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Run To The Coast III - Movers And ShakersPerformance Driving Hits the West Coast in a Big Way From the August, 2012 issue of Chevy High Performance By Steven Rupp Photography by Henry Z. DeKuyper, Steven Rupp
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Newman Car Creations just... Newman Car Creations just loves their big boxy Chevys. This ’56 was piloted by Todd Vierra, and knocked down a 1:49.88 on the road course, a 42.875 at the autocross, and a 22.620 in the Speed-Stop-Squared (SS2) challenge. Damn good for a four-door wagon. Several years ago there was an explosion of events geared toward guys who wanted to run their cars hard rather than just endlessly rub on them with microfiber towels. The main problem for us West Coasters was that all these events seemed to be East Coast, or at best Midwest, affairs. Luckily, a few cats back East took pity on us and organized the inaugural Run To The Coast event in 2010. It combined a full-blown road course, autocross, and Speed-Stop competition into two days guaranteed to satiate the needs of those wanting to haul ass in their hot rods. Since then, driving events have only gained in popularity to the point where Bill Howell, Yancy Johns, and Brian Finch have formed a new company called American Street Car Series. ASCS’ sole mission is to organize driving events around the country geared toward American muscle cars. So, how popular has this event become? Well, this year the whole grid of 70-plus spots sold out a day after registration opened. Pent up demand? Maybe, but all we know is that it warms our collective hearts to see so much classic muscle getting used the way God intended. Greg Blundell’s ’69 was just finished over at Best of Show Coach Works and he decided to stretch its legs for the first time at this event. Since he was on sticky Toyo RA1 tires, his times didn’t count, but he had a blast properly breaking in his new ride. Now let’s get this straight, this is a competition, but the organizers really stress that the main goal is for people to have fun driving their cars. As such, many of the rules incorporate the “spirit” of the event rather than specific legalese that racers can try to contort their way around. Sure, there are some serious cars, with some really serious drivers in attendance, but that doesn’t mean the event isn’t friendly toward those with more driving desire than actual driving skill. After all, even a wheelman like DSE’s Kyle Tucker was a rookie at some point (although we’ve heard rumors his first baby shoes were Nomex). Rob and Ryon Chandler shared... Rob and Ryon Chandler shared driving duties in this CHP-featured ’68 Camaro (Sept. ’11 issue). On the road course, Ryon turned in a best time of 1:47.8, while Rob’s best time was 1:48.7 seconds. Looks like Ryon gets the bragging rights for now. Like previous years, the anchor event was a 1.8-mile road course set up by Orange County Race Craft on the now-defunct El Toro air base runways. Now, to call this course hard on brakes would be a huge understatement. Long straights into sharp 180-degree turns boiled fluid and made rotors turn all sorts of interesting colors, but man, was it fun! The autocross was set up to test driver reaction times and the car’s ability to stick in very fast turns and transitions. The ASCS also inserted a new event called Speed-Stop-Squared (SS2) in place of the old Speed-Stop competition. Two cars lined up at a full-on Tree, just like at the dragstrip. On green they both launched down a 1,000ish-foot straightaway. At the end, the left car turned left while the right car went right into a 180-degree turn and back through a slalom course. The run culminated in a stop box. It was a blast to watch and a challenge to run since red lighting at the tree, hitting a slalom cone, or failing to stop in the rather small stop box resulted in a DNF. The event rules were simple, cars had to pass a safety inspection, be street legal, and have tires with a treadwear of 200 or higher. Cars on softer tires could run, but their times wouldn’t be posted in the final results. There was also contingency program, sponsored by BFGoodrich, with lots of prize money up for grabs. Aside from all the driving events there was a Saturday night taco party sponsored by Doug Renner and JCG Customs. Sunday featured a cruise to the NHRA museum in Pomona and then to Total Cost Involved (TCI) in Ontario for lunch. The driving events get sort of hectic, so it’s nice to have these more relaxed activities to hang out with fellow gearheads and enjoy what this sport is all about: making friends and enjoying our rides.  TCI’s (Total Cost Involved)...  TCI’s (Total Cost Involved) Sal Solorzano brought out the company’s ’68 Camaro to play. His times of 1:50.60 on the road course, and 41.733 on the autocross were good, but he really killed the SS2 challenge with a 22.300-second run.  Our Associate Publisher John...  Our Associate Publisher John Barkley’s son, Greg, ran their ’71 Camaro hard all weekend and knocked down 1:57.60 on the road course, 47.705 on the autocross, and finished mid-pack with a 22.860 in the SS2 drag deal.  In an ocean of Camaros, it...  In an ocean of Camaros, it was nice to see Jake Rozelle’s ’72 El Camino running the events. Rozelle wheeled the “Chevelle pickup truck” to a 1:55 flat on the road course and knocked down a 44.652 on the autocross.  Not all the American cars...  Not all the American cars were classics. Wilwood’s Dustin Burr ran the snot out of his ’02 Vette and grabbed a 1:47.0 timeslip on the road course. His best autocross time was 43.462, and he placed 10th in the SS2 with a 22.560-second run.  Being the editor of CHP isn’t...  Being the editor of CHP isn’t all work as evidenced by our very own Henry De Los Santos in his Z06 C5 Vette. He was on Toyo Proxes R888 tires, so his times didn’t count, but he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of having a great time.  Don-Andrew Swertfeger represented...  Don-Andrew Swertfeger represented Novas well in his sweet ’69 and while his times of 1:59.10 on the road course and 47.87 on the autocross weren’t the fastest, he still had a great time driving his Chevy hard.
