Alex Voronoff had one of the most streetable combinations, yet he had no problem belting out mid-10-second passes lap after lap. Alex was also one of only two in the field to row his own gears. He was relying on a proven Cartek heads/cam setup, which boggles the mind as to what's possible with more cubes and a larger set of heads and cam. Alex was at a disadvantage, though, since bringing a stock bottom end to the shootout is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Fortunately, he took it in stride with a well-tuned engine and suspension. Alex had an easy time getting his 28x10.5 Mickey Thompsons to hook on the super-glued track, cutting some of his best short times whenever he slipped the clutch; the six-speed TA lifted the front tires on every 7,000 rpm sidestep. Though he couldn't have asked for better track prep and a better setup, he didn't manage to set a new best ET. But Alex had no complaints with his 10.59 timeslip, and was happy to be a part of the shootout-kudos to him. For a streetable, stock cube, naturally aspirated six-speed, this is about as good as it gets. And he drove his car home.
The second stock bottom-end competitor was Edgar Perez, who has since rectified this situation. Good ol' Edgar also had an un-drag race-friendly IRS to contend with, as well as about 100 extra pounds in his C5 (compared to Alex's TA). Surprisingly, he had no trouble getting off the line, thanks to the Vigilante 5000-stall converter and 3.90 gears. He had the C5 running under 1.50 short times on all but the first pass, when the tire pressure was set at 13 psi, which in turn bogged the motor. Edgar beat his previous best ET by over 0.15 after upping the pressure to 16.5 psi and jettisoning any piece of dead weight he could find, including the passenger seat and floor mats. His 10.80 did nothing to quell his appetite for speed, and, in fact, actually fueled it. We practically had to pry him away from the track at the end of the day, because he could smell a 10.7. When all was said and done, Edgar was a great sport, and we can't wait to see what his new combination will do.
Neil Fine was another fierce competitor, pleased to let his tach dance around the rev limiter just before slipping the clutch. Whether his cherry, low-mile Z06 was spewing its half shafts all over the track or setting new best ETs, he seemed like he could have cared less-he was just happy to be racing. It was a good thing, too, because his 402 was consuming oil due to some faulty valve seals. Just as he was beginning to whittle down his 60-foot times to low 1.50s and less, the top end began to suffer due to the hurt motor. It's hard to say where Neil would have placed had his motor been in better shape, but low 10s seem well within range, given his combo (as opposed to low 11s, or even 10.95). Like Edgar, Neil wasn't fooling around this past winter. He took the shootout as motivation to drop in a new motor-this time 427 cubes. Imagine the possibilities.
Conclusion
Just as we hoped, the shootout drew a varied field of stock cube heads/cam combos and strokers, from daily drivers to full-on racecars, and race-only transmissions to stock T56s. Aside from a few mishaps, each car was rock solid and took the punishment of high rpm, launch after launch, with the ease you'd expect from a naturally aspirated motor. It was a great day of racing, though we would like to have seen a better challenge for Jonathan Atkins' awesome 434 C5R-headed TA. Some may have considered the two LT1 cars underdogs, but Rick Abare and Ed Wright's NHRA experience, coupled with time-tested combination, really gave them quite an advantage. There is no doubt that had Ed's transmission not failed, he could have given Atkins a run for his money, and possibly clicked off a 9.80 or lower the way the track was hooking. Had Neil Fine's 402 not been sucking down oil, he would have easily bridged the gap between the solid roller LT1s and Alex Voronoff's TA. My hat goes off to Edgar Perez, who best embodied the drag racing spirit by pulling out the passenger seat and any nonessentials, grasping for every last tenth and nearly squeaking into the 10.7s. Unfortunately, his C5 just didn't have it at the top end to catch Alex. If we know Edgar, though, this will all be a bad memory come next fall. Thanks for riding shotgun on another day at the races. Until next time.