O'Reilly Auto Parts Fall Street Machine Nationals

What is it about the Fall Street Machine Nationals and rain? It seems that Mother Nature sabotages this event every year. But in typical Midwestern fashion, she may dampen the fairgrounds, but she never succeeds in dampening the spirits of the participants. This year's O'Reilly Auto Parts- sponsored event started with scattered showers all of Friday, September 12th, that culminated in some rain on Saturday morning. But it went away, the ground dried, and the party began.

As usual, the Nats featured a whole slew of family-oriented entertainment including fairgrounds cruising, the Castrol Syntec Werx Motorsports dyno challenge, burnout contests on Saturday and Sunday, video games (in the O'Reilly tent), and the Miss Street Machine Nationals contest (OK, so maybe this one doesn't qualify as family entertainment, but it was entertaining nonetheless), as well as the Manufacturers Midway. The Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, located in Springfield, Missouri, provided the perfect backdrop for a car show of this quality and magnitude. We're looking forward to next year's event but hope the weather's a little kinder.

Burning Rubber and Breaking Parts

This year's burnout contests were fraught with destruction, including overheating, fragged driveshafts and U-joints, broken axles, and several shredded tires--all in the name of fun. The winners on Saturday and Sunday took home a nice trophy and a $100 gift certificate from Mickey Thompson Tires to put toward a new set of rubber. This year's event featured a runoff between Saturday and Sunday's winners. We've been coughing up rubber since.

After being harassed, harangued, and verbally abused for not including their photo in last year's event coverage, we did what was right and made sure that they made this issue. Ron Sloan, and Marty and Kimberly Via brought their nice Mopars out for the show. The Dart, 'Cuda, and Challenger trio all hail from Missouri.
After being harassed, harangued, and verbally abused for not including their photo in last
Car crafting is obviously a family affair in the Root family. Russell and Douglas Root brought their black '67 and '69 Camaros to the Street Machine Nationals. The '69 runs 9.60s!
Car crafting is obviously a family affair in the Root family. Russell and Douglas Root bro

Lee Porter of Barryville, Arkansas, and his too-nice-for-burnouts '69 Camaro won Sunday's burnout contest...
Lee Porter of Barryville, Arkansas, and his too-nice-for-burnouts '69 Camaro won Sunday's
...But winning came at a price, as his radiator sprung a leak towards the end of his burnout and some strange sounds emanated from his drivetrain. Lee knows how to burn the skins!
...But winning came at a price, as his radiator sprung a leak towards the end of his burno

Saturday's winner, Brandon Duncan of Hornlake, Mississippi, and his 350-powered Chevy S-10, was pitted against Sunday's victor in the ultimate smokefest...
Saturday's winner, Brandon Duncan of Hornlake, Mississippi, and his 350-powered Chevy S-10
...Brandon clinched the win with the mother of all burnouts after coming back from a catastrophic tire failure resulting in a gaping hole in the bed of his truck. Brandon promptly reduced his asking price on the for sale sign in the window and added "slight body damage" to the description.
...Brandon clinched the win with the mother of all burnouts after coming back from a catas

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.
Always a memorable experience, the Miss Street Machine Nationals contest took place on Sun
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.
Carlos Astor of Sedalia, Missouri, grenaded his engine last year on the dyno in an attempt
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!
Brothers Jerry and James Herron and buddy Paul Hartje of Joplin, Missouri, have yet to mis

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.
Mike Rainey and girlfriend Jodi of Fordland, Missouri, brought this impeccable "TorRed" '7
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.
O'Reilly Auto Parts, the primary sponsor for the Street Machine Nationals at Springfield,

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.
The Car Craft Editor's Choice award went to Joe McMillan and his '69 Yenko Camaro clone. T
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.
Jimmy and Clarissa Spears of Springfield, Missouri, had one of the nicest cars of the even
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.
Steve Schussler of Blue Springs, Missouri, braved the weather to show off his bad-ass tube

Dyno Challenge

Once again, Car Craft attended the Street Machine Nationals with two dyno challenge jackets to be awarded to the highest-horsepower producers in normally aspirated and power-adder categories. Like last year, it was an all-Oklahoma event with the Sooners dominating both categories by a wide margin. The Oklahoma Outlaw Racing Association brought out some mean "street" iron to wage war on the rollers of the Castrol Syntec Werx Motorsports mobile chassis dyno. Fortunately no one scattered an engine this year despite new event records.

Mike King (no relation to former CC Editor Matt King) of Coweta, Oklahoma, took the normally aspirated honors with a thumping 679 horses and 655 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. His '70 Chevelle is packing a 565ci Rat sponsored by Fat Cat Motorsports and Morton Machine. Mike's beast runs 9.20s at 149 mph--on the motor. He won't say what it'll lay down when the brace of solenoids in the engine compartment are wide open...
Mike King (no relation to former CC Editor Matt King) of Coweta, Oklahoma, took the normal
...Mike and fellow club member and Tulsa resident Brian Sutton had $500 riding on whose '70 Chevelle could post the highest horsepower numbers. Tuning woes kept it out of the contention, making Mike $500 dollars richer. How about at least buying us dinner next time, Mike?
...Mike and fellow club member and Tulsa resident Brian Sutton had $500 riding on whose '7
Ryan Rodriguez gets an honorable mention for pumping out 772 horses and 751 lb-ft of torque with the only small-block to post such stratospheric numbers. Powering Ryan's '67 Chevy pickup is an 8-71 blown 350-inch small-block on methanol. Ryan's truck has turned a best of 9.30 at 142 mph.
Ryan Rodriguez gets an honorable mention for pumping out 772 horses and 751 lb-ft of torqu

Brian Gaines, also of Coweta, Oklahoma, brought his dastardly '67 Camaro to the event for some dyno dueling action. He didn't disappoint, winning the power-adder category with a mind-numbing 1,096 hp and 1,018 lb-ft of torque at the wheels...
Brian Gaines, also of Coweta, Oklahoma, brought his dastardly '67 Camaro to the event for
...Brian relies on a Dart-headed 572-inch big-block with a 10-71 blower on alcohol to produce the number. These Oklahoma boys don't mess around.
...Brian relies on a Dart-headed 572-inch big-block with a 10-71 blower on alcohol to prod