolet now leads the Manufacturers' Championship with six wins over Ford (3) and Dodge (1).

Ironically, the quickest vehicle on the grounds was not in contention for the event honors. Jim Williams' 496-cubic inch 1980 Malibu hit a 10.05/134.39 early in qualifying but was found to be lacking NHRA certification and mandatory safety equipment and, predictably, was disqualified.

DRAGRACINGONLINE.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN RESULTS -- 6/14/2005

W: Justin Bondurant, Fenton, MO; 2004 146 Neon, 0.068, 11.960/118.98
RU: Brian Orsborn, Granite City, IL; 2004 146 Neon, -0.005, 12.820/116.34

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Although the event started out to be a repeat of the past two weeks, a few bizarre twists and the exceptional weather conditions brought more drama to the DRO Sport Tuner Showdown. The division's two 11-second pacesetters, Justin Bondurant's blue Dodge Neon and Patrick Jacobsmeyer's white Eagle Talon, actually opened timed trials with a rematch of their repeated 2005 final-round meetings. Only 10 minutes after racing began, the two squared off in a tremendous battle in which Bondurant not only grabbed a surprising holeshot but drove past Jacobsmeyer's 12.01/117.38 with an 11.98 at an incredible 121.29 mph!

Once qualifying began, Bondurant's JMB Performance Mopar continued its rampage with an 11.99 at 122.29 mph to reset the SCSS 4-Cylinder and FWD speed records, stealing the marks from fellow member of the St. Louis SRT Club, Brian Orsborn, whose red SRT-4 Neon was busy clocking 12.60s at 114 mph. Early in qualifying, however, Jacobsmeyer launched his Talon in an attempt to drop his one-week-old 11.95-second ET record only to have the rear end break just before the second-gear shift. "I don't know exactly what it was yet," Jacobsmeyer noted from the grandstand fence after returning to the pits, "but it really tore it up. It could be the axle shaft or the gearset...I just don't know." At the conclusion of the event, Jacobsmeyer proved the beauty of All-Wheel-Drive by still driving the crippled Eagle home to St. Louis!

Bondurant wasn't finished pounding out the big numbers. Even after Jacobsmeyer's withdrawal, the blue Neon screamed to an 11.920 at 119.14 mph, breaking Jacobsmeyer's 4-Cylinder ET record! In fact, before qualifying had even ended, Bondurant had reclaimed all four records for FWD and 4-Cylinder machines.

Orsborn's 12.67/114 best remained the second quickest effort, followed by Bill Simpson's canary-yellow '91 Toyota MR2 (12.84/113), Ross Accardi's Illinois-based Mitsubishi Eclipse (a best-ever 12.90/108), Tallman's Regal, Michael Urban's 2005 Subaru WRX (13.28/101), and Mark King's amazing 1.8-litre '88 Honda CRX which blasted out a 13.44 at 110.85 mph. However, Orsborn's red "Boosted" Neon, which had hit 120 mph on street tires earlier in 2005, was suffering from a fading clutch. "That's what has slowed it down," said Orsborn before the final round, "and I really can't even speed-shift it anymore. It's hard enough just to get it into third and fourth gear."

With the problems known to friend Bondurant, it was no surprise when Orsborn's attempt to gain a holeshot in his first DRO Sport Tuner championship round fell five-thousandths of a second short on a 12.82/116.34 pass. Bondurant claimed his second win in six final rounds with another great 11.96/118.98 shot. "I finally had the nitrous working tonight," exclaimed the Fenton, MO, racer after the final. "That's really all it was...the nitrous and the good air we had. I think we have it figured out to run good numbers even in the heat. I went over 98 mph in the eighth on one of my runs, so there's definitely a lot more left."