Nick Abernathy made multiple heroic passes until he knocked off Launch Box's quick time of
Launch Box
This event was the great equalizer. The competitors who didn't take it seriously for the most part didn't fare well. Nick Abernathy and John Boos escalated their autocross swordplay and traded the Launch Box lead several times. Finally, John knocked off a 4.5-second pass that appeared insurmountable. Nick hammered away at it, running something like a dozen passes with multiple 4.5-second runs trying different techniques. His enthusiasm and never-say-die attitude paid off when he managed a 4.4-second run that was good enough for the Late Model class win. The Muscle Car class cars weren't far behind, which is commendable since all the quick late models were the beneficiaries of ABS. The battle also continued between the Vega and the Camaro on the Launch Box's abbreviated course with both cars eventually pulling down equal 4.7-second passes. The tie again went to the horsepower winner, with Randy and the Camaro taking the top spot, clinching the overall win. To illustrate how competitive this event has become, with the same course and radar gun, Keith Anderson and his Viper's 2009-winning time would have only tied for Third this year.
Launch Box was also open to any Summer Nationals entrant, and one of the quickest overall
| LAUNCH BOX RESULTS |
| LATE MODEL CLASS |
| PLACE |
TIME |
POINTS |
| Nick Abernathy, '07 Corvette |
4.4 |
30 |
| John Boos, '86 Corvette |
4.5 |
20 |
| Rod Strumbel, '04 Mustang Cobra |
4.8 |
10 |
| Richard Adams, '08 ZO6 Corvette |
4.9* |
|
| Jim Brooks, '04 GTO |
4.9 |
| Mark Golovin, '00 Camaro |
4.9 |
| Eric Winsor, '87 Corvette |
5.0 |
| Dan Neinstadt, '03 Mustang Cobra |
5.1* |
| A.J. Mehta, '98 Corvette |
5.1 |
| Jim Hall, '94 Camaro |
5.3 |
| MUSCLE CAR CLASS |
| PLACE |
TIME |
POINTS |
| Randy Johnson, '70 Camaro |
4.7* |
30 |
| Jeff Schwartz, '72 Vega |
4.7 |
20 |
| Derek Kiefer, '69 Chevelle |
5.2 |
10 |
| David Alfred, '69 Camaro |
5.4 |
- |
The Winners
Consistent performance is the secret to Real Street as evidenced by Nick Abernathy's '07 Corvette win. He won both the dyno and Launch Box with a Second in the autocross. But if you do the math, because John Boos earned no points in the horsepower contest, Nick could still have won the overall title by finishing Second in all three events. Unfortunately, even if Jeff Schwartz had pulled out Second Place finishes across the board, it still would not have been enough to close the gap to beat Randy's supercharged Camaro. For those car crafters looking for inspiration, take heart that the Vega was packing not only the smallest engine but also the smallest tires (on 15-inch wheels no less) compared with the rest of the field. If RSE still included a factor for money invested, Jeff's Vega would probably have cleaned house.
On his way to a victory, Nick was a determined soul. Not only did his Corvette make some serious steam on the dyno, but he also almost tripled the number of John's autocross laps (John: 11/Nick: 29). Similar numbers existed on the Launch Box side. In SCCA autocross racing, the number of runs is strictly limited, placing heavy emphasis on driver skill. Randy's muscle car trophy path was a bit easier when Jeff fielded an even more budget-based car than last year's LS-powered Pontiac Tempest. Jeff is now a veteran of three RSE competitions with two wins and this runner-up.
*In a tie, RSE rules dictate that the win goes to the car with the highest horsepower.
| LATE MODEL CLASS POINTS |
|
NAME |
CAR |
DYNO HP |
AUTOCROSS |
LAUNCH BOX |
POINTS TOTAL |
| 1. |
Nick Abernathy |
'07 Corvette |
559( 30 ) |
36.953( 20 ) |
4.4( 30 ) |
80 |
| 2. |
John Boos |
'86 Corvette |
405( 0 ) |
36.606( 30 ) |
4.5( 20 ) |
50 |
| 3. |
Dan Neinstadt Cobra |
'03 Mustang |
558( 20 ) |
41.546( 0 ) |
5.1( 0 ) |
20 |
| 4. |
Richard Adams |
'08 ZO6 Corvette |
531(10) |
38.543(10) |
4.9(0) |
20 |
| 5. |
Rod Strumbel |
'04 Mustang Cobra |
510(0) |
40.357(0) |
4.8 (10) |
10 |
| MUSCLE CAR CLASS FINAL POINTS |
|
NAME |
CAR |
DYNO HP |
AUTOCROSS |
LAUNCH BOX |
POINTS TOTAL |
| 1. |
Randy Johnson |
'70 Camaro |
605( 30 ) |
38.245( 30 ) |
4.7*( 30 ) |
90 |
| 2. |
Jeff Schwartz |
'72 Vega |
291( 10 ) |
38.900( 20 ) |
4.7( 20 ) |
50 |
| 3. |
David Alfred |
'69 Camaro |
334( 20 ) |
42.928( 0 ) |
5.2( 10 ) |
30 |
| 4. |
Derek Kiefer |
'69 Chevelle |
256( 0 ) |
39.078( 10 ) |
5.2( 0 ) |
10 |
| *In a tie, RSE rules dictate the win goes to the car with the highest horsepower |
-
While horsepower is important, to take home the RSE prize, you'd better have a car with go
-
Randy Johnson now has two RSE victories with two different LS-powered Chevys built in his
Eric Rosendahl (left), Eric Schmiege (center), and Doug Eisberg flew from San Diego to St.
Volunteers
As they have done for the last three years, the Land O' Lakes region SCCA club and all its volunteers did another outstanding job of keeping a perfect tally on the hundreds of autocross runs made over the three-day weekend. Thanks to: Dan and Cathy Corgard, Rick Sellner, Paul Peters, Mary and Mark Urecht, John Feesl, Erik Dahl, Brent and Carrie Carlson, Mark Kaufman, Jim Gillen, Ryan Olsen, Dan Halverson, Jeff Forss, and the rest of the SCCA LOL club. We also received some unexpected help from three members of Car Craft's extended family. Doug Eisberg, Eric Rosendahl, and Eric Schmiege flew from their Escondido, California, homes to help us run the Launch Box. Doug helped everywhere, Eric Rosendahl took over the electronic duties for each run, logging them into the computer, while the other Eric weathered the sun to chase cones. We can't thank you guys enough.