The only thing better than...
The only thing better than nasty-sounding, early ’Vettes are ones with flared-out fenders housing huge meats. Mark Rife’s LS-powered ’63 sounded killer and all that extra tire gave him an edge in the grip department. His best road course time of 1:57.576 combined with his autocross time of 40.167 had him looking good, but for some reason his gorgeous Corvette failed to gather any points in the Design Competition. This knocked him down to 21st overall.
The hardest part of an event like this is handling the drivers. After all, the point is to find the “Ultimate Street Car” and skill behind the wheel can make all the difference, especially on the road course and autocross. This year the rules were further tightened up so that only car owners and builders who’ve done at least 80 percent of the work can pilot the cars. Of course that doesn’t keep the “pro” drivers out, but it does stop it from getting out of control. Last year’s winner, Mark Stielow, was back to defend his title in his blown ’69 Camaro. He has hundreds, if not thousands, of laps at Spring Mountain, so he certainly had an advantage. There were also some familiar faces like the Tuckers from Detroit Speed, national autocross champion Mary Pozzi, and Brian Finch. All of them ended up being 2-5 seconds faster than they were last year. So yes, practice does pay off. There were also new hot shoes piloting cars, including Mike Maier, Brian Hobaugh, Danny Popp, Pete Callaway, and Vinny Allegretta. Such a deep talent pool, combined with cars that blurred the lines between street car and race car, guaranteed an all-out war on the track, and we weren’t disappointed.
The weather on Friday was less than stellar; however, on Saturday morning we were greeted with blue skies. Even though the morning temps hovered in the mid 30s, it was better than the alternative. Around sunrise the drivers started trickling in and getting their cars ready for their tech inspection. The mood was friendly, but by the time the morning drivers’ meeting got going you could tell that everything was getting a bit more serious. Let’s admit it, a friendly competition is still a competition.
There was a time when the...
There was a time when the title “Street Machine of the Year” was synonymous with “trailer queen” and “poseur”, but those days are gone. Phil Gerber piloted the Roadster Shop–built ’67 Nova around the tracks like it was a beater instead of one of the nicest cars in the country.
The desire to win never muddied the fact that everyone racing were friends with a common love of all things automotive. Last year’s winner, Stielow, gave the other hot shoes tips on how best to navigate Spring Mountain’s 2.1-mile road course and when there were mechanical issues, other drivers and support crew stepped up to lend a hand or needed tools. Near the end of the event, Popp cracked his brake master cylinder on the road course. Normally this would have ended his day, and his chances of winning, but Callaway, who was done with all of his events, gave him the master off of his ’08 Corvette. It was a classy act indicative of the event; gearheads coming together to share their passion while trying to best each other out on the track. It’s what makes this better, and to us far more enjoyable, than the “dog-eat-dog” mentality found in professional racing.
By the end of the event all of the expected names were on the leaderboard with 7 out of the top 10 being Chevrolets. Most importantly, for the third year out of four, a Chevy stood on the top rung of the ladder. Who knows what next year will bring, but we’re sure of one thing; when November rolls around, we’ll be there to watch the best of the best battle it out.
Another car rumored to be...
Another car rumored to be a show car was Curt Ukasi’s ’62 Nova known as Runt. This Chevy was one of the top five cars at the 2011 Goodguys Columbus Nationals, but that didn’t stop Ukasi from pushing it hard at Spring Mountain where he finished 12th overall.
We first met Joe Shown out...
We first met Joe Shown out in Nebraska where he runs the Sandhills Open Road Race. Shown worked his ’90 ZR1 to a best road course time of 2:04.743 and a fastest autocross lap of 45.467.
Another Roadster Shop car...
Another Roadster Shop car in the event was this ’66 Chevelle piloted by Chris Jacobs. His times of 1:56.407 on the road course, 41.801 in the autocross, and 7.756 seconds in the Speed/Stop landed him in the 14th slot overall.
JF Launier’s ’57 Bel Air was...
JF Launier’s ’57 Bel Air was a nice break from all the Camaros, Novas, and Chevelles flying around the track. He placed just out of the points in all of the driving events, but his Third Place finish in the Raybestos Performance Design Challenge was enough to catapult him into 15th Place overall.
It wouldn’t be a driving event...
It wouldn’t be a driving event without Kyle Tucker and his blue ’70 Camaro tearing up the asphalt. Here we caught him being chased by the K&N camera car. On the road course he came in Fourth Place, and at the autocross he finished with a strong Seventh Place run. The Speed/Stop Challenge, an event that he typically does great in, gave him problems. Even without those points he still managed to secure 10th Place overall.
Wearing a fresh coat of blue...
Wearing a fresh coat of blue paint and some new lightweight carbon-fiber parts, Stacy Tucker’s first-gen flew around the Spring Mountain course faster than ever. Her best road course time was 1:54.852, best autocross was 42.160, and her Speed/Stop time was 8.096 seconds.