SCSS STREET CAR SHOOTOUT RESULTS -- 6/7/2005

W: Randy Christy, Granite City, IL; 1991 408 S-10, 0.288, 11.176/122.90
RU: Dan Volmert, St. Louis, MO; 1971 434 Le Mans, 0.124, 11.448/118.70

Randy Christy, the thirty-year veteran of street car racing who debuted his new 1991 Chevrolet S-10 pickup less than a month ago, made history by winning two different categories in one event including the SCSS Street Car Shootout Series title at Gateway International Raceway. The Granite City, IL racer, whose 1974 Vega remains the quickest and fastest SCSS machine ever, romped through the SCSS program and the Carl's 4WD & Performance Super Truck Showdown in an event filled with drama. Although the corrected elevation hovered at a horrific 3200 feet above sea level when gates opened, winds from the south (where heavy rain fell throughout the afternoon) brought cooler temperatures and a corrected altitude of 2300 feet for most of the event. Track temperature, while as high as 133 degrees during NHRA Pro Stock testing earlier in the day, cooled to a reasonable 85 degrees in the evening, allowing for several career-best SCSS performances and a best of 6.80 seconds at 203.55 mph by NHRA Pro Stock standout Rickie Smith.

Qualifying began with Asmir Catic, the current SCSS point leader, pushing his infamous "Z-Eater" 2003 Cobra to a great 11.54/123.50 to lead the field with only Christy's 408-c.i. small block truck within range after back-to-back runs of 11.88/115 and 11.779/115. It was Mark McMahan's red 1970 Stingray which changed the standings when the 406 Corvette hit 11.778 at 117.49 mph to bump Christy from the SCSS Shootout final round by one thousandth of a second! Christy, notorious for making as few qualifying efforts as possible, jumped back in the cab of his trademark yellow machine and responded with an 11.42/117.04, jumping ahead of Catic and knocking friend McMahan from the final. Only four minutes later, longtime SCSS competitor Dan Volmer launched his unique '71 Pontiac Le Mans on his only qualifying effort and charged to a career-best 11.34/118.53 to grab the pole position for good.

Volmert, whose gray Pontiac uses a massive Matt Johnson Performance Center-prepped 434-c.i. small block Chevy engine, had actually made a run in the first 15 minutes of timed trials but sputtered to a dismal 14.34 at only 91 mph. "By the sound of it, I figured it had burned up several spark plugs," Volmert later admitted, "so I called up my brother and told him to bring me a new set. By the time he got here and we got everything straightened out, I only had time to make that one pass." Catic made one last attempt but failed to improve with a 12.10/116 and McMahan's 'Vette slowed to several 11.8-second runs to remain out of the final.

Christy made no secret of his truck's untapped nitrous oxide resources before the final. "I've been trying to sell this truck and I tell people it has 10-second potential but they don't believe me," said Christy before the trophy dash, "I may just have to prove it to 'em on this run." After a lengthy cool-down period following the Carl's FWD Super Truck Showdown final, Christy pulled into the waterbox to face his second final-round opponent of the evening. Christy was shocked, however, by a sixteen-hundredths of a second holeshot by Volmert. The gray Pontiac held the lead by 8.6 feet at the 60-foot mark and stretched the advantage to 9.2 feet by the 330-foot mark. At the eighth-mile, the Le Mans was still ahead by 4.1 feet, but the Matt's Muffler-sponsored pickup's top-end charge soon became apparent. Christy moved alongside Volmert and, by the 1000-feet mark, was 6.8 feet ahead. At the finish line the little S-10 had put 19.61 feet on the Pontiac and, with an 11.17 at almost 123 mph, had produced the quickest run of the event to do it.

No less than three four-cylinder machines earned "Fastest Street Car Qualifier" decals, the most in any of the 30 completed SCSS events. The quickest Six-Cylinder effort came from Eureka, MO's Jason Sieveking's All-Wheel-Drive '91 Dodge Stealth (13.90/97.64), while the fastest of the Six-Cylinders was Mike Ziegler's Fenton, MO-based '91 Toyota Supra (13.91/101.67). In an unusual occurrence, Jeremiah Alley's red St. Louis-based '95 Mustang actually set Top Speed of the Meet at 124.52 mph, yet qualified only tenth with a best ET of 12.24!

With both Tony Huff and Kevin Kolkmeyer failing to appear, Asmir Catic gained an advantage in the 2005 SCSS Championship points battle. The "World's Fastest Bosnian" has now qualified in seven of 10 completed events and leads both Kolkmeyer and Huff by two qualifying points. With Christy's win, Chevrolet now leads the Manufacturers' Championship with five wins over Ford (3) and Dodge (1).