Although Roeslein eventually improved to an 11.04/121.39,
he qualified no better than fourth. Boschert hit an 11.39/122.00
but was only sixth. Roeslein made one final attempt at a
10-second pass by raising his starting line launch RPM from
3500 to 5000 which ended with furious tire spin and an 11.42/121.38
pass. Jones also made one last effort with his silver turbo
Mustang but an 11.35/125.59 kept him fifth on the qualifying
list. However, nobody was sure exactly who was even capable
of returning for the final round.
When qualifying ended at 9:00 PM, the conditions of the
top qualifiers were assessed. Dudley's Chevelle was damaged
beyond repair. Scholl's AC Cobra was, as usual, at home
in the driveway as its owner prepared to report for work.
Ryan's Camaro was in the process of being repaired but most
likely would not be completed in time to run for the trophy.
That left number four qualifier Roeslein and number five
qualifier Brian Jones as the first available competitors
for the runoff. It was the first time in 33 SCSS events
in which both the top two qualifiers were unable to report
to the staging lanes for the final round!
The season's eighth Ford-vs-Chevy final round was over
quickly. Roeslein launched hard (with the RPMs dropped back
to 3500), while Jones' whooshmobile spun its tires off the
line, killing both its Reaction Time and Elapsed Time. Despite
a 124.29 mph speed, the Illinois Mustang's 11.99 was no
match for the Missouri Chevy's 11.03 at 121.96. However,
Roeslein's night wasn't over yet.
Driving straight past the winner's circle ceremonies, Roeslein
was well aware that conditions were at their best since
early June. With timed trials still underway, both the winner
and runner-up pulled into the staging lanes for one last
pass. Roeslein raised his launch to 3800 RPM, hit a 1.50-second
60-foot ET, a 6.96/97 eighth-mile, and a 10.998-second,
122.00 miles-per-hour timeslip which brought a surprisingly
loud cheer from the crowd. Jones found traction and backed-up
his earlier numbers with an 11.34/125.48.
"When I heard the announcer say it had a 6.96 eighth,
I knew that run was going to be the ten-second pass,"
said Roeslein, who apparently has no trouble listening to
the Z28's stereo at 120 mph. "I'm just glad it's over.
It's been driving me nuts all year trying to get that 10.99.
Now I can work on some suspension modifications to get some
real numbers out of this thing!"
Another interesting aspect of the event was the noticeable
absence of current SCSS Season Championship leader Asmir
"Z-Eater" Catic, who is rumored to have started
a new job which may keep him from weekly appearances. While
Catic has qualified eight times in '05, he lost ground to
Kevin Kolkmeyer who, despite the breakage of his 11.2-second
"daily driver", still qualified for the Super
16 field with an earlier 11.64/118. Kolkmeyer moved into
second place ahead of Tony Huff (also absent), while Roeslein
moved into a tie for fifth with Boschert and Patrick Jacobsmeyer.
DRAGRACINGONLINE.COM SPORT TUNER
SHOWDOWN RESULTS - 7/5/2005
W: Justin Bondurant, Fenton, MO; 2004 146
Neon, 0.160, 19.735/66.03
RU: Jeremy Treiber, St. Louis, MO; 1992
122 MR2, -0.067, 14.955/75.63
Justin Bondurant's blue JMB Performance Dodge Neon has
been in nine of the thirteen final rounds in the DRO Sport
Tuner Showdown program, including the last seven in a row.
The Fenton, MO, Mopar driver will be the first to admit,
however, that even he has no idea how he won his fifth title
of the 2005 season.
