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KC SUPER SLAMMER SIZZLER |
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Almost every drag strip in America has its own "signature" event - a show the local racers, fans and media types hang their hats on. At Kansas City International Raceway, that race is the KC's Fastest Doorslammer Shootout. This year marked the tenth anniversary for this show, a two-day affair that has grown from a two-car match race back in 1991. The race is a testament to what can happen when racers, local track management, and the business community work together to make an idea a reality. The race draws around 18 entrants annually, and this year's edition boasted almost 70 sponsors of varying levels of involvement. No, it ain't Indy, but several thousand race fans show up each year, and a good time is had by all!
Overland Park, Kansas racer Duane Walker brought a brand new Y2K Trans-Am to do battle with. Using a nitrous aided 632 inch Sonny Leonard Chevy, Walker qualified 7th quickest and won his first two rounds, but his run stopped in the semis, as he was late off the line against Benso. Benso's 7.33 left him vulnerable, but Walker's late leave made it academic. David Harrington of Shawnee Mission, Kansas scored one of two first round upsets. Using one of the smallest engines in the field, he improved a bunch off his 12th best 8.51 in qualifying to take out Mike Bodine of Independence, Missouri. But his weekend ended at the hands of the hot John Hocking. Defending champ Terry Murphy didn't make it out of the qualifying rounds this year. His 7.07/193.42 shot would have been good for the number two slot, but he blew up his brand new Sonny Leonard nitrous motor in doing so, forcing him to sit out eliminations.
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Copyright 1999-2001, Drag Racing Online and Racing Net Source |
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Event winner Kenny Benso of Leawood, Kansas didn't have the quickest
car, each round, but he wasn't far off the pace. His '99 Monte Carlo
used its nitrous aided, Sonny Leonard Chevy to run laps of 7.08, 7.18,
7.33 and 7.09 to take home the gold. Speeds ranged from 180.00 to his
final round 195.14.
Past event champ and perennial crowd favorite Willie Brummitt had his
Mighty Mouse Camaro in the thick of things. The Lee's Summit, Missouri
racer put his blown small block combo on the pole with the event's best
aggregate lap at 6.97/196.33. He then advanced to the finals with runs
of 7.19, 7.02, and 7.02, but he came up short in his tilt with Benso,
suffering a blown motor several hundred feet into the run. 
Grain Valley, Missouri driver John Hocking entered this year's go with
high hopes. Wheeling a '37 Chevy with a 632 -inch Eagle Chevy with nitrous,
Hocking made short work of his first two foes. Paired with Brummitt,
he seemed poised to have a shot at his first ever KC Shootout win, but
he broke the wheelie bars on his burnout, and the starting line personnel
made the decision to shut him off. A tough way to go out, and an unusual
one too!
Craig Chambers, who sponsors Kansas City's Quick 16 program, qualified
for the event and went a couple of rounds.