Real Street Eliminator - Autocross

John Boos thumped 'em all in the autocross with his race-prepped '86 Corvette. Gumball tires really helped his cause, as did excellent wheel skills. Keep in mind this is just a C4.

John Boos thumped 'em all in the autocross with his race-prepped '86 Corvette. Gumball tir

QA1 Autocross
The QA1 autocross was not only the most popular venue of the three but also the one with the most drama. We thought that allowing unlimited laps might level the playing field between the beginners and the sharks. Several competitors took advantage of that loophole by making multiple runs over all three days. The guy who maximized this advantage was Jeff Avril with his '95 Camaro. He had never run autocross before, but before the end of Saturday, he had all but wasted a set of Goodyear F1s. On the plus side, he also drastically reduced his lap times. How many laps, you ask? How about a total of 137. He started out running in the mid-13s and eventually pulled down his time to an impressive 11.858-or roughly 1.8 seconds with just a simple air pressure adjustment and learning how to drive his car. And he had a blast doing it, too.

As for the class heavy hitters, John Boos made it clear he had brought a stout weapon with his '86 Corvette. A combination of a well-prepared car, good driving skills, and double-sticky road-race rubber eventually created the only 10-second passes we saw all weekend. Close behind was Keith Anderson's '09 Viper with an 11.133 and Nick Abernathy's sinister black Corvette running an agonizingly close 11.135 taking the third spot in the Late Model class. The muscle cars were not far behind with Jeff Schwartz driving Grant Craft's '65 Tempest to a quickest 11.45 closely followed by John Wegner's beautiful '69 Camaro. Latecomer Lyle Nienow surprised everybody with his big-block 572 Chevelle that cranked out an excellent 12.46, which was impressive after only a handful of passes. Mike Standley gets credit for driving slideways with his drift technique '81 Malibu. Most of our competitors had little to no autocross experience. That's a hint for you '10 RSE wannabes.

The Ironman award went to Jeff Avril, who waded through a total of 137 passes on his way to destroying the set of Goodyear F1s on his '95 Camaro. He also had the most fun of everybody-just ask him.

The Ironman award went to Jeff Avril, who waded through a total of 137 passes on his way t

We also need to send a shout-out to the Land O' Lakes region SCCA club and all its volunteers who gave up a beautiful Midwest weekend in July to perform tech inspection, timing, and cones-chasing for the QA1 Autocross and Rust-oleum Launch Box. The club made the entire weekend run flawlessly and produced an outstanding event for all the competitors and Summer Nationals participants who took advantage of the courses. We especially want to acknowledge Dan and Cathy Corgard, Rick Sellner, Stacy Scharch, Paul Peters, Mark Utecht, Sean Penegor, Jimmy Griggs, John Feesl, Erik Dahl, Brent and Carrie Carlson, Eric McClellan, Alex Awsumb, Kurt Schroeder, Jim Gillen, Tom and Janine Fuehrer, Ryan Olson, Dan Halverson, Randy Van de Loo, Jeff Forss, Dan Bidinger, and the rest of the LOL SCCA club members who did a great job. Thanks to everyone.

Nate Feldhahn started out driving his Hurst-urged Challenger but soon turned over the wheel to last year's RSE Muscle Car class winner Randy Johnson, who pushed the Mopar solidly into the low 12s-not bad for a 4,200-plus-pound cruiser on production 20-inch BFG KDWs.
Nate Feldhahn started out driving his Hurst-urged Challenger but soon turned over the whee
John Wegner's big-block Camaro proves that pretty cars can run strong. All weekend long, it was a seesaw battle between the Camaro and the black Tempest driven by Jeff Schwartz for the top autocross Muscle Car time. Schwartz was just a couple of tenths quicker.
John Wegner's big-block Camaro proves that pretty cars can run strong. All weekend long, i
The Tempest's black patina finish just adds to this Pontiac's sinister nature. It's powered by a 6.2L LS9 short-block, and car builder Jeff Schwartz drove it for owner Grant Craft. The drivin' man in the black sedan ran a respectable 11.46 that would have nailed Fourth Place against the Late Model cars.
The Tempest's black patina finish just adds to this Pontiac's sinister nature. It's powere

QA1 Autocross Results
Late Model
Place	Time	Points
1. John Boos, '86 Corvette	10.879	30
2. Keith Anderson, '09 Viper	11.133	20
3. Nick Abernathy, '07 Corvette	11.135	10
4. Rod Strumble, '04 Mustang	11.804	-
5. Jeff Avril, '95 Camaro	11.858	-
6. Dale Schwartz, '82 Trans Am	11.955	-
7. Richard Adams, '08 Corvette	12.130	-
8. Nate Feldhahn, '09 Challenger	12.230	-
9. Matt Ruvelson, '96 Camaro	12.357	-
10. Mike Rybak, '93 Mustang	12.469	-
11. David Clark, '87 Monte SS Aero	14.030	-

Muscle Car
Place	Time	Points
1. Grant Craft, '65 Tempest	11.456	30
2. John Wegner, '69 Camaro	11.752	20
3. Lyle Nienow, '69 Chevelle	12.469	10
4. Mike Standley, '81 Malibu	13.013	-
5. Mark Storlien, '62 Corvette	13.688	-