Carson Turquist returned with his Ford Lightning truck to show that even a pickup can trim the cones, with a decent Sixth Place finish in Late Model.Carson Turquist returned with his Ford Lightning truck to show that even a pickup can trim QA1 Autocross Of the three events in RSE, the autocross seems to be the crucible. This year, our friends at Land O’ Lakes SCCA club worked with fairgrounds officials to expand the course. In fact, course designer Mark Utech showed how he could wheel the entire course using his crew cab, long-bed Ford truck, so there could be no questions about tight-radius turns. Jimi Day quickly proved that even lukewarm horsepower is no detriment to quick times, as he was soon showing the rest of the RSE cars how to assault the cones. While everybody else was struggling to run high-23-second laps, Jimi tweaked an asphalt-burnishing 22.064. But then, Josh Leisinger, driving the intense ’70 Camaro surpassed that with an even quicker 21.826. In the Late Model class, horsepower leader Schilling struggled while an innocuous blue Monte Carlo SS driven by autocross rookie Dan Howe laid down a very quick 23.811 that stood as the quick Late Model time on Friday. Saturday, times fell marginally with Jimi’s AMX taking the lead with a 21.563 to the Camaro’s 21.752. In Late Model, Dan Howe dropped his time to 23.116 only to see Joel Route blitz a 23.010. But both of them found themselves behind veteran competitor Brett Lindert in his Mustang GT, who dark-horsed the field with a 22.612 to take Saturday’s top spot. Josh Leisinger’s Camaro sports a normally aspirated 500ci LS stroker built by The Professor, Warren Johnson—yes, the same WJ that races NHRA Pro Stock. But horsepower only goes so far on a tight autocross course. The rest is chassis, tire, and driver. Young Josh did his part to claim the quickest time of the RSE weekend.Josh Leisinger’s Camaro sports a normally aspirated 500ci LS stroker built by The Professo Sunday, the autocross was open only until noon, so the pressure was on. The joust between the AMX and the Camaro continued, with Leisinger taking top time by barely 0.30 second over the D&Z customs–built AMX. In Late Model, nobody improved on Saturday’s times, giving Lindert Numero Uno. Joel Route was looking pretty good with a Second Place finish. In an odd twist, the muscle cars were much quicker on the autocross than the late models and even the two Corvettes! On the Corvette front, Eric Winsor used his autocross experience (he drove a stripped-down ’87 Vette in ’10’s RSE) to make it a win apiece between he and Mehta. The tiebreaker would be the Launch box. Perhaps the most impressive times were turned in by landscaper Dan Howe, who had only one autocross race under his belt before RSE but still finished Third. His Schwartz chassis certainly helped, but Dan and his son built the whole car themselves. Expect to see a feature on this Monte soon.Perhaps the most impressive times were turned in by landscaper Dan Howe, who had only one Joel Route was quietly running impressive times all weekend, yet few noticed until Sunday, when the number crunchers realized that none of the individual event winners had amassed enough points for an outright win.Joel Route was quietly running impressive times all weekend, yet few noticed until Sunday, Eric McClelland brought his LS3-powered ’68 Camaro to RSE and shifted the Transzilla T-56 trans through the QA1 autocross, besting more than a few of the Late Model class competitors.Eric McClelland brought his LS3-powered ’68 Camaro to RSE and shifted the Transzilla T-56 Jesse Klavik knew his illegal tires would disallow his runs, but we were impressed with a giant red Ford Lightning truck running a 22.919 that would have put him in Second. While sticky rear tires help a little, it’s worth pondering how quick he would have been without the tires.Jesse Klavik knew his illegal tires would disallow his runs, but we were impressed with a Perhaps the biggest surprise of the event occurred when we weren’t looking. Brett Lindert quietly laid down a very quick 22.612 lap on Sunday with his convertible Mustang and bested the rest of the Late Model field, helping to shake up the point race with three different winners for each of the three RSE events.Perhaps the biggest surprise of the event occurred when we weren’t looking. Brett Lindert Troy Borgen’s ’69 Camaro has more miles on it than probably any Pro Touring car in the country. He put 6,600 miles on it the first month by routinely