RESULTS |
| DSE ROAD COURSE TIMES |
| NAME |
CAR BEST |
TIME |
| Kyle Tucker |
’69 Camaro |
1:38.00 |
| Mike Maier |
’66 Mustang |
1:38.70 |
| Brian Hobaugh |
’73 Camaro |
1:39.80 |
| Jay Weir |
’72 Nova |
1:41.20 |
| David Pozzi |
’68 Camaro |
1:42.50 |
| RIDETECH AUTOCROSS TIMES |
| NAME |
CAR BEST |
TIME |
| Mike Maier |
’66 Mustang |
39.073 |
| Brian Hobaugh |
’73 Camaro |
39.461 |
| Kyle Tucker |
’69 Camaro |
39.864 |
| David Pozzi |
’68 Camaro |
40.330 |
| Jay Weir |
’72 Nova |
40.593 |
| BAER SPEED-STOP CHALLENGE TIMES |
| NAME |
CAR BEST |
TIME |
| Mike Maier |
’66 Mustang |
20.990 |
| Kyle Tucker |
’69 Camaro |
21.509 |
| Brian Hobaugh |
’73 Camaro |
21.890 |
| Chris McCrea |
’69 Camaro |
21.950 |
| Kyle Newman |
’55 Chevy 210 |
22.300 |
| Sal Solorzano |
’68 Camaro |
22.300 |
 The Speed By Spectre widebody...  The Speed By Spectre widebody ’70 Camaro was helmed by Brandy Morrow, and she pushed hard in every event; sometimes a bit too hard. On the road course she came in Ninth with a 1:46.20 time and 13th in the autocross with a best time of 42.417 seconds.  We love seeing Carl Casanova’s...  We love seeing Carl Casanova’s supercharged ’68 Camaro run hard at these events, especially since it shows what can be done with well-sorted-out chassis with bolt-on parts. His tires were just a bit soft so his times didn’t count in the standings, but let’s just say he was in the top of the bell curve.  One of the faster cars at...  One of the faster cars at these events is the ’55 210 Chevy driven by Kyle Newman. Fielding a host of Corvette parts, including an IRS system, Newman managed to nab Seventh Place with a 1:44 flat. On the autocross, he did well again with an 11th Place finish (41.805), and he finished in the Top Five for the SS2 Challenge.  The other Elky at the event...  The other Elky at the event was the ’66 driven by Erich Monteith. His best times were 1:52.1 on the road course, 43.387 on the autocross, and 22.640 in the SS2 Challenge. Actually, given the smile on his face we think every run was his best time.  James Shipka, came down from...  James Shipka, came down from frigid Canada to drive his ’67 in the nearly perpetual California sunshine, where he secured Sixth Place on the road course with a best lap of 1:43.30 seconds. On the autocross he managed a 42.80 run, and he bagged Ninth in the SS2 competition with a 22.510-second blast.  Taco party host Doug Renner...  Taco party host Doug Renner had a great time flinging his peg-legged Camaro through the various events where he managed 1:49.7 on the 1.8-mile road course and 43.503 on the autocross.  Mary Pozzi left her second-gen...  Mary Pozzi left her second-gen at home and was a test pilot for this recently finished, and very badass, ’68, where she nabbed an Eighth Place on the road course with a 1:44.60 run, and Ninth on the autocross with a best time of 41.660 seconds. In the SS2, she turned in a best run of 22.750 seconds.  Unlike a car show, fancy paint...  Unlike a car show, fancy paint isn’t a requirement at these events, just a desire to have some automotive fun. Tommy Allred did just that in his very cool ’69 Chevelle and managed a 46.075 on the autocross and 25.508 in the SS2 event.  Fielding the Chassisworks-equipped...  Fielding the Chassisworks-equipped ’68 Camaro was Ironworks’ shop owner Roger Lee. A transponder issue meant he didn’t get an official time on the road course, but on the autocross, he knocked down a 45.271-second run.  One of our favorite cars at...  One of our favorite cars at the event was David Gordon’s blue ’68 Camaro. With an engine loud enough to make children cry, and a side-exit NASCAR-style exhaust system, this ride is full of attitude. Even better, it’s pretty fast. David managed a 12th Place finish on the road course with a 1:47.20, and his 41.298 on the autocross was good enough for Sixth.  Jay Weir, was brought out...  Jay Weir, was brought out to drive the Speed Tech ’72 Nova, and he did a great job nabbing Fourth on the road course, Fifth on the autocross, and Eighth in the SS2 event.  