Photo by Steve Gruenwald

Memphis Motorsports Park was host to the PRO Hot Rod & Muscle Car World Finals,
the final event of the season for the street car association. It was a weekend of surprises, as several racers who had already clinched their class championships were upset by racers getting their first wins.

Billy Glidden was assured of the Nitto Tires Super Street championship before arriving at Memphis, but having engine problems after a semi-final win over Keith Szabo kept him from sweeping the class. Jamie Gelting, whose engines are built by Glidden, got the solo run in the final for his first Super Street win.

Earlier, Glidden had made it a clean sweep in the ATI Procharger Top Dog Shootout after Pat Musi left too early in the handicapped race between the number one qualifiers of Pro Street and Super Street. This was the second consecutive time Musi had left early against Glidden.

It took Pro Street driver Tony "Sandman" Williams most of the season to figure out the chassis of his blown '69 Camaro, and at Memphis it appeared he had lost the handle on the combination completely. After three tire-shaking rounds of qualifying at his hometown track, the best he could muster was an 8.83 e.t. which put him 14th in a 17-car field.

After thrashing on the chassis Saturday night, Williams evidently found the answer. In the first round he took out Marc Dantoni with a 6.77/200 to Dantoni's 7.21/154. Williams then ran 6.84 and 6.73 to eliminate his next two opponents, bringing him to the final round against Pat Musi. Musi, who had sewed up the Series championship earlier in the year, turned on the red bulb, handing Williams his first PRO Edelbrock Series victory.

Gary Elliott claimed his first Flowmaster Nostalgia Pro Street victory of the year, defeating Russell Rowley in the final. Elliott, who qualified third, had a lot of help reaching the finals after three of the top four qualifers broke. Tony Nesbitt, Bruce Poulos and David Beeson all had engine problems which they were unable to fix.

Legendary Chicago area Super Street racer Nick Scavo drove Bob Curran's '96 Corvette in the Votech Xtreme Street class and proved his prowess as driver and tuner as he blazed through the field en route to the win over Tony Orts. Orts, who had captured the championship when he defeated Dave Rudisell in the semi, got a slight advantage at the tree, but couldn't hold off Scavo's top-end charge. Scavo won with an 8.534 at 162.82 mph - a new speed record for the class.

Chris Uratchko claimed his third victory of the season and the championship in Diamond Pistons Pro Stock. For the second race in a row Uratchko met Jeremy Harris in the final round, and for the second race in a row, Harris tripped the red light. Uratchko's '69 Camaro had set the e.t. record of 9.20 during Saturday qualifying.

Other class winners were:
James Foldenauer, True Street
Paul Smith, Cheap Street
Kevin Gass, Nostalgia Super Stock
Ed Becker, Nostalgia Muscle Car
John Brady, Open Comp
Mitch White, Trophy
Pery Payne, Pro
Buddy Ferrell, Super Pro