driving between California and Wisconsin to visit his father. With the Magnuson TVS blown 6.2L LS engine, it’s a player. Unfortunately, he broke a front sway-bar mount on his way to RSE, which prevented the Camaro from hitting its potential on the QA1 autocross.Troy Borgen’s ’69 Camaro has more miles on it than probably any Pro Touring car in the cou “It should’ve rained.”Brandon Schilling on how rain on Saturday and Sunday might have helped him win the autocross. QA1 Autocross Results Late Model Class Position/Owner Vehicle Time Points 1st: Brett Lindert ’97 Mustang 22.612 30 2nd: Joel Route ’07 Mustang 23.010 20 3rd: Dan Howe ‘84 Monte Carlo 23.116 10 4th: Brandon Schilling ’09 Mustang 23.461 - 5th: Jesse Riggle ’99 Firebird 23.485 - 6th: Carson Turnquist ’02 Ford Lightning 24.648 - 7th: Mike Callahan ’99 Crown Vic 25.056 - 8th: Peter Barton ’91 Mustang 25.671 - 9th: Brian Kunkel ’10 Camaro 25.701 - DNS: Jesse Kalvik ’99 Ford Lightning* 22.919 - *Illegal Tires—Drag Radials Muscle Car Class Position / Owner Vehicle Time Points 1st: Josh Leisinger ’70 Camaro 21.483 30 2nd: Jimi Day ’69 AMX 21.820 20 3rd: Nathan Shaw ’71 Nova 23.464 10 4th: Justin Nall ’66 Chevelle 24.074 - 5th: Eric McClelland ’68 Camaro 24.385 - 6th: Troy Borgen ’69 Camaro 25.549 - 7th: Robert Fox ’67 Camaro 28.074 - Corvette/Viper Class Position/Owner Vehicle Time Points 1st: Eric Winsor ’99 427 Corvette 22.058 30 2nd: AJ Mehta ’06 ZO6 Corvette 24.492 20 Car Craft Launch Box Since both the QA1 autocross and the Launch Box events run concurrently, it’s generally a very fluid situation, as fresh times create position changes. Often, the Launch Box is overlooked until late Saturday or early Sunday, when the competitors discover they have a better chance at more points on Launch Box than on the autocross. In the Late Model class, Brandon Schilling’s Mustang looked good with 3.06-second times, and Joel Route was just behind him. But by Sunday, Dan Howe’s Schwartz Monte Carlo had bested both with a 2.99, and Route pushed Brandon to Third. In Muscle Car, it became a shootout between Josh’s silver Camaro and Jimi Day’s AMX, until Nathan Shaw tweaked everything with a Second Place finish, pushing Jimi to Third. In the Corvette class, AJ had Eric Winsor covered. As has been the case since the first year of Launch Box, regular Summer Nationals participants also took a shot at Launch Box, and our best e.t. of the weekend came from Keith Letarski’s big-block–powered ’68 Charger (that runs 10.50s at 126), due almost exclusively to a great launch and in spite of its skinny front tires. It’s also worth mentioning that Keith’s sticky tires would not have been RSE legal. But there’s still a major clue here if you interpret this information properly. We’ll call Nathan Shaw and his Nova the stealth RSE competitor who flew under the radar and quietly bombed nearly the entire field. The Nova finished Third in both the QA1 autocross and the Launch Box and took Second on the dyno for an excellent overall Second Place finish in Muscle Car.We’ll call Nathan Shaw and his Nova the stealth RSE competitor who flew under the radar an OK, so maybe Mike Callahan brought a normally aspirated 4.6L knife sheathed in a heavy Crown Victoria to the Real Street gunfight, but he had fun nonetheless. The big Vic still managed mid-pack efforts on both the autocross and the Launch Box.OK, so maybe Mike Callahan brought a normally aspirated 4.6L knife sheathed in a heavy Cro Car Craft Launch Box Results Late Model Class Position/Owner Vehicle Time Points 1st: Dan Howe ’84 Monte Carlo 2.99 30 2nd: Joel Route ’07 Mustang 3.05 20 3rd: Brandon Schilling ’09 Mustang 3.06 10 4th: Brian Kunkel ’10 Camaro 3.13 - 5th: Jesse Riggle ’99 Firebird 3.21 - 6th: Carson Turnquist ’02 Ford Lightning 3.45 - 7th: Mike Callahan ’99 Crown Vic 3.45 - 8th: Brett Lindert ’97 Mustang 3.47 - 9th: Peter Barton ’91 Mustang 3.58 - DNS: Jesse Kalvik ’99 Ford Lightning 3.00* - *Illegal Tires Muscle Car Position/Owner Vehicle Time Points 1st: Josh Leisinger ’70 Camaro 2.96 30 2nd: Jimi Day ’69 AMX 2.98 20 3rd: Nathan Shaw ’71 Nova 3.04 10 4th: Eric McClelland ’68 Camaro 3.09 - 5th: Troy Borgen ’69 Camaro 3.31 - 6th: Justin Nall ’66 Chevelle 3.33 - 7th: Robert Fox ’67 Camaro 3.49 - Corvette/Viper Position/Owner Vehicle Time Points 1st: AJ Mehta ’06 ZO6 Corvette 3.12 30 2nd: Eric Winsor ’99 427 Corvette 3.33 20 « | 1 | 2 | 3 | » | View Full Article By Jeff Smith Enjoyed this Post? 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