Fall Street Machine Nationals - Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Always a memorable experience, the Miss Street Machine Nationals contest took place on Sunday afternoon before the awards ceremony. Shasta Stroud (middle), of Republic, Missouri, captured the gold, with Patricia Neff (left) of Lebanon, Missouri, taking Second, and the lovely Rita York (right) of Summerville, Missouri, securing Third Place.

Carlos Astor of Sedalia, Missouri, grenaded his engine last year on the dyno in an attempt to beat the boys from Oklahoma. This was during his second trip to the dyno rollers after stepping up his nitrous unit. His spirits weren't broken in the least, and he used the fragged motor as an excuse to step up to a bigger and badder small-block. Carlos' '68 GMC pickup now sports a 434-inch, 14:1, roller-cammed Mouse with Dart heads, a Super Victor intake, 1050 Dominator, and a NOS Pro Shot Fogger.

Brothers Jerry and James Herron and buddy Paul Hartje of Joplin, Missouri, have yet to miss a Street Machine Nationals event. This trio drives a '67 Camaro, '70 Nova, and a '72 Javelin. Jerry admitted to not reading Car Craft, nearly prompting us to lose this photo, but he redeemed himself by purchasing a four-year subscription at the show. Way to go Jerry!

This red '61 thumper has an honest 409.

Mike Rainey and girlfriend Jodi of Fordland, Missouri, brought this impeccable "TorRed" '71 Duster to the show. The small-block was ditched for a six-barrel 440 big-block, a 727 trans, and a Dana 60 with 3.54 gears.

O'Reilly Auto Parts, the primary sponsor for the Street Machine Nationals at Springfield, Missouri, was on hand with a huge display of aftermarket parts available at their stores and NASCAR video games for children of all ages.

The Car Craft Editor's Choice award went to Joe McMillan and his '69 Yenko Camaro clone. The pump-gas Camaro features a Scott Schafiroff-built 540-inch Rat with 10.7:1 compression and AFR aluminum heads. Joe's car laid down 556 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque on the Werx Motorsports dyno and has turned a best e.t. of 10.28 at 130 mph. Look for a full feature in an upcoming issue of Car Craft.

Jimmy and Clarissa Spears of Springfield, Missouri, had one of the nicest cars of the event. Their '69 Camaro runs a 350ci Mouse that enjoys the elevated atmosphere from a pair of TO3 turbos feeding into a carburetor. Despite the 3.08 gears, Jimmy has gone 100 mph in the eighth-mile.

Steve Schussler of Blue Springs, Missouri, braved the weather to show off his bad-ass tube-chassis-equipped '62 Impala. Sporting a mild 468-inch big-block, the Imp had previously turned 10.70s with a small-block for motivation.