 Warren Dempsey, one of the...  Warren Dempsey, one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, brought his 1997 Z28 from Oklahoma and qualified No. 1 with a low e.t. of 11.18 at 120 in Heads Up N/A, but couldn't hang on for the win. While Warren mostly drag races his Camaro, a 4L60E and a full interior make it a perfectly acceptable, but attention-getting, street driver. Warren was a huge fan of the event, and fully plans to be there next year. |  Brad Francis's '79 Monte Carlo...  Brad Francis's '79 Monte Carlo was representative of a growing community of LTX swap cars. |  An Opti-spark made the perfect...  An Opti-spark made the perfect topping for trophies and, oddly, when Tony Shepherd asked for donations he had no trouble finding more than enough to do the job. |
Dave Odenhal trailered his black '93 Z28 from Waterloo, Illinois, after barely wrapping up weeks of late nights building a 388-cube, pump-gas beast just in time for the Shootout. Dave's engine-building prowess showed when it powered him to a win in LTX Outlaw-owning the class with 9.46 at 136 mph vs. Taner Bosnali's 10.72 at 120. Even with a 200 shot on hand, Dave was able to qualify on motor alone-with a combination he is confident will dive into the 8s when he gets it sorted out.
Taner Bosnali rowed his way to a 10.91 at 103 to beat out Brady Matysek's 11.29 at 126.83, capturing LTX Heads Up Six-Speed. Taner worked like mad for six weeks to put his car back together after his clutch exploded and managed to rip through a safety blanket and floorpan to break his foot. He hauled his '96 Camaro SS down from Windsor, Ontario, managing only one speeding ticket along the way. The Camaro-packed with a six-speed upgraded with Viper parts, a 399-cube LT1, and a 175-horse shot of nitrous-allowed Taner to run 9.08 at 155 and still get 20 mpg on the highway.
Like so many participants, Justin Lake of Jefferson City, Missouri, was putting on the finishing touches right up to the last minute. In Justin's case it was a flat-out evil-looking green-flame-job. Until the shootout, Justin's T/A had never been able to hook hard enough to pull the wheels, but the flame job must have woken up the 388-cube LT1, as it was hooking seriously hard and repeatedly launched wheels-up. This newfound power pushed Justin to the top of the LTX Extreme class with an 11.01 at 123.79, ahead of Todd Smith's 11.35 at 119.00.
Brady Matysek hauled his gorgeous '94 Z28 up from Amarillo, Texas, to beat out Warren Dempsey's 11.31 at 119.09 for the win in LTX Heads Up Naturally Aspirated with an 11.22 at 126 mph. Brady is a hardcore LTX guy. He's convinced he might just be the last guy in Amarillo who hasn't been lured over to the LSX camp. With 383 cubes packed into an LT4 block, topped off with Bauer Racing-prepped Dart LT1 heads, intake, and solid roller cam, why would he want to? With the exception of the Marine Blue Metallic paint, Brady performed all the mods on his Z himself, including overhauling his T56. Like so many of the competitors, Brady was thrilled to have an event to showcase his efforts. He was so excited to get the Opti-topped trophy, you'd think it was made of solid gold.
James Fuller trailered his normally street-driven 1997 Trans Am from Diamond, Missouri, due to a questionable rearend. Whatever was wrong with the Zexel diff didn't hurt James, as he was dead-on consistent all day with a 12.21 at 110.78 on a 12.20 dial-in. That would have been tough to beat even if Larry Hamilton hadn't red-lighted on his 11.00 dial-in with an 11.07 at 119.69, giving him the win in the LTX 12.49 Bracket. James attributed his consistency to quality (but not adjustable) aftermarket suspension parts, as well as hitting the brakes at the 1,000-foot mark on his second run to let the other guy catch up. James's T/A is powered by a 355-cube LT1 topped with ported stock heads and the new Edelbrock LT1 intake-and is backed up with a 3,500-rpm TCI converter pushing 3,630 pounds of car and driver.
Kansas City local Shawn Clark bought back into the 12.50 LTX Bracket class and managed to cut a clean light and beat the mercilessly consistent Buick Roadmaster wagon piloted by Adam Vega. Shawn's 13.83 at 106.83 on a 13.70 dial was quite remarkable, as he was running a 2.73 rear in a six-speed car with a big cam after blowing up his 3.73 rear. The under-geared six-speed Z should not have had a chance against the Maytag appliance-reliable Roadmaster. So, when Adam broke out with a 15.83 at 87.44 on a 15.85 dial, it showed how intense bracket racing can be.