Chris McCrea drove his supercharged...  Chris McCrea drove his supercharged LS-powered ’69 hard all weekend and managed to land in the Fourth slot for the SS2 event. On the road course he wheeled a 1:49.7 and for the autocross his best time was 44.715 seconds.  We really need to come up...  We really need to come up with a new category for cars like Brian Hobaugh’s pseudo–race car ’73, since the “touring” part of Pro Touring doesn’t seem to fit. One thing is for sure, it’s incredibly fast. Hobaugh wielded his Camaro to Third on the road course, Second in the autocross, and Third in the SS2. He was man on a mission until his transmission suffered a catastrophic, and fairly spectacular, failure, which sidelined the car.  There was lots of carnage,...  There was lots of carnage, including blown transmissions, broken blowers, snapped suspension widgets, and fried brakes. Thankfully DSE was on hand with their rig to lend tools and support. Here, the DSE ’69 gets a creative on-the-fly alignment, while the “Bad Penny” Camaro swaps out its cooked brake fluid for some new high-temp Wilwood stuff.  With fresh fluid, and warped...  With fresh fluid, and warped rotors, David Pozzi piloted the ’68 to Fifth on the road course and Fourth on the autocross. His drag racing skills were a bit rusty and he slipped to 11th with a 22.60-second run in the SS2. The car’s owner, Steven Rupp, didn’t fare nearly as well.  If there was a “Fast Chevy”...  If there was a “Fast Chevy” award it would have been given to Kyle Tucker of Detroit Speed. When the dust settled on Saturday, Tucker had secured First on the road course, Third on the autocross, and Second in the SS2 competition. Considering the field of very fast cars present, that’s no small feat to pull off. CHP  For starters, it’s important...  For starters, it’s important to note that the American Street Car Series does limit all competing participants to a 200-tread wear tire. Since we’re not technically competing and instead participating as an exhibition car, those requirements really don’t apply. At this year’s Run to the Coast III outing, we decided to change up the rubber on our C5 Z06 and evaluate a set of 100-treadwear Toyo Proxes R888s. To say they worked well wouldn’t do these shoes any justice whatsoever; in all reality, they flat-out performed admirably. For the front we stuck with the 275R35-18 and stepped up from the previous 295R35-18 out back and went with a slightly wider 305R35-18 rubber. On the autocross, we ran a respectable 42.725 and 1:48.6 on the 1.8-mile road course (unfortunately, we don’t have the Speed-Stop-Squared Challenge numbers). The final verdict: The Toyo Proxes R888 is an incredibly fun tire, and we can honestly say that this is the hardest we’ve pushed our Z06. The lateral grip was enough to feel like you were dr  For starters, it’s important...  For starters, it’s important to note that the American Street Car Series does limit all competing participants to a 200-tread wear tire. Since we’re not technically competing and instead participating as an exhibition car, those requirements really don’t apply. At this year’s Run to the Coast III outing, we decided to change up the rubber on our C5 Z06 and evaluate a set of 100-treadwear Toyo Proxes R888s. To say they worked well wouldn’t do these shoes any justice whatsoever; in all reality, they flat-out performed admirably. For the front we stuck with the 275R35-18 and stepped up from the previous 295R35-18 out back and went with a slightly wider 305R35-18 rubber. On the autocross, we ran a respectable 42.725 and 1:48.6 on the 1.8-mile road course (unfortunately, we don’t have the Speed-Stop-Squared Challenge numbers). The final verdict: The Toyo Proxes R888 is an incredibly fun tire, and we can honestly say that this is the hardest we’ve pushed our Z06. The lateral grip was enough to feel like you were dr
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